Originally posted at Writeindependent.org on December 13, 2011
The soul hungers for beauty the way the body hungers for food.
Much like studying for a test leads to accomplishment in mundane activities, appreciation of beauty must be cultivated and fostered. Attention to the soul and its needs exercises a person’s mind toward an elevated sense of purpose.
Peak experiences
Losing the ego, merging as one.
Noticing the goodness in people.
When everyone is working together, awesome things can happen.
We are more alike than dissimilar.
When we talk about values, what about the value of life? Can we agree that war, torture and destruction are bad?
And if we can’t agree on this basic premise: that lie is good, that people are basically good, then what are we talking about when we say we’re promoting our values? Isn’t it an empty shell of a promise until we specify which values we hold?
People who have peak experiences report feeling one with the world, that they lose their sense of ego, and that they suddenly know the connectedness of all things. A person like that understands that It is impossible to separate experiences into science and the sacred.
When we talk about “values” since we should not separate our higher sensibilities from the meaning of the word, it becomes easy to notice hypocrisies like war. There is nothing noble in war if I value life.
So when is it okay to kill?