Are you alive?

"One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious." ~ Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology.

Are you alive? Of course, the answer is obvious: I am not aware whether the ghosts, gods, and sundry other beings that supposedly inhabit this planet earth; its nether and thither; along with us humans, ever read. And if they do, whether they read newspapers; and even if they do that, whether they read the Sunday Observer; but if you are reading this, you must be alive and kicking. However; exist you may; but are you alive? To answer that, we need to ask another question: What does it mean to be alive? The dignity of life has never rested in its mystery; but in its remarkable diversity, complexity, and ability to manifest itself in all manner of conditions and circumstances. Therefore, let us for the moment, leave out the mythological and other fabulous beings that are supposed to inhabit this earth, and restrict our exploration to the concept of the life of humans. What makes you alive? Does breathing, eating, replicating, and just possessing life make you alive. Is it being animated and sensitive, having vigour and spirit, or keeping hopes alive? The definition may include all of these things; but most importantly, it is about being mentally perceptive and responsive: possessing an alert mind, alive to what is going on, awake to the dangers of a situation, conscious to the reality of one's predicament: these are what makes a person alive. Thus, insofar as human life is concerned, to be alive, one must be conscious of being; and be possessed of a contemplative mind.

Wisdom

It is not by the accumulation of knowledge; but by contemplation, reason, and understanding that one attains wisdom. Knowledge is something that can be, communicated; but not, wisdom. One can find wisdom, live it, do wonders through it; but one cannot communicate and teach it.

Neither does possessing knowledge denote intelligence. There are plenty of people with letters after their names, letters denoting their gatherings of knowledge and learning; they know of figures, details, and dates; but it is possible to know an abundance of facts, and yet not know anything at all. There is also a great difference between knowing and understanding: one can know a lot about something and not really understand it. Pure learning is of no use unless it is, backed by thought and thoughtful action.

Otherwise, we create dreamers rather than men and women of purposeful achievement. Thus, wisdom begins with the dawn of reason, an understanding of the knowledge and principles whereby we may know the true meaning of things. In the order of things, wisdom is knowledge that has been, properly ordered. "All the interests of my reason, speculative as well as practical, combine in the three following questions: What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I hope?" This was said by Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher. He is widely considered as a central figure of modern philosophy. He argued that human concepts and categories, structure our view of the world and its laws, and that reason is the source of morality.

Modernity

The ability to order knowledge correctly is the work of the ability of "right reason," in other words, the virtue of prudence.

The wise do not place order upon knowledge, they discern the order that is naturally within knowledge. Knowledge contains a natural hierarchy. For instance, to train and raise children in wisdom, education cannot be a system of isolated subjects; rather, education should be the installation of wisdom within the student by having them move through an ordered collection of sciences that correspond in principle. In our current modern world, we generally see the value of something, only in its function and use to us.

Modernity has trained individuals to place value on what is most useful or practical, and to devalue that which

is not immediately practical. Education has ceased to be a movement, the development, of individuals through a sapiential (characterised by wisdom) system of training, and has become an industry aimed at training individuals for practical and economic purposes. Modern man values a thing very little past its immediate functionality.

In this, the true highest principles within the sapiential order, an order characterised by intuitive wisdom in the learning of ethics, theology, philosophy, history; have all been replaced by, economic training.

The character and wisdom of individuals is, left unformed. Thus, we produce students to function in an economy who have only segmented and broken theories on how to live and live well.

It becomes even more, dire; if we consider the fact that these students - who have no virtue training - are asked to be citizens, to vote, and make judgements.

To preserve the freedom of the human mind, to appreciate what life is all about, the spirit should be free of insanity and ego. To think as we will, and speak as we think; is the first step in acquiring wisdom.

It will proceed in improvement of the condition of man.

Environment

Here is a true incident that illustrates how unthinking, not conscious to his immediate environment, man is: A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning.

He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated, 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minuets went by, and a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing.

He slowed his pace, stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money into the till without stopping, and continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly, he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a three-year old boy.

His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the child stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time.

This action was, repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only six people stopped and stayed for a while.

About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.

When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world.

He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organised by, the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were, in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognise the talent in an unexpected context? One of the possible conclusions from this experience: if we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing the best music ever written, even if we did not know these facts, but just to appreciate something good, how many other things are we missing in life? I am sure, had Premasiri Khemadasa, when alive, done the same thing seated on the platform at the Fort Railway Station, wearing a cap, playing his symphony 'Mother of My Time;' the result would have been the same.

If we lead our daily lives without the ability to look at things beyond face value, understand and appreciate all that is good around us; the question is, are you alive? The subtle distinctions in the way we lead our lives, makes all the difference.

See you this day next week. Until then, keep thinking; keep laughing. Life is mostly about these two activities.

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