When I look about and see the things that have been given to me, what do I see?
I see much joy and splendid beauty and impossible gifts. What has been trivialized and passed off as ordinary is through ignorance and selfishness. Problems occur when man fails to see himself as part of the whole. What is good for him is also good for nature and vice versa. When man neglects this principle or rebels against the whole, he suffers.
Man’s problems are nothing more than a problem of the spirit. Though the spirit can be damaged, it cannot be destroyed so long as the man himself is not destroyed. Spirit is man’s Super Organ. In it dwells light and strength and goodness—all the requisites that make the man. Just as a man takes in the good foods, the vegetables, fruits, meats, and such to nourish his body so that the lower organs function and carry the man forward in a physical realm, so should he take in the good things in life so that his spirit may carry him forward in the metaphysical realm.
Man has been bestowed unlimited promise and opportunity within a limited time. With intent and purpose, he can have what he desires if only he does not deny himself these things and so long as they are good for the spirit. For if they are good for the spirit, a man can be satisfied and filled with the things he has acquired. He will find peace, love, and joy. If they are not of the spirit, then a man can never be satisfied because there is no limit to his desires and nothing by which to measure success. He will be unsatisfied, listless, and depressed. For as soon as he acquires the thing he coveted, he will place it down or put it away and pursue another thing, and another, and another until he has spent all his time pursuing nothingness. A healthy man can eat a meal or enjoy drink. He can take one woman and be filled. An unhealthy man will eat the same meal while desiring the next one. He cannot enjoy the same drink because the drink itself does not satisfy him. He cannot be satisfied with one woman. He is empty and can never be filled with anything.
Romans: Ch. 7 (Apostle Paul)
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
What is good in life? What are the things that are beautiful and impossible gifts? They are the things that fill the spirit. They are the higher pursuits that put man in accordance with his nature. A man who lives according to his spirit will have near perfect harmony within and rarely will he suffer from worldly ailments such as regret, guilty conscience, anger, depression or defeat. If a man focuses on the things that are good for the spirit, the man will be good as a whole and subsequently to the whole. He will spend very little time in the past and spend less time trying to see into the future. He will live comfortably in the present with little desire to change what has been done or worry over what has been assigned to him through providence. He does not credit himself with knowing everything. He rids himself of such troubles and focuses only on the things within his control and in his domain.
The spirit compels the man to live within nature and comfortably to joy and all men possess this spirit. He can speak the truth without arrogance. He is concerned little over the opinions of others about him because it’s his opinion about himself he values most. When man is in full accordance with his spirit there he will find truth and purpose.
“God sees the minds (ruling principles) of all men bared of the material vesture and rind and impurities. For with his intellectual part alone he touches the intelligence only which has flowed and been derived from himself into these bodies. And if thou also usest thyself to do this, thou wilt rid thyself of thy much trouble.
~ Marcus Aurelius
The Mind's Cabin 