Philosophy

As a single human being living in this immense modern world, I've got some overwhelming realities to reconcile myself with. Why do human beings hate and kill? Why are we greedy and selfish? Why are we destroying our planet? And why am I at times so caught up in wishing things were different? Where lies the balance between my acceptance of this world and my ability to choose how I participate in, and even change the world?

The Yin and the Yang

I believe in starting from a position of acceptance. Too much rejection of the world, denial of reality, or wishing that things were different can lead one towards what the Buddhists would call delusion. The Yin Yang pictured above symbolizes this acceptance that there is good and bad within all things, including ourselves. I also think that the following quote by Joseph Campbell sums up the Buddhist philosophy of acceptance rather well... 

•  "This world-just as it is with all its horror, all its darkness, all its brutality-is the golden lotus world of perfection." If you don't see it as such, that's not the world's fault. You can't improve what is perfect. You can only see it and so come to realize your own perfection." (Pathways to Bliss, p. 105).

The Eightfold Path

And, with my acceptance of this world and my understanding of myself, grows my ability to choose the role I play in this world. I can stay mindful of my good and bad potentials, and make the conscious choice to develop into someone who makes a positive impact on the world. As I've mentioned before in this blog, I'm a big fan of the Eightfold Path as a guiding principle for engaging with this world as a compassionate human being.

Rocky

Here's my favorite quote from the Rocky movies, taken from Rocky's speech to his adult son in the 6th movie: "Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it's not how many punches you can take. It's how many you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what your worth, go out and get what your worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you want to be because of him or her or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that. I'm always going to love you no matter what. No matter what happens, you're my son and you're my blood. You're the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, you aren't going to have a life."

Paradise Lost

One of the defining challenges of the human condition is our detachment from nature and the rest of the animal kingdom. I've come to really appreciate the Garden of Eden myth (all 'blaming it on the woman' aside). And I think we did lose paradise, in a sense, when we developed our consciousness, and began questioning our insticts, manipulating/destroying our environment, and consuming resources at a dangerous rate. I believe that part of adult development must involve making peace with this complex relationship we have with nature...appreciating the reality that we humans are quite different from the rest of life on this planet, but also honoring our inherent connection with our natural world by using our conscious abilites to live sustainable lives. In this way, we can regain some of the paradise we have lost.

Science Fiction

Books like Dune. Movies like Star Wars. they present strange and wondrous visions of human society that allow us to expand our imaginations regarding human potential. they remind us o f the smallness of our moment in time as well as the permanence of the human condition. And when done well, they provide a platform for eternal wisdom. Here is one of my favorite quotes from Yoda, the Buddha from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away: "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

Existential Works of Art

The film "Vanilla Sky" and the song "Do You Realize?" by the Flaming Lips are two examples of works of art that are quite overtly engaged with existential philosophy. And they both represent the power of art to transform intellectual ideas into emotionally charged objects, to which we can connect on a deep level.