There is nothing that unites people with solidarity more than the threat of being smitten by a common foe. But what if the foe were imperceptible? Invisible not only to the eyes, but to the mind? Visible only to the spirit of man, and then too only through the pain felt in the spirit upon that foe's infections paining us and robbing us of peace within us. What then?

The governments of this world seek to protect their contries and terrotory by investing in defensive technology. They believe that having the best hardware and practising the best tactics, and most importantly, being forever in a state of battle readiness, is the best way to defend against any foe. To defend what? Their way of life, their beleifs, their values, and ultimately, the hapiness that adherance to such things brings to them and their people. In doing that we are all in agreement with the mystic way.

For mystics will also tell you that we are all the victims of a common foe; and that we all must also practice the best tactics, and forever be in state of constant battle readiness, if we are to succeed against that common foe: our own selfish desires.

Is not the quality of the peace within you more important than the quality of the stimulation that your senses receive?

In life, our objective and purpose should be to wholistically sharpen our minds and intellects, side by side with the bettering of our health and bodies, so that we can become holistically intelligent beings in able bodies. The purpose of such is the pursuit of mental clarity. A sharpened and keen mind is one that questions and seeks to understand the nature of things, that asks what is it that allows such and such to function, and then questions and seeks to understand how somehting may be improved, or bettered. Always, its objective is to understand purpose.

Anything that detracts from such an objective should be avoided. But to say so is to preach a path wiothout cognizance of the human condition; of temptation, and more importantly, of the need for balance. One cannot rigidly avoid all things that do not sharpen the mind or better the body; for that is to beleive that we do not require deliverance from temptation. It is far better, more realistic, and ultimately more prudent, to actively seek to balance the pursuit of a sound and keen intellect and body, with the pursuit of pleasure that gives expression to the lower senses and desires of mankind. It is only when the former is acheived in a balanced fashion that the spirit of us is nurtured in a beneficial way, such that its nourishment leads us to desire that which elevates the intellect and perceptive quality of our senses, far more than the sensual pleasures that allow expression to our lower senses and carnal desires.

Ultimately, it is the outweighing of the desire for the indescripable pleasure one gains from perceiving life with clarity, that will annihilate the desire for descripable pleasure.

There will always be times during the earthly sojourn when your spirit will feel as thought it has been at ebb for far too long to even know the glint of promise that opportunity brings, such that you would know that this is what will provide you satisfaction for the spirit. At such times you must not give in to the temptation to indulging in self pity, for self pity, even at the worst of times, is a sin. It is a sin because it debases in your mind's eye the worth of your true self, your spirit. Each and every one's spirit is worth more than they imagine, and it is unbecoming of us as human beings to allow ourselves to believe that we are not worthy of holding ourselves in high esteem. Never fear failure and never fear not being good enough. Have faith in yourself and take the time to realise what it is that moves you, and work towards bringing about a situation in life whereby you are able to do that which moves you.

What you will find is that regardless of what it is you decide moves you, it will always involve some measure of concentration in order to bring about accomplishment. Be it videogaming or be it being a trial lawyer. Concentration is key to mastery.

That brings us to the next point, when we are desperate for money, we will seek to do anything, and we will concentrate very well upon it for the duration that we are desperate. But outside that realm, if the task we have engaged in soes not move us, we will grow weary and ill of it, and seek satisfaction elsewhere for creative expression. Hence, the ideal work for us is that which allows us to concentrate effortlessly. Effortless concentration is the best kind of concentration.

Effortless concentration cannot be had unless you have reached the stage of effortless concentration by engaging in persuaded concentration, i.e. concentration where you have persuaded the mind to focus. The only time the mind does not want to focus willingly is when there lies a hurdle, or problem before it. It is only in such cases that we are loathe to walk on, and in such cases that, if we feel that the effort required to surpass the hurdle is outweighed by the benefit of the goal beyond the hurdle, that we walk on. It is this walking on that entails persuading the mind to concentrate, and that is something nearly all of us must have done.

Once we have done that and dedicated ourselves to a worthy goal, by and by we find that concentrated effort is what brings us hapiness. It is the effort and not so much the acheivement of the goal that brings us hapiness; certainly that is the case in so far as our day to day hapiness and contentment are concerned.