What is your essential task?
Listen “There is something that can only be found in one place. It is a great treasure, which may be called the fulfillment of existence. The place where this treasure can be found is the place on which one stands…The environment which I feel to be the natural one, the situation which has been assigned to me as my fate, the things that happen to me day after day, the things that claim me day after day—these contain my essential task and such fulfillment of existence as is open to me.” Martin Buber, 37
What are you passionate about? “Each member of the circle responds to three questions: What is my passion to create now? To fulfill this desire, what do I need that I do not now have – what is lacking? What resources do I have to give to this group or to people in other sectors of the social body?” Barbara Max Hubbard, Conscious Evolution, 226
‘If you had only one hour to live, what would you do?’“May I ask just one question?” put in one of the others. “In what manner should one live one’s daily life?”
“As though one were living for that single day, for that single hour.”
“How?”
“If you had only one hour to live, what would you do?”
“I really don’t know,” he replied anxiously.
“Would you not arrange what is necessary outwardly, your affairs, your will, and so on? Would you not call your family and friends together and ask their forgiveness for the harm that you might have done to them, and forgive them for whatever harm they might have done to you? Would you not die completely to the things of the mind, to desires and to the world? And if it can be done for an hour, then it can also be done for the days and years that may remain.”
“Is such a thing really possible, sir?
“Try it and you will find out.”
Krishnamurti, Commentaries on Living, Third Series
What are your most prominent personal traits and temperament?
What are your natural talents and abilities? What are your skills? What are your hopes and dreams?
Your Soul Profile“You can profile your expanded self through a series of simple questions. Write down your response to each of the following, using three words or short phrases. This is your soul profile, a list of 21 spiritual qualities that are present in your life and can be actualized today. If you act on the basis of these qualities, you are living from the level of your soul. Do not compare yourself to exalted models of spirituality – every stage along the path of personal growth is equally valuable.” Deepak Chopra
1. What is your purpose for being here?
2. What will be your contribution to the world?
3. What do you see as your unique talents?
4. What are the best qualities you display in your closest relationships?
5. Who are your heroes in myth and legend?
6. Which qualities do you most admire in others?
7. At the peak moments of your life, how did you feel?
Read and discuss quotes“There is one thing in this world you must never forget to do. If you forget everything else and not this, there’s nothing to worry about, but if you remember everything else and forget this, then you will have done nothing in your life.” Jalalludin Rumi
“It is a bitter observation: Life is constant peril; moral or even physical security is a myth. Few of us know what to do with our lives, with our power and will, with our intelligence and freedom. The heart is frail and blind; unguided, it becomes savage and forlorn.” Abraham Heschel, Man Is Not Alone, 261
“Everyone is called to one common human vocation – that of being a good citizen and a thoughtful human being.” Mortimer Adler, Six Great Ideas, 15