The Spirituality of Achievement

"Other people have a purpose. I alone don't know." -- Tao te Ching

It may not be acknowledged as such by most people, but the major religion in our world is the Spirituality of Achievement. We revere it and sacrifice our lives and the lives of our families on the altar of its temples (our banks and financial institutions). The only worthy goals in this religion are ones that yield money, power, and freedom to wield money and power in the world.

I have known many successful people, people of great achievement in the world. They are admired and sought after. Interestingly, I have yet to know a happy one. Of course, I have also known many unsuccessful people. They are looked down upon, tolerated, sometimes pitied. And interestingly, I have yet to know a happy one. Not that all of us don't have happy and fulfilling moments. But even when we are successful we are still seeking... seeking more money, more power, more recognition... or if we are unsuccessful, seeking more money, more power, more recognition. I see a pattern here.

The Spirituality of Achievement has an almost universal following among all the peoples of the earth, rich and poor, conservative and liberal, fundamentalist or new age. And yet it has never given us peace on earth, good will, or true happiness and freedom. I choose a different religion. I will call it the Spirituality of Being.

The Spirituality of Being seeks and demands nothing. It is fluid and open and has no fixed goals. It is forever Being in loving relationship with all that is. So how can such a religion flourish in such a world as ours? How can a person, animal, or even a fish live and move and function without seeking and working for food and shelter and sex and happiness? Such an idea makes most of us very uncomfortable, and very fearful.

There is a way of Being in the world that is neither seeking nor finding. There is a way of Being that is simply Home. When one is awake in this Beingness, life simply unfolds. Things are done or not done, always in an elegant dance. This makes no sense within the rules of the Spirituality of Achievement. But tell me, when you last felt true love and brotherhood, was there any way to explain the Beingness of that? When you last felt peaceful and happy for no good reason, was there any way to explain the Beingness of that within the context of what you had done or not done, or what anyone else had done or not done? In the center of all striving, of all seeking for freedom in the power and control of our daily lives, in the center of it all is Home. There is a way of Being in the world that is neither seeking nor finding and has nothing to do with the universal Spirituality of Achievement. Thank God.

"Just stay at the center of the circle..." -- Tao te Ching