From the hundreds of wise people I’ve read or read about, from Socrates to the Stoics,
from Homer to Dostoevsky, from the Bhagavad Gita to the Bible, I’ve seen one piece of
wisdom pop up over and over again in different forms: honor your soul.
And in this video, we’re going to explore why that is and what that means.
Seneca, an ancient roman philosopher, said that a wise man needs nothing from the world.
Honoring his own soul is his one and only need, and it’s one which no one can prevent
him from achieving.
And by having this one need, by needing nothing from the world, by only needing to honor his
own soul, he lives a happy life, no matter what his outer circumstances are.
Make no mistake.
The wise man still wants other things from life—friends, a home, food, clothes, money—but
he doesn’t need them.
We suffer when we need things that we don’t have—a bigger home, a faster car, fancier
clothing, the love of someone special, more riches, approval from others, a prestigious
job, a fitter body, or better health.
Needing more than we have causes unhappiness.
Needing more is a never-ending pit towards hell, because the need for more can never
be satisfied.
Anything that takes time to acquire can never lead to lasting happiness, not even food,
water, or air.
Even those things need to be acquired again and again.
The man who needs a hundred dollars soon needs a thousand, and then tens of thousands, and
then hundreds of thousands, and then millions, and then billions.
That hole can never be filled, because there’s always more things to be acquired.
Needing more is, of course, different from wanting more.
Needing more implies that there’s a hole to be filled, whereas wanting more implies
that the door is left open for more to enter, but one will be fine if more does not come.
Needing something from the world puts our happiness in a fragile position, because everything
that can be given to us can be taken away—our money, our possessions, and even our bodies.
Everything is impermanent—changing, moving, flowing from one hand to another.
But when the only things we need are the things we already have, our internal suffering comes
to an end.
If the only thing we need is to honor our own soul, happiness is inevitable, because
achieving that need is always within our control.
We can instantaneously fulfil it in every moment.
Nothing stops us from achieving it.
Needing nothing from the world, except for what we have, causes happiness.
The only thing that seems to be ours, that thing that can’t be taken away from us,
that thing which we always have, is our own souls.
Our soul is the only thing we truly seem to own.
It’s the only thing that takes no time to acquire.
It’s the foundational essence that separates the living from the non-living, that informs
who and what we are.
So the wise man dedicates his life to honoring his own soul, that one thing that is his alone,
that which no one can touch, take away, or express but himself.
It was the first thing he brought into this world, and it’ll be the last thing he carries
with him on his way out.
Honoring his soul is his one and only need, and because he can fulfill that need in every
moment, he achieves happiness.
And honouring his soul requires him to do only one thing: live in accordance with his
own values.
When we act on our deep internal values, we honor our soul, but when we live according
to someone else’s values, we dishonor our soul.
And the wise man honors his soul because he understands that it is his purpose.
Similar to how water is formed when hydrogen and oxygen are brought together, his soul
was formed by the world when the right causes came together.
The world is governed by a law of causes and effects, and his soul is the effect of a chain
of causes perhaps going back to the beginning of time itself.
The whole world had to happen in a specific way to bring him about.
Because of the way the past had unfolded, his birth was a necessity.
And by honoring his soul, by living in accordance with his internal values, he lives out that
purpose which he was born for.
And honoring our souls is simple, but not easy.
Socrates fully honored his soul, and it ended with his imprisonment and death sentence.
Jesus honored his soul, and it ended with his crucifixion.
But in both cases, honoring their souls is also what led to their greatness and legacy.
They fulfilled the purpose they were born for.
So by living in accordance with his own personal values, the wise man honors his soul.
And if honoring his soul is his one and only need, he achieves happiness, because nothing
but himself can stop him from fulfilling
that need.