a tiny book

We need only be concerned with four people.

Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, and Jesus

It was such a tiny little text entitled Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus as penned by the late German existentialist Karl Jaspers. So tiny, I skipped reading it for sometime thinking that it would have nothing to offer. To my dismay, I squirm at the thought of my ignorance.

There have been many great leaders in the past. These four stand alone, deified by their followers, each in their own way. Many times these followers have idolized their leaders to a height and status that would be rejected by each leader personally—a particular notation to Buddha and Confucius.

My extensive studies in Philosophy, Buddhism, and now Confucianism (since I live in China), found occasion for insight from a different perspective as usual. How ironic, that one might learn something from someone who does not ascribe to the beliefs that are so closely attached with the persons subject to discussion? So I began a journey, as you may soon perceive.

In two days time I finished the tiny little text and found that I was able to see a different side to each of these great leaders. I have since then, gained a greater appreciation of each of these leaders in their greater context. In all honesty however, this text has reinforced within me a somber Reality. In so doing, it has also strengthened my faith convictions.

How can this be, that my faith be strengthened at the reading of an existentialist philosopher? The answer probably lay in the thought that he was able to look at these great leaders honestly and without religious baggage. More particularly, he was able to read these men and their lives in a way that I may never be able to do.

So, in looking through his minds eye perspective on these leaders, my faith has been strengthened. This is the moment I now reveal part of my story with you—what I now see as a result of one German existentialist—a God-send when I needed further insight.

this is a subtitle

The epistemological shift from modernism into postmodernism is itself fading while characteristics have established themselves as pomo principles (despite how contradictory it may sound or how much we might despise such a term; if it helps, this is loose rendering of the word principles). These traits are distinguishingly present in any pomo crowd. I choose not to list the principles that I see in the beginning, as it may compartmentalize your thoughts into a limited structure. I am afraid that I might then set you up for disappointment. Instead, I want to simply set you up. We need only to begin.

In like manner, these principles were not established in the beginning as a pomo mission statement nor were they on any one persons mind ready to be penned at a later date under the title Pomo Principles. They simply came about as a result of an epistemological shift. I am fairly certain that there are more characteristics that can be noted. What we will see unfold shortly are the main and most productive pomo principles. My take on it is that these are the most advantageous for this discussion.

Now there remains a challenge with these previously mentioned principles in mind (as if it were not a big enough challenge to mention the terms pomo and principles in one sentence). As a person living within the present moment, I see an opportunity under the leadership of one of the persons discussed.

It is foolish to conclude with all four simply because I think it is foolish to conclude with all four. If you disagree, or find such a comment odious, then you’re welcome to stop reading at this point. Hmm….the power of writing with your own pen. Now is your chance to bail. For me, I could care less. The odds are you will continue.

Ok, here we go.

I will refrain, as best as I can, from giving my answer for fear of being too oppressive or absolute. I simply want to know which of these leaders fit into the pomo crowd more consistently. This leads me into a brief recollection of each leader with a pomo epistemology in mind. You however are the judge in the end, and you’ll choose your own adventure just as I have my own.

Socrates...

A diligent reading of Socrates discloses an excursion to the Beyond. His life and story reveal a longing toward understanding the Beyond for the sake of communion with it. This makes his pursuit metaphysical and mystical in tone.  Socrates’ bent toward absolute ideals however curtails a truly holistic style of thinking.  Experiential (not experimental) awareness is not one of his strong recommendations, however it might be said that he thought highly of that experiential move from shadows into the Beyond.

Socrates talked a lot. His community orientations expose a curved individualism however. The only real community he held was with those willing to stomach his methods and words. Even then, true and authentic community is called into question as Socrates delivers verbal blows at every turn.

Given his carefully selected words and life context, Socrates indirectly calls previously held beliefs into question while quietly constructing his own ideas on new and uncharted territory. His is a partial deconstruction that demands careful critique. He fails to go all the way.  He pushes the envelope, whiles never really eradicating the old to rebuild a new.

Buddha...

For Guatama, there is no metaphysical and so there can be no mystical since one cannot commune with nothing. In a meditatively stimulated state of empty nirvana, there is no communion. Thus is the way of the Buddha. Community is maintained only in so much as like-minded seekers of the nothing gather together in communes. Meaningful community is indirectly discouraged.

Holistic thinking is eliminated since there is only enlightenment akin to emptiness that is a result of an eightfold path. The eightfold path presupposes a Right way within all eight tenets and so we eliminate any authentically holistic thinking. The mere thought and mention of an authentically holistic thinking is suspect from the start.  

His experiential attitude gains high rank since logic is essentially thrown out and replaced with a meditation to nothingness. One can only experience the eightfold path to liberation which results in a psychological cleaning house experience. With the end result being the state of nothing, one’s experience is essentially nothing as well.

In reading the many stories of the Buddha, one can see the profound influence from Hindu philosophy and so like Socrates in this manner, the Buddha only engages in a partial deconstruction as well. He simply questions some of the old while building on new and undisturbed ground.

Confucius...

Confucius could have cared less about the metaphysical and the mystical. His concern was humanistic in taste. Struggling with the affairs of daily life and politics, Confucius advocated social participation. This disposition assists Confucius within the area of community orientation at this point.

Special emphasis on family values certainly gains my attention as well. It seems hard to visualize a holistic manner of thinking however when approaching Confucius in his writings. His exhortation to virtue presupposes a Right virtue and his emphasis on self-realization causes his community interests to fade.

The Confucian experience is a humanistic experience embodied within daily life and duties. This kind of experience is not abstract or immaterial. It is a humanistic experiential awareness. Confucius sought political reform and restoration. He did not concern himself with a deconstruction methodology. His was a noble attempt at making what was wrong in society right.

Jesus...

Jesus makes several interesting moves of which the others did not. He claims the Metaphysical for himself—he claims himself as the Metaphysical Embodied. The mystical comes into play as he claims the form of Metaphysical Incarnation or the Embodied Beyond. This would enable and encourage communion, which is crucial on two accounts (1) the Mystical is communion with the metaphysical and (2) we are embodied humans. A holistic attitude ties in with his claim as the Metaphysical Embodied. At first sight, his words seem holistic and exclusive in the same breath. At this moment we are faced with a paradox.

A closer look however reveals two things. (1) He claims the holistic for himself in that he claims to be the Embodied Whole and (2) there is a holistic opportunity that is given to humanity as a whole. He invites all who hear the invitation to come and partake of the Embodied Beyond and he sends followers out to tell about this opportunity.

This invitation remains holistic while exclusivity is directly related to our response. Our rejection of this holistic invitation results in exclusion. His words leave the decision up to whoever hears the invitation. This means that oppression originates from our own decision. The hearer is held responsible.

The community he engages in seems realistic and meaningful. We are faced with yet another paradox at this point—dining with drunks, whores, and religious leaders alike. Even more strange is yet another claim—he asserts that he is Community Embodied.

One cannot simply read about this Beyond Man—he is to be experienced. An honest reading of his life demands interaction, a negation from isolation. To look at him, read him, hear him and read about him means to experience him. His paradoxical disposition encourages personal experience with him.

At first it seems that his is a restoration attempt. A renovation of the old effort seems apparent. Enter stage left—you guessed it, one more paradox. He turns the old presuppositional tables over and claims to reconstruct what is destroyed. He blasts the old ways as nonsensical and superficially religious while claiming to be the New Construct Embodied. 

this is a closing subtitle

I have looked closely at each of these great men over the past years. I have read their stories and the stories written about them. There is still much to read. I am hard pressed at this moment to make a decision based on what I see in the lives and writing of each of these men. When confronted by one of these men in particular, I am bedazzled. Something happens.

this is the something that happens

I in my cave, break free from the shackles and turn around to face the bright light that is cast. Elevated to a higher state of enlightenment, one that most people only dream about, I ascend the one-way path of most resistance within this world. A thought occurs to me in this move of the will that is not my own. I realize what it means to be fully human—a true humanism. A confrontation with this one is Reality, bringing enlightenment as I now travel this narrow path. This experience gives way to a personal life of change coupled with a public life of change and combined with a family life of honesty and devotion. In one person I have found the embodiment of three—and yet, oh he so much more. 

So now, you may choose your own adventure.