The utter banality of life
Life is full of contradictions, like one invisible supreme being telling one group of
people one set of unchangeable sacred truths while telling another group of
people another set of unchangeable sacred truths, then watching while they butcher one another. It boggles the mind why He
would do that. I am equally confused by those who condemn one group for being
radicalized and resorting to violence, calling them terrorists for struggling
for their freedoms and their rights, while accepting that another group, like
those militarist bullies who run nation states, have the right to resort to
violence in defense of the same rights and freedoms.
Life is funny that way, people are just as funny, in fact I would say most people are ludicrous and silly. Think of someone dressed in a turn of the 20th century outfit walking down the street today, he would probably look quite ridiculous. But people who judge others most harshly rarely look in the mirror at themselves and when they do their own minds instantly Photoshop away all the unflattering bits. No, people don't see their own faults and foibles, but are more than happy to discuss other people's faults and eccentricities. When short on facts they usually fill in the gaps the best they can and turn a small piece of gossip in to a saga worthy of a daytime television soap opera. Yes, people are generally detestable creatures and the less direct contact one has with them the better.
The mountain cave dwelling hermits of the Qadisha valley and those who chose a monastic hermitage as their humble residence for meditation and contemplation in my view had the right idea. Man may be a social animal, but we should never forget that being social is simply a defense mechanism to avoid having to waste precious energy fighting everyone we meet, it was never meant to be a way of life. We are seekers of meaning, of spirituality, we are solitary private creatures who fear public humiliation and the cruel jibes of the unkind. We were never meant to live in over populated urban centers, we desire and actively seek freedom, and sacrifice our most precious years searching for that freedom. Four walls, a window to the sky and the tree tops, and silence is all we need to contemplate this world and understand its mysteries. Everything else is mindless chatter and noise.
Today I had the misfortune of going into a supermarket, a chore I desperately avoid, but alas one must eat. I mingled with the peasants, over weight creatures hunting for their next sugar and fat fix among the tall shelving units of this urban watering and feeding station. InLebanon
Now I am safely back in my hermitage, secluded behind thick cave walls, isolated from the outside world.
I have always been an avid history buff, some tell me its because I prefer the world between the pages of a history book to the world we live in today, well who wouldn't. All I have seen of mankind is disheartening, nothing but a steady cultural, moral and social decline. The more science and technology give us new tools to make our lives happier, easier and more fulfilling the more we loose touch with reality, with family, with each other, the less meaningful human contact we tend to have, preferring instead to sit behind a computer screen and fill cyberspace with meaningless gossip. I have no doubt the Lebanese alone are responsible for more than half of the meaningless drivel clogging the internet today.
Yes, we are a petty and pointless species, created only to recognize our own limitations, understand the utter banality of life, and be completely conscious when the lights finally go out, facing the utter horror of nonexistence with a silent breathless scream and a desperate wide eyed eternal stare into nothingness.
Life is funny that way, people are just as funny, in fact I would say most people are ludicrous and silly. Think of someone dressed in a turn of the 20th century outfit walking down the street today, he would probably look quite ridiculous. But people who judge others most harshly rarely look in the mirror at themselves and when they do their own minds instantly Photoshop away all the unflattering bits. No, people don't see their own faults and foibles, but are more than happy to discuss other people's faults and eccentricities. When short on facts they usually fill in the gaps the best they can and turn a small piece of gossip in to a saga worthy of a daytime television soap opera. Yes, people are generally detestable creatures and the less direct contact one has with them the better.
The mountain cave dwelling hermits of the Qadisha valley and those who chose a monastic hermitage as their humble residence for meditation and contemplation in my view had the right idea. Man may be a social animal, but we should never forget that being social is simply a defense mechanism to avoid having to waste precious energy fighting everyone we meet, it was never meant to be a way of life. We are seekers of meaning, of spirituality, we are solitary private creatures who fear public humiliation and the cruel jibes of the unkind. We were never meant to live in over populated urban centers, we desire and actively seek freedom, and sacrifice our most precious years searching for that freedom. Four walls, a window to the sky and the tree tops, and silence is all we need to contemplate this world and understand its mysteries. Everything else is mindless chatter and noise.
Today I had the misfortune of going into a supermarket, a chore I desperately avoid, but alas one must eat. I mingled with the peasants, over weight creatures hunting for their next sugar and fat fix among the tall shelving units of this urban watering and feeding station. In
Now I am safely back in my hermitage, secluded behind thick cave walls, isolated from the outside world.
I have always been an avid history buff, some tell me its because I prefer the world between the pages of a history book to the world we live in today, well who wouldn't. All I have seen of mankind is disheartening, nothing but a steady cultural, moral and social decline. The more science and technology give us new tools to make our lives happier, easier and more fulfilling the more we loose touch with reality, with family, with each other, the less meaningful human contact we tend to have, preferring instead to sit behind a computer screen and fill cyberspace with meaningless gossip. I have no doubt the Lebanese alone are responsible for more than half of the meaningless drivel clogging the internet today.
Yes, we are a petty and pointless species, created only to recognize our own limitations, understand the utter banality of life, and be completely conscious when the lights finally go out, facing the utter horror of nonexistence with a silent breathless scream and a desperate wide eyed eternal stare into nothingness.
Comments
Post a Comment