Welcome to this blog of thursday philosophy on the 7th of June 2010
That evening in June was different, I heard from the participants. It was more about laughter and thinking deeply at the same time.
Aukje, the three Henks, Marthe, Simone, Ingrid, Erik, Joop and myself were there in the pittoresque place of center Delft. Coffee and thea were served and we enjoyed the flowers of the garden before we started.
I am not sure how succesful I was with bringing in the 'new' value of "listening carefully "--- all packed up in a latin classic parcel. That wants to say : I came with that proudly invented word of 're-auscultare' (meaning listening back or again or giving more time to what was just said ) in comparrison to re-spect (meaning looking back...etc). My intention was to encourage everyone to question others and getting deeper into thoughts of someone else and deeply understand what the otherone means, thinks and believes. i.e. SLOWING THINGS DOWN A BIT AND WORKING ON SLOW THOUGHTS - DEEP MEANING. I would say to my own mirror : nice try....and I'll remind you again...Of course I can suggest my issues of value in a philosophical discussion and of course it is a development that takes time and patience. OK then, enough about myself:...let's start with reporting about the evening.
OUR TOPIC: GOOD AND...
Actually one would say this is unfinished and not a real topic at all. And that is exactly my point. The interest came to lie upon the opposite of 'good' or on the other hand --- something that relates to it.
So this blog is really short. I am francly just going to list the thoughts and believes that were mentioned that evening and next time we will see what it all means because one of our attendants already suggested that we continue this series of topics with : What does it all mean in practical terms ? Or in other words : What does GOODNESS/KINDNESS it mean in real life ?
GOOD:
good and wrong/false/bad
integer, lovingly, nice, kind
oneness and duality
Good and God
Good and Karma / creation / reincarnation
The question of what is really good, a good human heart, kindness was apparently not so easy to answer. Why ? Well,..."it depends on so many things", was the answer. It depends on where you are on this globe. For example if you eat pork in a society where it is considered to be wrong,...what kind of feeling do you get...??. Is being good then something that is being learned and depends totally on the society which we grow up in ? On the other hand it is also something that is dependent on time issues: Henk said for instance that he knew perfectly well what was good when he was young but the older he gets the more he doubts this fixed set of beliefs and conditions in which we live. In that sense goodness is also relative.
But then again we all agreed on the fact that there is a common universal goodness. In Ingrid's example of her father who acted against the orders of politics and against his police code followed his human heart by not locking up jews before and during the second WW, we all agreed that it was a GOODNESS, - an ethic code that was so pure and natural...we were all very happy to hear that story. A very practical story that serves as an example for a GOOD action. Her father decided to flee to Switzerland because he could not follow higher orders from authorities. His heart decided.
Henk II talked more of theoretical goodness that came out of a stillness. This stillness he said was universal and apparent in every human being.
As an opposite oppinion came Eric with the question of people and alcohol. It is a known fact that drunken people sometimes respond with aggressive behaviour. And we all know that "children and drunkards speak the truth" from their inner core...Is that the same core of identity where Henk II spoke of,...that stillness?
Ingrid also talked about a set of references...that show one the way of being good and Aukje said that there was pure intuition that shows you the way. Simone agreed on that and said that you feel it when someting is GOOD. Erik also joined this comment by saying that GOODNESS had more to do with 'feeling' than with words or thoughts.
Interculturally seen there are also differencies that matter. BELIEFE, HOPE and LOVE are not always the same...according to Joop.
SO does that mean that GOODNESS is not universal after all ???
We referred to the codes of references again : and interestingly enough it is the ten commandments of the Bibel, the Koran, Buddhism with its ways and of course Hinduism has also its own rituals and ways to make sure that GOODNESS grows to make this world a better place for our following generation and our own lives.
More than that... it is not something that refers to all the religions in the worlds it is an overall understanding of love....which love ?
Unconditional love....and yes ! What is that again? It is something that we can see in mother's eyes when they look at their newborn...another word that hits it : the BUDDHA look...smiling with this everlasting love and giving eyes,...forgiving every little disrespectfulness and understanding that nobody is perfect....just believing in this CORE of goodness this absolute center of a ball of golden sunshine within every human soul. Total relaxation.
Next time we want to find out : How do you bring all this wisdom into everyday life?
