On the way to the world – on the way to yourself

Introduction

All of us are on the way to ourselves, to such ourselves as the chosen Path will make us.
These texts present the essence of my reflections and the positive changes that have occurred in me. These texts come from the bottom of my heart, and I hope that they will help you to look at yourself differently, approach your life philosophically, and find answers to some important questions.

Content

• Who am “I” in psychology? How are we different from animals? What are “lower instincts” and “higher instincts”?
• “The starry sky above me and the moral law within me” according to Kant. What is morality? How is morality related to the picture of the world?
• What is more important – heart or mind? What is the Great Oughtness? Is it easy to take the path of the Great Oughtness?
• My body I. Who is the boss?
• “I am a warrior”. What does it mean?
• I am the main force of evolution. How does the correct perception of yourself allow you to live life effectively? How can you effectively deal with your shortcomings? How does the correct self-perception contribute to a healthy life?
• Barriers to happiness. What is fear? Illusory fears and how we can cope with them. Mindfulness – How does it help you pull yourself together? Freedom: on the way to the world – on the way to yourself. What does it mean to be free?
• I know how to be happy.

Instead of the epigraph

To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow,
To run where the brave dare not go.

To right the unrightable wrong,
To be better far than you are,
To try when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star.

This is my quest, to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To be willing to give when there’s no more to give,
To be willing to die so that honor and justice may live.

And I know if I’ll only be true to this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest.

And the world will be better for this,
That one man scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star.

The Impossible Dream by Mitch Leigh

Text I
Part 1

Who am I?
Many psychologists and philosophers tried to answer this question. With the answer to this question our journey begins.
“I” in psychology
In psychology, we consider “I” as the major part of our personality that perceives itself as “I” and contacts with the outside world. There is also such a term as “self”. We can say that an individual feels his self – that is, his identity and uniqueness. Our personality is a deep center, which ensures the separation of an individual from the world around him. We can say that we are aware of ourselves from the moment we are aware of our “I”.

Part 2

The Caterpillar’s Question
Do you remember the Caterpillar from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”? The Caterpillar asked Alice: “Who are you?”. This question turns out to be not as simple as it seems. People answer this question in different ways, mentioning their social status, nationality, job, etc. All of these answers, however, do not provide an exhaustive answer to the question. Even be answering: “I am a human”, we only designate that Humans (Homo sapiens) are a species of highly intelligent primates. That is, we only emphasize where we are on the evolutionary tree of biological organisms. In other words, the concept of “man” (homo) refers, in fact, only to our body, to our biological component. In other words: if there is a body, there is a person, if there is no body, there is no person. Perhaps some will agree, but I want to go further because for me a person is much more than a “meat suit”. If you agree, then let’s go! However, before that, we should answer one very important question.

How are you different from cattle?
There is one philosophical text that I like. It’s called “A few words about Vlay”. I will translate a few lines from the story: “Vlay asked Evnar: “The soothsayer told me that I would lose myself. What does it mean? Have I lost myself? And you told me that his words were true. Has something happened to me? ” Evnar said: “I have been waiting for this question.” Then he asked Vlay: “Are you doing well?” He replied: “Good; just don’t send me away; and if you want to send me away, you should better kill me.” Evnar asked: “Am I good or bad, and who am I?” Vlay replied: “You are a kind person, and you are called Evnar, and I respect you as my father.” Evnar asked: “Who are you?” Vlay replied: “I am Vlay, and I have told you who I am already and I can tell you again.” Then Evnar asked him: “Are you man or cattle?” He replied: “I am a man; how can I be like cattle? ” Evnar asked him: “How are you different from cattle?” Vlay replied: “Here are my clothes, and I live in a house, and I work, and I cook food on fire, and I speak with a clear speech, and I am stronger than cattle.” Evnar replied: “A beast is dressed in fur, a bird – in feathers; even a fish is dressed in scales. An ant builds a house for itself, and a wasp; an animal digs a hole for itself or makes a den, and a bird builds a nest; even a little snail has a shell in which it lives. Every creature works, finding food and making a home for itself. You can feed without fire, and you will not die of hunger. Your speech is clear to me, but a dog’s speech is clear to another dog, a bird’s speech to another bird, a mosquito’s speech to another mosquito. And you are weaker than cattle, for you will not kill a bear without a weapon or a trap, but it will kill you. You cannot rule over the cattle with your bare hands, and the snake is stronger than you, and a pitiful louse can torment you by biting, but you cannot prevent it from sleeping by biting it. How are you different from cattle?” Vlay replied: “I am a man; and a man takes food with his hands, and not with a muzzle, and keeps it, and he composes songs, and loves his spouses and children, and builds traps for the beasts, and has fields.” Then Evnar said: “The squirrel takes food with its hands and arranges storage for it. The bird sings beautifully, and the frog can sing. Wolves have spouses, and every creature takes care of its cubs. A spider builds nets for its prey, and it extracts a rope from itself – but man cannot do that. Cattle know how to do without fields – and a person will die of hunger without his field. How are you different from cattle?” Vlay replied: “Man has weapons, and knocks down trees, and walks on two legs, not four.” Then Evnar said: “Man invents a weapon for himself, and a bear already has fangs and claws, a snake and a wasp have a sting, and a bird beats with its beak. A bug can tumble down a tree and even simple rot can. A bird walks on two legs and even flies, but man cannot fly. How are you different from cattle?” Then Vlay said: “If so, then I don’t know; it turns out that the cattle are better than me in other matters. ” Evnar told him: “Behold, you see that you are like cattle; Shouldn’t I drive you into a barn where the cattle are?” Vlay replied: “I think you should”; and Evnar told him: “Then go into the barn.” And Vlay entered the barn, and Evnar closed the door” (“A few words about Vlay” by Atarkhat).

Part 3

How are you different from cattle? The answer to this question turns out to be not so simple. There is an answer in the story: “Another time Evnar said to Vlay: “Have you understood why man is not like cattle? Cattle live as they live; their life is like a river in the banks. It will not overflow the banks and irrigate the land, even if there was a drought, and crops and forests perished. Human life is like moisture that nourishes the world: it penetrates everywhere and nourishes everything and everyone, giving its strength and itself. Cattle cannot make their life that way, but man can: that is the difference. Whatever cattle do, they do it only for themselves or for their kind. They obtain food for themselves; they love for themselves; they defend themselves.
Man is different as he loves everything and lives for the sake of everything; cattle do not want to know either the past, or the future, or what is above the sky – but a man wants to know all these and can know, and lives for all these. Such is the mind of man, that he wants to know all these and can, and such is the soul that he can love it all, and such is his life that he can feed it all with himself. Cattle are not like that; and that is why there is a man in the world, so as not to be cattle. Cattle live from the world, and man lives for the world. Cattle take from the world for themselves, – so, they drink from the river, and water does not come in it; man will drink a sip from a river – and pour out the moisture of his life to the whole world so that it does not die from drought. This is the difference between man and cattle; remember this, so as not to be cattle”. (A few words about Vlay by Atarkhat).

I brought this passage out not only of love for philosophy. It is directly related to the definition of our “I”, our self. If we admit that a person is something more than a “meat suit”, then what is he? And before answering this question, let’s answer the following: how are we different from animals?
By the law of the jungle
There is an opinion that man is an animal, just a bit more intelligent. And if we compare animals and people according to their physiological needs, then we will see that they have a lot in common. Both animals and people need food, sleep, protection from dangers, and reproduction. However, there are needs of a higher level, such as social needs, creative and cognitive needs, and aesthetic needs. At the top of the pyramid is spirituality. Which needs characterize human beings? What happens if a person decides to live according to his instincts and his ego? Can we say that he lives “by the law of the jungle”? And what is meant by this law?
Any animal is guided by instinct. This is an innate hereditary “program” inherent in all species, a tendency to a certain behavior or course of action. The more complex a creature is, the more it can “deviate” from instinct in favor of its program of behavior.
At first glance, it seems that the behavior of animals is selfish and that they live “by the law of the jungle”, where the strongest survives and where everyone cares only for themselves. Is this so, and can the behavior of animals be called selfish? I’ll take an ordinary mouse as an example.
Its life is fleeting and full of dangers. On average, a mouse produces offspring four to eight times per season. Mice are born helpless and blind. After that, they begin to develop rapidly – and in less than two weeks, they begin to see. After another week, they are already able to survive on their own. During the day, mice are in their shelters, and at night they go out to feed. They are unpretentious in nutrition and, if necessary, can make long-distance migrations. Only due to high fertility, mice manage to maintain their populations, since they have a huge number of natural enemies. These are birds, and predatory animals, and domestic animals. For example, an owl kills up to a thousand rodents in one year.
Each mouse steadily follows its main instinct – reproductive instinct. Its whole life is a race for survival, which boils down to giving birth to offspring. And as soon as mice become able to survive on their own, a mother seeks to give birth to new ones. All other instincts of the mouse, which allow it to stay alive, are also indirectly aimed at reproduction. Thus, we can say that a mouse takes care of itself only insofar as it will help preserve its species. Also, thanks to this, albeit unconsciously, mice support populations of other animals. For some predators, mice are the only food that makes them able to survive in winter.
Here I would like to introduce two concepts that will further help to describe the behavior of humans and animals: “lower-level instincts” and “higher-level instincts”. The lower-level instincts here mean a tendency to a certain behavior or a course of action that allows you to satisfy the needs of a particular individual. They can include both physiological needs and higher-level needs, such as the need for respect or recognition. Their peculiarity lies in the fact that they are aimed exclusively at the benefit of a particular individual. In other words, this is all that allows us to satisfy our ego.
Higher-level instincts are understood here as a tendency to a certain behavior or course of action, which is aimed at the good of the species for animals, and, accordingly, for the good of people and society for humans.
In the case of animals, as we can see from the above example of mice, the lower-level and higher-level instincts work in tandem. A mouse satisfies its own needs, but this is aimed at supporting its species as a whole, and indirectly – at supporting other species. The situation is similar for other animals. From this, we can conclude that the “law of the jungle” sounds more like “one for all and all for one” rather than “every man for himself”. Although the strongest survives, the rules of the game are aimed at the maximum preservation of each species.
We see that the division into higher-level and lower-level instincts in the animal kingdom is very arbitrary. And since animals, thanks to instincts, fulfill the program of nature itself, then for them, the higher-level instincts are a priority, and the lower-level instincts work for their implementation.
Here there is a hierarchy of values: first a species, then a separate individual; and, accordingly, a hierarchy of instincts: first the higher-level instincts, and only then, as a consequence, the lowest-level instincts. Nature’s priority is the preservation and development of the species, and animals realize this. And although in the process of evolution some species disappear and others appear, it is not animals that are to blame, but complex natural processes. Climate change and other difficulties force animals to adapt or disappear, and old ecosystems are replaced by new ones, in which animals also work for the common good.
From this amazing interaction and the hierarchy of lower-level and higher-level instincts, which allows animals to combine caring for themselves with caring for the world, follows the inability of our smaller brothers to show selfishness as such. Therefore, if we define altruism as the ability to put other’s interests above our interests, then all animals, within the framework of their instincts, are ultimately inherent in altruism. For people, this concept, of course, acquires a deeper meaning, since it is based on a set of moral norms and principles.
Why should we then distinguish between higher-level and lower-level instincts? Animals do not have this division, as they live in harmony with the world and follow its hierarchy and its values. Of course, here I introduced these concepts to talk about people.

Part 4

So, now when we have figured out what underlies the behavior of animals, we can talk about people. Can they behave like animals? What does it imply?
Let’s analyze the needs of a person and speculate where the border between egoism and altruism lies. If we are talking about physiological needs, such as, for example, sleep and food, then they belong to the most basic needs, on which survival is built. This also includes safety. If we consider the social needs that humans have and the zoosocial needs that animals have, we will see that there is a lot in common. Zoosocial needs of animals are realized through interaction with other individuals of their species during sexual, parental, territorial behavior (PV Simonov. “Neurobiological foundations of creativity” M.: Nauka, 1993). Animals, just like humans, need self-development, they investigate and study the world. Studies show that they, like humans, need to manage events, which is transformed into abilities and competence (Yarrow, Messer, 1983).

If we are talking about the needs of the next level, such as a need for creativity or aesthetic needs, then things get a little more complicated. You can relate to animals such as primates, but this is beyond the scope of the topic. Spiritual needs, such as, for example, self-knowledge and introspection, are already inherent in people.
As mentioned above, the behavior of animals, based on the harmony of higher-level and lower-level instincts, allows them to satisfy their needs for the benefit of the individual and the world at the same time. If we consider people, then more complex thinking gallows us to act not only altruistically, but also egoistically. Here the higher-level and lower-level instincts no longer act as a single mechanism of evolution necessary for nature, and therefore their apparent separation occurs. This will allow us to see the difference between animals and humans more clearly.
The satisfaction of needs in this light takes on a completely different meaning. A person can analyze his actions and wonder why he performs this or that action, why he satisfies this or that need. It’s interesting to point out that, at this level, it no longer matters whether we are talking about physiological needs or spiritual ones. In other words, altruism and selfishness can accompany any human action. And here the attitude starts playing a major role.
For example, a person can eat with the thought that this will give him strength for a necessary and good deed, or he can simply fill his belly for pleasure. All other needs are satisfied according to the same principle – either for the sake of pleasing your body and your ego or for a good deed. Even the spiritual sphere is often reduced to selfishness, when a person seeks knowledge or enlightenment solely for the sake of his own “spiritual growth”, while not caring about other people and the world.

Part 5

A man, unlike animals, can live exclusively on the principle of satisfying his ego. If he puts the lower-level instincts over the higher-level instincts, it does not go naturally for the benefit of other people and the world. In other words, unlike animals, the lower-level instincts of man aimed at satisfying his ego, without the participation of consciousness, will, and desire, do not in any way pass into higher-level instincts. Thus, “When a person allows himself to descend to the level of an animal, he inevitably falls below” (Sayings of Atarkhat).
If you look at what is happening in the world, it becomes obvious that the superiority of the lower-level instincts over the higher ones inevitably harms the world and people. Here I will not mention the problems of modern society, but I will note that for thousands of years they are still the same: poverty, wars, violence, hatred, and others. Nature allows us to independently make the right choice and realize how it really should be for evolution to proceed properly, and for human beings to remain humans. Animals and their correctly placed priorities – even if they are placed unconsciously, but correctly – are an example for us. The strength of a person lies in the fact that he can and should set these priorities on his own, relying on what should and what is necessary for the world. Examples are before our eyes. The natural world is an example of a properly working mechanism. And it is not difficult to imagine what will happen to this world if it suddenly abandons its due in favor of something else. This is obvious even on the example of our ordinary mouse. What will happen if a mouse refuses to follow its instinct and begins to live “for pleasure”? What if mice go beyond what is necessary, behave aggressively, start fighting, hate each other, attack each other? In other words, they will behave as people sometimes do. What will happen to these mice, to their species? That’s right: it will die out very soon. And people will say: “They got crazy!” This is exactly how this behavior, which can lead to the extinction of the species, looks like. This is abnormal, weird, and scary.
For humans, creatures with an active mind, who are far superior to mice in awareness, this behavior looks not just abnormal, but absurd. Is it worth it to be the pinnacle of evolution on this planet if we have not learned the norms of life, intuitively understandable even for an ordinary mouse? Can we still be considered an intelligent species? Do we need this kind of mind if it leads to degradation? Therefore, such a saying as, for example, “It’s “dog-eat-dog” world”, in reality, is not very fair towards dogs, which can never sink to such lows as people.
But don’t panic yet. Everything is not that sad. And a man should not consider himself worse than an ordinary mouse. Nature centers hope on us, and therefore it gave us new opportunities. After all, “If stars are lit, it is something that somebody needs? It means someone wants them to be? ” (V.V. Mayakovsky). Man is the result of evolution, and his ability to separate higher-level and lower-level instincts, to choose between egoism and altruism, was given to him by Nature for a reason. As Immanuel Kant wrote in his ethical theory, ” Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me”. The moral law is born in man as a result of his destiny, a new stage of evolution. By choosing the higher-level instincts and life for the good of people and the world, man overcomes resistance and consciously rejects the inappropriate in favor of the due. This is how a new quality of his Spirit is born, more perfect. Animals are deprived of this opportunity to make a moral choice, which means that this evolutionary leap is not available to them. Therefore, the fact that man can sink to such lows as an animal is justified by the fact that he can give the world much more than our animal friends.

Awareness allows us to understand ourselves in a new way, to rise above instinct, as a natural program, to choose our own. Looking at how the world lives, we can create our world – based on the same good rules, only more perfect. Man can make this beauty seen and understood, breathe spirituality into it and give it even greater value. A man should and can live for the good of the world. He can recognize his weaknesses and overcome them. He can cognize the Truth, see the world as it is, and see his good purpose. He can love like no other. Therefore, my favorite quote is: “If you knew how good you are, you would never do evil, and you would be happy” (Song of Rohami).

Part 6

Who am I?
So, now we can return to the definition of our “I”, our self. And here we see the following. If the word “human” refers to our body. However, we admit that we are more than that. We are different from other “unconscious” living organisms. But who are we? And how should we call ourselves? Usually, when we talk about someone who is a role model, honest, strong, moral, ready to help others, great support for the world, then we use the word “Man” with a capital letter.
Here I want to draw your attention to one very important point. When we emphasize the word “man”, when we write it with a capital letter – “Man”, we point out his personality, his Spirit. It would seem that such a “Man” is a value in himself. Is it true?

Here is an example from a philosophical article: “If you have read “Monday begins on Saturday” by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, then you probably remember one of the most interesting characters – Cristobal Junta. Cristobal Junta is the former Grand Inquisitor, now head of the Department of the Meaning of Life at the Institute, who proved theoretically “that death is by no means an indispensable attribute of life”. He is fundamentally concerned with problems that have no solution (“It’s nonsense to look for a solution if it already exists. It’s far more interesting to deal with a problem that has no solution”). And also, as evidence of his skepticism, there was a huge poster on the wall: “Do we need ourselves? ” (article “Do we need ourselves?”, Popular spirituality and science journal “Our space”).
The origins of the answer lie in another question, which can be considered a question of questions: What is the meaning of human life? Here you shouldn’t think of your answer, since it does not depend on you at all. “And on whom then?!” – you might object. And I will answer: “The world, you live in. What is your world like? What shapes your “coordinate system?”
The point is that a person does not exist by himself but as a part of the world. If a person disappears, the world will remain, but if the world disappears … that’s right, a person will disappear with it. It is obvious from this simple logic that a person is not a value in himself. Man is a part of the universal mechanism, and if he exists, then he is necessary for something, since nothing exists for no reason in nature, and everything has its place. Here you can talk about both an individual and humanity as a whole. Why do humans exist as an intelligent race? This question is answered by many philosophical doctrines, and all in different ways. And it is obvious that the answer, for example, of a Christian will be different from the answer of a Buddhist or materialist. Each of these people thinks within their picture of the world, and it is this picture that determines the meaning of human life.
For example, if we think that man is something more than a body, that he is a sentient being with his personality, who can give the world more than all other species, then it becomes obvious that the goals of such a creature go beyond simple matter. If we look at the universal mechanism as an integral developing system in which each particle takes its place, then humanity will not be an exception. Billions of years of evolution have gone to the emergence of an intelligent species capable of being aware of itself and qualitatively changing the world around it – and nature strived for this for a reason. This is part of the evolutionary process. It is another matter whether people are aware of the role they play in evolution and why they appeared as conscious beings. Like any living system, the Universe develops according to certain laws, and the emergence of those who are aware is a new stage in its development. Humans differ from animals in their capacity for awareness. And this quality at the highest level is manifested in man through spirituality. With the advent of those who are aware, the evolution of matter fades into the background, since the evolution of Spirit becomes available. And this is a fundamentally new leap. It is for this that humanity appeared – for the realization of itself as a conscious species, for evolution through Spirit. It is the spiritual qualities that turn “man” into “Man” with a capital letter. And here we come to another very important question – “What is morality?”

Part 7

What is morality?
First of all, we need to define morality. Different sources give this concept different definitions, but, in my opinion, they all boil down to something like the following: Morality is the inner spiritual qualities that govern a person, ethical norms, and rules of behavior are determined by these qualities. Some sources add that these qualities are based on the ideals of good, justice, duty, honor, etc., concerning people and nature. This addition, however, needs further clarification, because such a concept as “good” is not the same in different worldview systems.
How is morality related to the picture of the world?
All world spiritual traditions in one way or another are aimed at the moral development of their followers, but they provide a different basis for this. For example, in Buddhism, moral practice is aimed at liberation from suffering, and morality in Christianity is a means of serving God. Thus, we can say that in Buddhism, good is that which helps to get rid of suffering. For example, refraining from intentionally causing harm to living beings. In Christianity, God is considered the most important representative of good and the source of this concept itself, which means that the fulfillment of the Divine is considered good.
We see that the concept of good, and hence of morality, is inextricably linked with the picture of the world, which is described by this or that worldview. Different traditions describe the world in different ways, humans’ place in it, the meaning of their lives and their goal, and, accordingly, morality as a tool for achieving this goal.
The Buddhist worldview explains the necessity and possibility of getting rid of suffering and talks about how this can be achieved. Christianity tells people how to come to God and what moral standards should be followed in this. This is how any spiritual tradition works. It answers the questions “How does everything work?”, “What is our place in this system?”, “What is the meaning and purpose of our life?” and “What needs to be done to achieve this goal?” Each of these questions is extremely voluminous, and answering them within the framework of any worldview, one would have to state the entire doctrine, and then give detailed explanations to it.

For example, if we say that the Universe is a living system that develops according to certain evolutionary laws, and the emergence of a sentient being is a new stage in its evolution, then this allows us to answer the question about the place of man in the Universe. Sentient beings are the new evolutionary force in the Universe. The universe is colossal, its size is beyond our understanding, and it would be very presumptuous to believe that humanity is the only intelligent race in the Universe. With such a variety of life on one single planet, it is ever hard to imagine what a variety of life exists in the vastness of the Universe and beyond.
Watch a short video about the size of our Universe. It is beautiful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLcrBXl37BQ

Part 8

We can say that intelligent races (there are certainly many of them in the enormous Universe), are a new evolutionary force in it. We can say that the development of each particle separately should lead to the gradual development and improvement of the entire living system. Its particles reach a level of development sufficient to cognize the structure of the world and their place in it, to understand the difference between what is good for them and the Universe, and what is bad, and make the right choice between the first and the second, thanks to which they improve morally. This determines the meaning of their existence. We can say that the collective consciousness and intelligence of the Universe are scattered in countless living beings, including humans. Thus, in our case, the more perfect a person becomes, the more perfect the Universe becomes.
From this follows the corresponding evolutionary principle: since the perfection of the Spirit underlies the evolution of the Universe and guarantees its further existence, it is precisely what is good for it. Opposition to this process is harmful and endangers its further development and life. This principle is also true for the particles of the Universe since at this stage, improvement is carried out through them. It would be correct to say that each particle is identical to the entire Universe, and is both a particle and the whole organism at the same time. Thus, the purpose and meaning of the existence of particles and the whole organism are identical. The task of sentient beings is to contribute to the evolution of the Universe, for its life is their life, and its death is their death. To move evolution forward, they learn and make a moral choice in favor of good, overcoming resistance. Resistance is a threat to existence for everything, including the Universe and its particles, including people. Resistance for sentient beings is the ability to deviate from the good and make a choice in favor of negative qualities and actions arising from them. In other words, people need to develop their moral qualities and improve their Spirit, overcoming vices. The future of the entire Universe depends on this.
It is important to note that all particles are in constant interconnection, and without the beneficial activity of each of them, there will be no cumulative beneficial effect. It is important to understand that this effect is achieved cumulatively, that is, the Spirit is constantly being improved. Since the Universe is an integral system, the improvement of the Spirit of one of the particles immediately leads to the improvement of the Spirit as a whole, and its improvement immediately improves the Spirit within each particle. Without the correct work of the particles, each of them in particular, and all of them together, there is no future, they will perish. Thus, the main aim of each person is understanding the world and its laws and life for the benefit of the world and people and, as a consequence, for the benefit of the entire Universe, and himself as a particle of this Universe.
“The starry sky above me and the moral law within me”
I would like to return once again to the quote by Immanuel Kant: ” Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me” The path of humanity to knowledge and spirituality is very thorny, but, despite all the ugliness that people do, there is something unchanging in their souls: this is the desire for good. It is this aspiration that leads to the formation of the so-called “universal human values”, which, in one way or another, in a long and difficult way, are nevertheless formed in mankind.

As mentioned above, spiritual development is one of the stages of evolution, which means that good qualities are initially present in every person. Their “voice” steadily and invariably rings through the noise of delusion and ignorance, and allows people to slowly but surely move in the right direction. We can say that morality is inherent in humanity as an impulse, and despite all the hardships and difficulties, its shoots sprout among different cultures and peoples. As Mark Twain said, “Kindness is a language that the blind can see and the deaf can hear”.

Many of these values are familiar to us from childhood, even from fairy tales, and they are perceived as universal and taken for granted. Many children will not hesitate to say which heroes of a fairy tale are good and which are bad. They do not doubt that being honest, brave, and kind is good, but being a deceitful and cruel coward is bad. And here no worldview systems are needed because this is obvious at the level of common sense. This enters into the consciousness of people and is perceived as a value in itself. Therefore, we often speak of a good deed as something that we do at the behest of our hearts. A person subconsciously reaches for the good, like a flower to the sun, intuitively, feeling it with his soul and heart.
By the way, it is this “good spark” that allows people with different worldviews to come to the right conclusions at certain points. And even if they do not know exactly how the world works, they seem to subconsciously adjust their worldview to the desired result. We see that all adequate spiritual systems are aimed at the moral development of their followers – and this is how it should be because it is natural for sentient beings.

Part 9

What is more important – heart or mind?
What is the role of the mind in moral development if people can listen to their hearts?
If you look at the world around you, at all its troubles and misfortunes, it becomes obvious that “a good spark” is not enough. The ability to listen to your heart is not enough, because without reason, without understanding and awareness, evolution is impossible. A moral choice is necessary for the evolution of the Spirit, and to do it, you need to understand why you should do this. If there was no such need, only animals that are guided by instinct and are unable to transcend it would inhabit the Earth. Man is not like an animal, because there is such a necessity in the Universe. It is necessary for the Universe that, overcoming the resistance, the conscious ones improve their Spirit. For this, sentient beings should understand what is bad for the Universe and them, and what is good. This understanding is based on knowledge of the world order. It is achieved through the active mind that we are endowed with.

It should be pointed out that the presence of resistance is a prerequisite for the possibility of choice, and therefore, for development and improvement. Resistance itself and, as its absolute, the tendency of non-being, are necessary elements of evolution. They are not evil for the Universe by themselves. Evil is destructive and wrong actions that sentient beings do. In other words, evil arises at the moment when a person makes his choice in favor of evil. The ability to overcome evil, on the contrary, leads to perfection. Mind is necessary for a person to know and understand how the world works. Through knowledge, a person gets rid of delusions, which, in turn, provoke vices and improper actions. When a person gets rid of delusions, he embarks on the path of the Great Oughtness and can become what he should be – the driving force of evolution. Thus, his heart and his mind acquire a single strength and a single path.

Part 10

What is the Great Oughtness?
By the Great Oughtness, I mean the highest aim of human life. As mentioned above, the meaning of life of sentient beings, including humans, is to contribute to the evolution of the Universe. This is achieved through knowledge, moral improvement, and work for the good of the world. A person follows this path consciously, with goodwill. The meaning of every person’s life and his path, like a stream, flows into the great river, striving for a single good aim. The path of each person is one with the path of humanity and the Universe, and this path is called the Great Oughtness.

Each person, setting goals for himself, should contribute to the Great Oughtness, and not contradict it. The meaning of life of a person is identical to the meaning of life of mankind and the Universe. Small is like great, and great is like small, and there is no insurmountable difference between them since they share one life. The entire Universe has one aim, the same for all its particles. Humanity is building a bridge to the future. This is a common future for the Universe, humanity, and each person individually, and there is no other future than this. Building this bridge, each person simultaneously works for the good of the Universe, for humanity, and the good of himself as a part of the whole. Small and great are united by one life and one breath: we breathe – and the whole world breathes, the world breathes – and we are a part of this breath. Awareness of this unity and the path of the Great Oughtness is the only path possible for humanity because we were born for it. A person who has embarked on this path takes the same path with the world and finds his true place in it.

Is it easy to take the path of the Great Oughtness?
To answer this question, I will allow myself to quote the following: “Everything that exists takes its place in Nature. Each of the particles of the Universe exists for something, plays its role, does its job. This also applies to intelligent races … The entire evolution of life forms – both on Earth and in the entire Universe – is aimed at creating creatures in which the active mind could awaken … so that they can understand themselves and the world, learn what is good, and what is evil, learn to make the right choice between them, to become better, more perfect … This is what we call the Great Oughtness. This is a concept of a universal scale. Every intelligent race which is born in the Universe is born with the Great Oughtness “(article “Atlantes and Caryatids of the Universe”, Popular spirituality and science journal “Our space”). Oughtness comes from the world order and the laws of Nature. In other words, everything in Nature is born with a specific purpose, plays its role, follows certain laws. This is how an avocado tree grows from an avocado seed. It will not grow into an apple or citrus tree. The Great Oughtness is inherent in us by Nature. This is an immutable law. We can turn the blind eye to our destiny, we can go into ostrich mode, but this does not change anything. We are still a part of the Universe, we are still its driving force, we are still born for greatness, and we are still intelligent, conscious beings by nature. We may succumb to weaknesses and temptations, but we were born for something else: to overcome, to develop, to go for the good. And to give up on this is like trying to give up on being humans. You can’t avoid it; it is only possible to be capricious for a while. Man is free to crawl and roll about, but his destiny is to walk. This is how evolution works. And this means that Nature has provided us with everything we need to be human: intelligence, willpower, striving for the best, etc. We have all this in abundance. Each of us. Therefore, I now will answer the following question: “Is it easy to take the path of the Great Oughtness?”. The answer is: it is natural. Is it easy for a tree to grow from seed, make its way to the sun, and bear fruit? Maybe not always easy, maybe sometimes you have to break through the concrete. But a tree does it, and it’s worth it.
How to realize the most important things and embark on the path of the Great Oughtness?
First of all – and this is the most important thing – you need to cognize. Mind is given to a person so that he can understand, see the essence, build logical connections and draw conclusions. It is necessary to learn to have a complete picture, to say: “This is the world, and here I am, and here is my place in this world, and we are inextricably linked with each other.” There is no mysticism in this: scientists, researchers, thinkers, and each of us does it every day – each from his angle. The world is multifaceted and complex, but it is cognizable. We study, learn, make mistakes, refute our mistakes and learn from them, make generalizations and conclusions, prove, explain, teach others. This is how the process of cognition and accumulation of universal human experience goes on. Not everything has been studied and proven by science, but the day will come and people will learn more. And many things that they have already realized, but cannot yet prove, will one day be proven. The Great Oughtness is a logical conclusion from the picture of the world if you look at the world carefully and think about how it works. And people gradually come to it, they create a better human-oriented society, learn to respect and protect each other’s rights, love, make society more “humane”. Slowly but surely this process is going on, otherwise, people would have exterminated each other long ago, because it is always easier to rip apart than to build up. The impulse for creation in people is stronger than the impulse for destruction.
Let’s go back to the Caterpillar
Let’s go back to the characters of Lewis Carroll again. We have already come a long way and looked at a man from a new angle. We found out that the definition of our “I” is inextricably linked with the picture of the world and is conditioned by it. The meaning of life of each person and humanity as a whole is not groundless, and also depends on this picture. Now man is no longer just a creature that exists by itself, without purpose and meaning, but the most important part of the Universe, the driving force of evolution. Now, let’s see how this valuable philosophical experience works in real life. How can we change our lives now?

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Part 11

My body and “I”
We have concluded that man is more than a body. Man is a personality, an individual, a unique particle of the Spirit, which follows its evolutionary way beyond the evolution of matter. Now it’s time to talk about the “relationship” between our personality and body. Within the framework of matter, a person’s personality has a physical body, which has a sufficiently developed nervous system that allows our “I” to operate in the physical world. We can say that we are the “operators” of our bodies. It allows us to use matter to improve our personality, our Spirit. How exactly does this happen, and what opportunities does a physical body give us?

If we consider our “I” as a particle of the Spirit, the bearer of our personality, we will see that our only need is the need for development. It is due to evolutionary necessity, the principles of the Being itself, which is constantly evolving and changing. The word “Being” here means everything that exists as such. The Being is based on the Great Principles: “Good, Life, Progress and Reason. These Principles give everything that exists a possibility of existence, constant improvement, desire for creation, and the ability to be aware of itself. They exist simultaneously and inseparably from each other. Without the Principle of Life, there would be no life itself, no form of existence as such, in any of its manifestations. Without the Principle of Good, destructive forces at some point would prevail over creation, and everything would perish. Without the Principle of Progress, existence would not have an incentive to develop and would have disappeared at some point, without mains, without future, without meaning. Without the Principle of Reason, all that exists could not be aware of itself, would not be able to direct evolution in the right direction; chaos would reign around, which has no conditioning and meaning” (article “A look at mysticism, materialism and pantheism”, Popular spirituality and science journal “Our space”).
These Great Principles are the guarantee of Life as a universal principle, an impulse that is contained in absolutely everything. Nothing stands still, because the absence of change is the face of degradation and death. And I’m not talking about death in the physical sense we are accustomed to. Physical death is not the end of existence, but only the transition of one life from another. I’m talking about non-being, as a kind of antipode of the Being. At the same time, it is important to understand that there is no non-being since it does not define itself; but it exists as a kind of idea within the Being itself, which enables it to develop. Termination of life and development within the Being is impossible; but if the Being suddenly stopped developing, it would disappear. This idea acts as a certain principle of resistance of Life, thanks to which Life simply does not stop.
I am talking about this to show that the same principles operate inside our Universe, as well as inside our “I”. The need for development is within us, as a universal principle of Life. We can say that our “I”, our personality, has no other needs. And here the question arises: how to make our Spirit develop, what incentive should be offered? Inside our Universe, such a stimulus is the ability to act within the framework of matter. Our particle of Spirit, universal and immortal in itself, finds itself in very difficult conditions, where, thanks to the body, it acquires a lot of new restrictions and needs.
Our body needs food, sleep, safety, at least minimal comfort. And this is only if we talk about physiological needs. A person, as a sufficiently developed being, has higher-level needs, such as social needs and respect, as well as creative, cognitive, and aesthetic needs. At the top of this pyramid is the need for spirituality, which is precisely the impulse for perfection that flows from the Spirit.
To meet these needs requires a person should make decisions and take action. This allows choosing in favor of due and to improve morally. In other words, the body gives a person an opportunity to overcome delusions and resistance in the form of manifestation of certain imperfections in the Spirit. Each person at the moment of the birth of his “I”, that is, at the moment when he acquires his particle of the Spirit, becomes sentient. Thus, he receives a certain set of qualities, which he should improve. Among these qualities, there are both positive and negative. Though it is better to see negative qualities as insufficiently developed positive ones. Matter provides us with appropriate conditions to develop these qualities.
For example, we can take such a quality as courage, or desire to help others. If this quality is not sufficiently developed, it manifests itself as cowardice. A prerequisite for its manifestation is a certain threat. For the Being, such a threat is the idea of non-being. It is also embodied at the level of matter in the form of a threat of death. Since our personality, our “I”, our Spirit, is invincible, and since nonexistence cannot realize itself, then the body comes to the fore. There are many threats to our body in the material world, and as a defense mechanism, it has a self-preservation instinct. The threat makes the instinct work, it causes fear, fear makes a person make certain decisions. In the face of danger, he can show cowardice or courage. By showing courage, he improves the qualities of the Spirit, his personality; showing cowardice, he misses this opportunity. It is according to this principle that all the necessary qualities develop.

Part 12

What is it important to understand?
First, it’s important to understand how the world works and how this whole mechanism works. Secondly, to understand what our place in this mechanism is, and how we should act to perform our functions properly. Only after understanding this man stops moving “blindly” and begins to live consciously.
Understanding that our “I” is not only our body, becomes the key moment in the correct perception of ourselves. The second key point is understanding that meeting the needs of our bodies is not the aim of our life. We only meet these needs to maintain the vital functions of our body, which serves us as a tool for the development of necessary personality traits, and nothing more. Awareness of these two most important points allows us to live as a person should, – to live a full-fledged life of the spiritually developed personality. Only by fulfilling our functions as a particle of the Being, that is, by improving spiritually, we can fully live and develop. When this development slows down, it leads to unnecessary suffering and makes our difficult path even longer.
Living in a modern consumer society brings us both benefits and sufferings. It is natural for a person to get carried away, and very often in the pursuit of material goods, we simply postpone our lives for later, and our whole life becomes a pursuit of things. Since childhood, we hear phrases like: “When you finish school …”, “When you finish college …”, “When you get a job …”.
We are always looking for a brighter tomorrow…waiting for the day when all our materials dreams will come true.
And there is nothing wrong with this dream as such if we don’t do anything mean to make it come true, and we do not lose our happiness in pursuit of it.
What is more, by persuading ourselves that we become happy only when this dream comes true, we at the same time assert that without it we will remain unhappy. And this is the greatest delusion.
We have everything for happiness right now, and his true happiness is to follow our destiny. Everything else is just the background. Spirituality allows us not to lose sight of the main thing and be happy. It prevents us from drowning in consumerism … With the right approach, you can make your life full and happy right now, without giving up other important goals.

Part 13

I am a warrior
We often hear that every person is a warrior. And I agree with that. What does it mean to be a warrior? First of all, evolution is always a struggle. Everything fights for Life, and man is no exception. Only with the emergence of sentient beings, this struggle acquired a new meaning. Sentient beings fight against ignorance and delusions, struggle to know the objective reality. This is their main aim. They fight for their spiritual development, fight against imperfections, fight for a better future for the whole world. Such a struggle is the impulse of Life itself, there is no place for hatred in it because nothing deserves it. Man fills himself with good, and so there is no room for evil in him. This is his struggle. A person who knows that he has come into the world for spiritual development sets his priorities differently, ceases to be an egoist. People, who put their spiritual development in the first place, often run counter to the values of our consumer society, as a “thing” is an intrinsic value in such a society.
From the heart
Some time ago I read an interesting philosophical text that made me think a lot. It is called “From the Heart”. It explains that each of us is a Man with a capital letter. For example, there is such a quote: “You have to be humble in your needs. Nothing extra”. When I read this for the first time, I immediately wanted to object: “And I have nothing extra. All these things are very dear to me and I need all of them, and even this little thing that has been lying in my dusty corner for ten years”. The essence of this phrase was revealed to me later. We can paraphrase a quote from the text and say that a person should be content with what is necessary.

Let me explain. Firstly, we are not talking about asceticism. This doesn’t mean that one should sit in rags and eat bread and water. The point is that each thing has its purpose, and you should not act like a hamster and stuff your cheeks with everything that comes across, “just in case”. If you can find a worthy use of this or that thing on your way, then take it, and if not, then let it serve another person. Each thing is your assistant and your friend. And should you invite a friend and then say that you do not have time, and offer him to stand quietly in the corner? It is the same with the things we own. Respect them and their path, allows them to be useful, do not throw them into a far corner. And the best way to save a thing from such an unenviable fate is not to take too much. Perhaps this is more obvious when we talk about food: if you are greedy and take too much food, you will not have time to eat all, and food will be wasted. It is the same with all things: while a thing is lying in a corner, it cannot fulfill its purpose. Thus, it is wasted….You should respect things. Modesty is the key to respecting the world.
Secondly, when we claim that we have nothing extra, we thereby say to ourselves: “I need all of these things” And since we owe much more things than we need, we spend a lot of time and effort on servicing all these things. We serve things, and things necessary to service these things. Plus, we are consumers of a large number of services – and for these services, as well as for things, and for things to maintain these things, funds are needed. As a result, many of us find ourselves in a vicious circle, when we work exclusively for the sake of maintaining our well-being, and it is no longer things that serve us, but we serve them. In a consumer society, where well-being is an indicator of success, things take the leading role and are a measure for a person himself. To avoid such a deplorable situation, one should remember that a thing is an instrument for achieving a good goal, and nothing more. It is necessary to think about the welfare of people, but it is even more necessary to realize what it is for. A person who does not need to make two ends meet can spend more energy, time, and money on a good cause. A successful business is a blessing if it is aimed at good goals and if these goals are achieved by good means. The main thing is to remember what is the main goal, and not to turn your instruments into your masters. Alas, this is typical of many of us. We should always remember that when we work, we earn a living, we exchange our life hours, our life potential for money, and money for things. It is worth seriously considering in which case it is worth it and in which it is not.

Part 14

A poor man met a stranger on the road. The stranger said: “I have an unusual gift – to manage time. Tell me what you want and I will name the price”. “I want a nice house and a car, ” – said the man. The stranger replied: “I will give you a house, but you will live 10 years less than you should, and for a car – 5 years less.” “I’m still young,” – the man thought, “let me live 15 years less, but tomorrow I will have a great life.” So, he thought and agreed. But as soon as he received a house and a car, he died.
This is just a fairy tale, but you wouldn’t want to be that poor man…
Thus, the third point, which follows from the second, is fear of losing “necessary things”. Very often the boundaries between necessary and unnecessary are erased. It’s hard to distinguish, what is necessary for you, as a rational being, a particle of something larger, and your body; or what is necessary for your soul and your ego. It’s hard to understand, what is temporary and what is eternal.
To avoid this trap, we should remember that a body is also our tool. A very important, but still a tool – and therefore its satisfaction is not our goal. The body does not need luxury; it needs proper care to keep it functioning normally to follow the Great Oughtness. The body is given to us by Nature for a time and good purposes. We must remember this. It is natural for the body to be afraid of cold and hunger, but even in such a situation, only the body is deprived of what it needs, and not the person himself. “You have everything you need. It’s in you. Nature has given you everything so that you can be who you should be. Never forget about it. You have and will, and strength, and courage in abundance, and everything else that is necessary for a man and a warrior” (From the heart). It is impossible to take away the necessary from a person, it is in him from the very beginning. And even taking away everything from the body, including life itself, it is impossible to take away what is necessary from a person. It will remain with him. Therefore, one should not be afraid of losing anything. There is no such force that is capable of taking something away from us.

The fourth point is the desire to gain what is already yours and to hold on to what cannot be kept. We cling to the familiar: our home, our property, our habits, our way of life. We cling so much that we elevate them to the absolute, and most of all we are afraid of losing them. There are two important aspects here.
Firstly, this is only a temporary refuge for your body, and anyway, it will leave you just as it came. A person will come into this physical life and leave it, and he will leave everything physical that was with him there. Therefore, these things are worth appreciating, but not clinging to them. After all, this is the same as taking a train but holding on to a lamp post on the platform. Get on this train and let the landscape flash outside your window. It should be so. Everything you need, your baggage of good qualities, you take with you anyway; leave the other where it belongs. Let the lamppost stand on the platform and shine for others who are still waiting for their train. Secondly, everything around is a part of you. And the train, and the platform, and the post, and the people on the platform, and the landscape outside the window, and the starry sky overhead – all yours. Let it go in one form, and you will immediately find it in another. Even more, nothing can be lost and nothing can be gained, because everything is one, and everything was, is, and will always be with you. All that a person can and should do is to improve what his hand touches. Only in this aspect is it possible to acquire a new one – to improve what you already have. So instead of the old, you get a new, more perfect one. This is how evolution proceeds – when more perfect forms are born from previous, less perfect forms. And man can and should be at the peak of this creation, be its life-giving force. Therefore, you should not be afraid of anything, and you can safely do what is due.
The fifth point is the desire to fit more into your body than it can handle. The body is material, and its capabilities are limited – unlike yours. Man is both a drop and an ocean. The body cannot contain more, and a drop is enough for it, and man is eager to know the ocean. Allow your body to do its work, and allow yourself to go your own way, realizing that the man’s path is more important than the body’s path. Enjoy the ocean, and do not try, sitting on the shore, to fit it into a plastic bucket. Do not try to collect the stars in a net, but reach for them. A body has its destiny, and man has his own. Little things for your body – great things for you. Each person walks the same path with other people and the world. And everyone is endowed with everything they need. On this path, losses are imaginary, and gains are eternal. All we have to do is to remember about a worthy goal – “desire to protect, help, fix, make people and the world better. It makes sense to exist for the sake of such a deed” (From the heart). By liberating psychologically, we are liberating spiritually.

Part 15

I am the main force of evolution
What does the correct perception give when you realize that you are the force of evolution? This question is extremely broad since it affects absolutely all areas of our life. I would like to dwell on just a few points.
So, imagine a person who has found his spiritual path and lives for the good of the world. What is he like? I’ll start with the most important aspect. Correct self-perception allows you to live life effectively, for the good of the world and yourself. A person lives every day consciously, acts consciously, cares about the world. He is the role model for others and their support. Such people are the pillars of the world who hold it on their shoulders. They live every moment of their lives for a reason.

Of course, such people are also able to support themselves. They have no spiritual rush, they are not looking for the meaning in life, their place, and purpose as they have found all these. They are not looking at heaven asking about their lives. They have already found themselves, understood the meaning of their lives, and calmly and confidently follow the chosen path. They are reliable and predictable in a good way because they have already made the right choice when they set foot on their path. When they face an obstacle on this path, they are not puzzled, but they do what they should.
They do not question themselves whether to lie or to tell the truth, to help another person or to run away cowardly, to betray or keep their word, etc. They have made this choice – the choice in favor of morality, development, and Life. They had made this choice within themselves, within their “I”, their personality, long before their body collided with it. You can always rely on these people because they will not deceive, betray, leave you in trouble or act mean. For them, such a question simply does not arise. They live as they should for the good of the Being. This gives them confidence and strength to overcome any difficulties. They do not lose their heart, do not give up. They are warriors on guard of the good, because every person is born like that, without exception, and they realize this.

In addition to internal balance and deep morality, the correct perception of oneself allows you to overcome your shortcomings and vices effectively. Understanding that our personality, our “I”, is invulnerable and immortal, helps to overcome fear. Fear is a manifestation of self-preservation instinct that comes from the body. Self-preservation instinct allows our body to survive, adapt to environmental conditions. This is an instinct for our body because our body’s task is very simple: to survive and procreate. It needs safety, comfort and has other needs. All of its functions are ultimately aimed at this. Often a person tends to confuse the purpose of his life with the tasks of his body. He forgets that his goal is to improve and maintain Life in the long term, while the task of the body is survival and comfort within the framework of one physical life.
There is no further development for the body, and it knows nothing but its functions. Therefore, in case of danger, it gives the command “run”, in case of hunger – “eat”, in case of fatigue – “rest.” And that’s okay for it. And it will give the same commands, no matter what. Our body doesn’t know that for the sake of a good goal and the development of personality, it happens that a person has to overcome fear, endure hunger, and overcome fatigue. The body, no matter how paradoxical it may sound, does not care what will happen to the person himself, to his personality, or others. It is easy to guess that if a person listens only to the call of his body, then the soldiers will not defend their homeland in battle, rescuers will not save anyone, no one will share a piece of bread with the hungry, etc. The life of our body is extremely selfish by its nature, and the life of a person is directed towards something completely different. The one who understands this behaves with dignity.
Such a person does not abandon a friend in trouble because of cowardice, does not lie and does not steal for profit, does not act mean to save his bacon.
The one who understands that he’s much more than just a body can live as a man should. He can overcome vices. He knows that the command “do what is good for the body” comes from the body, and this often goes against the purpose of his own life. Knowing this, he can say to the body: “Hold your horses.” He can overcome fear and temptation and do the right thing despite this temptation. He does not follow the lead of the “up-to-the-minute desires” of the body but acts for the good of his personality. He doesn’t live the way cattle does, as what is good for cattle is not good for man. And if it was different, then we would be cattle, not people. The right perception teaches us to live as we should, to overcome vices, and to be different from cattle.

Part 16

The right self-perception allows us to perceive other people correctly and respect their path. If we understand that we are all inextricably linked parts of one living system, it provides the basis for true love for people. There are no more friends and foes, but there is only a reflection of yourself in every person and any other sentient being that has ever lived and will live. You are the Universe, which is now looking at itself through the focus of your consciousness. And the other person next to you is also You-the Universe, only it looks through another focus. It’s like two eyes – a person looks with both eyes, but each eye looks independently. And a person learns through both eyes, and he needs both, and it cannot be said that one person looks through one eye, and another through the other: there is only one person, and his personality is one.
The same is true about the Universe: it is born through each of us, absolutely everyone who is sentient. Everyone is a part of a single whole. We can say that each person is you, only looking through another focus. Can you not love yourself and not help yourself, and not wish the best to yourself? Thus, there is no difference among people, just as there are no two personalities behind two eyes. Therefore, “He who desires good, should desire good equal to the world” (Twenty Days). There is no difference between small and great good as everything is one. Anyone who understands this can love other people, wish them well, and do them no harm. The one who understands what the path is and how uneasy it is to follow this path respects the path of other people. He understands how hard it is to gain knowledge. He understands that our body is always behind our personality and our experience, and therefore treats everyone with respect and understanding.

The right self-perception allows, in particular, to learn to empathize with others. A person who has already found his path, his duty, and walks confidently and calmly in the proper direction, without emotional rushing and empty sufferings, feels the great blessing and support of the entire Universe. He is no longer alone. Everything in the world supports him because he is within the flow of the due and he is open to the world.
He has the heights of heaven in him, and nothing can take it away, as well as his powers to accomplish the good, as well as the great Life inside him. It lives through unity and it lives through him. He is like a rock, and all the hardships are only clouds that break against this rock. His “I” is indestructible and immortal, there is no fear in him, and he is happy with the real happiness that is available to man. He sees the beauty and pricelessness of every moment and is involved in the accomplishment of Life. Isn’t it a miracle to create life with yourself? He cannot lose anything, because everything is a part of him, and he gains the best with every breath. When you feel all this, you can understand how difficult and painful it is for those who have not yet found it. How hard it is for them to break through ignorance, how lost they are, how hostile the world around them seems to them. Is it possible not to sympathize with those who feel so much worse than you? How can you not wish them happiness and deliverance from suffering? How can you reproach them for the fact that their ignorance generates pain and evil? There is no place for hatred, and nothing deserves it. Everything deserves only compassion and goodness.

Part 17

The right self-perception contributes to health improvement. Man is a single organism with the world. What happens when the connections between the private and the whole are broken, when a person puts obstacles between himself and the world, departs from what the due? In doing so, a person refuses the help and support that Nature gives us. This is most clearly seen in the matter: the refusal of the necessary leads to illness, exhaustion, or death of the body. Refusing, for example, from food or air, a person dies. If a person incorrectly perceives himself and the world, erects internal barriers, then he seems to cut off oxygen for himself at the energetic and spiritual level. This has the same detrimental effect on him as the refusal of oxygen for the body. A person loses the support of Nature, is exhausted spiritually, energetically, and mentally. Needless to say, this kind of exhaustion directly affects his physical body. The opposite is also true – the deeper a person realizes himself and his place in the world, the more he is open to the world, the deeper his immersion in the “stream”, the more he can receive from Nature. Thus, if we know how the world works and what our function in this remarkable organism is, we have the key to the perception of ourselves. This allows us to prioritize everything correctly and has a positive impact on all areas of human life.

Many more positive practical points come from the right perception of yourself. For instance, it allows us to build healthy relationships not only between a man and Nature but also between people in society. Relationships that are based on mutual respect, love, morality, empathy, and understanding of universal human goals. The proper attitude to the world and life helps to establish both the inner world of a person and the outer one – his relationship with other people. These are interpersonal relationships, and relationships in the family, and society, and at the level of different nations and states. The elixir of eternal life exists, and it is contained in each of us. In everyone – in our common “I”, which knows Life and strives for its eternal perfection.

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Part 18

Obstacles to our way to happiness
The only obstacle on the way to ourselves is ourselves. And this is not a philosophical statement – this is a reality, which, however, many people prefer to hide from themselves. Only we can deprive ourselves of happiness, freedom, and dreams. Not circumstances, not other people, but ourselves. Not everyone, of course, is ready to take on such responsibility, because it is much easier to say that life has not worked out, there is no strength, no talent … etc. There can be infinitely many excuses, but in reality, there can be only one thing missing – the desire to change. We just don’t want to be happy, free, and chasing our dreams. We don’t want to, because for this we need to try, change, work, and it’s much easier to live somehow like this … when life has not worked out, there is no strength, there is no talent …, but nothing needs to be done. It’s easier to idle life away than to live it through.
Very often the easier way outweighs the way to happiness even though people seem to go for it. Most of us are looking for body comfort, not happiness. It is not surprising that there is so little happiness … But before we talk about happiness, we should talk about what prevents us from being happy. What prevents us from even seeing the path to happiness? Or even admitting that happiness exists? And the first obstacle on this path is, of course, fear.

Part 19

Fear
Fear is a very broad topic, and to uncover it, we would need to delve deeper into psychology. Within the framework of our philosophical reflections, I do not set myself such a task. I think we should leave this to psychologists and psychotherapists. Here I would only like to touch upon a few points that are directly related to what was discussed above.

Fear is familiar to every person and sometimes it brings a lot of trouble. When exactly does it turn into a problem? What is fear and what is it for?
First of all, it should be outlined that from the point of view of psychology, fear is a negatively colored emotional process that arises as a result of real or imagined danger and serves as a signal for protection. In other words, fear is needed to keep a person’s health and life in a dangerous situation. This is a basic instinct, inextricably linked with our physical body, which can suffer or die. From this point of view, fear is inherent in all living beings. Thus, many creatures are afraid of fire and extreme cold, unexpected loud sounds, flashes of light, and other signals or situations that they regard as potentially dangerous. These fears can be attributed to innate, or, in some cases, be acquired through experience, and they are necessary for normal existence. They are protective fear by nature. Here I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that most of these fears are short-lived, reversible, and arise only at the moment of immediate danger. These are kind of “animal fears”, known to most living things.
Types of fears
When it comes to people, everything becomes much more complicated – as there are many other aspects. For example, there are more complex manifestations of fear, such as phobias, anxiety, and many others. I believe that a good classification of fears was proposed by the doctor of biological sciences V. Shcherbatykh. He divided fears into three groups: social, biological, existential. For example, fear of fire can be attributed to biological fears, fear of death, and other fears affecting the very existence of a person – to existential, and performance anxiety, for example, – to social fear. Many fears that fall into two or even three groups at once. Moreover, the reasons for such fears are both real and illusory. I would like to draw your attention to the illusory causes of fears because they turn fear into a problem.
During our childhood, we tend to have real fears. For instance, if a child fell and hurt himself, he becomes a little more accurate, because he is afraid to fall again. The stronger the negative experience is, the deeper the fear and unwillingness to face the problem again are. However, children fall, and more than once, and all because their fears are adequate. That is, though a child is afraid of falling and becomes more accurate, he still does not stop running. He takes risk into account, learns to avoid danger. This is precisely the direct function of fear – to allow us to adapt, gain useful experience. This kind of fear is useful – it is a necessary element of the self-preservation instinct. As we get older, fear tends to degenerate from a defense mechanism into something that prevents us from living and making the right decisions. It seems to me that this is what the well-known proverb says: “Once bitten, twice shy”. In other words, fear turns into a negative emotion. It causes unnecessary excessive anxiety and limitations. It is no longer aimed at a specific problem but becomes a problem itself. This is the point when we switch from experience into delusions. People often waste a lot of time and effort fighting such delusions.

Part 20

Illusory fears
Illusory fear usually stays with a person for a long time, and no longer has a clear cause-and-effect relationship. In other words, nobody bites you anymore, but you remain shy. For example, a well-known illusory fear is subconscious unwillingness to trust and love if you were once hurt or betrayed. Though such fears seem to have personal experience and logic they are based on, in reality, they are as irrational as being shy after being bitten once.
These fears are similar to prejudice, stereotypes, and other negative generalizations. A person creates a kind of illusion for himself, and it becomes a foundation for his fears. There are a lot of fears like that. The more you believe in your illusions, the more difficult it is to deal with them. Based on illusions, such fears lose touch with reality and cease to serve their natural purpose.
These fears become more dangerous if they are based on fears of other people or generally accepted “axioms”. In simple words, imagine two people talking: “I will tell you a very scary story…. There was a black cat in a black street….”. In such a story the black cat and the black street are automatically presented as something scary, just because someone presented them like that. People usually just do not question why the black cat and the black street should be scary in the first place.
This is, of course, an oversimplified example, but in real life, everything works in the same way. For example, parents tell their child: “You should get married and have children, otherwise you will be lonely and unhappy”.
On the one hand, this is the opinion of the parents, it’s a warning and they wish you all the best. Most probably, there is a negative experience behind it. On the other hand, it is just an opinion, and it’s not a fact that a person will feel lonely and unhappy without marriage. Why can’t a person live happily without a family? Time will show. However, the point is that such an opinion forced on a person can generate a painful fear of loneliness and even an inferiority complex.
Of course, all parents always teach their children and it’s absolutely fine, but I just want to point out that there is always another side of the coin. And above all, when we grow up, we should see the other side of our fears. Where do they come from?
Sometimes fears are imposed unintentionally. For example, if your beloved one says: “I am so afraid of pain,” “I am so afraid of getting fatally ill,” “I am so afraid of flying” “I am so afraid of big dogs,” etc., you might take his opinion for granted. Thus, his opinion turns into an affirmation: “There is nothing worse than pain”, “Being sick is very scary”, “Airplanes are dangerous”, “Big dogs are dangerous for people ” etc. Affirmations turn to fears. Fears of flying, fears of dogs, etc.
Sometimes, it’s very hard to see what caused this or that fear. When we are asked: “Why are you afraid of this?”, we just answer: “Because it is scary and dangerous”.
I had a very similar experience myself. For a long time, I was afraid of pain. Gradually, this thought became more and more frightening. And I was genuinely surprised that other people were not afraid of pain. “How could it be?” – I questioned myself. At some point, I realized that this fear was not based on my personal experience. What is more: my personal experience suggests quite the opposite. I experienced pain, I went through operations and injuries. Thus, I asked myself: “What was I experiencing at that moment? Fear, panic, terror?” Not at all. Only the pain itself. Moreover, it was taken for granted: I was injured, I feel pain – this is how it should be. My conclusion was: the real pain never scared me. I was afraid of imaginary pain. The absurdity of my illusory fear is obvious, but for a long time, I could not understand its cause. In reality, it arose precisely because of the statement of my loved person. I took it for granted: “There is nothing worse than pain”.
Might be pain is the worst thing for my beloved one, but not for me. My experience suggests the opposite: I am not afraid of pain. To be honest, it is very difficult to get rid of such fear, because when you accept something as an axiom, and you can no longer see anything behind it.
Similarly, I thought it was very difficult for me to take responsibility for other people, for their life and future; I was afraid of it. In reality, this fear again appeared because my beloved one said: “How difficult it is for me to carry such a weight on my shoulders, it is hard, it is scary”. I took it for granted as well: “It is very difficult and scary to be responsible for others”. Then I analyzed my life – I am not afraid to be responsible for myself and others. Ironically, fear and doubts arose even though my experience proved the opposite.

Part 21

Go away Fears
I would love to talk about my personal experience and show what helped me in the fight against fears. There are several important aspects to consider. First of all, you should be aware of your fear. You should ask yourself: “What am I afraid of?” and “Why am I afraid?” If the answer is “It’s just scary”, then that’s the heart of the matter. Sometimes, one fear follows another. For example: “I’m afraid to remain single because I don’t want to be lonely”. We run into the fear of loneliness. One fear provokes other fears. Thus, it’s very important to find the root of the problem. Here is another example: “I am afraid of losing my job because I cannot give the best to my children …”. There is no direct connection between the first and the second simply because “money” is not a direct equivalent to “the best”. Actually, what is “the best”? If we go deeper, we will inevitably see that everything ultimately depends on the picture of the world and understanding of “good” and “evil”. What is “the best” for human beings? This is a serious question and it goes beyond this discussion.
Secondly, you should ask yourself: “Does this particular fear help to avoid what it is aimed at?” For example, my constant fear of pain did not help me to avoid pain. Life hurts sometimes, and it’s just a fact. What you should do is just be careful. If pain can be avoided, then there is no need to ask for trouble. If it is impossible to avoid paid or this avoidance leads to immoral acts, then fear is useless, but you should just be patient.
Fear is a defensive tool, and it is only relevant if it helps to defend yourself.
One should not be afraid of the inevitable, because it’s called inevitable for a reason – it cannot be avoided. Thus, as fear is aimed at preventing negative events, it’s useless when we talk about the inevitable.
For example, if an earthquake strikes, then fear is normal. It triggers certain reactions in our body, for example, an adrenaline rush. A person needs these reactions in an emergency. That is, he has more chances to react to a dangerous situation quickly and avoid death.
However, if a person is constantly scared of earthquakes, then he triggers certain reactions in his body without a reason. This is not healthy at all. Fear of death without real danger is an attempt to avoid the inevitable, fruitless, and harmful for our health. We see that the effect is the opposite – fear should help us to remain healthy, not the opposite.
As Epicurus said: “Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist”.
This is an absolutely wise approach. Every fear should have “physical utility”.

Thirdly, we should consider psychological utility. When our fears are reasonable, they make life easier for us, as we can avoid danger and prevent a real threat. If our fears are groundless – they make life more difficult, as they become a problem themselves and, in fact, change nothing for the better.

Part 22

Fears and awareness
There is a direct relationship between awareness and fear. The more a person understands, the less, all other things being equal, he fears. With a conscious approach, he gets rid of illusory fears and gains control over real fears. It should be pointed out that the complete absence of fears is something abnormal, endangering human life. Real fears benefit us, being part of the self-preservation mechanism, and therefore we do not need to get rid of them, it is enough to control them. For example, a rescuer trying to save a person may also experience fear, but he controls it, does not panic, and does what he should. Why does awareness help to control fears? There are many ways we can explain this.
First of all, fears, whatever they may be, are directly related to the physical body. Ultimately, it is the body that risks.
If we realize that we are much more than just a body, and our values are beyond primitive instincts, then we take control over the body.
The logic of our body is very simple: if it is dangerous – save yourself. This is how the self-preservation instinct works, and this is how it should work. However, a person should be able to control himself to make the right decisions. Otherwise, we would turn into miserable creatures who can abandon, betray, deceive, kill, and so on just to save their own lives.
Imagine billions of years of evolution aimed at creating such a miserable creature? It is possible? Of course not! Man is not like that. A man is a pillar of the Universe, a new force of evolution, and he has different values.
Our body is only a temporary tool that we can use for the benefit of developing our personality. A very important tool, but still just a tool. Our destiny is to work on our moral qualities, improve our personality, but not to spend lives pleasing our bodies. If we understand this aspect, fears automatically begin to fade, because our body is no longer the big boss. We decide what to do, not our bodies.
Secondly, understanding the scale of what is happening is vital. The development of the Universe, as well as the Being in general, has a certain trajectory. Evolution proceeds in a certain way, and the emergence of sentient beings is its new and necessary stage. Man is a part of this evolution, he does not exist in a vacuum, but is a part of this process. Man is necessary for Nature and he has his role. He is evolution itself, a fundamentally new force. His capabilities are enormous. Every person is like that, without exception, because everyone is necessary. We are all part of a single process, a single force, and this force is given to us for a reason. There are no weak people, no losers by default. Even the most complicated things are within our scope of abilities. There is no point in being afraid of failure.
We should understand that each person is a projection of the entire Universe, and he exists in unity with everything else. He is always one with the world, he is a part of the world, and the whole world is a part of him. We can say that each person is the active mind and Spirit of the Universe.
With this perception, your fears seem somehow petty and insignificant. What can the main force in the Universe be afraid of when it decides the future? The feeling of unity with the world makes us naturally psychologically healthy, and there is less and less space for fear. The focus of perception is changing. When a person feels like a tiny grain of sand, then everything is unknown to him and everything is scary. When he cognizes and sees himself as a force capable of changing the world for the better, there is no room for fear in him.
Thirdly, caring for others makes us stronger. When a person loves and cares about his loved ones, about people in general, about the world, then most of all he begins to worry not about his ego, but their well-being. You can overcome any fear for the sake of something greater than yourself. For the sake of the good and life of other people, a person can overcome not only fear but any adversity. If a person is not afraid to be a real Human, everything else is no longer scary. Love for the world, for people, for Life as a great principle, relieves fear. And this true love is achieved through knowledge and awareness. As the French poet Jean Marcenac once said: “The more I know people, the more I love my dog”, – said the fool. “The more I know people, the more I love them”, – said the dog. “The more I know, the more I love”, – said the real man”.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a concept in modern psychology that is defined as tracking current experiences, when a person focuses on the experience of the present moment, without being involved in thoughts about events of the past or future. In other words, it is the ability to live each moment with maximum efficiency. This is a very useful skill that allows us to put away unnecessary things and concentrate on what is required at the moment. At the same time, this concept is often confused with what is called “live for the moment”, although these two concepts are not the same.
Mindfulness, among other things, helps to get rid of fears. All living beings, including people, always live in the present moment. The difference between people and other living things is the ability to perceive the past, the future, and the present moment at the same time. This perception is a powerful tool, but it is important to understand that the past and the future should be viewed differently from the present.
Awareness of the past is given to us to gain experience, awareness of the future – to understand the purpose of our existence. Both of these aspects are necessary for development, but they should not interfere with actions in the present. Action is available to a person exclusively at the current moment, and at this moment his life is going on. We are always at the peak of creation, not ahead or behind it. An excessive shift in attention towards the past or the future leads to a decrease in awareness of the present and interferes with acting properly. In other words, it prevents us from consciously doing what we are doing now.
I think that every person knows the feeling when you are doing your job and thinking about something else, and thus everything goes wrong. Another example is when a person is trying to fall asleep, but endless thoughts are running through his head.

Experiences of this kind are unhealthy; they bring anxiety and create the basis for illusory fears. This happens because of the irrational attitude towards the past or the future. The past is not perceived as an experience, but as something happening at the moment. Thus, we try to live them through again although it is impossible. Of course, this is more related to negative experiences than positive ones. We try to live through the past by harming the present. We should analyze the past, but not substitute the present.
The same happens with the future: it has not come yet, and there is no need to live through it emotionally and experience it in advance. When the future becomes present, it will be completely different. I can share my example.
Once I stumbled on the stairs and injured my spine, which brought me to the operating table and then to a long recovery. If I knew about this even a few years before, I would have imagined a lot of scary things about this injury and the operation. I would have lived this future in advance, or rather, my illusion about the future. And it would seem real and scary to me. In fact, at the moment when this happened, I was not hurt badly nor scared. I was glad that I had this operation. I felt comfortable in the hospital. This experience was not traumatic at all. It was rather positive. What is more, I met my future husband at the hospital, and a year later we got married. It was a period of joy and change for the better. Illusions about the future have nothing to do with reality. The present is always different from the past and the future. The past no longer exists – we only deal with memories and attitudes. There is no future yet – only expectations and illusions.
And that is precisely why the past must remain with us in a form of experience, and the future – as a plan. We should live in the present moment. We should be aware that we are acting here and now, not yesterday and not tomorrow.
For example, it is vital to be able to relax and sleep when it’s time to relax and sleep. How can a person achieve that?
The simplest way is to focus on your real physical sensations. Use your body to stay in the present moment. Look at yourself objectively: here you are in this bed, and there is nothing else at the present moment, and this is the objective reality. Feel what your body is feeling at the moment: your head is on the pillow; your arms and legs are relaxed. There are many relaxation techniques. Use the one that suits you best. Accustom yourself to the ritual – when I go to bed I live only at the present moment. The body learns quickly enough, soon it becomes a habit.
There is another way to achieve mindfulness. Remember your destiny as a human being. Why are you here? You are here for personal development, spiritual evolution, and everything else is just an environment for this development. Remember what was written on the ring of King Solomon: “Everything will pass, and this too will pass”. We can add that it will pass with benefit because evolution always goes forward and never backward. A person can simultaneously be aware of himself as a part of something larger and at the same time concentrate on the present. And this is a great power because it simultaneously embraces both eternity and the peak of creation. Man is an amazingly powerful being, capable of great things. Everyone is.

Part 23

Freedom
Fear is one of the main obstacles on your way to yourself, to happiness and freedom. Fear often stops us from following our dreams and living for the good of the world. The second obstacle is understanding freedom as such. What does it mean to be free? Is it possible to be completely free? Is it possible to take away freedom from a person? How does understanding freedom affect happiness? One philosophical article explains: “It is impossible to argue that freedom is one of the greatest values … However, society tends to absolutize freedom. Many people and there are more and more of them every day, generally think that freedom is a complete absence of any restrictions. Freedom is confused with unrestrained willfulness and lawlessness. At the same time, the concept of “freedom” is always about physical freedom. To “incarcerate” means to be imprisoned or simply bound hand and foot. In reality, however, such associations are very superficial. True freedom has an evolutionary meaning, and it is not about being bound hand and foot.
So, let’s look at the most important aspects of freedom as it is.
Firstly, the concept of “freedom” is hardly about physical freedom. The human body is extremely limited in its capabilities. Of course, we can talk about freedom within some framework; but these frames are so narrow that the conversation turns out to be very short. It is freedom when you just cannot do much physically? The restrictions are numerous. You cannot run faster than your body allows. You cannot breathe in more than your lung capacity; and at the same time, you can’t help but breathe. You cannot jump higher than your muscle strength and gravity allow. You cannot fly. Perhaps you can fly by plane, but with many additional conditions. You cannot be anywhere you want. Even if you could, there are such limitations as illness or lack of money. You cannot stop growing old. You cannot take something in your hand if you do not have a hand. You cannot carve a statue out of marble if you have no talent, materials, tools. You cannot … You cannot … You cannot … And apart from purely physical restrictions there are many laws and rules. For example, you cannot (you can physically, but you must not) cross the road at red lights, or enter someone else’s land if the owners do not allow you. If we compare what we cannot with what we can, the advantage will not be in favor of the latter. Physically, we can do almost nothing. Our physical freedom is very, very limited initially, by definition. It depends on many factors beyond our control – that is we have almost no control over it. It certainly matters, but you cannot put it at the forefront.
Secondly, absolute freedom without any restrictions is impossible, though many strive for it and think it is something ideal. Moreover: it is unnatural since it contradicts the principles of Nature. Everything that exists, exists only as a part of the system. A complex system of the Universe, which includes many other systems. And every system is an order only when everything is in its place and interacts in the right way. Arbitrary changes in the system lead to disruptions in its functioning and death. What would happen if your liver decided to go to the place of the heart? Or if nuclear processes in the sun were changed? Or if all over the Universe things would stop working, for example, the laws of gravity?
Man is also part of the system of the world. He takes his place in it – and this is not the place that he chose for himself, but the one that is destined for him by evolution. It is determined by its evolutionary origin, structure, abilities, capabilities, etc. And most importantly – his role in the further evolution of his world and the Universe. That is his purpose. And this means that absolute freedom is not only impossible for him, but he does not need it either. And if you think about what exactly people put into the concept of “absolute freedom” or “complete freedom”, then it becomes clear that most often they mean the ability to freely implement their desires. That is, the meaning of the great struggle for human freedom, turns out to be as primitive as it can be: that no one interferes with fulfilling your wishes. It is not even an animal level, but below. After all, animals take their place in the system of Nature, and what they want turns out to be exactly what Nature needs. Man, however, often wants bad things, bad for Nature, for the world, and the man himself. Freedom is freedom – but it does not justify evil. That is, no action is right and good just because someone had the freedom to do so. And when we act badly, then we cease to be an organic part of Nature, as if we fall out of its system. And it needs us. We (humans and other conscious beings in general) play a key role in evolution.
Therefore, our task is not to gain as much freedom as possible but to understand our role, our mission, and learn to follow it. That is, in essence, in learning to be ourselves. However, “being ourselves”, contrary to popular belief, does not mean at all to be able to freely fulfill all our desires. Quite the opposite: the ability to refuse them is a huge part of true freedom.

Part 24

Thirdly, the main manifestation of freedom available to us is freedom of choice. This is precisely its essence. Because this is what has an evolutionary meaning … And it is always there. There is always a choice. In reality, man only chooses himself; no one can force him to make this or that choice. Some people can argue with this statement, pointing out that a person can be pressured, even tortured, and thus deprived of free choice. But I will answer: not at all. He always has a choice – to obey or not, endure or surrender, die or buy life at the price of what he is forced to do. Such a choice, to put it mildly, is not the most pleasant – but it is still a choice. If someone is threatened with death, then he chooses between life and his principles, decides what is more important for him. He chooses himself. Because although his body is under threat, no one but him has power over his will. And there were people, and quite a few, who chose principles in such a situation. They died, but they remained free. They remained truly free, and it had nothing to do with bodily freedom, which can hardly be called freedom. It’s very important to point out: you can try to force a person, but he cannot be truly forced. He surrenders only if he allows himself to surrender. Why is that? Because in reality, we are much stronger than we think. After all, man, like any sentient being, is the driving force of evolution. And this is connected with the freedom of choice. It would be strange if, given such a mission, such opportunities, and such responsibility, we did not receive enough strength to carry out this. The reserve of strength, due to the unity with the Universe, is practically inexhaustible. However, some people do not know this, some do not believe in their strengths, and others do not want to use them, looking for easy ways. Well: in the end, everyone is free to choose, and he decides for himself whether to use his power or not.
Let’s have a look at the following example. For instance, let’s imagine a slave. It would seem that a slave has neither freedom nor choice. But he does. He can obey. He can commit suicide. He can try to run away. He can rebel and fight. He may simply refuse to obey – and see what happens. In short, he has a choice. Even if you are sitting in a casemate without windows, and your arms and legs are chained. Physical conditions do not matter. As long as you have at least two options to choose from, you are a free person. And options, as already mentioned, are always there. This aspect of freedom – freedom of choice, free will – is the most important. It is at the heart of this concept. All other forms and manifestations of freedom are just its derivatives. Real freedom has an evolutionary meaning. Humans, along with other sentient beings, are carriers and implementors of freedom. It is vital to understand the following: it is impossible to take away freedom from a person. The real one. Ephemeral freedom of the body is out of this concept. If you were thrown into a dungeon, then this is your body’s problem, not yours. You remain to be free because no one has power over your will except you …
There is a beautiful illustration of this idea in a story: “The Lord of the Seven Lands asks Teacher Ilan to stay in the palace and talk with him, but Ilan does not agree. Attempts to force Ilan lead nowhere. “The Lord said: “It is not easy for me to ask you. You are not afraid of torture or death, and I cannot force you, but I don’t want to let you go. Buy yourself freedom: talk to me for a few days, and I will let you go. If you refuse, you will have to stay in the dungeon for ages. Do not be afraid of deception, for the ruler of Seven Lands will not deceive you”. Ilan answered: “I am not afraid of deception, because I already know you well enough. I need freedom, but it has no price, and I cannot buy it from you. And the freedom that I have within me is enough for me to live: after all, I have the expanses of heaven within me. May I stay here as you said”. Then the Lord thought for a long time and sat in silence. Then he said: “If so, then I let you go. I am cruel when there is a reason; but only a fool, a coward, or a madman is cruel for no reason”. (Fathers III, 34-44).
Ilan’s body could have remained in the dungeon, but that was not the major factor for him. He had the expanses of heaven within him and he could feel it. He was free internally, even as a prisoner. He could continue to live a full inner life. Therefore, he could not be intimidated and forced by threatening with imprisonment. Internal freedom cannot be deprived. The Lord himself did not experience such a thing, but he saw a person who feels and lives like this in front of him. The Lord realized that he was powerless to oppose something to him.
Each person is internally free. There is even more than the expanses of heaven within us, – there is the entire Universe within us. This is a fact of life. The only problem people have, – they don’t know about this freedom and thus can’t use it. But if you know about this freedom, if you feel it, then you are truly free, and you cannot be forced to do anything or be imprisoned. Who can imprison the Universe?

Fourthly, another important manifestation of freedom is the right to restrict oneself. And only a person himself can do it. The ability to set limits for oneself is the realization of freedom in practice. After all, there can be no absolute freedom. We are limited anyway. And apart from what does not depend on us physically, then we decide what is possible and what is not.
A person obeys laws, customs, traditions, rules. However, he does this because he believes that it will be right, or that it will be better for himself. And a person who disagrees violates all these restrictions. He may be shown unpleasant alternatives – breaking the law will lead to prison, breaking custom will cause condemnation, and so on – but he cannot be forced to obey.
This is a principle that is formulated as follows: freedom is not the absence of restrictions, but the ability to set limits for oneself. And this opportunity is always there. It is realized most often as if by itself. In the sense that we usually are not aware of our choices and our decisions. These or those schemes are implemented, embedded in us through education, habits, and society. We make decisions without emphasizing them for ourselves. We simply agree to what we have been taught to and what is accepted by our environment. This is also a choice – but imperceptible for a person himself. He refers to this according to the principle “It cannot be otherwise and if it can, not for me”. Only when something changes significantly for a person, then he begins to revise the realities of his life. He realizes that he has a choice between what is and what can be. This is how it becomes a conscious choice. And if earlier the boundaries were set “by default”, and he only reacted to them, now he begins to evaluate them. He asks himself: “Where did they come from?”, “What is their meaning?”, “What would happen if it was different?”, “Do I agree?”. And if he finds them wrong or meaningless, then he denies these boundaries for himself and accepts new ones.
It happens, because a person cannot live without boundaries. All worldviews imply that there is something that you cannot do because you should not. There is a line that you will not cross. More precisely, there is a set of such lines that is related to different aspects of life. This is normal and this is how it should be. And all adequate people have such restraints…. So, everyone sets limits for themselves. Usually, these limits are not invented from a scratch. Usually, a person chooses them from the already known options, somehow justifying them for himself. For example, to lie or not to lie? Most people lie; at the same time, everyone knows that lying is bad. A person asks himself: “What are my reasons for not lying? Why shouldn’t I personally do this?” And so on. Man creates limits for himself, limiting his freedom. Or he accepts the restrictions, so to speak, in a package, accepting a religion or other worldview.
The important conclusion is that, firstly, it is impossible to live in complete permissiveness (it simply will not work), and, secondly, we set the limits ourselves, formulating them individually or taking them systemically. This is what a choice means – and it is always free. Someone can offer you something, but not force you. This is the crux of the matter: we exercise freedom of choice by limiting our freedom of action. This is one of the most essential aspects of freedom. It includes its limitation. And who, in principle, does not want to restrict himself in anything, fearing to lose his freedom, he has already lost it because he deprives himself of the opportunity to choose favor of restrictions. This is not allowed for him, and thus he is not free.
These are the main aspects of freedom. They are like the roots from which everything else grows. Of course, this is only a sketch, in the most general terms. However, what has been said is quite enough to understand the approach of the Teaching to such an important concept as freedom. Important not only for humans but also for the Universe, for its evolution and life. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of freedom. But it must be understood correctly. Otherwise, the greatest value can turn into the greatest illusion and the greatest disappointment. I will end with one more quote from the pandect: “Freedom is not lost, but only gained – this is its great property” (Eosphor I, 13).

Part 25

I know how to be happy
Understanding of freedom is directly connected to the feeling of happiness. If a person does not feel his inner freedom and focuses exclusively on his body, then he will rather feel bounded than free, and can hardly be truly happy. Happiness is found when a person lives in harmony with the world, and this implies freedom of choice towards the right, and the right is the best for us.

If a person lives for the good of the world, then he lives for the good of himself. Only in this way, the whole mechanism works correctly, and a person finds himself in the best conditions for himself, for his self-realization, for his future. This is how he lives freely in the best possible way for him. When we see our freedom and can get rid of our fears, we can finally do what we should do consciously. We are free, and we are no longer afraid to follow our dream and live for the good of the world. This is true happiness. We can not be happy on our own. A person is truly happy only and when he is happy with the happiness of the world.
I would like to emphasize once again that our life is determined by the place we occupy in the world. And we exist to be good for the world, and it cannot be otherwise. At a certain stage in life, we get to know ourselves, choose the path for ourselves, determine who we are and why we are in this world. And when we find ourselves, our true selves, the way we should be, a new stage opens for us: we want to do something for this world, because we see ourselves in this world, in every part of it, in every person. This is our freedom, and our happiness, and our future.
Bon Voyage!

Amradkhari