The Supreme Ambition

“The only purpose which can satisfy us completely, fulfill all our desires, and then make our life a gift to the whole world, is the gradual realization of this Self, which throws open the gates of love. We cannot dream what depth and breadth of love we are capable of until we make the discovery that this divine spark lives in every creature.”– Eknath Easwaran

Using the example of Thérèse of Lisieux, Easwaran puts before us the majesty of this supreme ambition in this week’s reading, pages 57–62 of Climbing the Blue Mountain.*

How can we learn such love? It is helpful to draw inspiration from those like Thérèse who practice love in their daily lives. Yet, Easwaran emphasizes, “we all have the syllabus of love right inside us, printed on every cell. We need look no further afield. There burns in the recesses of our consciousness a divine spark of pure love, universal, unquenchable.”

• What is one statement that speaks to your heart in this reading? How will you put it into action this week?

• We've been extending our practice of putting others first with weekly experiments.

  • Easwaran writes, “I am all ears when somebody says, ‘I don’t know how to be kind. I don’t know how to release deeper resources to make my life count.’ I say, ‘I can teach you!’ That is what meditation is for. Memorize a passage on kindness, memorize a passage on goodness, and then drive it inwards. You will become kind; you will become good.”

  • Try his advice this week and tell us how it goes! 

* For those using electronic versions of Climbing the Blue Mountain with different page numbering: this week we are reading from the start of the chapter “The Supreme Ambition” and ending with “…our love cannot help but grow.”