The futility of isolation
Jun. 22nd, 2006 08:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teiresiasAn eremite: one who retires from society and lives in solitude, especially for religious reasons. Also, for some reason that entirely escapes me, the modern derivation of "hermit" also means "a spiced molasses cookie."
And monks invented beer. Anyway...
Sometimes, the fact that I'm forced to share this world with other humans tires me deep in my soul, because the vast majority of them are so, so dumb. The fact that I am apparently one of the most enlightened beings on this planet sometimes drives me to despair.
However.
Even though disappearing from society forever sounds good to me sometimes, I could never actually do it, for the simple reason that if I did, I would stop. Stop growing, stop changing, stop thinking in all but the most basic sense of the word. None of us could have become what we are without the influence of others, without the accumulated knowledge and experience of those around us and those who came before us upon which to draw.
Understand: I don't at all suggest that solitary contemplation is worthless. Rather, I suggest that it cannot be the end result, or the sole means to enlightenment. Without stimuli from other aware beings, it is difficult-- if not impossible-- to learn anything new. To truly learn more about ourselves, we must be presented with situations that are beyond our control. There are, of course, any number of natural events before which we are helpless, but these, in the end, are limited in their variety, by virtue of the simple fact that there is no intelligence behind them. To me, at least, nothing presents as great a challenge as that of striving for true comprehension of the nature of another human being. They come up with things I never thought of, say things I didn't expect, do things that, on occasion, make me just stop for a moment and gaze with wonder. I think that that makes up for all the exasperation, personally. On a planetary level, maybe... maybe not. I suppose we'll have to see.
Cenobite: "a member of a religious group living together in a monastic community." I've never been even the least bit religious, but... in a way, people are my religion. Heaven and hell and everything in between.
So thank you all, for helping to make sure my monasticism isn't entirely wasted in navel-gazing.
And monks invented beer. Anyway...
Sometimes, the fact that I'm forced to share this world with other humans tires me deep in my soul, because the vast majority of them are so, so dumb. The fact that I am apparently one of the most enlightened beings on this planet sometimes drives me to despair.
However.
Even though disappearing from society forever sounds good to me sometimes, I could never actually do it, for the simple reason that if I did, I would stop. Stop growing, stop changing, stop thinking in all but the most basic sense of the word. None of us could have become what we are without the influence of others, without the accumulated knowledge and experience of those around us and those who came before us upon which to draw.
Understand: I don't at all suggest that solitary contemplation is worthless. Rather, I suggest that it cannot be the end result, or the sole means to enlightenment. Without stimuli from other aware beings, it is difficult-- if not impossible-- to learn anything new. To truly learn more about ourselves, we must be presented with situations that are beyond our control. There are, of course, any number of natural events before which we are helpless, but these, in the end, are limited in their variety, by virtue of the simple fact that there is no intelligence behind them. To me, at least, nothing presents as great a challenge as that of striving for true comprehension of the nature of another human being. They come up with things I never thought of, say things I didn't expect, do things that, on occasion, make me just stop for a moment and gaze with wonder. I think that that makes up for all the exasperation, personally. On a planetary level, maybe... maybe not. I suppose we'll have to see.
Cenobite: "a member of a religious group living together in a monastic community." I've never been even the least bit religious, but... in a way, people are my religion. Heaven and hell and everything in between.
So thank you all, for helping to make sure my monasticism isn't entirely wasted in navel-gazing.
