Oh Noble One, your wisdom shines through. The human mind and heart seeks to soar. God or no god, when I see a bird I want to fly; when I see a dolphin I want to dive into the depths and play. Why is that magister? Do all creatures in the universe seek to be greater? Dream impossible dreams? Does a chimpanzee look at the night moon and dream of walking on it?
What is it within us that, regardless of our condition, looks for the Noble One? And desires to emulate him? It seems that no one would reject the path, but they are afraid. Fearful of climbing down out of the tree or venturing out of the cave. Envious yet fearful of things and ideas that are different.
You paint a beautiful picture magister; an idyllic scene. I think we often mistake human perfection for flawlessness, error free choices. We should consider the Noble One to be the ultimate in the expression of free will and as such will not necessarily always make the best choices. But as the examples of the greatest amongst us (Socrates and Jesus come to mind) consistently show, they will take personal responsibility for their choice.
Unfortunately the angst and resentment is still too apparent. The tomb dwellers and their leaders are in their own way searching in the dark cave and the little light they see in fairy tales is wisdom so don’t begrudge them their sand, for it is through sifting that sand that we find the pearls of wisdom. And their leaders are not bad, though a few self-preening cocks may be, by far most are good and caring.
As for the list of great “geniuses” of history, well other than Galileo and maybe Einstein I think the list is markedly uninspired. If we want to look for lists of greats to inspire us to greatness I would prefer: Socrates, Jesus, Confucius, Buddha and more recently Augustine and oddly enough Marx. An eclectic list perhaps but regardless of what screw ups and fantasies their followers created, the essential message was to seek and live the truth. As for Marx, perhaps it’s more a case of reverse psychology. He inspired much of the world to live the social gospel sans God.
If you want to rescue our Dangling Fury cousins in the trailer parks of the world you’re going to have to expound a philosophy to catch the hearts of the Sisters of the world who, half suicidal, reach out and touch the hearts – a much more powerful tool of change than the mind. The heart? Then why did I include Socrates in my list? He was the father of western secular thought, but more than that, he believed in the rightness of his ideal so strongly that he was willing to take his own life to protect the honor of that ideal. Plato kowtowed to the state and Aristotle ran away. Would Dawkins do that, or Mr. Singer?
Noble One, we do look to you for something new, not to repeat old ideas or replicate and repackage idle thought, but to glean from the past that which is good, find in the fables of old that which is true and inspire our hearts more than our minds, for to soar we first need our heart. Only then do we need our mind to find the way to fulfill the dream.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Can I Get Some Help Here?
Can I Get Some Help Here? What is wrong with this plea? We hear it or say it ourselves everyday. Is it actually possible to get an answer that will solve our problem?
Perhaps if our computer crashed or our watch is broken it might. If our internal computer has a glitch; if our mind or soul is troubled, will asking this question lead to a solution?
An observation was made that people are reading and role-playing their way through self-help books the world over. Everyone is looking for the answer to that call for help.
Where is the answer? Does my philosophy professor have the answer? Does my psychiatrist? Does my coach or even my minister? The chances are very good that they too are all reading the same self-help book that you are.
Can I get some help here? Young people the world over are asking this question. Seeking an answer and finding none. So what are they doing? They are drowning their troubled minds in computer virtual reality, high powered music through headphones that block out the world, and my generation’s favorite: pot.
Do we have hope or is a new illusionary drug just replacing a poorer one. Are we lost and heading down a road of depression, suicide and the ultimate lemming jump: nuclear war?
I suggest two possibilities:
1. The rational-logical way. To understand our world and my place in it in a logical manner, tested and proven through science and logic, study the science and thought of the great minds of history. “The truth shall set you free.” Can I get some help here? Sure, take a philosophy course. You will understand yourself.
2. The meta-physical way. Read your holy book. Follow the guidance of your spiritual leader. Surely they are wise in all the ways of the soul and will enlighten you. Can I get some help here? Pray about it. You will receive an answer.
Problem solved. Next!
What? You still have a problem? You found out your mentor, professor and minister are all reading the same self-help book you are and your crushed, disillusioned and more depressed? You now spend twice as much time playing Grand Theft Auto? You see no hope for the future? Oh dear.
Well maybe there is a solution. I know of a group of people who are generally a much happier lot than average. They seem to have a more positive view of life than most. There is only one problem. The question they ask is different than your question. Their question is ---
Can I help Someone here?
Perhaps if our computer crashed or our watch is broken it might. If our internal computer has a glitch; if our mind or soul is troubled, will asking this question lead to a solution?
An observation was made that people are reading and role-playing their way through self-help books the world over. Everyone is looking for the answer to that call for help.
Where is the answer? Does my philosophy professor have the answer? Does my psychiatrist? Does my coach or even my minister? The chances are very good that they too are all reading the same self-help book that you are.
Can I get some help here? Young people the world over are asking this question. Seeking an answer and finding none. So what are they doing? They are drowning their troubled minds in computer virtual reality, high powered music through headphones that block out the world, and my generation’s favorite: pot.
Do we have hope or is a new illusionary drug just replacing a poorer one. Are we lost and heading down a road of depression, suicide and the ultimate lemming jump: nuclear war?
I suggest two possibilities:
1. The rational-logical way. To understand our world and my place in it in a logical manner, tested and proven through science and logic, study the science and thought of the great minds of history. “The truth shall set you free.” Can I get some help here? Sure, take a philosophy course. You will understand yourself.
2. The meta-physical way. Read your holy book. Follow the guidance of your spiritual leader. Surely they are wise in all the ways of the soul and will enlighten you. Can I get some help here? Pray about it. You will receive an answer.
Problem solved. Next!
What? You still have a problem? You found out your mentor, professor and minister are all reading the same self-help book you are and your crushed, disillusioned and more depressed? You now spend twice as much time playing Grand Theft Auto? You see no hope for the future? Oh dear.
Well maybe there is a solution. I know of a group of people who are generally a much happier lot than average. They seem to have a more positive view of life than most. There is only one problem. The question they ask is different than your question. Their question is ---
Unplug. Become a volunteer.
It's good for your mind, your soul, and your world.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Dreamland or Nightmare, Can You Wake Up?
Do we live in a world of delusion or illusion?
Are we free to choose or only have an illusion of freedom not noticing the tight leash that becomes ever tighter. Do we immerse ourselves in the virtual computer worlds of New Life and Dungeons, creating dreamland empowered self-identities even as we fall into a real world of anonymous, faceless and unrecognized masks in ever growing crowds of mindless, soulless biological entities not far removed from the unrecognized mini-power units in the Matrix.
Can I, as did Neo, pull myself away, disconnect, unplug from the machine of modern society that teaches me just enough while enticing me with so much more – but only under the tight supervision of the machine.
Was Orwell right? Perhaps. And, perhaps he was only half right. The real thought police are not human. They are THE machine. The machine that draws its power from our soul, both giving us the delusion of freedom, but at the same time that small tinge of fear. The political correctness noose that grows tighter and tighter. It sounds so reasonable and polite, but becomes more and more confining and restrictive. Soon, my thoughts will no longer be my own, not because someone is listening to them, but because I won’t know how to think without the machine. And IT IS watching!
The government is corrupt, it is restricting my freedom, it is preventing me from living my life. These are common feelings these days. I need to protect my identity or someone might steal it. These are delusions. The computer knows your identity. You can’t hide from the net and the government is just as much a victim as I. No governments can rationally, effectively govern 7 billion free thinking intelligent individuals, never knowing from one moment to the next what they will do.
We have indeed created God. The question is, can we find liberation from it?
Are we free to choose or only have an illusion of freedom not noticing the tight leash that becomes ever tighter. Do we immerse ourselves in the virtual computer worlds of New Life and Dungeons, creating dreamland empowered self-identities even as we fall into a real world of anonymous, faceless and unrecognized masks in ever growing crowds of mindless, soulless biological entities not far removed from the unrecognized mini-power units in the Matrix.
Can I, as did Neo, pull myself away, disconnect, unplug from the machine of modern society that teaches me just enough while enticing me with so much more – but only under the tight supervision of the machine.
Was Orwell right? Perhaps. And, perhaps he was only half right. The real thought police are not human. They are THE machine. The machine that draws its power from our soul, both giving us the delusion of freedom, but at the same time that small tinge of fear. The political correctness noose that grows tighter and tighter. It sounds so reasonable and polite, but becomes more and more confining and restrictive. Soon, my thoughts will no longer be my own, not because someone is listening to them, but because I won’t know how to think without the machine. And IT IS watching!
The government is corrupt, it is restricting my freedom, it is preventing me from living my life. These are common feelings these days. I need to protect my identity or someone might steal it. These are delusions. The computer knows your identity. You can’t hide from the net and the government is just as much a victim as I. No governments can rationally, effectively govern 7 billion free thinking intelligent individuals, never knowing from one moment to the next what they will do.
We have indeed created God. The question is, can we find liberation from it?
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
“Oriental” philosophy?
Daniel, this is a very good overview of other major philosophies outside of the west, but:
“Oriental” philosophy? We seem to be continuing the great fallacy of western philosophers in clumping together all thought from the east as oriental. Ironically, Hebraism gets to join the west, most probably because of Paul, yet Orthodox Christianity has that “exotic” flavor. I can understand an empirical-rationalist putting Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism in one basket – they are predominately meta-physical; and Shintoism is just your basic Druidic shamanism with the Emperor, as high priest, offering sacrifice to the earth goddess Ameterasu (though they do have some really cool shrines - it is a blood sacrifice cult none-the-less).
Chinese philosophy, I think, warrants a whole paper on its own. Not least because it is the philosophy of a people poised to dominate the world over the next century and we need to better understand it; but also because our understanding of it is based largely on some serious miss-understandings in our divergent concepts of the “I am.”
Western philosophy is “me” centered. What is my place in the universe, ergo how can I find joy and fulfillment in my life – of course this leads to the current American instant gratification culture of “I want it now” and “my way.” I, I, me, me. I can be saved by taking the easiest road possible and to hell with everyone else. People plugged into IPods as they walk, drive, study, tuning out.
Confucius and his fellow philosophers expound a fundamentally “we” philosophy. You talk about the “herd.” But this herd is OUR family, OUR community, OUR nation. I am willing to sacrifice “me” to “our” and take the longer view which leads to the fulfillment of the goal of our family, community, and nation. This is a very powerful philosophy and you can see it played out on a small scale in the world today as Chinese rally ‘round the Olympic torch. It does NOT matter their personal views of the government or the fact that their family has been citizens of America, etc for a hundred years.
We also have a problem in interpretation. Confucius is an “Aristotelian” philosopher. On some level perhaps, but they come from whole different thought processes and to translate Chinese philosophical terms into western ideas to better grasp them, the western philosophical student is likely to miss differences in fundamental concepts.
I would like to suggest to the serious philosophy student who wants to major in the discipline and make a contribution to the world of tomorrow, take a philosophy course in Chinese philosophy with a Chinese instructor, learn the Chinese forms and their original meanings – not what you think they mean in western thought, in English or French or even Greek. That is My thought.
Me
“Oriental” philosophy? We seem to be continuing the great fallacy of western philosophers in clumping together all thought from the east as oriental. Ironically, Hebraism gets to join the west, most probably because of Paul, yet Orthodox Christianity has that “exotic” flavor. I can understand an empirical-rationalist putting Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism in one basket – they are predominately meta-physical; and Shintoism is just your basic Druidic shamanism with the Emperor, as high priest, offering sacrifice to the earth goddess Ameterasu (though they do have some really cool shrines - it is a blood sacrifice cult none-the-less).
Chinese philosophy, I think, warrants a whole paper on its own. Not least because it is the philosophy of a people poised to dominate the world over the next century and we need to better understand it; but also because our understanding of it is based largely on some serious miss-understandings in our divergent concepts of the “I am.”
Western philosophy is “me” centered. What is my place in the universe, ergo how can I find joy and fulfillment in my life – of course this leads to the current American instant gratification culture of “I want it now” and “my way.” I, I, me, me. I can be saved by taking the easiest road possible and to hell with everyone else. People plugged into IPods as they walk, drive, study, tuning out.
Confucius and his fellow philosophers expound a fundamentally “we” philosophy. You talk about the “herd.” But this herd is OUR family, OUR community, OUR nation. I am willing to sacrifice “me” to “our” and take the longer view which leads to the fulfillment of the goal of our family, community, and nation. This is a very powerful philosophy and you can see it played out on a small scale in the world today as Chinese rally ‘round the Olympic torch. It does NOT matter their personal views of the government or the fact that their family has been citizens of America, etc for a hundred years.
We also have a problem in interpretation. Confucius is an “Aristotelian” philosopher. On some level perhaps, but they come from whole different thought processes and to translate Chinese philosophical terms into western ideas to better grasp them, the western philosophical student is likely to miss differences in fundamental concepts.
I would like to suggest to the serious philosophy student who wants to major in the discipline and make a contribution to the world of tomorrow, take a philosophy course in Chinese philosophy with a Chinese instructor, learn the Chinese forms and their original meanings – not what you think they mean in western thought, in English or French or even Greek. That is My thought.
Me
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
What Makes Us Human?
Is there an evolutionary difference between divine beings and human beings?
Are all humans human? What makes us human? Is it just an outside shell or are there internal characteristics that are necessary. We believe in evolution and natural selection. Are some humans more evolved than others? Did humans evolve differently on different continents after the original diaspora after mitochondrial Eve? What is the “ideal” human? Is it possible to achieve this ideal or only a dream?
- characteristic of humanity; "human nature"
- homo: any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage
- having human form or attributes as opposed to those of animals or divine beings; "human beings"; "the human body"; "human kindness"; "human frailty" (http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=human)
- WHAT is human? Does consciousness make us human? If so, what type of consciousness? Does it differ from that of primates or even non-primates? If so, how? Do cultures and communities make us human?
- WHEN is human? Is there pre-human; is there "post-human"
- What is INhuman? What ethical qualities are associated with being human? Why do we qualify as "inhuman" acts performed by humans? Is it relavent to being human?(http://www.humanities.wisc.edu/What-Is-Human/Home.html)
Saturday, April 26, 2008
All Is Joy Eternal
The overman lives in the city on the hill in perfect relationship with his fellows, in perfect understanding of the truth so as to have no need to expound on it further as it would just serve to confuse the masses who, missing the concept of self-perfection, create an opiate and call it religion. Thus the budding overman must struggle by his own will, in the darkness of his “cave” perfecting himself and ... finding all joy in deep eternity, climb to the city submitting to the authority of its ideal. (Nietzsche, Socrates, Augustine, Aquinas-after his revelation, Kierkegaard, and Daniel a budding overman)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)