(6-minute read)
Truth #3 – It’s About The Journey …
Third, philosophy is not about seizing anything tangible or intangible. It is about searching. Searching for the questions that have plagued man since the beginning of time. And what we are ultimately searching for is truth; what is the meaning of our existence, why we are here, what is it all for, and what is our purpose?
It sounds so cliche but there is a universal truth that nearly all schools of philosophies have in common; that in our search for the above answers there is no destination to arrive at, there is only the searching; the journey.
In each of the philosopher’s writings it is easy to conclude that these masters have come up with all the answers. Through the use of their intellect, reason, or in some cases, mysticism, they have seemingly developed the answer-key to the questions of the universe.
And it is easy to come to that conclusion. That is until we understand the world in which the philosophers lived, until we read about their own journeys. And I would argue that one cannot understand the authors writings unless one understands, as much possible, the authors themselves. Understanding their complicated lives tremendously helps us to decode their often convoluted writings.
While these brilliant minds laid pen to paper and truly developed some of the most profound truths, none of them, almost to the very last, did not seem to have an edenic life. In fact, one might say that the conditions for living their lives informed and influenced their writings; if one is suffering in life one may be compelled to discover and write about that suffering in order to make sense of it.
And this is why I think the third truth is that philosophy is not about reaching a destination as much as it is a journey. Why? Because it is clear that if the greatest minds couldn’t fully get there than we can never fully get there either.
But we continue to try.
We do so not because we are megalomaniac enough to think that we will be the ones to crack the code, but because, like the great ones, we are desirous to figure out the world in which we live in and our part in it.
There is a story often told to convey this inner desire we have to reach the pinnacle of understanding. You may have read it once before. There was a time when I liked this story. Now, not so much.
One day a guru was peacefully meditating by a river when a young man interrupted him.
“Master, my desire is to follow you and become your disciple,” said the young man.
“Why?” replied the guru.
The young man paused for a moment.
“Because I want to seek truth.”
Immediately the guru jumped up, grabbed the young man by the collar, dragged him into the river, and plunged his head under water. Holding him there for what seemed like an eternity, the young man began kicking and fighting to get free. The guru eventually pulled him up out of the water.
The young man emerged reeling, coughing up water and gasping for breath. When he eventually quieted down, the guru spoke.
“Tell me young man, when your head was under water what is it that you wanted most?”
“Air!” he sputtered.
“Good,” said the guru. “Now go home and come back to me when you want truth as much as you just wanted air.”
The interpretation of this story is somewhat straightforward but has begun to take on many forms. For some the focus is placed on the guru. Why does he seem so cruel? For others the focus is placed on the young man. Was the young man insincere in his petition? And certainly coming up out of the water all of us can almost empathize with the young man, feeling his panic as he filled his lungs with more air than we could ever imagine.
Most of the arguments that come from these questions are warranted. But the context in which the story is told is often to prove the point that one has to want to work very hard at seeking truth. For the young man, being held under water meant the difference between life and death. The moral of the story seems to be that our desire for seeking life’s answers should be no different.
But I now think that this dramatic story is a bit over the top.
There is no question that the guru was clear in his directive, come back to me when you want truth as bad as you wanted to breath. What could that possibly mean?
Of course having ones head forcefully held underwater one’s body is going to naturally violently react to the lack of oxygen. Not breathing is detrimental to living.
So, it seems, at best, that the young man’s desire to take his next breath was being artificially induced.
By the guru.
Holding his head under water.
To desire anything in the Eastern religious traditions is anathema. Even the desire to seek truth. Generally speaking, the emotion of being desirous of anything, including enlightenment, is often warned against standing in the way of enlightenment.
What I offer is a different interpretation. Take it for what it’s worth.
To breathe is not an activity that I have to consciously decide to do. The central nervous system of my body automatically does that for me. One day it will be unable to do so. Until then I naturally, and without having to think much about it, breathe to the betterment of my well-being.
How does this apply to the third truth, that it is the journey and not the destination?
Breathing is a natural process. I have some control over it, but in many ways I do not. For me, this helps define the universal journey we are all on.
Admittedly this is one of most complex truths to try and explain because it is not a ten-step program. There are no manuals, no directive ordering this is what one must do before taking the next step.
The journey is nothing more than “just being,” like “breathing” and that could mean a number of things at any given time.
It could mean to be more present in the moment. Or to be more flexible in the circumstances surrounding us. Or to just allow oneself to be swept up in life, to be surrounded by life, to be in over our head, not knowing where we are going, drowning in our own everything and nothingness.
It may be as simple as the difference offered to Neo by Morpheus in the Matrix movie.
“Stop trying to hit me and just hit me.”
Stop trying to be and just be.
Here is where I veer off the beaten path of the story of the guru and the young man. I think that if the young man went back to the guru, the guru would have plunged him into the same cold waters again and again.
Because the guru, or the philosopher, or theologian is not the giver of enlightenment, the one to tell us what the purpose or meaning of life is.
I think that’s left to us as individuals.
Rhodes hadn’t found his path in life and is a chilling reminder.
It is up to the individual to seek out a meaning, a purpose, and to share that with others.
Each of us (aware of it or not) are on journey to an unknown destination.
With a yet to be defined purpose.
A purpose that comes to us not from striving to be something.
Rather, like breathing, we just are.
Sometimes, everyday, with different motives or intentions.
On a journey.
