Failure and Success

Failure and success are psychological divisions which influence the way human beings perform in the world. From an early age, children absorb the concept of failure and success from parents, teachers and society, and are encouraged to develop a healthy competitive spirit.  However, this magnifies the feelings of pain and despondency when things fail to turn out as planned, or makes success something to be attained whatever the cost; this often causes a neurosis of contraction and expansion which isolates an individual from others. Freedom from the tyranny of the emotional self is only possible when the truth of failure and success is realised to be an inhibiting factor to fulfilment and the harmony of life.

There is no failure or success in nature or anywhere else in the universe. The evolution of the species was an astonishing inner and outer process of unparalleled genius. Each new creature design was a prototype towards becoming an ever finer vehicle for Homo sapiens and the superior sense of self-consciousness. Many of the ideas for certain species were unworkable, and discarded by the supreme intelligence operating within the psychic system of the tree of life. What would be regarded as failure to establish a particular life form was intrinsic to the eventual refinement and success of another class of the species.

The primary purpose of life was to enter existence through the myriad life forms at the behest of the creative principle behind the appearance of the manifested world. This is the greatest success story of all time which, unfortunately, we human beings have mostly forgotten. Failure and success arise in the absence of purpose when someone becomes identified with personal desires. Where personal goals and self-interest become the main focus of the life, there will be a conflict of interests with others – and the inevitable successes followed by the disappointments of failure. Purpose is the impersonal state of the creative process. Whereas the drive for worldly success is a personal affair that can be measured in a chronological sequence, purpose unfolds with no fixed agenda on a timeless wave with no beginning or end.

When recounting someone’s life, it’s often said that he or she had two or three ‘failed’ marriages. In the realm of love and relationships there are never any failures. This is because in each encounter, regardless of how things turned out, both people are profoundly changed. Often it’s the most challenging circumstances which provide the greatest opportunity to detach from the shackles of personal attachment to others. Success in love cannot be quantified but is demonstrable when purpose is applied to the living life. The purpose of a relationship is to enjoy the privilege of a loving partner’s reflection, or alternatively being alone in a trouble-free state. With increasing self-knowledge, it’s possible to realise that there is no failure in the life as long as any self-judgement is kept at bay.

Failure and success are symptoms of an absence of fulfilment that compels people to keep busy towards an imagined completion in the world – which, of course, never comes. This creates inner tension and forms an attachment to personal achievements. The unique quality of a man or woman is originality, expressed as freedom from the constraints and wearying pressure of trying to succeed. Real success is detachment from the suggestion of failure by a world of superficial values and lack of true wisdom. However, due to the indoctrination of our confused society, the human mind is infected with the disease of uncertainty and fear.

Fear of failure is transcended when an individual refuses to compromise with anyone or anything in the world that would undermine their own integrity. Difficulties and setbacks are life’s way to disabuse us of our failure to comprehend the supreme justice of life. This is realised through invoking the truth of life itself, so as to be responsible as a unique being of the earth. When the shroud of fear is removed, failure has no meaning. And success is simply the knowledge of having been true to that which has no opposite: the radiant point of life as the human spirit in adversity.

Extract from e-book: ‘Humanity: A Spiritual Perspective of the Times’