What if everything were actually upside down ?

I was listening to Jordan Peterson speak about the value of impulse control. He said there’s no merit in a weak person claiming to control their violence. Virtue lies in the one who can cause harm… and chooses not to. Like a martial arts master who holds immense power—and never needs to use it.

That reflection struck me deeply. Spirituality is often mistaken for weakness. As if it were merely a retreat for those who failed to compete for wealth or prestige.

But… what if it were the opposite?

Saint Augustine’s famous line — “Lord, make me chaste, but not yet” — captures the ego’s irony: it prefers visible success, even knowing it may be a trap. Having shines more than being, because the ego needs validation, while the Self… simply is.

“My tastes are simple,” Churchill supposedly said. “I am easily satisfied with the best.” Wisdom or arrogance? The difference lies in who’s speaking—from the Self, or from the Ego. The Self resonates with the material, but isn’t dependent on it. The Ego clings to it, fearing it will vanish without possessions.

Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard has captured places, people, and moments of overwhelming beauty. Not as trophies, but as expressions of gratitude for having been present.

That’s how I see it: the fullness of Being offers the most valuable things—without promising anything. It doesn’t sell. It doesn’t boast. It simply exists, in peace.

I too love beauty and the best life has to offer. But the more I grow in the fullness of Being, the more I understand: joy doesn’t lie in owning, but in witnessing. Life itself is here to be meditated—not endlessly acted upon.

From the outside, cultivating the Self may look like renunciation. In truth, it’s freedom from the mind’s illusions. It’s not a duty. It’s a birth.