Hello to everybody! A dear friend from USA introduced me your forum and after reading lately from it, I understood why. I want to share with you a personal experience and I chose this title… Mea Culpa I’m a person in the vocabulary of whom the word spirituality is constantly present. And a person considered by friends spiritual(not because of vocabulary, I hope…). Yet with this perception and, I think, with some persons who consider themselves spiritual I find a problem. I begin to figure a conviction that the depiction of spirituality with the denying and repulsion of the materialistic knowledge and accumulation is the apanage of the incapable and/or comfortable persons. And this was probably my case til now. Looking back, I’ve discovered that it was easier for me to blame those oriented to make money and I began to generalize considering them weak and very limited. But now I laugh at me and I’m sure I was wrong because as long as I wasn’t able to do what they do, I wasn’t objective, it was easier to critique and thinking of myself and others as elevated spiritual persons. Now I think this way: 1. When you choose a certain path that you let to be dominant, you ought to be sure you don’t choose it because you’re not good on another or because this is eventually easier for you. I involuntary (probably with my attitude) judged some persons in my life because they were too active in the pragmatic realm and superficial in the spiritual one (my etiquette..). Slowly I realized they were doing something not at all bad, even their struggle and perseverence was something of appreciation. And not all the people with financial success are jerks, a good example would be George Soros. So, I think there is a wrong preconception running that a pragmatic person cannot be a spiritual one, and why is that? I keep asking myself lately. I must present my apologies to all the people I wronged with my arrogance and your forum is the right one, Thank you. So, specifically in my case, I want try to be a very good mind in business firstly because I don’t want the slightest shaddow on my spiritual authenticity. I think (now) you can better know, appreciate and enjoy a human experience when you gained good knowledge in the two essential aspects of human nature: materialistic and spiritual.These two sources are the dominant criteria of defining, some people are more spiritual than materialistic, others more materialistic and some probably both, sadly, others are none. As some rich people come to see the spiritual experience as one “affordable” , so may come some people without even intenting, feel it affordable (and comfortable) too.
2. If you do not know how money can be made, what is Economy all about, the laws in a country, you won’t be able to help others if you’re a spiritual active person. Let’s take an example: I recently knew a person that was trying to run a nongouvernamental organization with people having neuro-psychological handicap (this was the first experience that made me reflect on). I liked her instantly. A spiritual woman, with faith and a big desire to help those young people. Her faith is so high that she wanted to build a chapel in the yard of the house and she made it. But the future of this organization seemed to me very uncertain, it is very hard for her and the other three women working there to bring the necessary sum of money for the vital needs of the community. The first question she put to any person coming there (she needs two employees) is: ‘Do you love these young people?’ In few moments I was striked by the truth, my truth (of course) and my answer for her was: “I would want to show my love for these people in trouble by finding and working on projects with external financing.” But what they really need is our unconditional love and support for social integration-she said to me. I told her that as far as I could see, there are wonderful persons in the organization for being that way with them and none for trying to seriously sustain materially the organization. She was a little shocked although she confessed to me she was very happy months ago when they had obtained a Phares financing. The programme in the organization is 8 hours, the salary is symbolic (you cannot survive with it) and the few persons working there are having families and couldn’t get another job because of the programme. But she goes on and on with the providence support; I’m a person with strong faith, this is a very certain point about me, but I cannot see the situation there as an adaptive one. Anyway too long the example, I hope I made the point. 3. How can one stop, block a very big potential evil coming from blind-pragmatic people if only through deeply knowing the affairs world and having deep knowledge from Global Economy? These kind of situations cannot be resolved through strikes-this is my opinion (gained in time –in my country- after wittnessing lamentable failures of many movements). You can win if you know how to constrain in order to make them retreating and this needs knowledge and practice in their realm, knowing their weapons and the mechanisms needed for blocking the “fire”. Mother Theresa and M. Ghandi are fine examples of other sort of pragmatic thinking for the sake of others. But I see them as political persons too, and very good ones! Of course they never wanted something for them, only for the others or for the victory of some very humanistic values. This is not my case (though I’d like to master Ghandi diplomacy), I’m aware of, but I would like very much if I succeed in business to help many many people, that’s all. Please don't take this message as a need for audience, an improper mea culpa in an improper place, I'll present my apologies to the ones I considered. Posting here had probably two intentions: to share a personal experience related to spirituality and to "hear" pertinent feedback.
"The sense of life is not happiness, but heroic achievements. Virtually every soul masters heroism. But every soul flares some young years on the eve of heroic vision, then begins to accept mediocre values, bows under the others life, fades and dies..."Mircea Eliade
Posts: 12 | Location: Ro | Registered: 23 March 2006
"The sense of life is not happiness, but heroic achievements. Virtually every soul masters heroism. But every soul flares some young years on the eve of heroic vision, then begins to accept mediocre values, bows under the others life, fades and dies..."Mircea Eliade
Posts: 12 | Location: Ro | Registered: 23 March 2006
"The sense of life is not happiness, but heroic achievements. Virtually every soul masters heroism. But every soul flares some young years on the eve of heroic vision, then begins to accept mediocre values, bows under the others life, fades and dies..."Mircea Eliade
Posts: 12 | Location: Ro | Registered: 23 March 2006
Dea - your dear friend from the USA is Chris? That's lovely
quote:
but I would like very much if I succeed in business to help many many people,
One of my mentors once said to me: "If you can , instead of opposing it so much, *master* this corporate money-driven culture, you might find yourself in a 'better' position to achieve the good that you're here to Be and do..."
It would take care of any dichotomous conflict regarding money's functions within a person, I believe...
Posts: 1927 | Location: pending | Registered: 18 December 2004
Yes, Chris is the very special person that introduced me your forum, and besides all the gifts that can share a strong and spiritually genuine character, your forum is one for which I'm grateful to him. Usha, I find your mentor words very intuitive, at least for me. All the best!
"The sense of life is not happiness, but heroic achievements. Virtually every soul masters heroism. But every soul flares some young years on the eve of heroic vision, then begins to accept mediocre values, bows under the others life, fades and dies..."Mircea Eliade
Posts: 12 | Location: Ro | Registered: 23 March 2006
dea: These two sources are the dominant criteria of defining, some people are more spiritual than materialistic, others more materialistic and some probably both, sadly, others are none.
You know, dea, one of the daggers that gets drawn from time to time in the debates that transpire on this board ... is the concept of "jealousy" about financial wherewithal. I've puzzled that one, from time to time, and it doesn't ever make a whole lot of sense to me.
Reading your comments, I better understand.
Some have said that what we observe to another person ... is a reflection of ourselves.
In a sense, one side of the divide lacks spirituality and tells the other that it desires resources. And, the other side of the divide lacks resources and tells the other that it is bereft of spirituality.
Lawrence talks often about dualities, and about how that's the problem with the inability to connect, because we only see an either-or choice.
Well, we are living in a world of limited resources, so only some of us can have them, or have a lot of them. And, while spirituality is theoretically available to all, lack of resources impedes its transcendence.
Who ever had a Shakespeare moment while he was wondering how he'd pay the utility bill?
--------------------------------------------------------------- "if you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got." ---------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 6804 | Location: usa | Registered: 09 February 2006
I consider that the main purpose of my message wasn't the discussion of dualities, though it may be taken as the starting point. It happened to me to read Balthasar Gracian and to listen to classic music even in worse moments. Kate, you said "Reading your comments, I better understand". But it's me now not understanding what you "better understand". Maybe it's because I still have problems in english.
"The sense of life is not happiness, but heroic achievements. Virtually every soul masters heroism. But every soul flares some young years on the eve of heroic vision, then begins to accept mediocre values, bows under the others life, fades and dies..."Mircea Eliade
Posts: 12 | Location: Ro | Registered: 23 March 2006
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