(Read: “Lose yourself, or apply yourself”)
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MONDAY, 6 SEPTEMBER 2004
Fear is the foundation on which the House of Life and Functional Identity is built. The question is, what lies buried beneath the house?
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The options: Withdraw or Get Involved
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“Fulfil your mission on earth through engagement with the world.”
Serve your purpose and leave … or stay and enjoy the show for as long as your ticket is valid?
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If the answer is to withdraw, what then is the meaning of the way humans are born?
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The Buddha abandoned his wife and new-born child and walked into the wilderness.
Jesus became involved. He gave comfort, relieved pain where he could, and sacrificed himself – his physical self – for a “good cause”.
Muhammad also became involved. He waged war to transform the world so that people can live their lives in the “correct” way (according to his convictions).
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Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) withdrew into the wilderness. Muhammad also initially withdrew – to a cave. Jesus spent forty days and forty nights in the desert.
Both Jesus and Muhammad withdrew … and then got involved.
Even Nietzsche’s hero – the eventual “superman” – withdrew for a decade, and then started with an attempt to redeem people from their ignorance.
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So: Withdraw … and reappear as a transformed person – one with an agenda, a cause for which you are willing to die?
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