What Shall We Leave Behind?
It seems easy to think of leaving something behind from a materialistic view. We may leave behind a family, a meaningful career, assets, a good word from all our friends, and so on. What does this really amount to?
Our life story is endless, so long as we’re alive to participate in it. Though it is the desire of most to be remembered well, and for something important, I believe a good life is something even greater than that. I think of a person who contributes themselves in brave, uncompromising writing, or a journalist who constantly risks their life for the truth, or a good Samaritan who helps worthwhile people in need. We must fight for our legacy.
I am interested in a conception of virtue which, when left behind, still finds itself perfectly preserved.
It should not bother me if I’m forgotten or misremembered. So long as I’m true to my own heart and mind, there is no one who can shape my life for me. Emerson wrote and lectured in his fantastical style without any hesitation, and inspired countless scholars and visionaries. Nietzsche spoke of his will to power, and clung onto his beliefs, no matter what others thought. To believe in one’s spirit, and bring it into life, that is virtue.
The death of the spirit is the death of a life. When one focuses on legacy in the sense of ego, it becomes about “I want to be famous this, I want to be rich that” and the actual life disappears. Furthermore, the willingness to do good things should never depend on what you will get in return, as that implies a great degree of self-interest. One must recognize what they are, not as an isolated case, but as a part of a greater inter-subjective story. We are all experiencing life, both through thoughts and feelings, and we must try to respect the meaningful experience everyone is participating in.
To then pervert this by creating concepts about “what we want to be” is a surefire way to become helplessly attached to the concepts.
What one wants is not what one should have. It is not because of fair or unfair, good or bad, but because there are things we need, and things we do not. In truth, one does not need a million dollars, but surely, one would want to have it. No one needs to be a narcissist, but rich and influential narcissists make others feel the need to participate in this selfishness-quest. It’s all a construction, and will not do anything but bring us down further. If we are to leave a legacy, it must be a moral and spiritual one, for that is the one which will be passed down over generations. Materialism will always breed attachment to having more, which distracts us from our higher goals.
It’s easy to live a low-effort life. A life filled with jealousy, criticism, and sin is best suited to those who do not wish to try at all. The more people choose to live such a life, the harder it becomes to preserve a meaningful society, with nothing but decay and self-interest in its wake. There is a need to stop the cycle of indifference to one another’s lived experience. The game of social performances and power plays must also end. We must not be good for the sake of being liked, but because we have a duty to protect the world from its own ignorance. It is not the common position that we must be good for its own sake, and yet that is the only way to save us. That is the only way to leave behind something that is actually worth preserving.
To have principles and virtues is to be honest with oneself, no matter what position we’re in. We must stay true to our higher heart. When we begin to heal, it is like healing comes out of us, pure and divine in its form. The Boddhisatva must save themselves and everyone else. They do not simply stop at “I’ve attained my freedom”, for that is a selfish conception. I see that as a desirable goal to strive towards, and a virtuous legacy to leave behind. To help myself is easy, but to help everyone at once, that is quite noble.
When you will grow old, closer to death, you will regret all the harm you’ve done to yourself and others. We must be good while we’re still young.
What you leave behind shall not be the culmination of your doings. It shall be the culmination of what your being offered to the world and its people.
It is the right time to forgive everyone, especially ourselves. We must leave this world with kindness, leaving a legacy of creation rather than destruction.
Thank you.
