> it is universal that a sense of fulfillment comes from laboring for something

I'm not sure I can agree with this either, though it's hard to come up with universal truth statements when dealing with a concept as abstract as "fulfillment." I acknowledge that labor can be (and often is) fulfilling, but I wonder if other life philosophies (e.g. Buddhism) may approach fulfillment through other means.

One could argue that fulfillment in Eastern philosophies is still attained via the labor of contemplation, but the question then becomes whether the point was the labor or the resulting awareness.