The Call to Service

April 9, 2023

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
– Winston Churchill

To share often and much … to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.
– Albert Schweitzer

In nothing do men more nearly approach the Gods than by doing good to their fellow man.
– Cicero

The perfume of sandalwood,
The scent of rosemary and jasmine,
Travel only so far in the wind.
But the fragrance of goodness travels with us through all the worlds.
Like garlands woven from flowers,
Fashion your life as a garland of beautiful deeds.
– The Buddha

Reasons To Be of Service

There are many ways to find pleasure and satisfaction, but most are fleeting, often dissolving like a mist before the moment is fully past. On the other end of the spectrum, there are only a handful of ways that people have found lasting fulfillment or a sustained sense of meaning. Among those few, service is the path more have taken than any other. Perhaps this is because we sense that we are inextricably connected to others, to nature, and to everything at a fundamental level.
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The Connectedness of All Things

March 28, 2023

Continuing with the theme of the last Essay, “The Web of Life,” all the wisdom traditions throughout history have been based on the recognition of an underlying unity, a connectedness in the universe.

The revolutionary ideas of Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Bacon, Kepler, Newton, and others in the 16th and 17th centuries ushered in a new era of thought, and the scientific revolution took off on a rapid and dramatic ascent. Importantly, though, all these key figures who set this ascent in motion continued to believe there was an overall unity in the universe and that a Divine Order provided the basis for that unity. Even the least religious figure among them, Francis Bacon, had this to say:

“A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion. For while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them, and go no further; but when it beholdeth the chain of them, confederate and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity.”

Among the leading lights of this revolution, some were quite religious, including the most celebrated of all, Isaac Newton. Nor did their scientific ideas interfere with the belief in an orderly, unified universe. In fact, the idea that there was an order and connectedness underpinned all that they did — their shared mission was to understand it.

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The Web of Life

February 25, 2023

Are we humans somehow connected to others in a deep way, or is life an individual journey, perhaps even a fight for survival?

Looking back over my life, most significant memories involve other people: romantic relationships, intense conversations, experiencing other cultures, doing something for another person, working with a team or tight-knit group, being recognized by others for an accomplishment, winning a competition planned by some organization, reading a book and feeling a connection with the author, and writing with an awareness of readers who might find something I say worthwhile.

These are the positive memories. But there are many on the other side of the ledger; negative memories of being criticized by a friend or rejected by someone with whom I was infatuated, being embarrassed when my mistakes or errors were discovered by others, feeling disappointed by the actions of friends or family, hearing negative gossip about myself among other people, and when others pointed out the failure of projects I had undertaken.

In addition to memories, most of my longings and fears have been tied to other people: the desire for acknowledgement and to be recognized; the search for emotional closeness and connection; sexual longings; worldly ambitions; wishing to be of service; hoping to make the world a better place. All these involve other people.

Surveying the vast range of feelings and emotions I have experienced — love, success, victory, anger, compassion, envy, fear, shame, guilt, and so many others — all are a part of the web of connections woven into the fabric of my life.
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Is Joy Possible?

February 4, 2023

I have heard the word joy used in numerous ways, and it always has a strong allure. But it also brings a nagging ache, for what I think of as true joy seems so rare. What does the word joy convey that seems so alluring, yet is so elusive as we go about our daily lives?

Is joy the feeling that comes when something good happens — winning a competition or gaining a prize? The reward of pleasant experiences or satisfying sensations?

These do not capture the experience of true joy for me. It is deeper, richer, touching a different level of my being.
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Gratitude, Thankfulness, Praise

January 15, 2022

It is better to light one small candle of gratitude than to curse the darkness.
– Confucius

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.
– Cicero

Wise men appreciate and are grateful.
– The Buddha

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.
– Paul

A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to itself great things.
– Plato

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.
–  Meister Eckhart

The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.
– Nietzsche

Your depression is connected to your insolence
And refusal to praise
Whoever feels himself walking on the path
And refuses to praise
that man or woman steals from others everyday
Is a shoplifter.
– Rumi

I can no other answer make
But thanks,
And thanks,
and ever thanks.
– Shakespeare

A lot of attention has been given in the last few years to the value of gratitude in aiding one’s life — to improve mood, attitude, and even health — and those effects are real and valuable. There has also been increased recognition of the importance of being grateful and thankful toward those you care about — which improves and deepens relationships — and this is extremely valuable.

But I want to focus on another value of gratitude and thankfulness in this essay — how they can help us grow emotionally and spiritually. If you want to become more psychologically and emotionally mature, and especially if you want to grow spiritually, one of the most important traits to develop is gratitude — thankfulness for the good there is, for “what is.”
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The Love that Moves the Universe

December 31, 2022

      At the beginning of the 14th century in Italy, there was much political turmoil. Dante Alighieri, who had become a successful political figure at the precocious age of 36, was on the wrong losing side in a conflict and banished from his home in Florence. He spent the next 20 years in exile, never returning home. He suffered much. But through the suffering, as well as much deep inner work, he gradually gained the insight and wisdom that led to his writing of one of the most influential works in Western thought, the Divine Comedy.

The book describes a metaphorical journey, with the main character traveling down through many levels of Hell, making his way up through Purgatory, and finally ascending to the top stages of Paradise. He reaches the highest point possible for a human being, but he can see there is more, and he longs to glimpse the highest pinnacle. Because he is a living person, however, he cannot move into or see that highest realm. Yet his aspiration to catch a glimpse of the highest truth is so strong that his longing is fulfilled — not as a thought, but as a vision:

As I wished, the truth I wished for came
Cleaving my mind in a great flash of light.

What he glimpsed in that instant was that at the pinnacle of Heaven was not a figure, but a force, which was love. And his own deepest will and desire had always been drawn by that same love to the journey he was on, even before he was conscious of it. He felt that the love that moved his life and his journey was the same love that moved “the sun and the other stars.” In his vision, it is this love that moves the whole universe, and everything in it.
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Just Be Kind

Essay 9

September 10, 2022

In the ninth essay of Our Highest Possibilities, we look at one of the simplest – and most powerful – practices one can undertake to move toward meaning and fulfillment.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.”

Skeptico: You have talked a lot about the great wisdom figures, but I feel so inadequate in comparison. Give me something simple I can do right now.

Wisdom Seeker: Several traits are most often associated with the saints and sages of history, and working to develop one of these is a good way to move toward fulfillment.

Those mentioned earlier include love, compassion, inner peace, getting to know yourself, becoming clear about your intentions, thinking more about others, working toward something you feel is worthwhile, and learning to direct your attention. But the simplest one I know is practicing kindness. It is something you can do right now: Practice kindness toward everyone you meet as often as you can.

Skeptico: But the world is a difficult place, and it seems to be especially difficult right now. There is so much anger, bitterness, suspicion — even hostility and violence.

Wisdom Seeker: Yes, but if there is a way through to a better place, it will involve finding a way to be kinder to each other.

Skeptico: What about the law of the jungle — kill or be killed; look out for number one; the survival of the fittest.

Wisdom Seeker: Those instincts are definitely a part of us. But a number of other currents in human beings intrigued Darwin and continue to confound behaviorists: the strong tendencies toward love, compassion, and kindness.

These currents form the heart of the message of the founders of all the great wisdom traditions: Confucius, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and Socrates, to name a few of the most influential. All gave love, compassion, and kindness a central place.
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Finding Guidance

Essay 8

August 28, 2022

A Personal Reflection

In the eight essay of Our Highest Possibilities, we explore where people for thousands of years have looked for guidance in seeking meaning, fulfillment, and happiness.Countless travelers have left hints and clues.

They speak of Love, Peace, Wisdom, Joy
— with Consciousness as the mysterious glue.
Their methods?
Practice, Service, Attention, Gratefulness, Courage, Devotion, Study,
Humility, Intention, Honesty, Kindness.
They teach that all share in this thing called life
and communion with others will help our journeys
will help in discovering our own way, too.
Follow the thread of the path of the wise,
and perhaps one day you will know what is true.

The Issue

The issue at hand is the meaning and fulfillment of your life. That is, actually, always and ever the issue.

But it leads to a question: What brings meaning and fulfillment? Is it pleasurable experiences, good sex, wealth, power, fame, success, children, strong family ties, authenticity, having a well-paying job, long-term security, doing your duty to family or tribe or country, avoiding pain and difficulties, being of service to those in need, trying to save the world from climate disaster or some other problem, good health, comfort, adventure, using your creativity, some combination of the above, or an alternative not yet named? Continue reading “Finding Guidance” →

Ancient Wisdom

Essay 7

August 13, 2022

In the seventh essay of Our Highest Possibilities, we look at examples of “knowing” and successful ways of living in ancient cultures and societies.

Robert Wolff, as described in the last essay, had one of the most powerful moments of “knowing” I have read — while being guided by a shaman from a tribe that lived as people lived beyond the mists of time.Numerous healthy societies flourished in the distant past, and various members of those cultures experienced the satisfaction of a shared world and a shared life. Many had lives that were rich and fulfilling. Not all ancient societies were healthy, of course; there were dysfunctional groups in the past just as there are today. But many early peoples had deep currents of communication between members and with the world in which they lived. They were embedded in their communities and in nature and had the ability to read natural signs, know things about other people, and track and communicate with animals in amazing ways.

All these abilities, and more, have been lost to most of us in the modern world. It is therefore a little surprising to learn that ancient people were anatomically and neurologically the same as we are. Human biology does not seem to have changed in 50,000 years (probably much longer). Current understanding suggests that if you took a newborn from a remote tribe several thousand years ago and raised it in a family in New York or Kansas today, it would develop like other children in that family. And vice versa. An infant from a modern family transferred to the Malaysian jungle at birth would develop all the skills of the people it grew up around. Continue reading “Ancient Wisdom” →

Making It Personal

Essay 6

July 29, 2022

In the sixth essay of Our Highest Possibilities I share some of my own thoughts and experiences on the journey, as well as valuable counsel given by others

Many years ago I answered “yes” to the call to try to find a direct experience of “knowing,” to make a serious attempt to open into the highest possibilities that wise men and women have talked about through the ages. Many twists and turns, ups and downs later, one thing I have discovered is that it is necessary to make that decision again and again if I am to continue on the path. There are so many distractions in our world today: enticements that allure, glittering and bright; troubles all over the world that seem endless but demand a response; and the daily, mundane, time-consuming problems, attractions, and distractions of living in modern society. Continue reading “Making It Personal” →