A Talk with a Hindu

A Talk with a Hindu and a detour from Wittgenstein's Journey

So, in the twilight of my life, I am slowly recognizing that all human beings hold fast to a certain self-conception as an anchor to go through life, a certain pride, a certain peace, even if that self-conception is based on a delusion---and for many, it is a big and helpless delusion.

I will never forget a wise Hindu man told me when I was traveling in India:

"Roberto, all humans (I am not sure about other sentient beings because I don't know how they think. I only know how and what I think, and by extension and extrapolation, what and how other humans think. Don't be an absolutist. We all practice self-projection, but the wise and more understanding among us do so with more sensitivity, more empathy, with constant revisions based on updated info gleaned from the words and actions of others) try find a reason to live for. I suggest you do likewise. Even a man universally condemned vile and vicious as Hitler thought of himself as a good and caring man, doing all what he could for Germany. 

We all practice self-deception without being aware of that. Yes, based on our long talks of the past three days, and they were among the most scintillating talks I had, I know you are very diligent of not doing so, but you are still human. The secret of happiness is to be lax on others and be critical on yourself. You laughed at people living lives of animals, having no or being incapable of higher aspirations and values, but that's okay. We are all constricted by our circumstances and our limitations. 

Do you know what makes a beggar happy? Just to have enough money to buy him some food for the day or maybe some leftover for the following day. Yes, he follows the biological imperative to live. We must respect him for that. We must respect his sanity, his strength, his refusal to give in to the temptation of giving up and killing himself. A beggar's life may not mean much to you, but it means a lot to the beggar. In the final analysis, life is life, no life is better than another's. 

You laugh at certain humans who have lived like barnyard animals, having sex and having children and being very proud of that while having accomplished nothing worthy to write home about. But those humans have lived the kind of life you described and are being held in contempt by you because that is all they can do. Their lives are governed by the limitations of their abilities. You should not ask them to do more than they can do. It does not matter they have delusions and fantasies about their self-worth. 

I repeat, we humans all have delusions and fantasies about our self-worth so we could carry our heads high. Yes, we are not honest with ourselves, but please, remember we are like that because we want to live. Too much self-honesty tends to lead to despair and suicide. Don't be annoyed if they turn the table around and ask you what you have done with your life. Stupid folks ask stupid questions. That's why they are stupid in the first place and too stupid to admit and accept their stupidity. 

It's your mistake to associate yourself with stupid people in the first place. If you sleep with dogs, you will get fleas. Have a higher standard. So, you go ahead and feel good about yourself for being a philosopher on top of being a poet and a writer of occasional exquisite, transcendental, lyrical prose. Yes, go ahead and fancy that you are dangerous, in your contempt of others who cannot remotely think as critically, to argue as cogently, and to write as beautifully, both creatively and critically, as you do. 

We all have our private contempts. Yours is just too public. It's not pretty and it's not cool. Maybe deep down you have an unresolved inferiority complex. Maybe you have an issue with Anger.

I wish you peace and I wish you strength in the rest of your journey. Namaste."

November 26, 2013

Wissai