Listening to Socrates

Socrates was a smart guy. If you doubt that you should check out some of his thinking in the dialogues of Plato. He spent most of his time hanging out on the streets with his friends discussing the MAPOL (meaning and purpose of life). It's valuable, in my opinion, to explore some of his conclusions after years of conversations and study. One of his most famous quotes is "The Unexamined Life is not Worth Living". Another famous one is "Know Thyself:" It's worth spending a little time considering these statements.

We need to start any quest for learning about ourselves with the realization that we don't really know ourselves. We ascribe certain abilities and traits to ourselves and imagine that we are one way or another. We live our lives under many illusions. The main one is that we believe that we already do know ourselves. We believe that we have made choices in the past and that we can make choices in the future, when in fact most of the things that happen to us are a result of accident. We believe that we are consistent in our thinking and that we are the same person each day. In fact we are very inconsistent and we have many different personalities, each of which believes that it is who we really are.

The view that we don't know ourselves and that before we can progress in our lives and reach any level of happiness or contentment we need to get to know ourselves is one of the consistent threads of thought that runs through the thinking of all religions and philosophies. All the problems in the world can be traced to this simple and undeniable fact. We don't know ourselves and because we act without any real knowledge of who we are and what we need we are capable of any action, even the most irrational and self-destructive.

When you really begin to understand this about the human condition, you can begin to appreciate the "Terror of the Situation". We are living in a world that for the most part consists of people who are out of control. Under the right conditions they are capable of doing anything, and justifying their actions with some belief system that has them hypnotized into believing that they really do know who they are and what are the right things to do.

I don't want to paint too negative a picture. Matter of fact what I am describing here is usually hidden information. Most people are not ready or willing to hear it or understand it. There is actually the possibility that we can escape from this situation and create a world that enables us to achieve a level of peace and happiness. It all begins with self-knowledge.

Socrates spoke about accomplishing this through his student Plato in "The Republic". P.D Ouspensky spoke about the possibility of creating a new man and a better world in "In Search of the Miraculous." Jesus in "The Sermon on the Mount" points the way towards the possibility of creating a new life and turning our exisiting world topsy turvy.

Socrates, though, more than anything was a realist and gave this advice to those who don't want to think about any of this stuff which I imagine is most of us. What he said was, "Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think."

Further Thoughts on the Esoteric Path

It's hard to know what advice to believe or who you can really trust. I read today that it is not good for you to stand on your hand. It puts too much pressure on your eyes and can contribute to causing glaucoma. I have been standing on my head everyday for thirty three years. I have also read numerous articles about the dangers of fasting. I have fasted at least once a year for over thirty five years. It seems to me that no matter what I read about these practices or what people tell me I should value my own experiences. I mean after all this time I should know for myself how I feel when doing these things.

One of the major challenges in life is developing confidence in yourself so that you can trust your own instincts, feelings, and thoughts. It is especially difficult when we are contstantly being told what to do and what to think. From the time we are very young, almost immediately after birth , we are constantly being programmed to perceive the world in ways that will enable us to get pleasure and avoid pain.

As we get older and we begin to think for ourselves our attitudes and behaviors are influenced by our parents, teachers, friends, and the media. By the time we have reached adulthood, unless we are very lucky, and have been isolated from the mainstream and exposed to a belief system that promotes personal development and an open-minded skepticism we will be severely limited in our ability to think for ourselves.

It is important to realize the reality of our situation. Hypnosis is real and is usually defined as a state of hypersuggestibility. There are ten levels or stages of hypnotic trance from a very light state to the deepest or somnambulistic state. In the deepest states, the hypnotist can create both negative and positive hallucinations, We can be told that an object that is in our presence does not exist and we will not see it. We can also be told to see an object that does not exist and we will imagine that the object is present. Each of us to some degree or another is subject to the effects of suggestibility. What this means is that we are all hypnotized to some degree and our view of the world is impacted by this hypnosis.

The goal of our life, from the esoteric point of view is to free ourselves from this state. In order to do this, though, we must develop a sense of necessity or it will never become important to us.
We will be happy living in our dream state. This necessity is developed when we recognize what is called "The Terror of the Situation". TTOTS becomes more apparent when we study ourselves and see the degree to which we are not free. The more we study ourselves the more it becomes apparent that only occassionally do we have "free will." As we study ourselves and begin to see the truth about our existence we can begin to see the cause of the world's problems and the degree to which things are out of control. This path of self-study and deprogramming ourselves is a difficult.one. It is called "The Warriors Way". It is the path to freedom and consciousness that I alluded to in my last blog.

Doorway to the Esoteric Path

I'ts difficult to believe in an all powerful, all knowing , all loving, god when you consider the weaknesses and shortcomings of our physical bodies. You can justify our mental and emotional anguish as a result of our free will. It's easier to rationalize that the problems of our mind and heart are created by lessons that we need to learn. But what is the purpose of our needing to eat, of growing old, or of the need to sleep. It seems that a God of greater wisdom would have considered these factors when he created us.

Now it could be that God acts in mysterious ways and we just don't understand the big picture. It also could be that we are a work in process and that we are evolving into more perfect and efficient machines. Maybe we are an experiment of an advanced species who are observing how we adapt ourselves to the limited equipment they gave us. The miracle of it all is that we are capable of analyzing and trying to understand our situation.
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The majority of people either believe that it is a waste of time to speculate about these matters or that the stories they have been told about god, creation, the Garden of Eden, heaven, and hell are acceptable explanations for the meaning and purpose of life. There are a few who don't accept the traditional stories and myths, and also have an interest or a desire to investigate and discover what is really going on. I don't think those in this ladder group have a choice in the matter. They are driven, by some inner force , which no matter how much they try to ignore, keeps driving them to find the answers to these unanswerable questions.

There is much that can be discovered and uncovered by science. Scientists take the view that if we can't observe or measure a phenomenon it doesn't exist. What they have succeeded to do in thousands of years of observing and measuring is put together a pretty good picture of our world and its components. They have also helped us advance in our abiity to control our lives and change the physical world so that it is more accessible and easier to navigate.

What scientists have not done is research that which can't be measured, that inner force that drives us to find the deeper reason for our existence. It is a little naive and even illogical to believe that the scientific method is our most advanced tool for understanding. Where does this leave us? It leaves us at the doorway to what I consider the esoteric path, the hidden path that leads to a higher form of awareness or consciousness. We are now on the threshold of making a breakthrough to this new way of being and perceiving. It will change the world in ways we cannot imagine.