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How to Take Our Lives into Our Own Hands

“Every intention is blind when there is no knowledge.

All knowledge is vain when there is no work.

All work is fruitless when there is no love!”

From “The Prophet” by Khalil Gibran

There once were two young men who were living in a poor village. They were friends. Their sad, almost beggarly existence among similar unhappy inhabitants, did not make them happy.

The soil in that area was not fertile. And moreover — year after year — droughts ruined almost all the crops. Many people died due to diseases and hunger. And some men began to engage in robbery in order to feed their families.

But our young men were raised by their parents in good faith and did not want to cause harm to other people.

However, this depressing existence in poverty, without hope of change for the better, was oppressing.

Their parents had already died, and so they did not even have any elderly to take care of, which could have given meaning to their lives. And they did not hurry to start their own families, seeing poverty and a sad existence around.

One day, one of them said to the other: “Living like this, our entire lives will pass by... And nothing will change in it, if we ourselves do not begin to act! After all, what we spend our efforts and time on, depends on us!”

... And they decided to go on a journey to seek happiness and a better life.

* * *

They walked for a long time. The settlements that they met on the road — although slightly richer than their own — were not very different from it. Our young men wanted to find a place where they could really become happy.

They reached a big city. Noise, bustle, vast wealth of some people — and the poverty of others existed here in close relation to each other.

The young men found employment — and they received money, which even seemed like a large sum to them. But it had to be quickly spent on housing and food — and it was necessary to earn money again and again through hard labor.

And there was no more happiness in their lives here than there was in their poor native village.

But now they had no time to be bored: they were always worried about how to make money, or how to spend less of it, or how not to be cheated or robbed.

And they saw so much cheating and deceit! And even they, themselves, were cheated and lied to on more than one occasion... Fortunately, their wealth was not great, so their losses were not great either.

... One day, they witnessed the death of a young man: a fight broke out in the market due to some deception — and it cost the life of one of the contenders...

Looking at the body of someone who had died while still being so young, caused the young men to think that the same thing could happen to them at any moment. After all, death does not necessarily occur in old age. And therefore, it is not at all guaranteed that they will have enough time to realize all of their desires.

They understood that this life of theirs in the big city did not make them any happier. In fact, it only made them... fussier.

... We have already discussed that our young men were raised in piety and good faith. They offered regular prayers to God and followed other religious rules and regulations, which were instilled in them from childhood. And now they began to think among themselves:

“Maybe we are asking God for the wrong things?

“Maybe we do not understand what He wants — both from us and from all people?

“Why are the prayers of most people left unfulfilled?

“Why is there so much injustice and ugliness, if God is Justice and Beauty?

“Why are there so many sick, unhappy people?

“Why do some people bathe in luxury, while others drag themselves into a beggarly existence?

“Why does injustice reign everywhere, even among judges in courts, where only the pure truth should triumph?

“Why, for some, does death occur at a young age, while others live to a feeble old age?

“And what is really worth wanting and achieving in life?”

They began to ask their questions to people who seemed smart to them. They turned to various gray-haired old men, asking what they had learned in their long years in this land: about the meaning of human life, about the purpose of good and evil, about the causes of inequality between people in material prosperity, in health or illness, in luck or failures.

But those old men could not explain all of this to them. They said only that, in all of this, there is the Will of God...

... But one day, they were advised to go to a wise Master, who, most likely, would be able to answer all their questions.

* * *

They reached that place late at night and asked to spend the night in the Master’s house, where many of his disciples lived.

They were allowed to spend the night.

... They very much liked everything about this place: the cleanliness, the friendly smiles of the disciples, and the fact that they were sheltered without demands for payment! And the calm and benevolent Master was perceived by them as the height of perfection!

“How lucky we are! It’s as if we are living in paradise! This place is where life is actually worth living! We will stay here and become disciples of this Master!” — they said to each other.

The next morning, after a meal, they asked the Master some of their questions: about the misfortunes and injustices of this world, and about the meaning of a person’s life...

The Master answered them:

“The body belongs to the ‘desert’ of this world. People here often spend their lives in pursuit of the mirage of wealth and glory, in the thirst for power and pleasure...

“But, in the end, a human soul, leaving this ‘desert’, cannot take even a handful of sand with him or her — no matter how much material wealth was accumulated in the world of matter!

“Only how a person has transformed him/herself-soul, and that, which he or she has learned, as well as that, which he or she has mastered, — will remain with him or her in the ‘other world’.

“The lives of people on the Earth — with their ups and downs — are only at first glance full of injustice. But the destinies of people depend on so many facts and are intertwined into intricate patterns throughout many lives.

“How the fate of each person is formed — is a long story. But the main principle is simple: ‘You always reap in your destiny the fruits of what you sowed and nurtured!’

“The fruits of some actions return to the person quickly, while others may take a very long time to ‘ripen’. Sometimes this happens only in the next incarnation of the soul into a new body.

“Every time when the life in the body ends and a soul leaves it — a soul does not disappear and does not die. The life of a soul does not end with the death of the body, but continues in the non-material world — until the time for a new birth into a body comes.

“And the true meaning of the life of a soul on the Earth is not to pursue the mirages of the material world, but to follow the Path to God, Who is the One Lord of all worlds. This Path consists in gaining knowledge and in mastering other aspects of perfection.

“The soul is able to learn and master a lot of knowledge and skills.

“There are certain qualities of a soul, which are useful in both worlds: the material and the immaterial. These are, above all, love, tenderness, care, forgiveness, gratitude, and the willingness to learn.

“All these useful qualities can be developed in ourselves. Namely, each of us is in this world so that we may improve ourselves as souls.

“There are also those qualities that should be eradicated in ourselves. Because both in life on the material plane, and in life without bodies — these vices of the soul will bring nothing but troubles. These qualities are anger, irritability, violence, envy, resentment, desire to take something that belongs to someone else, gluttony, deceit, lack of will, laziness, pride, and other manifestations of egocentrism. There are also smaller vices: for example, the non-observance of esthetic norms of behavior.

“And one, who aspires to become better before the Face of God, can try to eliminate in oneself all those qualities of the soul that prevent this one from approaching God!

“Let us understand that the events that surround us and into which we are involved or which we create ourselves, can serve our main purpose: through them, we can learn from God.

“Yes, a person can make the right choice in choosing the purpose and direction of his or her life — and take his or her own development and destiny into his or her own hands.

“After all, to what purpose man plans, — to there the forces of the soul flow. And the more he or she strives for that goal, the faster the progress.

“Life only for the sake of entertainment and the satisfaction of whims — can seem simple and pleasant... But its result — if one’s whole lifetime was wasted on trifles — will be complete ruin...

“Each of the days of life on the Earth is a treasure, received from God! And you should not live without using it for developing yourself and for helping other souls to improve!

“Let us try to see the whole Path: from a small human soul — to the Divine Soul, living in Unity with the Creator!

“To get closer to God, it is necessary, namely, to advance consciously on this Path!

“The Path is opened before those who choose God and the service to Him as the purpose and meaning of their lives.

“But, in order to be ready to begin the Path, one must first understand very much. In particular, it is necessary to develop in oneself the ability to distinguish between good — and evil, and between what is necessary — and what is useless in life.

“And we must become sufficiently confident in the correctness of the choices that we have made.

“In order to follow this Path, it is not necessary to ‘renounce the world’ and live in a monastery or in a solitary cell. After all, the more experience a soul acquires, the better!”

... The young men listened to the Master’s response and were amazed at the opportunities opened before them. They asked permission to stay in order to learn from Him.

The Master said that He would allow them to stay for a while so that He may determine whether they really want and are ready to follow the Path of the Heart and whether their intention is firm. And at the end of the trial period, He will say whether they may stay at His house and strive to become His disciples.