Funnily enough I've been thinking along very much the same lines myself recently - not for the first time, but with more insistence than before. Not that I'm against goals as such - I believe they can be beneficial if they channel energy constructively, provided we don't get too fixated on them. It's when we define ourselves by our goals, and the "future self" they represent, that they become a big trap.
"no goals, no rules, no shoulds, no don’ts, no success nor failure, no worries for the future, just trust: that we’ll figure everything out eventually, that everything is and will be as it should for us."
Thank you for this whole article, of course!
This is what I just get used to . .. . and it feels good!
My 27 year old nephew asked this summer about what our goals were, what we wanted to achieve etc. He felt it was important to have goals etc. which I wouldn't say is wrong...when you are 27 years old. Then I have always had a difficulty with bigger utilitarian goals.
What you are saying with death also points to the importance of being in touch with that part of us which is eternal, the force which animates us and which we can get in touch with in the moments where we let go of having any goals or be concerned about what others think about us etc., where a timeless sea of calmness is present.
Thank you for another thought-provoking post Luc. I might have misunderstood (I did have the 'goal' of understanding you point after all!), but the idea of getting to a radical anti-utilitarian 'place' brought to mind the idea of living according to Faith / The Spirit as described by Paul.
Now, can one have arriving at that place, that way of Being, as a 'goal', or does that only lead to disaster?
Thank you so much for this — a reminder badly needed! The great Sufi, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, wrote of the ego as a vortex — a whirlpool in the ocean. There is no real boundary.
I do this on the weekends most of the time. It's great.
But "not having goals" in the modern world is not the same cadence of life as a pre-technology-mostly-urban world. And so personally I don't intend on ridding myself of "goals" Monday-Friday. And some Saturdays.
Funnily enough I've been thinking along very much the same lines myself recently - not for the first time, but with more insistence than before. Not that I'm against goals as such - I believe they can be beneficial if they channel energy constructively, provided we don't get too fixated on them. It's when we define ourselves by our goals, and the "future self" they represent, that they become a big trap.
"no goals, no rules, no shoulds, no don’ts, no success nor failure, no worries for the future, just trust: that we’ll figure everything out eventually, that everything is and will be as it should for us."
Thank you for this whole article, of course!
This is what I just get used to . .. . and it feels good!
Even though I have reservations about Carl Jung, this might be relevant to this article?
Sifting wheat from chaff.
Why You Have NO MOTIVATION Left After Spiritual Awakening – Carl Jung Explains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C-iaFjYT-c
Thank you for that refreshing read.
My 27 year old nephew asked this summer about what our goals were, what we wanted to achieve etc. He felt it was important to have goals etc. which I wouldn't say is wrong...when you are 27 years old. Then I have always had a difficulty with bigger utilitarian goals.
What you are saying with death also points to the importance of being in touch with that part of us which is eternal, the force which animates us and which we can get in touch with in the moments where we let go of having any goals or be concerned about what others think about us etc., where a timeless sea of calmness is present.
Thank you for another thought-provoking post Luc. I might have misunderstood (I did have the 'goal' of understanding you point after all!), but the idea of getting to a radical anti-utilitarian 'place' brought to mind the idea of living according to Faith / The Spirit as described by Paul.
Now, can one have arriving at that place, that way of Being, as a 'goal', or does that only lead to disaster?
Thank you so much for this — a reminder badly needed! The great Sufi, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, wrote of the ego as a vortex — a whirlpool in the ocean. There is no real boundary.
Later mystical Heidegger wanders awfully close to Platonism and Christianity.
To be done once per week. It's called the Sabbath.
Glad someone beat me to it.
I do this on the weekends most of the time. It's great.
But "not having goals" in the modern world is not the same cadence of life as a pre-technology-mostly-urban world. And so personally I don't intend on ridding myself of "goals" Monday-Friday. And some Saturdays.