- Who are we?
- Why are we here?
- What is the purpose of life?
- What is good and evil?
- Why is there something rather than nothing?
- Is our universe real?
- Do we have free will?
- Does God exist?
- Is there life after death?
- Can you really experience anything objectively?
- What is the best moral system?
Yes. Philosophy, when taken down to its Greek roots, means “love of wisdom.” Love and appreciation are closely tied to each other. But philosophy is more than just love of wise thoughts and wisdom. It is the analysis of answers to the basic questions of life:
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People are afraid that if they devote their life to spiritual pursuits they will be held to a standard they cannot live up to. They think they will have to be saints or never make a mistake in compassionate judgment or ever get angry. They think they will not have a fun life either. It sound so empty and boring to sit around contemplating their inner selves and mediating. People are actually bored with peace. They don’t feel alive unless some drama is going on.
They see the exciting lives of celebrities, rock stars, famous politicians and world leaders. These are the people they admire. Most people would not like to live the life of a monk in the freezing Himalayas or a nun in a cloister. They want bright lights, entertainment, parties, stimulants, intoxicants, glitter, jewelry, and material treasures. But who says we can’t have it all? We can be highly spiritual and manifest a life of adventure, fun, and material comfort. It is just an unexamined habit to think that to live a spiritual live we must give it all up. It is true that most people who are on a spiritual path are not really interested in accumulating material goods or devoting their lives to pursuing them. Therefore the world believes that to live a highly spiritual life, we must live a life of lack, even if the spiritual seeker feels no such loss. So the spiritual process, because it requires quiet, peace, and time away from the frenzy of the world, seems dull and drab to some people. But those of us who cannot help but follow this path know that it brings countless joys and revelations that the rat-race can never deliver. Asking, “What is the meaning of life?” is like asking what is the meaning of a flower. You can say that the meaning of a flower is its function—to attract insects to propagate the plant and to produce seeds and fruit. But this is not the meaning, it is its utility and purpose on a very practical level.
A flower is much more beautiful than the function it performs actually requires it to be. Merely attracting bugs and spreading its seed doesn’t require roses to display the richness and variety of colors and fragrances it produces. So if life had meaning, it wouldn’t need to go overboard with so much beauty, it’s simply enough for everything to serve its purpose in one big biological dance of birth, reproduction, and death. Life is in and of itself. The human mind assigns whatever meaning makes sense to it at the time. Some people don’t even think about it, they just go through every day on the level of the insects: Running around, feeding and expelling food, driven by instincts they never examine or question,. Other people put a religious spin on the meaning of life. God has set out a path for our estrangement and reunion with Him and that is enough for them to know. Some people think that because there is no meaning it’s all a big, horrible joke, that inevitably ends in disease and death. This is because the human mind demands a story. It wants a neat little beginning , middle, and end. It must assign a purpose to everything so it can feel in control of something that is way beyond its grasp. But to know that life just is, is very freeing. We can sit back and admire its beauty, ingenuity, and perfection without demanding that it stands for something else. Socrates wasn’t a hedonist, but his student Aristippus of Cyrene, was what is known as an “ethical hedonist.” He stated that pleasure is the highest good.
Aristippus explained that hedonistic ethical egoism is the concept that everyone has the right to do everything they can to attain the greatest amount of pleasure possible to them. He also said that everyone's pleasure should far surpass their amount of pain. He came to these conclusions after sitting at Socrates’ feet and hearing his musings and stimulating questions. Socrates never made an explicit stand against hedonism itself. He stated that knowledge is virtue (which is what brings happiness and fulfillment). He was more interested in concepts such as, “Know Thyself” and “The unexamined life is not worth living.” This could be seen as the very opposite of unthinking hedonism, in which people satisfy their every whim and desire without anything else in mind besides having fun. Frolicking around in an endless party doesn’t always end well, though. Ultimately, the fun will go away, and then what will we be left with if we don’t know who we truly are in the depths of our heart, inner-mind, and Soul? Gorging on food and drink, sex and riotous living is actually the opposite of what Socrates was pointing to if we want inner peace and contentment. In a sense, we can determine that Socrates thought hedonism was self-defeating. If we are totally self-interested and seek nothing but pleasure, we are bound to fail because the appetite for pleasure is insatiable. It’s called the “paradox of hedonism.” So, although Socrates doesn’t think hedonism is bad, he just saw it as self-defeating and would never bring true happiness. Existentialism is frowned on today because it seems like such a gloomy philosophy. It is often confused with Nihilism, which further makes life seem comfortless. Nihilism proposes that the world is meaningless and everything is absurd so don’t even try to find meaning or purpose.
Existentialism also deals with the absurd but has a bit more of a hopeful attitude about it. The individual can act with authenticity and responsibility based on the level of his own consciousness, divorced from cultural conditioning, and thus find redemption in life. So it is not as totally devoid of any lightness or fun. For example Sartre, in his Myth of Sisyphus, presents the unfortunate man who rolls a heavy stone up a mountain, only to have it fall down again when he gets to the top. So the next day, he rolls the stone up again, it falls down, over and over again until he dies. This is not a happy philosophy. Yet Sartre says that if we persist and imagine Sisyphus (ourselves) happy we will be able to get out of our state of angst and confusion. Our happiness depends on what we make of it—but it doesn't seem convincing from the example of Sisyphus. This is why Camus, another existentialist said, “Happiness, too, is inevitable.” He was saying that in the course of life happiness and misery all happen and we can give them equal weight. Just wait around long enough and happiness will happen too. And then misery and despair will happen. Then happiness. Angst, dread, and despair are key components of existentialism. These emotions do not fit in well with the current trends to think positively or manifest vibrationally. Angst is kind of an objectless fear. It is combined with dread to make a horrible life for the deeply thinking person who has no faith. It comes from knowing that they are out there alone, making their own decisions. So they feel vertigo, like on a high scaffold swaying in the wind. Despair is also not an emotion a happy, positive-thinking person likes to entertain. Yet Sartre and other existentialists say that everyone is in underlying despair when they realize how quickly the rug can be taken out from under them. Finally, Camus’ statement about suicide causes many people to hate existentialism. He says suicide makes sense as a Response to Absurdity. “There is only one really serious philosophical problem,” Camus says, “and that is suicide. Deciding whether or not life is worth living is to answer the fundamental question in philosophy. All other questions follow from that.” Instead of seeing this statement as liberating because now they are choosing life, people see it as an argument for ending it all. Therefore, existentialism has fallen out of favor. Though it is a brilliant philosophy, people don’t look deeply into it and prefer, if they care about it at all, to look at it from a surface point of view. The enlightened person is not escaping anything. Being enlightened does not mean having a free pass out of pain or the difficulties of life. Being enlightened is a vantage point from which we view our obstacles, find a way to resolve them, and return to peace. It is not running away from them.
Taking drugs and getting drunk can be escapism. We can’t face whatever is happening at the time. All kinds of entertainments, social media, sex, distractions, can all be temporary escapes. But enlightenment is staring our difficulties right in the face without fear. It means having trust in the perfection of the Universe and how it is put together. Even if we falter in our human error, enlightenment is not temporary. It is permanent. Once we know that we are Eternal Souls which cannot be destroyed, we have the context in which we view all of life. It doesn’t mean that we are exempt from challenges. All the great Ascended Masters had to leave their bodies, most with illnesses. They didn’t complain or carry on as if the Universe had it against them and had singled them out to suffer. Enlightenment is plunging right into life and appreciating all its aspects. Not trying to stamp out all the stuff we don’t want and making every adverse circumstance into an enemy. Enlightenment welcomes every experience and does not seek to run away. Inner joy is never dependent on outer things. A person with inner joy can feel as peaceful in a prison as in a mansion. Nothing external matters to inner joy. That means a person can be “old,” “ugly,” and seen as “totally useless” by others and still feel great gratitude and happiness for just being alive. They forgive the poor sinners that treat them badly and find rest within themselves and a glowing inner world.
Our societies have been on a childish path of acquiring more toys for centuries now. The view of happiness being an accumulation of objects that easily decay or can be destroyed is not logical. But to a childish mind it makes sense. Like a child at Christmas surrounded by all the toys and candy but still crying. He wants that one toy Santa Claus didn’t bring. He also ate too much candy and his stomach hurts. He’s cranky. Maybe one more toy will do the trick. No. We have seen that the world is not happier with all the abundance of riches and luxury. It is an old joke now that People Magazine should be called, Miserable Folks Who Self-destruct in Mansions. It is not real. It is a false path. But it is a path people on this planet must take on their evolution towards higher consciousness. You really can’t control your unconscious mind. You can only know that it exists and provides hidden reasons for why you do certain things and make certain choices. Your unconscious mind is just one more thing you have no control over.
If you asked me, “How can I take control over my pancreas?” I would give you a similar answer. You can’t. It functions outside of your control unless you totally destroy your body through unhealthy living habits. Then you can destroy your pancreas too, along with the rest. But even if you have excellent living habits, you can still have pancreatic cancer—regardless of your best efforts. Few things are actually within our control, when we really look at it. Our circulatory system, our heartbeat, our digestion. We can’t control any of it. But we can control our conscious mind—our thinking. We can choose our thoughts. Those are under our control. And that control makes the difference between a happy and an unhappy life. Pain and suffering are never the path to happiness. The only path to happiness is happiness is happiness itself. No amount of struggle and suffering will ever bring us happiness. This is because struggling and suffering also bring with them lack of gratitude and the inability to see the good in life.
It is a myth that one day, if we struggle and suffer enough, the Big Guy in the Sky will reward us for being so good and and miserable. On the contrary, struggling and suffering attract only more struggling and suffering. We can’t postpone our happiness by thinking that one day, if we slave away hard enough, we will get a big pat on the head and everything will end up like a wonderful fairy tale. I am not saying that there isn’t pain in life. Being in the Physical guarantees pain of some sort of pain (as a warning system) at ever stage of life. But suffering and struggling are mental attitudes divorced from the actual sensation of pain. Struggling and suffering are all about “Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Life sucks!” The pursuit of happiness is itself a dead end. Happiness is always in the present moment. If we are pursuing it, it means we are not in it. It is in the future. It is not now. This doesn’t work and we will end up like hamsters on a wheel, frantically and endlessly running after something that does not exist—because it is not in the present moment. It’s fascinating to see how many times fools are mentioned in Proverbs. The Book of Proverbs mentions wise people too but the fool is mentioned 42 times! Fools are called out and so are the foolish, sometimes divided into foolish men and women.
For example, in Proverbs 9:13—”A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.” In general, the fools in proverbs a divided into the categories of:
Here are some verses to illustrate: Proverbs 1:7 - . . . .fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 10:14 - Wise [men] lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish [is] near destruction. Proverbs 18:2 - A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. (This means he only wants to get his point of view across and is not interested in hearing others). Proverbs 29:11 - A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise [man] keepeth it in till afterwards. These are all from Proverbs 26: 3: A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back. (This is a little harsh but hints that we must deal strongly with the undisciplined ego-mind and put it in its place or it will ride us). 4: Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. (This is a great reminder not to get down into the slime and mud with someone who is immersed in their ego-minds. Otherwise, we will be fools too and be reduced to their level). 5: Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. (Again, do not lower yourself by disputing or arguing with him; he will not understand your meaning, and will think he has got the better of you, and maybe insult you too). 6: He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, [and] drinketh damage. (Don’t think you can trust the foolish ego mind. It will lead you down the path of destruction every time). 7: The legs of the lame are not equal: so [is] a parable in the mouth of fools. (Even fools can spout wisdom, but they are only mouthing the words because they sound good at the moment. They don’t really get it). 8: As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so [is] he that giveth honor to a fool. (If you try to be nice to the ego mind and cajole it along in its folly, you are taking yourself down). 9: [As] a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so [is] a parable in the mouth of fools. (Wise sayings are a mockery when a fool, who does not live them, spouts them out of his mouth). 10: The great [God] that formed all [things] both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors. (Even if you are a fool and completely off base, the Universe, in its eternal love, will treat you as fairly as anyone else, including people who do hurtful and harmful things). 11: As a dog returneth to his vomit, [so] a fool returneth to his folly. (The ego mind is automatic and repetitive. It does the same thing over and over again. Thinks the same thoughts. Most of these thoughts are foolish but we go back to them and hash them over and over to no avail). 12: Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? [there is] more hope of a fool than of him. (If you think you are All That and think you have all the answers, you are even worse than a fool). |
AuthorAs a spiritual guide, healer, and lecturer, I have had the privilege to touch the lives of people who long to understand their higher selves. Please leave questions and comments for me. Hope to see you often here! Categories
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