Meaningful Life Skills: Weekly Global Class

Within us we each have two primary forces -- two distinct voices -- tugging us in different directions. The drive to survive and the drive to transcend. The first is is consumed with ensuring that we get our material needs met -- food, clothing, shelter, social connections, earning money to pay for these needs. The second seeks to transcend the physical parameters of our routines and discover deeper purpose, meaning and soulfulness. This can be achieved in many different ways -- music, dance, poetry, love, romance, faith, spirituality, just to name a few. In many ways this marks the distinction between body and soul. How do we deal with the inherent dichotomy between these two extremes? Throughout the ages, two schools of thought have emerged to address this conflict. One approach is to focus primarily on our material survival, leaving some limited room for our transcendent needs. Matter takes precedent over spirit. The second approach is to disengage from the distractions of our material pursuits in order t