Can’t walk, can’t talk….
When we are deprived of human contact, unable to visit or talk to friends or strangers, we deprive ourselves of what it is to be human.
I watched the German film, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, by Werner Herzog recently. A film based on the true story of Kasper Hauser, who was found barefoot, with no possessions and only two notes in his hand, one early morning on the streets of Nuremberg, 1828.
Kaspar, around 17 when he appeared seemingly out of nowhere, could only utter a few phrases and walked as if he had only stood up for the first time a few days ago. One note told of his mother giving him up as a baby and the other of his subsequent captivity in a windowless basement for the rest of his young life up until that point. The notes were left unsigned and with no way of knowing how to contact his previous guardians.
Kaspar’s story spread throughout the kingdoms and courts of Europe. But nobody ever came forward to claim they had any knowledge of Kaspar’s mysterious past or relation to him whatsoever. Fortunately for Kaspar, notable individuals from Nuremburg and beyond provided for him, taught him German and amongst other skills, how to play the piano.
For me, Kaspar Hauser’s underdeveloped human faculties are a metaphor for the underdeveloped spirituality of the Western World, brought up instead on the Newtonian way of relating to the world. I.e., through logic and materially based evidence only.
We have neglected the illogical, the unseeable, the mysterious and yet so precious yearnings of the human spirit long enough. And yet we continue to dissect and diagnose the human body with limiting and some may argue, damaging results. How long can we go on feeling disconnected, empty and dehumanised by our very own way of life?
It is now time to start acknowledging the boundaries and capacity of medical science and stop looking for rational solutions to the irrational and unique human spirit. Science, in the way it has been directed, cannot do much for the soul. It has brought us great standards of living and some fantastic as well as devastating technological advances. Personally, if we said that, “as a species, we’ve made some great practical progress. Now it’s time to reflect and reassess our priorities for the next 100 years.” I would love to be part of that conversation.
Acknowledging and really acting on the commonly shared view that it is the relationships that we nurture that mean the most to us. Human to human. Our place among it all. That being the most important thing. If we believe it, why don’t we start to prioritise it?
It is my mission, dear reader, to beat the drum for changing direction. If needs be, totally reversing back down this road of consumerism and take another road. The road where I have time to stop and talk with people. Connect with them. Laugh with them. Share my stories and for them to share theirs with me.
Kaspar Hauser, who I mentioned at the beginning of this musing as a historical metaphor for western spiritual development, when he first appeared on the streets of western society, had a clear dream on his death bed. He described many people climbing a mountain. Where they were going? Nobody knows.
This dream of Kaspar’s reminds me of an analogy from the book Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig in which Pirsig describes how some race up the mountain of life as fast as they can. Only looking back to enjoy the view once they have reached the top. Others, taking their time, even stopping occasionally to admire how far they’ve come and their immediate surroundings.
What difference does this make? Well, in many ways none. Both will eventually reach the top of the mountain. Does it matter which one gets there first? To some it would. Why? Something to do with winning I expect.
Does it matter who’s got better memories of their climb? It could quite easily be argued that that doesn’t matter either. But what if the mountain is infinite? What if you had to race up a mountain trying desperately to get to the top as fast as you can but were never able to reach the top?
Or enjoying the walk, stopping every once in a while. Still never being able to reach the summit? Would that change your mind?
I know which one I’d be. I’d rather be last with a massive smile on my face than first to the top, exhausted and unable to breathe.
My point is not that we shouldn’t do anything with any urgency. Life is short and therefore precious. We have to make meaning from it. And we do that by setting ourselves achievable goals. At the same time, it seems really obvious, given the infinite nature of reality, that life is not a race. And if it is what are we racing towards?
This race, for me is a race to the bottom and not to the top. It is a blind cultural addiction that has been fed to us by the blind addicts. If there is any urgency to be had, I feel it is in our individual spiritual development. Our ability to connect with one another is what that truly make life worth living.
But of course, that can wait as well. The universe is infinitely patient with all of us.
If space is the final frontier, then I would include the space between us, dear readers.
The space within that space. The space between our thoughts, our breaths, our lifetimes.
We can choose how we live. Blissfully or brutally. Lonely or in good company. An existence where everyone is an enemy until proven otherwise. Or an existence that recognises our shared humanity. Does life have to be hard? Or have we decided to consciously, unconsciously make it so?
All I know is that I am here to enjoy myself, serve others by encouraging them to enjoy themselves too, by setting a joyful example. As a human spirit being exactly that as joyful as I can be, it what I do, what I think and what I feel. Making sure, if I realise I am not settled, it is probably because I am rushing, physically, mentally and most definitely for the wrong reasons.