All philosophy seems to lead me towards a perfect spiritual detachment- a divorce from the world, and therefore towards sterility and deadness. Let me be content to say: I am, and content to "be" as fully as possible.
-- Lawrence Durrell --
Pied Piper of Lovers
Amen . . .
that position, as stated by D, is, imo, the end result of all philosophical thought... especially the "B" part... almost Haikuish...
ReplyDeleteMudpuddle, I think he is rejecting the A part, which leads to "sterility and deadness." Instead he opts "to 'be' as fully as possible."
DeleteHaiku do not lead on to sterility and deadness" but immersion in the natural/physical world.
Fred: true immersion in the physical world involves living in the moment, which is not "sterility and deadness", but total engrossment without judgment of any sort... but no zenner is perfect, not even monks... my impression is that that is what Lawrence was saying...
DeleteMudpuddle--now you have confused me. Durrell's quotation, to me anyway, says that he's rejecting philosophy as it leads to a detachment from the world which leads to sterility and deadness. He's rejecting that for a life that's the opposite.
DeleteFred: a good example of miscommunication with the same words... looking again at the quote, though, i could have expressed it better: thinking won't make a person happy - it leads, as Durrell says - to nonlife... Haiku does the opposite: it points fingers at things to indicate living reality, as does Zen... being present in the present is the best it gets... i really think we're saying the same thing, actually... amazing how ideas get twisted around; it makes me wonder whether words really have that much to do with communication; i recall reading that a high percentage of communication is nonverbal, and i believe there's a lot to be said for that...
DeleteMudpuddle, I think you are right--we are saying the saying the same things. One of the most common complaints I've heard about emails is that it's so easy to misunderstand the other because there is no non-verbal communication.
DeleteR.T., it appears to me that Durrell has come down firmly on the "Be" side of the fence.
ReplyDeleteSounds to me like he's pitching Reason against Emotion and coming down on the Emotional side. Personally I prefer Reason.... I think it's something the world *really* needs right now - a bit of philosophical detachment!
ReplyDeleteCyberKitten, I don't think so. I think he's saying that he isn't interested in a sterile process that ignores or denigrates the physical world that we are in.
Delete*That* I can agree with... [grin] I'm rather intrigued how he tars all philosophy with a rather nasty smelling brush though. Personally I've found it anything *but* sterile or detached.
DeleteCyberKitten, well, it is a novel, so the character may be overstating his position, just a bit or perhaps he's been hanging around with the wrong type of philosophers.
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