And how is your light holding up, my friend? How is your light faring in the approaching darkness of chaos, fear, irrational gloating, sociopathic disregard for others, the dismantling of our political boundaries, the suffering of innocent children, and the exploitation of our natural world?
Please forgive what may appear as a rant of woes from my pen. Actually, I am repeating in this writing the actual concerns and questions I am asked daily in my consulting room. It is not enough that in my last writing I referred to the closing of hospitals, the shutting of doors in the houses of worship which in the past offered solace and care. I lamented the shutting down of community newspapers that offered reliable information and resources for their readers. And then, there is also a decline in the practice of family medicine while universities are under attack and colleges close.
So, yes, I understand completely the ongoing swell of concerns and questions that keep many of us awake at night. It is of some small comfort that I think back to the crisis facing civilization itself as we battled two major wars in Europe and the Pacific, racing against tine to gain some edge in developing weapons of war, including the nuclear nightmare that continues to raise its head and threaten the entire world.
Yes, we prevailed, and may yet come through this troubled time. Challenging any comfort that comes with the memory of a savage victory in the greatest of wars, we now have to face the threat of losing touch with what is real today. What horrors face us in a world where reality itself competes with the manufacturing of the AI facade of reality. At this moment in time we are witnessing the exchange of control regarding our destiny. We now see the "machine" swing into the driver's seat, a machine that uses artificial neural networks capable of processing very complex data, information systems, and operational processes. What is missing in this machine? Simply put, what is missing is the centuries-old values tended by heart and mind, guided by dreams toward the goal of health and meaning.
Consider this. What does it mean to be a human being? I acknowledge that we indeed have learned much about the physiology and nervous systems of human beings. I acknowledge also that we are creatures who inherently possess values and needs that civilize us.
Let me list them:
VALUES
COURAGE, FREEDOM, TRUTH, BEAUTY, LOVE
NEEDS
TO TRUST, TO MATTER, TO FEEL SAFE, TO LOVE AND BE LOVED, TO EXPLORE,
TO SHARE STORIES-SONGS-POEMS, TO LEARN RIGHT AND WRONG,
TO LEARN AND PRACTICE MANNERS, TO REVERE THE SACRED, TO UNITE,
TO LET-GO, TO CELEBRATE, TO LAUGH, TO DANCE, TO DEFEND OUR VALUES
If these values and needs sound familiar, well they should. In part and in some form, they appear in the political, sacred, and bohemian communities around the world.
In general, we practice these values and needs out of habit and without thought. However, conscious or unconscious, the values and needs take deep root in our psyches. For example, our values and needs appear in such gatherings as our July 4th celebrations, but also in our most private moments of worship, prayer, meditation, and contemplation.
And now we come to consider the act of contemplation and how important it becomes "to kindle a light." What do we actually do when we contemplate? Here are some of the definitions offered: to have something in mind, to meditate or muse, to study, to ponder, to reflect, etc.
Simply put, contemplation is the study of a matter in which thinking and feeling join hands. Granted, when we contemplate we think, but we also feel. The process of thinking carries the rational side of any consideration at hand, but any consideration that does not involve the emotional experience of feeling misses the mark.
It is this union of thinking and feeling in the service of becoming conscious that makes contemplation an invaluable process in the decisions of our life. Who are we to marry? What career shall we pursue? Think of any decisions you have made throughout your life. Looking back at them, you realize that thinking and feeling both played roles.
Most important of all, however, is the fact that we do not think and feel in a vacuum. Actually, even when we are not mindful of them, we live in a world of symbols. We exist amid the archetypal powers that accompanied us when we evolved from the depths of unconsciousness to form the civilization that has made of the earth a metropolis of commerce, culture, and values I listed above. The bravery, skill, and desire that brought all of this into being was in fact the contemplative process that united thinking, feeling, and acting. This contemplative act of creation and transformation is itself the light that exposes prejudice, hubris, narcissism, authoritarianism, the brutal nature of war, poverty, the destruction of natural environments, urbanization, and dehumanizing rule of technology.
Whether or not that light is dimming at this moment in time, no one can be certain. But to realize that we are in danger is light enough to contemplate how we shall act together to save our civilization.
Please forgive what may appear as a rant of woes from my pen. Actually, I am repeating in this writing the actual concerns and questions I am asked daily in my consulting room. It is not enough that in my last writing I referred to the closing of hospitals, the shutting of doors in the houses of worship which in the past offered solace and care. I lamented the shutting down of community newspapers that offered reliable information and resources for their readers. And then, there is also a decline in the practice of family medicine while universities are under attack and colleges close.
So, yes, I understand completely the ongoing swell of concerns and questions that keep many of us awake at night. It is of some small comfort that I think back to the crisis facing civilization itself as we battled two major wars in Europe and the Pacific, racing against tine to gain some edge in developing weapons of war, including the nuclear nightmare that continues to raise its head and threaten the entire world.
Yes, we prevailed, and may yet come through this troubled time. Challenging any comfort that comes with the memory of a savage victory in the greatest of wars, we now have to face the threat of losing touch with what is real today. What horrors face us in a world where reality itself competes with the manufacturing of the AI facade of reality. At this moment in time we are witnessing the exchange of control regarding our destiny. We now see the "machine" swing into the driver's seat, a machine that uses artificial neural networks capable of processing very complex data, information systems, and operational processes. What is missing in this machine? Simply put, what is missing is the centuries-old values tended by heart and mind, guided by dreams toward the goal of health and meaning.
Consider this. What does it mean to be a human being? I acknowledge that we indeed have learned much about the physiology and nervous systems of human beings. I acknowledge also that we are creatures who inherently possess values and needs that civilize us.
Let me list them:
VALUES
COURAGE, FREEDOM, TRUTH, BEAUTY, LOVE
NEEDS
TO TRUST, TO MATTER, TO FEEL SAFE, TO LOVE AND BE LOVED, TO EXPLORE,
TO SHARE STORIES-SONGS-POEMS, TO LEARN RIGHT AND WRONG,
TO LEARN AND PRACTICE MANNERS, TO REVERE THE SACRED, TO UNITE,
TO LET-GO, TO CELEBRATE, TO LAUGH, TO DANCE, TO DEFEND OUR VALUES
If these values and needs sound familiar, well they should. In part and in some form, they appear in the political, sacred, and bohemian communities around the world.
In general, we practice these values and needs out of habit and without thought. However, conscious or unconscious, the values and needs take deep root in our psyches. For example, our values and needs appear in such gatherings as our July 4th celebrations, but also in our most private moments of worship, prayer, meditation, and contemplation.
And now we come to consider the act of contemplation and how important it becomes "to kindle a light." What do we actually do when we contemplate? Here are some of the definitions offered: to have something in mind, to meditate or muse, to study, to ponder, to reflect, etc.
Simply put, contemplation is the study of a matter in which thinking and feeling join hands. Granted, when we contemplate we think, but we also feel. The process of thinking carries the rational side of any consideration at hand, but any consideration that does not involve the emotional experience of feeling misses the mark.
It is this union of thinking and feeling in the service of becoming conscious that makes contemplation an invaluable process in the decisions of our life. Who are we to marry? What career shall we pursue? Think of any decisions you have made throughout your life. Looking back at them, you realize that thinking and feeling both played roles.
Most important of all, however, is the fact that we do not think and feel in a vacuum. Actually, even when we are not mindful of them, we live in a world of symbols. We exist amid the archetypal powers that accompanied us when we evolved from the depths of unconsciousness to form the civilization that has made of the earth a metropolis of commerce, culture, and values I listed above. The bravery, skill, and desire that brought all of this into being was in fact the contemplative process that united thinking, feeling, and acting. This contemplative act of creation and transformation is itself the light that exposes prejudice, hubris, narcissism, authoritarianism, the brutal nature of war, poverty, the destruction of natural environments, urbanization, and dehumanizing rule of technology.
Whether or not that light is dimming at this moment in time, no one can be certain. But to realize that we are in danger is light enough to contemplate how we shall act together to save our civilization.
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