After a fortnight of solitude in the mountains, accompanied by my meditations and self reflections, I should like to share with you a philosophy which has given my life an insatiable sense of fulfillment, strength, and resolve thus far.
Why is this important? All I can say is that without a solid foundation of philosophy, one’s actions in life are meaningless and unsatisfying. Philosophy being the tree that gives me shade and whose fruits have nourished me in my life endeavors.
I want to start by pointing out that while we are all born with the innate capability of attaining moral goodness, none of us are born morally wise. This is because Virtue, in her subtle beauty, is something that is never freely given, but can only be earned with one’s own hard efforts. This is also why wisdom and truths are so universally appetizing to even those who have never tasted it before.
Consider if you will the man whose character is the product of his environment. Without a solid bedrock of philosophy, he will rush from one distraction to another in a futile attempt to escape from the core dissatisfaction rooted in his soul. For surely, a man will never find satisfaction in what he does, unless he truly understands why he is doing it. The result is a man who flocks to the every trend of the day, though they change just as rapidly from him: he fears losing out on what others deem valuable without knowing whether or not the objects in question is truly valuable to begin with. Further mistaking physical comfort for true happiness, he seeks no more than his own bodily pleasures: his selfish vices hold him captive and he lives as a slave to his own base instincts. Like a house broken chihuahua who has lost the nature of the wild wolf, he lives to react to the world, rather than lives as to master it.
Such a man never stops to think about for what reason it is that he is destined here on earth. Like a leaf blowing with the winds of chance, his constituency lacks the gravity to hold his own center. Though we should all begin from a slate of moral debasement and ineptitude, we do not have to remain so. This is why I believe that virtue must be earned and is never freely given.
Observe now on the other end the man whose character is the product of his own vision and will. This kind of man is enamored by a sense of destiny and duty towards the supreme ideals that his reason has bestowed upon him. He has thought deeply about what is important and valuable to him, and lives in accordance with those principles. Indeed it is up to each of us to define our own supreme ideals, whatever they may be, and to live our lives accordingly to fulfill them. It is as if we are all born like soft clay, impressionable, but with unlimited potential. A sense of purpose, righteousness, and justice will fire us up and harden our constituency. Yet it is only with self discipline as the hammer and the chisel, that we carve ourselves into the vessels we need to be to be of use to the world. This is the long and hard path, yet we should waltz through it beaming with happiness, as the prize at the end is worth it: We would have won for ourselves a character which is fitting of our divine human nature. The very process of exterminating from within the impurities that prevent us from reaching our fullest potential is also the process that allows us to successfully execute our chosen purpose in life.
Some of you might say that all this begs the question as to what vision of supreme ideal is so important as to warrant all this effort in the first place? You are indeed correct in pointing this out. Well, my dear reader, the answer here is as unique as the person who is asking it. A gardener sees the beauty in the flowers he nurtures, as the poet see it in the impact of his words. An engineer manifests it in his designs, and a teacher seeks to impart it in his student. If you do not know your answer, I must say that this should be your first and only priority. Stop taking care in all other matters of life, until you know that is it you are destined to do. Make it your sole effort to come to a decision. You will know, when you know, and you will not know, unless you first choose to actively seek it out. There is no reason to have any form nor function, without first having a purpose.
Do not waste your life as a reaction to the world, but live as a master to your own chosen fate. Even a man in chains cannot be considered a slave, if within his heart beats the spirit of a free man. We may start off as the product of our environment, but we should end as the product of our philosophy.
I would seek now to dissuade you from being discouraged that Fate, with its joys and delights, will always throw at you an indefinite amount of suffering and pain. Are we to wallow in despair and give up at the first sign of trouble? ‘No’ I must resolutely say to you! Instead, let one aspire to adopt the attitude where one can daringly say to misfortune herself: “Oh wow, this is a passing phase of difficulty in my journey towards greatness. I will not bat an eyelash even if my limbs be torn by wild beast or worst still tortured by men, for I have a spirit that will remain unfettered by anything that life can and will throw at me”. The higher we set our ambitions, the sweeter the honey and more dangerously will forces conspire to destroy us and dash our dreams to ashes. We may not be able to prevent the hardships that may come, but we still have total control in how we choose to face them. Whether we like it or not, we’re in for the ride. It is best thus to develop a character that can withstand all types of adversity that life can offer, for such an investment of effort compounds its returns exponentially for the rest of our lives and rewards us with its dividends unfailingly.
It is only fitting I see, so that you may be better served to find yours, that I should share with you my personal vision of the supreme ideal: the destiny I have chosen as fitting to acquire with my limited years alive. However, as we have covered a great deal of preliminary ground here, and to prevent the extent at which mental fatigue will handicap the importance of the subject to come, I shall reserve this topic for a future post, whereupon we can both examine this matter with a fresh and keen mind.
