Becoming ill is a part of life, a hazard of life, a consequence of life. There are many causes: exposure to dangerous substances, stress, disappointment, the desire to retreat from the challenge of one’s life, exposure to other people who are ill, depression, grief. Any or all of these things may be present to initiate illness.
Your life is like a ship, sailing in the world, sailing in the physical environment with all of its challenges and influences, and also sailing in the mental environment with all of its challenges and influences.
The Creator has given you authority over the affairs of your life. This authority extends to what you think and to what you do, to your decision-making and to the results of these decisions.
You were born with a purpose and a mission in life – a service to perform given to you before you came, planted deep within you beneath the surface of your mind, planted deep beyond the reach of your worldly mind and intellect so that it could be preserved and not contaminated – only emerging when you are prepared and mature enough to recognize the true need for this, the true need to find your real direction in life.
Facing a world of tremendous change and upheaval will require a greater Intelligence to guide you, a greater strength within you that is beyond you, but that you are a part of. It will require fortitude and compassion and patience. It will require that you relinquish what you think the world must have and your complaints against the world, no matter how deep set they may be.
We will divide our conversation regarding work into three categories. The first is your work in the world. The second is your greater work. And the third is the handling and contribution of money.
Let us start with your work in the world. To build a foundation for learning and living The Way of Knowledge, it is necessary that you be able to provide for yourself in order to meet your basic needs and expenses and that you deal with these resources—money, time and effort—effectively. If this is neglected, you will be disabled in your attempt to build your foundation and to begin your journey into the next great stage of your life, which is the reclamation of Knowledge and the discovery of a greater purpose.
You have two fundamental aspects to your nature. You have a personal mind, which is associated with your body, a mind that has been conditioned by your cultures, your society, your families and by nature itself. This mind is driven by the need for survival. It is driven by the need for security and for resources. It is fundamentally fearful because it is so very aware of the risks and the prospect of loss in the future. It is haunted by this prospect of loss, and it is governed by the need to offset these risks.
There is a great deal of conversation in the world about how to regain, enhance and maintain health. But let us look at a more fundamental question before we deal with these questions. That question is, What is health? What constitutes genuine health within a person?
What is fulfillment? Fulfillment is fulfilling what you came here to do. Only Knowledge knows what you came here to do because Knowledge was put within you by God.
When you are young, you look at the world with greater expectations. You look for what could be meaningful to you. You look to try to understand your environment.