The Secret Life. Jeffrey Katz

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      Two characteristic teachings in The Guide for the Perplexed were to love God unconditionally and to do noble deeds and good works without any thought of reward. Maimonides taught that ample rewards, both material and spiritual, would indeed come, but that these must not motivate or affect the quality of one’s behavior. His main concern was helping fellow thinkers discover their best selves, achieve their most noble accomplishments, and in turn change the world for the better, all while living a humble and peaceful life. These are pursuits that we still prioritize hundreds of years later, and yet it can seem like we are further than ever from accomplishing those lofty goals.

      This book will illuminate the ancient teachings of Maimonides as they apply to our contemporary lives. We will see how making conscious choices to change our actions can lead to shifts in our mindset, and soon enough to societal changes for the better. The secret here is just that: keeping things secret. Life-altering change cannot come about by advertising accomplishments in mass media outlets. Rather, doing things for the grander purpose of improving the world works best when we cultivate a quiet, internal awareness of our choices and actions, rather than an external proclamation.

      The Five Secrets

      This book is divided into five chapters, one on each of the five secrets that can change your life and, by extension, the world in which we live. Each of these five subjects—charity, justice, unconditional love, higher calling, and resilience—is a core concept in the teachings of Maimonides. Discussed and debated since ancient times, these subjects are as relevant and interesting today as ever before.

      In each chapter, you will learn how to change the way you think about and act upon your personal beliefs and values in these areas, and how such actions can lead to profound shifts in personal as well as global consciousness.

      The benefits of living the Secret Life are countless. Changing your approaches to giving charity, to seeking justice, to loving others, and to believing in yourself enough to find and act on your higher calling will lead you to reach a level of resilience that will keep you grounded when you face difficulties and challenges. This is, quite literally, life-changing.

      Best of all, it is never too late to start. Maimonides taught that as one ages, one’s intellect becomes stronger and purer, and one’s joy from that knowledge increases. With the added benefit of time and life experience, older adults are perhaps the most ideal practitioners of the Secret Life. Even if you feel that you have lived the majority of your life in a certain pattern that repeats itself time and again, the older you grow, the more intimately you know yourself and what matters most to you, and the more prepared you will be to accomplish great things.

      So many success stories have begun later in life: Laura Ingalls Wilder published the first book in her Little House series at the age of 65, Julia Child learned to cook at age 40 and didn’t become a television host until she was 50, and Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man and other Marvel superheroes, wrote his first comic books in his 40s, and to this day—at the age of 95—he enjoys a cameo appearance in every major motion film made about one of his characters. Even Moses, that great biblical figure to whom Maimonides was compared on his tombstone, wasn’t called by God to lead the Jewish people until he was 80 years old!

      This goes to show that no matter when you start to practice the principles of the Secret Life, you can achieve great success. Whether you are 20 or 60, if you are willing to work on making better decisions, balancing your priorities, and dedicating yourself to a meaningful cause, you will see substantial change and success. Of course, we can never know how long we have in this life. But we should strive to never fall prey to the mentality that “time is running out, so why bother?” Humans now live longer and more productively than ever before. Age, as they say, is nothing but a number. And the greater your number, the greater your chances of making significant improvements in the world.

      Are you ready to accomplish great things and change your whole outlook on life? If so, I urge you to quiet your mind, clear your desk, and spend some time evaluating how you have been approaching things until now, and how you can adjust your actions and choices to reflect a more ideal state. What you will find may just be the greatest secret of all.

      CHAPTER ONE

      THE SECRET OF CHARITY

      Give a man a fish and he will eat for one day.

      Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

      attributed to Maimonides

      When we think about giving charity, the images that come to mind are often simple and straightforward: dropping coins into a red iron kettle on a winter day while a bell sounds in the background, phoning in a donation that qualifies for the gift of a tote bag, or buying an extra can of tuna fish or jar of peanut butter at the grocery store during a food drive. In other words, we more often think of “giving a man a fish,” or helping someone solve an immediate problem, than “teaching a man to fish,” or changing someone’s long-term reality for the better. The idea that helping a person develop the skills and experience that will lead to employment and self-reliance is ideal is not a new one. In fact, this wisdom has been adopted by numerous cultures throughout the world for centuries.

      The old adage, quoted above, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for one day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime” is universally appealing. While the source of this wisdom is ultimately unknown, it has been attributed to Chinese, Italian, and Native American traditions and to such famous thinkers as Lao-Tzu and Maimonides. Wherever it comes from, what it teaches us is a major component of what I call the Secret of Charity.

      The Eight Levels of Charity

      Maimonides discussed charity at length, describing it as the ultimate sign of a righteous person and one of the most important acts of humanity. Assuming that everyone is obligated to give charity according to his or her means, and that we are also obligated to do everything in our power to avoid being in need ourselves, he described Eight Levels of Giving to help us develop our charitable tendencies. At the lowest levels, the giver spends less than what he or she can reasonably afford and does so begrudgingly. In these situations, both the giver and the recipient see each other, and there is no attempt at anonymity. In every subsequent level, the attitude of the giver becomes more genuine, and the distance between specific donors and recipients becomes greater, so that one is not burdened with pride, and the other is free of the guilt or shame that might accompany recognition.

      The highest, most ideal level of giving is the one in which your charity enables someone to ultimately become self-supporting. Teaching a person to “fish”—giving someone the knowledge he or she needs to hold a job and function in society—is the greatest kindness one person can bestow on another. As Maimonides taught, we can “anticipate charity by preventing poverty.”

      Imagine what might happen to you if you were truly struggling financially. In times of uncertainty, we often find our thoughts quickly spiraling from one seemingly small problem to huge, overarching crises. While staring at a notice about a late car payment, you may begin to worry about the chain of events that might soon unfold. If you are unable to make your car payment, you might just lose the car. If you lose your car, how will you get to work? If you can’t get to work, you will lose your job. If you lose your job, you might not be able to pay your rent. And so forth. Before long, you are worried about everything, and you begin to panic. In that moment, you don’t just want a way to pay one month’s worth of a car loan. You want a way to shore up your whole situation. Ideally, you want to render the worst-case scenario impossible to begin with.

      When СКАЧАТЬ