Today we continue our exploration of Bodhicitta, the Yoga of Compassion, by examining how to bring this transformative practice directly into our work lives. Working with compassion means expanding your view of your job beyond mere tasks and responsibilities — it becomes a spiritual practice that can revolutionize both your career and your inner development.

Full Satsang with Ajahn Samvara is available to watch on YouTube

Transforming Work into Spiritual Practice

When we bring Bodhicitta into our careers, our job description evolves. It’s no longer just about completing daily tasks. Now it becomes your job description plus Bodhisattva. We become Bodhisattvas through our work, developing a strong intention to bring liberation from suffering to everyone we encounter — customers, coworkers, even difficult bosses.

This approach represents the highest form of right livelihood. When we master the yoga of compassion through our work, we transform what might otherwise be mundane labor into a powerful spiritual practice. The key insight is that work provides the perfect environment for practicing Bodhicitta because it’s messy, challenging, and real.

The Bodhicitta Dojo

One of my students perfectly captured this concept when he came to me after a particularly difficult day. His boss had yelled at him, coworkers had thrown him under the bus, and he felt completely stressed out. But then he paused and said, “Wow, what a great job I have — it’s a Bodhicitta dojo.”

This is exactly right. If you’re just sitting on a mountaintop pondering compassion, it’s not quite real life. But when your boss is yelling at you and everything is behind schedule, that’s when you truly practice Bodhicitta. This makes it a very real, concrete experience of compassion.

The Transformation Power of Workplace Compassion

When you practice compassion at work, something remarkable happens — you begin to love your work. Most people don’t have a good relationship with their jobs. They might like their work marginally more than being homeless and hungry, but that’s about it. Many people enjoy going to work, but then spend eight hours waiting to go home.

However, when we bring selfless spirit to difficult workplace situations, we transform the experience entirely. Instead of just experiencing karma — something bad happens and we feel sad — we practice compassion when challenges arise, which fundamentally changes our relationship to the experience.

Developing Career Excellence Through Compassion

Bringing compassion to your career actually makes your career stronger. You should always develop a strong career and bring compassion to it. This isn’t about flying under the radar or doing the minimum — when you work with compassion, you naturally tend to work hard and develop yourself in the strongest possible ways.

A good sign that you’re practicing compassion correctly in your work is that you’re enjoying it and advancing in your career. You should see yourself developing physically, advancing professionally, and growing personally. This advancement indicates you’re practicing compassion in work correctly.

The Encyclopedia Salesman’s Revelation

Consider the story of Jim McGinnis, who spent 30 years in the 1950s selling encyclopedias door to door. He thought of it as just hauling books around, trying to make a buck. Then one day, while knocking on doors, he had a heart attack.

Dr. Lillehei at the University of Minnesota performed revolutionary heart surgery that saved McGinnis’s life. The next day, the doctor showed McGinnis an old business card and explained: “My mother bought encyclopedias from you for my little brothers. I was about to go to law school, but I picked up one of your books, opened to ‘Heart,’ read the article, and immediately decided to go to medical school instead.”

McGinnis realized that his simple act of selling books had changed not just one life, but potentially thousands — Dr. Lillehei went on to teach his surgical technique to hundreds of surgeons worldwide. When McGinnis recovered, he saw his work completely differently. Instead of just hauling books, he was potentially changing lives with every sale.

Finding the Bigger Picture in Any Job

You must look at your job and start to see the bigger picture. Even seemingly mundane positions can have profound impact when approached with the right awareness and intention.

I once worked at Bankers Trust with an elevator operator — a man whose job was simply to ask “What floor?” and push buttons. At first, this seemed soul-deadening. But over 20 years, he had gotten to know people, asked about their families and work, and provided genuine support and encouragement. When one employee mentioned a new idea about hedge funds, the elevator operator encouraged him to share it with his boss. That idea was implemented and became highly successful.

This man’s job wasn’t just pushing buttons — he was providing support, encouragement, and creating connections that led to real business success.

Compassion in Unexpected Places

Any job can become a vehicle for compassion if you approach it with the right intention. Whether you’re holding a sign on the roadside, cleaning toilets, or serving as a military general, there are opportunities to bring genuine help and service to others.

Even cleaning toilets can be an act of compassion when you remember how important clean facilities are for people’s comfort and dignity. The person holding a roadside sign can have the intention that the right person will see it and benefit from the service being advertised.

The Art of War and Compassion

The ancient Chinese general Ng Cho faced an army ten times larger than his own. Following the Art of War principle “know yourself, know your opponent,” he went to speak with the enemy general. Through conversation, he learned two crucial things: the general always fought for territory to impress his emperor, and he deeply valued his ancestral village.

Cho developed a strategy where he would engage in mock battles, let the enemy take territory, then send cavalry to threaten the general’s village. Each time, the general would abandon his position to protect his family. Eventually, the opposing emperor decided the war was too expensive and called for peace.

This was a compassionate victory — Cho achieved peace without massive casualties, outmaneuvering his opponent through understanding rather than destruction.

Personal Transformation Through Service

When I worked as a waiter, I initially saw it as just serving food. But through reflection, I realized I was bringing people sustenance to sustain their lives, helping them satisfy hunger, and contributing to their happiness through good food. This was actually a beautiful service — feeding people.

This shift in perspective transformed my experience completely. I began serving food with awareness that I was providing something essential for life itself. This made the work bright, positive, and fulfilling.

Abandoning Hope for Fruition

One of the most important teachings in practicing compassion at work is “abandon hoping for fruition.” This means not doing something to get a specific outcome. When you have hopes for particular results, you set yourself up for suffering and strengthen egoic patterns.

I once served a challenging family — crying baby, spilled drinks, confused orders, constant demands. Despite providing excellent service throughout their chaotic meal, they forgot to leave a tip. But because I was practicing Bodhicitta without expecting anything in return, this didn’t bother me. My work and compassion were aspects of spiritual practice, not means to an end.

When you abandon hoping for specific outcomes, you can accept whatever happens. You’re not fighting against reality when things don’t go your way. This acceptance is essential for true Bodhicitta practice.

The Starbucks Turnaround

During the 2008 recession, Starbucks faced a 30% loss in profits and had to close 1,000 stores. Howard Schultz responded by focusing entirely on customers — creating “My Starbucks Idea,” a platform where customers could submit suggestions.

Schultz personally reviewed all 90,000 submitted ideas and implemented 100 of them. This customer-focused compassionate approach led to a remarkable turnaround — by 2010, Starbucks had grown 20 times. Schultz said it was a lot of work and late nights, but it was fun getting it right for customers.

Developing True Compassion

The story of the spiritual aspirant seeking teachings from Tara illustrates an important point about genuine compassion. The aspirant spent months healing the sick, expecting Tara to appear. A wealthy woman repeatedly came asking for help with household repairs, but he refused because he was “a healer, not a repairman.”

Only when he finally helped her fix a floorboard — acting from genuine compassion rather than spiritual ambition — did Tara appear. She explained that all his previous healing wasn’t truly compassionate because it was done with the expectation of spiritual reward.

The Business Success of Genuine Care

Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s, succeeded against established giants like McDonald’s and Burger King because he genuinely cared about customers. His honest concern for service and customer wellbeing, rooted in his upbringing, became the foundation of his business success.

When asked how he realized this care was the key to success, he gave a characteristically zen response: “In the beginning, there was nothing. Then God said, let there be light. And then there was still nothing, but everyone saw it.”

The Path Forward

Working with compassion requires impeccable effort — working hard, developing yourself, and doing your absolute best for your company, team, and customers. But this isn’t about sacrifice or loss. In Buddhist understanding, compassion is actually fun. You might give up playing video games to work harder and develop your personal power, but you’ll discover that this development is more fulfilling than passive entertainment.

When you have compassion in your work, new realizations emerge. You start seeing opportunities and possibilities that were invisible when you were stuck in self-centered awareness. Compassion opens both inner and outer doors, revealing new paths to happiness and success.

The key is recognizing that whatever your job, there are ways to bring genuine help and service to others. Once you realize this potential, your spirit ignites. You become bright and unstoppable because you carry the light of compassion into everything you do.

Remember: perfect practice is practicing for the sake of practice itself. Bodhicitta for the sake of Bodhicitta. When you work this way — with skill, dedication, and genuine care for others’ wellbeing — success naturally follows, but it’s no longer your primary motivation. The work itself becomes the reward.

From a Satsang given by Ajahn Samvara on Bodhicitta. Full Satsangs are available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ahjan_samvara

Ready to deepen your practice? If you’d like to go deeper into these teachings, you’re welcome to take Ajahn Samvara’s course: Gratitude — the Buddhist Way out of Suffering. In this 4-hour course, you’ll learn the power of gratitude and how you can use it to transform your pain into peace.

Learn more about the course: https://www.udemy.com/course/gratitude-the-buddhist-way-out-of-suffering-to-joy/