Life is the answer to life itself .... The meaning of life is truly reached through epiphany. It happens when you let go of certain things, which seems counter intuitive. The details of those things escape definition, and can only be understood by following the signposts of those that have come before and whom have acquired,for lack of a better word, enlightened realizations. Anyone relate to this sentiment? I believe that anyone is capable of even the simplest of such revelations.
On Monday, December 22, 2014, Dan Glover <[email protected]> wrote: > All, > > I've just picked up a book of essays written by Albert Camus called > The Myth of Sisyphus. Camus was the second-youngest recipient of the > Nobel Prize for Literature and is one of my favorite authors. > > [ > http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Sisyphus-Essays-Vintage-International-ebook/dp/B009UAO2H8/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419202692&sr=1-1&keywords=myth+of+sisyphushe > ] > > The first paragraph caught my attention: > > "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is > suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to > answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the > rest--whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind > has nine or twelve categories--comes after. These are games; one must > first answer. And if it is true, as Nietzsche claims, that a > philosopher, to deserve our respect, must preach by example, you can > appreciate the importance of that reply, for it will preceded the > definitive act. These are facts the heart can feel; yet they call for > careful study before they become clear to the intellect." > > Dan comments: > Is life worth living? Or is it merely the fear of death that keeps us > all from annihilating each other? As you all probably know, the myth > of Sisyphus has to do with a man condemned to forever rolling an > enormous rock up a hill only to see it roll back down before he can > reach the top. It's a metaphor for our own daily lives, the ones where > we struggle so hard and yet have to get up the next day and do it all > over again. > > I see it all around me. When I'm working at the auto dealership I know > exactly why I'm there and I am not even an employee. Yet the people > who are employed there seem prone to this Sisyphus nightmare where > they come into work every day and roll that stone up the hill and they > even seem surprised when they come in the next day and have to do it > all over again... day after day, week after week, year after year, > until their skins turn gray and their hair falls out and they are too > old to roll that stone any longer at which point they either > conveniently die or else languish a short while in nursing homes. > > Am I the only one who ever wonders why we do it? Sometimes I try to > talk to these people about the meaning of our lives but then a > coworker will approach with a job for them to do and the talk is > forgotten. Once in a great while one of them will actually bring up > the conversation again but usually it is in regard to a loved one who > is dying and how the whole experience makes them feel hopelessly > inadequate in the face of their own inevitable demise. > > The owner of the dealership once told me he wished he could be more > like me. Here is a man, a millionaire several times over, a practicing > attorney, and probably one of the most intelligent men I have ever > met, and he wants to be more like me? My first reaction was one of > disbelief. But something in the way he said it -- the way his eyes > held mine for just a moment -- told me that he actually meant what he > said. Needless to say I was a little shocked by the incident until I > remembered how I always give out books this time of the year. > > This is a man who has the world by the sack yet night after night he > sits hunched over a table staring through a magnifying glass at > advertising for his dealership. That's what he does. That's all he > does. He'll come into the shop around 3 in the afternoon, sit down and > start to work, and sometimes won't finish until midnight or later. > Last year I brought him a book called The Mystery. I picked it out > specially for him. In that book I seek to unite what seem at first > glance to be polar opposites in ways not unlike ZMM. For instance... > > "I’m making a big thing out of all this, these classical-romantic > differences, but Phædrus didn’t. > > "He wasn’t really interested in any kind of fusion of differences > between these two worlds. He was after something else...his ghost. In > the pursuit of this ghost he went on to wider meanings of Quality > which drew him further and further to his end. I differ from him in > that I’ve no intention of going on to that end. He just passed through > this territory and opened it up. I intend to stay and cultivate it and > see if I can get something to grow. > > "I think that the referent of a term that can split a world into hip > and square, classic and romantic, technological and humanistic, is an > entity that can unite a world already split along these lines into > one. A real understanding of Quality doesn’t just serve the System, or > even beat it or even escape it. A real understanding of Quality > captures the System, tames it, and puts it to work for one’s own > personal use, while leaving one completely free to fulfill his inner > destiny." [ZMM] > > Perhaps that's the key to everything... to capture the system rather > than allowing it to capture you. Is life worth living? Better yet, is > your life worth living? Are you completely free to fulfill your inner > destiny? Do you even know what your inner destiny is? Remember, those > are facts the heart feels. The clarity of Intellect comes later... > after all the careful study. > > Though the owner of the dealership never said if he read my book or > not, I suspect he did. > > Thank you, > > Dan > > http://www.danglover.com > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
