Mannys' Page

“Philosophy, as I have so far understood and lived it, means living voluntarily among ice and high mountains—seeking out everything strange and questionable in existence, everything so far placed under a ban by morality." - Friedrich Nietzche

I sense in my discussions with various people, that the word 'Philosophy' often carries with it a certain intellectual or academic stigma. A notion that one requires a certain education, mental skillset or background in order to engage in the subject. I'm occasionally introduced to people as an aspiring philosopher, or a 'wise guy'; this eliciting a whole plethora of interesting or resistent reactions. I get the sense that the proposition of 'talking philosophy' really intimidates and makes many people nervous and uncomfortable.

So instead of bringing up the classical big questions of life, I love to ask a person what inspires them, what gets them out of bed in the morning, what they love about their partner, what they want to achieve or change in the world. People's eyes light up, their body language becomes open, they just *love* talking about themselves, and before you know it, any 'philosophy related' anxiety is out the door!

I then love to remind them that we have just spent the last hour discussing his or her life philosophy; the motivation to live, what constitutes a meaningful life, how should one conduct himself in the world, what is happiness and ultimate fulfillment and how do we navigate towards it!? And in the process, we almost always discuss and apply the same questions to other people they know, and people in general. This *is* philosophy ladies and gentlemen. I am convinced that all people love to engage in philosophy, and are deeply touched by it, given that the social environment is stimulating and comfortable.

We are all philosophers in our own way, and it's just the intimidation factor of the academic side of it that scares us away. I too don't feel particularly inspired by the rigidness of many academic approaches. But we should not allow that side of things to scare us away from the big questions.

All too often, we make judgments and generalizations on important topics like spirituality, psychology, philosophy and turn ourselves away from it, just because of a few 'bad' examples, experiences, stories we may have heard. But these yearnings are innate to the human condition, and essential to our individuation or 'path to wholeness.' We crave meaning, insight, answers to our ultimate questions, and it is through cultivating our ability to ask probing, balanced, powerful questions that we bring so much more insight and clarity into our lives.

Philosophical inquiry is an important and healthy aspect of every well-rounded life. Give yourself the time to step back, relax and reflect on yourself and life itself. This can open your mind to a whole new illuminating dimension of human experience.

A few practical examples of philosophical exercises you can do:

• Scan back and reflect on your entire life history like a film. Ask: "How did each one of the defining events in my life lead to me becoming the person that I am right now?" "How did these past experiences shape my interests, values, worldviews, relationships, desires?"

• Ask "Is life pre-determined or do we have free will?.... How much of life is pre-determined, and how is this so? How much free will do we have, and how is this possible?"

• "Is there a personified, masculine God in heaven, directing our fate, performing miracles, governing religions? How many Gods are there? Is God a myth? Is there some higher power or impersonal intelligence in the universe? How does it function? Is it conscious of itself? What is my relationship to God, or the intelligence in the universe?"

• "What legacy do I wish to leave behind? What will be my contribution to my children, my family, the world?"

• "Who am I really, why am I here, and what is my purpose in this world?"

• "What are the ultimate motivations, the driving forces of human behavior?"

• "Will there always be war and conflict, wealth and poverty, and why?"
  
  
  
  
• "Am I truly fulfilled by what I am doing with my life right now? What actions will lead to greater fulfillment?"

Remember to write down each question and the insights and potential answers that come up. The more you write down potential answers and compare, integrate and fuse them together, the greater and more balanced outcomes you can reach.

Remember that you don't need to enroll into a Bachelor of Philosophy to be the natural philosopher that you already are. The most important thing you'll ever need is a hunger for wisdom, insight and meaningfulness.

Reading the essential works of the great philosophers of course will also be a great start, and will really stimulate and inform your own quest. Philosophers like Nietzche, Schopenhaur, Kant, De Botton, Plato, Lao Tzu, William James, Jung, Emerson, Epicurus, Hegel are a damn good place to start. Depending on your levels of interest, even Wikipedia is a fantastic place for getting an overview, general history and insight into the various Philosophers who have made their impact on the world.

Good luck with it all, stay in touch, and keep doing whatever inspires you.