Shankaracharya, in the fifth century A.D., travelled by foot from Kerala to Kashi, Badri, Kashmir, Kedarnath, Kailash, Puri, Sringeri, etc! And he lived only until the age of thirty-two! Imagine the tremendous amount of work that he did - writing, expounding, propagating, establishing, organising, inspiring, teaching - all in about fourteen or fifteen years of active life! Activity is the very sine qua non of life. Be active, welcome activity - that is the message that God gives man at birth. The breath teaches you Soham all the time, 'so' when it goes in and 'ham,' when it is exhaled. Choose that activity which is conducive to your spiritual progress, judging yourself the stage in which you are at present. There is no high and low, in the activity. The eye must see, the ear must hear, and the hand must hold. That is their duty (Dharma). So also each of you must conduct yourself, according to your own Dharma and progress spiritually.

- Divine Discourse, Feb 21, 1971.