"What is it in ourselves that we should prize? I think it is this: to do what we were designed for." So writes Marcus Aurelius in his deeply contemplative Meditations. He goes on to say, "If you can’t stop prizing a lot of other things, then you’ll never be free — free, independent, imperturbable."
These statements certainly ring true with regard to possessions. The hedonic treadmill of desire that impels us toward more; cherishing that which we don’t yet have.
Popular guidance in career counseling relatedly suggests following your bliss. The burning flame within will clearly light the path to professional paradise. While certainly well-meaning, the teaching lacks in practical wisdom, leaving many adherents frustrated and jobless.
Yet there is something to exploring the inner fervor and considering "what we were designed for." But not necessarily from a trade perspective. More so the realm of beingness. While we may perceive ourselves to be designed to strive or designed to serve, at the core we are designed for love.
Not to love, although that may certainly be a manifestation. But designed for love.
An unfortunate challenge with the word love is its many connotations and inferences, particularly within relationships. Subject and object affection. A love for another. But this "designed for love" of which I speak is unrelated to devotion or sentiment. It’s the simple, yet profound, is-ness of love. A non-exclusive bond of infinite breadth. It cannot be expressed in word or deed, nor passionately conveyed upon another. It can only be touched beyond the bounds of form.
This is the imperturbable realm that Marcus Aurelius intuited. We can learn to leverage the severely limited being we call "me" to lead us beyond bodies, beyond selfhood, beyond duality - into the holiest presence of love. As we read in A Course in Miracles, "love is the glorious whole [of infinite oneness]." Perfect peace permeates this formless essence. This is what we were designed for.
Join me in Thursday’s class where we’ll explore practices for returning awareness into this stately province of limitless love. I look forward to seeing you then.