Hello all. Mamma has a question, for students only. Knights and Masters, please refrain from replying until the students have a chance to work this through.
What is the most important thing in life?
Mea'lorgharra
Realizing that things are only important if you make them out to be.
Colin
Well i think it is narrowed down to one simple word. "living" just live. Live for yourself and your goals plus all of those you love around you. During your life appreciate what you have accomplished and most of all appreciate yourself. Just living and give and get everything you can out of life by putting your whole worth into your life's actions. So i think it is just living and what exactly you did during your period of "living"
Arithion
I guess some would say "a life of happiness", "a life of love" or something, but I hate to categorize it. And you can't chase it, that would only be denying that you already have life. Right here. Not around the next corner or wherever you plan to find it.
So I'll say Life. In whatever form it comes to you.
Although I liked Dalai Lamas "The purpose of life is JOY."
Ronin
It's hard to say just one thing that is most important. You can say love, life, air (for those logical thinkers), etc. For this I will say that most important thing in Life is your awareness.
General awareness. Of everything. Your feelings and emotions, your beliefs, your friends, your life.
Kageshin
I can agree with that Kage. I just meant that Accepting life is very important. I guess maybe awareness goes with that.
Thank you.
A story on awareness:
(Btw, I'm not sure what the exact translation would be. Maybe attentiveness or attention. But I'll go with awareness)
A man of the people once said to the zen-master Ikkyo: "Master, can you show me the kindness to write something about the highest wisdom?"
Ikkyo wrote: "Awareness."
"Is that all?" said the man. "Isn't there something to add?"
Ikkyo this time wrote: "Awareness. Awareness."
The man remarked irritadedly: "I can't see any depth or wisdom in what you just wrote."
Then Ikkyo wrote, for the third time: "Awareness. Awareness. Awareness."
The man got angry and asked : "What the does the word 'awareness' mean?"
Ikkyo replied calmly: "Awareness means awareness."
Ronin
Hmm, what is important in life, good question, very complex and differing are the answers. Life is a great many things to many people. To some it is to become rich and/or famous. To others it is to love and be loved. Some live their lives to help others. Some just live for whatever fun they can find.
I guess I'd have to say that, to me, life is loving, being loved, helping others, and when you don't need to worry about the others, having a bit of fun on the edge.
Rogue Ace
( nods slowly) Some good answers in there... next question... and Kage has a jump start... just how do you think you will attain this goal.. this most important thing in your life, whatever it is? I am not telling you what is most important to you, I merely want you to think on it long and hard.. and then think about what you would need to do/not do to get there.
Mea'lorgharra
hmm...along the lines of awareness then i suppose. How do you attain the most important thing in your life? Awareness comes before, then. Being aware of what you have. The friends you have, your family members, the car in your garage, the annual salary even, your job, where you go to school, your past, your possible future. To be aware of everything, to know what you have, and what you did have. Perhaps then you'll find that personal thing that would be known as the "most important thing in life". Thus more knowing what you need or do not need to get that, get there, or hold onto it if you already found the most important thing.
That's just the generalization. Guess now I have to further ponder and try to personally live out what I just wrote, hehe. :)
Kageshin
Well to attain the goal of "just living".one must well.........live live for your goals and personal accomplishments. Never let anyone tell you what your destiny is live life for your beliefs and goals. And over all just live and be satisfied with yourself.
Arithion
My idea of awareness was more of actually doing what you are doing at the moment. If you're eating, just eat. If you are walking then just walk. Be conscious of what you do and don't spend your life thinking about the future. Like people who are in a hurry all the time, they are never where they are. In their car they are always, in their minds, not there but at their destination. And they wonder why there are so many car accidents. After all, the future is not real, only NOW is real.
When living just live.
Ronin
After a little thinking and observing I have noticed two levels at which people have been answering this...or at least most people answered it on one level and my initial answer was slightly different to everyone else. From where I am sitting it looks like everyone has answered the question by stating what they feel is most important to them. If I was to do that then I'm sure there would be little surprise in me saying that the thing I find most important is love. To love everyone and everything. For some reason I have an extra twist on it which makes me feel the need to have love returned. Not by everyone, not by everything but to just find one special case. That would be what I hold most important to me.
However to answer this from the non-personal point of view would be as I did originally. To realize that each thing is only as important as one makes it whether it be a conscious effort or not.
Now to tie these two together using myself as an example. The most important thing to me is love yet I also realise that I am the only one making love important to me. If I where to shift my frame of mind then I could change the subject of my importance.
This means I could take away my need to love and to have that love returned simply by changing my frame of mind. To take that further, one can change ANYTHING within them simply by altering their frame of mind.
Now this thing which I have held of so much importance to me for a long time has, on a quantitative level probably caused more damage than it has healed. So why do I not change my frame of mind and find something that works better?
Because I don't want to. That is what it boils down to. I have always said that you can do anything, anything you want to as long as two conditions are present:
1)You believe that you can do it.
2)You want to do it wholeheartedly.
If there is even a slight doubt down in the subconscious depths of your mind which goes against these two rules you will fail.
Back to the example of myself.
Why do I not make things easier on myself and move away from this need to love and be loved? This is where it becomes interesting so excuse me if points start to blur here as I have not put it into writing before.
If I look back into my past I can see many roots in which this is founded...probably most exemplified in the music which has been around me all my life. Artists like Bruce Springsteen and Nils Lofgren whom you have probably heard me talk about on more than one occasion. Songs such as "Hungry Heart", "Brilliant Disguise", "Glory Days", "Human Touch" and "Better Days" (Springsteen) to name a few (all are available on the Greatest Hits album) embody a great deal of what I have within me.
All I can say is that my whole life has been influenced by these factors and more. Now the only thing holding me to this is me.
I can only end this with a few sets of lyrics.
The first lyrics are from a song by Jane Siberry called "It can't rain all the time". It is taken form the soundtrack to the film "The Crow". To explain some of the references in the lyrics I shall give a brief outline of the film.
A man and women are brutally murdered on their wedding night (It may be the night before...I cannot remember). The women by being thrown out of the window. The film entails the man coming back from the grave by the power of a crow to avenge the murder.
The chorus can only be explained as hope, hope that I have. That is why I quote it.
Colin
( sits rather quietly and looks at Bedlam) colin, lad, three months ago, I never would have hoped to see this from you. (sniffles) Lad, that is -exactly- what I was looking for. Quippert... you know where you need to go lass, the personal part :) Colin just did an amazing job, but his only works for him. What is it that works for you?
Mea'lorgharra
I had hoped no one would post this kind of question because I was going for a very slow lil vacation with no outside thought, I have so many papers to write this distraction is both annoying and yet at the same time welcome.
Some may say that the most important thing in life is wealth, the length of life, or even the amount of things done in a single lifetime. I flatly say no. When me grandfather died his wife no longer lived. Now that is to say she is still with us on Earth breathing, but she gave up on life a long time ago and is making a conscious choice not to live. I know many people who are here but are not alive. I even saw my other grandfather will himself to die. I have the deepest empathy for the people who do not live.
In a post a long time ago I related an ancient Judaic saying, "as long as there is life there is hope" That is still true. but so is the reverse. Those without hope are no longer living. I faced down death for my survival in hospital beds, but after I received my new heart I went out into the world with hopes renewed and demanded life. I learned that it is the quality of life above all that is important, and that is a very subjective idea. Some of the world's greatest artists and poets died in relative youth, but the life they led was one filled with happiness, hope, and passion.
For myself I will take risks, battle demons, and do all that is necessary to have the life I want. I will take opportunities, I will make mistakes and learn from them, I will travel only to return to the place I feel is home, I will life a long and full life because I will it.
I will determine my own fate by my attitude. I fought against death and now I fight for a real life. How you perceive things will determine how you live your life, and I plan on seeing my hopes and dreams accomplished.
"When two people say you are drunk, its time to get up off the floor and order a pot of coffee."
Tzu Taowolf
A little addition to the post as to why I do not change.
I said something along the lines of that I do not want to. This is true but I would like to expand. I do not want to because This is what I have become accustomed to. This is my beliefs and the way I work. I could say that I do not know any other way, but I do. I have looked at many other ways and even in some ways tried a few but none of them are right so I can only come back to this and follow it as what I am.
As far as I can tell this is going to be my way and just knowing this, making this post has made some things so much clearer to me and is a prime example of "know thyself".
If you know yourself and are willing to be that person your life shows you so much more.
- Updated 6th April I have removed the lyrics because after a bit more consideration I really don't find them appropriate and I learnt a little more in the song so it ain't here no more. I still think its quite a good song though :0)
Take Care and be mindful
Colin.
To Live
Which is a concious choice and a commitment. There is no wrong or right way, no enlightened or ignorant way to live as long as you have made the choice to live. No one can tell you if you are living, no one can say you aren't.
There is no set way to obtain living as long as you want to live. In fact my opinion is as soon as someone wants to live...they are.
Kira Wake
okay...bad choice of song on the last one..I listened to it this morning and heard another line which I missed, kinda changes the whole interpretation of it...so scrap that one :0)
Take Care and be mindful.
Colin
Given the fact that officially I am on holidays I have an insane amount of time on my hands. Extra time that I have been using to get back to my training and the training of the young ones around me. When you are the father to three water sprites, one of which had three young ones herself. Don't expect to get out of the magical training too easily.
So because of this extra bit of time I have found myself contemplating the questions that have been posed throughout my time here at the academy. Both alone and with Darien, Kaiserin and Silverwind for training purposes. Because I am teaching them pretty much the exact same thing my old master taught me they are came up with a rather unique perspective on the meaning of life. A perspective that I happen to share, the purpose of life is to live philosophy never really did anything for me too much. Even though it does make sense. The other philosophies and beliefs outlined here are generally personal ones. Ones that while they work for that single person, do not really have the profound impact that the answer to this question should have on me.
The purpose of life is to be aware of the possibilities around you. It is to be awake to them so that one can acknowledge them and embrace them. Shortly after the Buddha attained enlightenment people flocked to him from miles around asking him questions. These questions where not, "Who are you?" but rather "What are you?" For this was a day of avatars and Gods that walked the earth. His simple answer was, "I am awake." Not that he was alive, not that he was loved, not that he had money or material gains. The simple act of being awake to the universe and taking it all in. Your awareness and focus being stretched beyond the farthest star that shines within ones soul.
Anyone can live ones life to it's fullest. From the gluttonous millionaire to the beggar sitting on the street corner. It is the act of being awake and aware of the knowledge and power around us is what separates us from everyone else. That is one of the first steps towards becoming a fully trained mage of my order - awakening from the slumber that has kept you from the higher knowledge of the universe.
However does that make me better then anyone else? Of course not. They too have the potential to awaken from there slumber and take there first look with new eyes into the real world. Sometimes all that is needed is a small nudge in a certain direction.
I am just a man, no more and no less. That is what I have always taught and that is what I will always practice.
Most of the above can be attributed to Kaiserin, Damien and Silverwind. I'm just putting it down on paper and helping them to organize there thoughts into a semi-coherent manner. If you want to ask them any questions I would be more then happy to forward them too you.
Flochan na bea - May the laughter of Angels be with you. Sorry if I got the spelling wrong, my Gaelic is a tad rusty, working on that as you read this.
Arithion