Ely, Minnesota -I’ve been working through a book called How to Find the Work You Love by Laurence G. Boldt. It’s a great book, emphasizing the pursuit of a life that integrates work and meaning. He quotes Aristotle: “Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation.” This simple sentence, Boldt says, tells you everything you need to know to find the work you love.
There are some exercises. One of the first is to formulate an orienting question that you can use to help shape your search for meaningful work. This should be a question that gets to the center of your own personal values, the heart of meaning. What are you looking for, really?
I’ve decided to post my Orienting Question(s) and the response I initially wrote (really a further elaboration of the question rather than an answer), because it brings up a lot of the issues I’ve been thinking and writing about lately. It’s a reflection of my own thought processes, an internal debate. It wasn’t really intended for an external audience. But here you go, anyway. Good Luck.
The Orienting Question(s):
- How can I be most useful?
- What am I willing to commit my life to?
- What could I do with my remaining time, given my current lack of experience, limited capital, and personal emotional/mental limitations, to develop a calling that most effectively addresses the need for global sustainability, justice, and an equitable future for all people?
- What could I do that would be of most benefit to all sentient beings?
Mcleod Ganj, India -A simple monk. That is how the Dalai Lama describes himself when approached by the Western media, who invariably want to know, “Who are you?” But come to the Tibetan communities of Northern India and you will get a very different idea of who the Dalai Lama actually is. His picture hangs from almost every wall. Almost always he has a silly joyous grin, like he just ate a cookie or thought of something really funny. He has those big goofy glasses and simple saffron and gold robes. Those in the West who meet him say he is completely without pretension. They feel as though they were meeting an old friend. He exudes an aura of warmth and unconditional acceptance, without judgment, moving those in his presence to laughter or tears. But for the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama is like a combination of King and Pope, the head of state of the Tibetan Government in Exile and the most exalted lama of all the four major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. He is believed to be the incarnation of Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Many believe him to be fully enlightened, a living Buddha, the highest form of being there is.
For the third time in as many years I have attended a 10-day silent meditation retreat in which I got up at 4am every day, sat cross legged on the floor with eyes closed for more than 10 hours per day, ate no food after noon, made no physical or communicative contact with another human being, and otherwise cultivated a sense of complete isolation in which to explore the inner depths of the phenomenon of my own mind and body.