Speed: as I was flying down the street the other day – obviously not fast enough for I was passed by many, many cars – it came to me, as I am sure it comes to all of us. What is the purpose of this speed, this madcap, instant society? How is this bringing me closer to anything – God, the universe, my fellow man, etc? It isn’t, is it? It is just passing the time — my time – and filling me with nonsense.
What am I to do – what? The answer is to just stop, but how? This, of course, does not mean to take your normal clothes off, put on more humble attire, and take up the life of an Indian sadhu. (1) Though, to be fair, some might want to, but most surely not. This is not what I am suggesting. “Stopping” means to truly become conscious of your present activity: what you are doing, and why you are doing it.
I honestly believe that all of us can “catch ourselves” and begin to appreciate this truly magnificent life – its sounds, sensations, and smells. Silence is necessary for a moment of introspection. This quiet can be achieved even though the noisy world is swirling round. It requires “going inside the self.” A moment of solitude allows access to our sixth sense, that magical portal to the universe where all answers to infinity truly reside. How can I enter this space? The answer can only be: reflection and introspection and yet more reflection and introspection.
I was recently speaking with a woman who told me that, essentially, the purpose of life is to save a lot of money to protect you from the vagaries of age. This is surely not true. Life is fickle, as I have often said. There are certainly no guarantees that a person will arrive at a later station in life if at all and, further, there is no covenant that ensures that your savings or accumulation of property and art will continue to exist or have value. For examples of this truism, we simply have to turn to the past.
One especially interesting and memorable note in history is the South Sea Bubble: “All through history, one subject appears again and again. How to make a lot of money quickly! … In 1720 the whole of England became involved with what has since become known as The South Sea Bubble. In return for a loan of £7 million to finance the war against France, the House of Lords (2) passed the South Sea Bill, which allowed the South Sea Company a monopoly in trade with South America. The company underwrote the English National Debt, which stood at £30 million, on a promise of 5% interest from the Government. Shares immediately rose to 10 times their value, speculation ran wild and all sorts of companies, some lunatic, some fraudulent or just optimistic were launched. … The country went wild, stocks increased in all these and other ‘dodgy’ schemes, and huge fortunes were made. Then the ‘bubble’ in London burst!
The stocks crashed and people all over the country lost all of their money. Porters and ladies maids who had bought their own carriages became destitute almost overnight. The Clergy, Bishops and the Gentry lost their life savings; the whole country suffered a catastrophic loss of money and property. Suicides became a daily occurrence: The gullible mob whose innate greed had lain behind this mass hysteria for wealth, demanded vengeance. The Postmaster General took poison and his son, who was the Secretary of State, avoided disaster by fortuitously contracting smallpox and dying! The South Sea Company Directors were arrested and their estates forfeited. … “(3)
And so it goes — the only real wealth, as we know, lies within each of us. There lies that state of peace that brings a pure acceptance of life and its challenges. This special knowledge should give a kind of insight that can be, and should be, passed on to future generations: true even in the Internet Age. The young are surely wanting of this kind of sagacity. Therefore, the next time you are overwhelmed with tasks and busyness, take some time for you. The answer to your life mission is there, this I am sure. The great motivational speaker and writer (and, yet, flawed human being), Napoleon Hill (4) leaves us with a thought: Remember that your real wealth can be measured not by what you have, but by what you are.
A closing thought: We all know that we innately possess five qualities: we are naturally happy, naturally peaceful, naturally loving, naturally seeking, and naturally communal. The only way these attributes can be accessed is through me and a command over my caliber of prayer. Prayer is an art much like meditation. We should all try to ameliorate our power of invocation. Then, the portal to our place in the cosmos will most assuredly be opened.
To sum up: This week, we spoke about slowing down” and taking time to reflect and ponder our own life mission.
To be noted: From Henri Frédéric Amiel (5) — To know how to grow old is the masterwork of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.
Just for fun: J.S. Bach: French Suites
For reflection:Carl Jung and the Spiritual Problem of the Modern Individual
Every day look for something magical and beautiful
Quote: We must stop to feel the beauty of life.
Footnotes: