Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Plato's Cave

Pain is the remedy; comfort the disease. Actually, pain and acknowledgement of our own and that of others’ suffering is the path toward real comfort.

Perfection is trying to be perfect. Forget about what Plato said because he totally missed the mark – perfection is not in the cave, it is in the development of our hearts. By opening our hearts to the world, we will all see that we are artists and free children, with the sweet breath of experience, guiding our path to discovering how we can produce the innocent end-fruit of the perfect vision we had when we were children.

I hope you will read the rest of what I have to say because it is enveloped in the gentleness that we really deserve.

Please read Silas Marner (by George S. Elliot). The way I sum it up is: Here is a man that has undergone such hardship in his life and, as a result, his heart closes up. He works as a weaver in a distant village with little contact with anyone else. He lives his life very solitarily and exists this way for 20 years.

Then, one day, a little girl appears at his door. She is less than 10 years old. The story is about how Silas renews his artistic heart after it has been shattered.

When I think about this book, I realize that I am "Silas Marner" – that my heart closed up because of all of the disappointment that I perceived when I was little and all along the way. I try to live my life the best that I can. Perhaps it is perceived differently – most likely.

I think that most people in the world are like Silas Marner right now. Most can not recognize their own suffering being bottled up children and if we don’t – we always will be stuck in the back of Plato’s cave - "we will be in the reargaurd."

The irony is also that when we don’t recognize our own suffering and that of others, we will always ensure the loss of the potential for excellence.

If we learn to open our hearts to the world, only then will we be able to experience adventure and holistically perceive the real inner beauty of this world. However, just remember that we are all in different modes of existing as Silas Marner; in the interplay of forgetting and remembering the true nature of our souls, so we should be very sweet to each other.

The Sufi’s have a saying: “What you fear and hate will come to you.” Then, one should say to oneself : “Do not fear and hate anything.”

If we say this to ourselves again and again, everyday, then we will become fearless and strong and able to open our hearts to the world.

No comments: