What's your dream for all of mankind, what should we be aiming for?
Where should we be going?
What a nice thread. Thank you Tau.
We should be aiming to live less in the future and in the past, and more in the present.
today is a gift
thats why they call it the present.
(sorry, I do not know the author of that one)
or -
learn from the past
live in the present
prepare for the future
(LDS saying)
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There are many things you can live for, I think the most noble thing to live for is eachother, to aim for unity
with one another. - with - not above or below, not master/servant, not manipulative - that we can all just live
with one another....
One of my favorite books - "
And There was Light" - about someone who goes blind at the age of 7. He describes the transition, says when we only use our eyes we see things superficially, that our eyes skim over the surface of things and so that is all we really see - just the surface of what is around us. After he goes blind he is no longer able to just stand at a distance superficially gazing at what is around him, instead he learns about his surroundings through touch, smell, an intimate close-up view of things, to feel the weight, the texture, the hot or cold of things - that through being blind he was forced to be more aware of what was around him... then how this translated to people, instead of seeing others only superficially through their cloths or skin color, it was through their touch and their voice that people came into being... that so much could be learned of someone through their voice... said that when people knew they were not being watched they let their guard down, they let their guard down around him, and he was able to see them more clearly than he was able to with eyes... that blind people are always with another to help them around, some blind people resent always having to be taken care of, but he did not, he was humble enough to be led around by the hand without resenting his need for others around him. He formed some very close friendships with those around him... anyways, just background for a quote he said:
"Love is an end of living in front of things and a beginning of living with them"
To learn how to love, to be "with" people, not in front or behind them, just
with them... to make others "
the end" instead of a "
means" to an end... nothing barred, nothing hidden, nothing uncomfortable, not using or being used, just being together, enjoying being together, and really becoming one with eachother... that would be good to aim for.
PS - living in the present is part of this. If you are only worried about the future, your needs/wants/fears for yourself become "the end" rather than others. You have to let go of everything else, everything else has to be nothing more than "
a means" to an end... keep everything in it's place - work (work = means) so that you can come home and be together with one another (others = the end), not stay together with one another (others = the means )so that others will do your work for you (money/power/work = the end)...you see what happens when you switch what is the means and what is the end? it is important to make clear what is only the "means" and what is the aim of it all... if everyone would just make "others" the end goal, instead of trying to use others for self-promotion, this would be a beautiful place to live...
Matt 16:
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
If you are willing to lose your life - not make personal wants and needs the aim or the end, then you can see others for who they really are, an entire new view opens up... (you cannot really honestly see others if all you are thinking about is "what can they do for me?" or "what are they trying to get out of me?" If you can stop worrying about getting/giving to others, just give/get without making that the end goal.... then you can find yourself.
Matt 11:
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light.
I think the heavy burden we carry around with us is our own personal wants and needs....
Taoism has some good ideas in this reguard:
"Desire hinders one's ability to understand The Way, and tempering desire breeds contentment. Taoists believe that when one desire is satisfied, another, more ambitious desire will simply spring up to replace it. In essence, most Taoists feel that life should be appreciated as it is, rather than forced to be something it is not. Ideally, one should not desire anything, not even non-desire.
Oneness: By realising that all things (including ourselves) are interdependent and constantly redefined as circumstances change, we come to see all things as they are, and ourselves as a simple part of the current moment. This understanding of oneness leads us to an appreciation of life's events and our place within them as simple miraculous moments which "simply are". "
live in the moment - the present
is a gift.
and live for others.
sorry for the long rant... brevity is not my strong point