FT
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If God gave the soul his whole creation she would not be filled thereby but only with himself
– Meister Eckhart
Today, even modern industrial societies are not always able to provide food and shelter for all their people.
These are very real and important needs. But there are other needs that sometimes are not so easily identified. Even when the most pressing requirement for food or
clothing or shelter have been satisfied that is not enough for the human being. There remains a hunger for something more. We want to be somebody. We want to feel secure. We want to love. Without any better way to satisfy these inner needs, we end up depending on possessions and profits – not just for our physical wellbeing but as a substitute for the dignity, fulfillment and security we want so much.
Only by living for something that lasts, something real – rather than for passing pleasure and profit – can we achieve the lasting fulfillment, the limitless capacity to love, that is our birthright.
(From ‘Words To Live By’ by Eknath Easwaran, founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, copyright 2005; reprinted by permission of Nilgiri Press, P.O. Box 256, Tomales, Ca 94971, www.bmcm.org.)