The Case for Intrinsic Purpose
Modern Philosophy is click bait, true philosophy is personal.
Modern Philosophy is click bait.
We are too stimulated with quips and tags to see clearly the value in methodical study and intellectual honesty. On a daily basis, the average individual interacts with more information - most of it misleading or dishonest - than any human ever has. Such an existential attack as has never been matched.
In pursuit of escaping this endless feedback loop, Lessons emerge that begin to illustrate purpose beyond the facade built by society - Intrinsic Purpose.
Entries From an Ordinary Journal
When considering the purpose behind one of the greatest philosophical writings in history, one thing is vastly apparent:
The Meditations weren't ever meant to be read. Wisdom in it's own sphere is inherent, and perpetuates itself through life, action, and legacy, rather than monetization.
The life, mission, and story of Marcus Aurelius stands proven in accomplished victory alone. The intimate writings of a man so great simply illustrate a path. The way to victory.
There is an old proverb about being wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove, and it holds a truth often misread. A harmless man is not a virtuous one; he is merely incapable. True virtue belongs to the person who carries the full capacity for cunning and force, yet holds it under deliberate restraint. Strength voluntarily governed is worth infinitely more than weakness mistaken for peace.
Combine capacity with wisdom, and you have a pearl that needs no validation. Set your eyes to noble pursuits, unwavering, and see the effect permeate itself in its own language.
Capacity married to wisdom does not argue for its place; it writes itself plainly into the shape of a life. The reward needs no announcement and the legacy needs no witness, for the work speaks in its own tongue, and that language is understood by all who see it.
The greatest battle a person will ever face is never fought against another. It is waged inwardly, against appetite, ego, and the endless craving for another's stamp of worth.
Be a warrior of the mind who conquers himself, not a scholar finding appeasement from the "qualified".
To master the self is to need nothing further. The one who governs his own mind has already won the only war that matters, and no title, degree, or blessing from the "qualified" can add to or subtract from that victory.
The pursuit of knowledge is never neutral in its harvest. What you seek to become through learning shapes not only your own path, but every life your path will touch.
Study and pursuit of knowledge with intent of manipulation will never prevail, in discovery of truth, the study and pursuit of knowledge with intent of self mastery.
Pure intent, turned inward, cultivates good and lets it spread outward into the world. Corrupt intent sows harm in the lives of others, and what a man plants in others he ultimately reaps in himself. The good you seek returns to you; so too does the ruin.
A truth is one thing; the house built around it is another. The moment something sacred is organized, it risks becoming a matter of ownership and authority rather than meaning.
The Bible belongs to the spirit, not the denominational crusade for members and power.
The spirit answers to no institution and asks for no membership. It lives wherever a person seeks it honestly, and no earthly contest for dominion can claim it or contain it.