Inner Work

For the week of: August 9, 2004

Eternal Values

Our personal system of values determines how we live. From the vast array of possibilities in our life, we choose those that we value. However, our value system lacks coherence, holding contradictory and conflicting values. We also suffer the shifting nature of our hierarchy of values: today we place great value on one thing, tomorrow another.

Broadly speaking, though, we can sort our values into two great categories. The first consists of all time-based values: those concerned with things and events in space and time. The second category encompasses eternal values that transcend time.

In some instances these categories overlap. Take the case of someone you love. That person’s body resides in space and time. Most likely, though, what you really love is not that body, but the person who inhabits that body. The person transcends time and your love is an eternal value. Another case is that of earning a living. We work to put food on the table, a roof over our heads, and clothing on our bodies. All these things are in space and time. But responsibility stands behind the act of performing our duties toward our body, our family, our employer, and our society. That responsibility is an eternal value.

Our dedication to spiritual practice is also an eternal value, directed toward the timeless, the deathless.

For this week, notice your personal value system, what actually drives you, in terms of time-based and eternal values.

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