The Ascetic Life

We all have desires. We want to to eat, enjoy sensual pleasure, make money, gain recognition. None of these are bad per se, but often these desires are misdirected towards not-so-great ends. We as a race have sought to control these desires from the very beginning. It's perhaps what Plato referred to as Justice, Aristotle as eudaimonia, Hindu's as moksha, Muslims as Sufism, or spiritual elevation by many.

At the core of all of these philosophies is the idea that Mankind is Free. Not freedom in a democratic sense, freedom in a spiritual sense. Man is free to control and direct the desires of the heart.

If you start the process of restructuring yourself to be truly free, you may be plagued with painful Socratic questions. Are you in startup land to 'make it big' or are you there to have others see you make it big? Are you paying attention to your friend so that he or she may pay attention to you later, or do you truly care?

As you keep rising above your own self, you may begin to ask if there’s something more meaningful than your own whims and fancies? Perhaps we exist for the service of others? To be free then, is to be free from the shackles of the self. Only when you’re truly free may these so called 'cliches' of Compassion, Generosity, and Justice truly flow from your being.

Feel free to reach out if you’re striving towards things larger than yourself.


Anonymous
New York, New York

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