Is it good to be ambitious?

Ambition is the work of the intellect. Here man allows his brain to take the lead and this sets for him earthly goals, sometimes to the exclusion of all else. For men of ambition, no consideration is given to their spiritual lives or their neighbors since nothing else matters but their selfish aims. Such human beings do not consider what truly benefits them spiritually but can sacrifice anything or crush whatever or whoever stands in the path of the achievement of their goals.

This is in contrast to striving for spiritual ascent, refining one’s abilities, uplifting everything in one’s surrounding and seeking the welfare and advancement of mankind generally. To do these, we have to work with our intuition, seek guidance from our Creator and then we will be guided unto the paths we have to tread to reach our lofty goals. This way, no matter what our occupation is on earth, we will ennoble it and give it a wider goal. What will matter to us will not be the amount of money we make, neither will worldly greatness or fame be the motivating factor for our activities but we will be more mindful of the SPIRITUAL QUALITY of our work.

The goals thus set by our intuition can be translated to visible deeds while employing our intellect. So, the spirit leads and sets the goals while the intellect plays a secondary role of executing on earth that which one has perceived intuitively. When we follow this order which is ordained from above, the ensuing activities will bring us joy and give nothing but blessing to all that come in touch with us and our activities. This way we will learn new things each day, become clarified, gain maturity and rise ever higher.
Therefore, for the human spirit, ambition is like striving after the wind! It amounts to VANITY, and gives no spiritual benefit to man who himself is spiritual in his essence. Instead, it leads man to commit all kinds of evil; life seems meaningless; there is no fulfillment and all that ambitious and self seeking human beings experience is general unhappiness prevalent in the world today.

The ever constant longing within us is a gift from God which is not to be directed at temporary earthly achievements. In reality, we are obliged to channel this longing into spiritualizing the work of our hands, by dedicating same to God. By doing this we will in time learn to recognize our path and the purpose of our existence and this will in turn fill us with joy and the greatest happiness a human spirit is able to bear!