They came from the East and were on their way to
Compostela (field of stars). Although they arrived separately –Yukari a
Saturday morning, the other two the following day: Helène in the morning and Francesca
in the afternoon–, I learned they had met each other on the trail.
I had opened a business on the camino de Santiago
because a lot of interesting people do this ancient pilgrimage. I wished a
wise old man –a journalist, an editor, an important business man or a famous
intellectual – would pass by, become interested in my work, and use his
contacts to help me divulge my message. Instead, three young ladies showed up…
A sign outside my shop says, “Food for pilgrims. Food for thought for spiritual pilgrims”, another,
“Genesis, a shop run by a Belgian pilgrim
and guide” and a third, “Everything a
pilgrim needs”. My business is right on the camino, and since I know
what pilgrims look for, I assumed it would be a success. I was wrong.
There were several things I had
not taken into account. One was that a lot of people go straight to a big
supermarket, even though it is further away, because they assume that a small
shop has less variety and is more expensive. Another was that with my shop being
only three meters wide, and with shopping windows on either side of the entrance, pilgrims
often don’t notice it, since other notice boards attract their
attention. And yet another was that by walking many kilometers per day pilgrims get this urge to push forward –like they are on a mission–, and therefore often
find it difficult to stop.
This ‘drive’ is rather interesting because we can
compare walking the camino with living our life. A lot of people are so
focussed on getting there –making it to Santiago or obtaining a financial
stability– that they pay little attention to what they encounter on the way. These
three young women were different because they welcomed discoveries.
When Yukari walked into the shop, she immediately started reading the information panels in the shopping window. Therefore I introduced
myself. I told her that the photos and panels she was looking at had to do with
my previous job; that for many years in the spring and the fall I had guided
Americans on walking holidays in Spain, and in July and August had taken Spaniards on a Silk
Road expedition through Central Asia. I informed her that by reflecting upon life during
my off season, I had come up with an own philosophy.
Yukari had been reading the panel ‘A CRUCIAL LESSON’.
With Japan being the only country that has suffered the consequences of nuclear
bombs, she found it easy to understand that the invention of nuclear weapons
is a milestone in mankind’s history; that these weapons not only teach us that
we are capable of destroying ourselves,
but also that a society that doesn’t live in harmony –like ours– is eventually
bound to do so, since weapons continually become more sophisticated and once
there are weapons of mass destructions it is only a matter of time before they
are used.
I told Yukari that although oftentimes people find this a pessimistic view upon our society, I consider it a
realistic view, and that by pointing out that to guarantee our survival we must
discover why we have conflicts with each other and with our environment, it is even
an optimistic view, and that I stressed this fact with the panel below that said,
LIVING IN
HARMONY WITH THE OTHER PEOPLE
AND WITH OUR ENVIRONMENT IS POSSIBLE.
The first paragraph of ‘A CRUCIAL LESSON’ says, “In
the Information Age is ignorance is a choice. An ignorant person is not an
idiot, but someone who, often deliberately, ignores certain information.” I told
Yukari that although our politicians, philosophers, scientists and theologians
aren’t idiots, they ignore this important lesson that mankind has to learn. I
informed her that I had called my shop ‘Genesis’ because that book recognizes
the fact that a society that doesn’t live in harmony is eventually bound to
destroy itself. I said that with asking why we have conflicts with each other and with
our environment being the same as asking what the forbidden fruit refers to, we have a good reason for studying this book.
Not being a Christian –there are three millions of them in Japan– Yukari was not familiar with the Bible, but she had nevertheless heard of
the story of Adam and Eve living in paradise. I told her that without this
story, without the assumption that our ancestors once lived in harmony, there
would be no Bible. I pointed out that with this book offering us an ideal for the future - something to
strive for-, one would expect all people who long for a better
society to study that book. That this isn’t the case, I explained, is because
people assume that this book holds the word of God, and says nothing but the truth, and it is this assumption that made religious authorities come to erroneous
interpretations that have scared many people away.
Yukari, a 25 years old with a warm personality, spoke
very good English. She had lived in the USA, where her father, who had passed
away a few years earlier, had worked as a banker. As a child she had wondered
why people had conflicts with each other and she had dreamed of a wise old man, who
knew the answers to all of her questions. She wondered whether I was this
person. I told her that in my childhood I had also asked that question and had also
dreamed of a wise old man. For me that question and that daydream simply tell
us we long for wisdom. Assuming that a wise old man can help us is simply
anticipating that someone before us asked the same questions and already discovered the answers. Assuming
that this person is old, is not only because it takes time to obtain wisdom,
but also because he may have lived a long time ago. I told her that in my
opinion the author of Genesis is that wise old man.
When Helène, from Burgundy, made it to my shop, she also spend some time reading
the information panels in my shopping window. Again I came from behind the
counter and introduced myself. I told her about my philosophical circuit, inside
the shop, which offers a sequence of thoughts that reflect upon why we have
conflicts with each other and with our environment. Since Genesis associates
the end of harmony with eating a Forbidden Fruit, this circuits starts with, ‘THERE
IS FAST FOOD, BUT THERE IS NO FAST WISDOM.’ and ends with, ‘A HEALTHY BODY AND
MIND REQUIRE A HEALTHY DIET. DRUGS ARE LIKE MEDICINE. INSTEAD OF TAKING THEM,
WE SHOULD ASK WHAT MAKES US SICK.’
THERE IS FAST FOOD, BUT
THERE IS NO FAST WISDOM.
TO GRASP CERTAIN IDEAS, WE
HAVE TO BE READY FOR THEM.
IGNORANCE AND ARROGANCE
OFTEN GO TOGETHER.
WE REGARD OURSELVES AT
THE HEAD OF CREATION, BUT
POLLUTE IT AND ARE CLOSE
TO DESTROYING IT.
The first four panels point out that to obtain
wisdom humility is important. Often when I refer to them, I explain that on the third
panel I had thought of adding “and are at the origin off all dogmas”, but had left it
out, because some people would find that offensive and stop reading.
IMITATING THE BEHAVIOUR OF
THE OSTRICH IS NOT THE
BEST WAY OF DEALING WITH
DANGER SITUATIONS.
TO BE ABLE TO SOLVE A
PROBLEM, WE FIRST
HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT WE
HAVE A PROBLEM.
The next two panels refer to what I explained in ‘A CRUCIAL LESSON’. People
ignore that a society that doesn’t live in harmony is eventually bound to
destroy itself, because they see no sollution: they think that harmony on earth
is impossible. However, to find a sollution, we first have recognize that we
have a problem. And it is only then that we will realize that nobody has ever demonstrated that
harmony on earth is impossible; that this is just a belief.
"CARPE DIEM" IS ALL VERY
WELL, BUT TO ENSURE A
BETTER FUTURE WE MUST
LEARN FROM THE PAST.
With the seventh panel I criticize the way a lot of
people interpret ‘Carpe Diem’. There is nothing wrong with trying to have a
good time, and it certainly makes no sense to let the past or the future ruin
the present, but we should not become prisoners of the present. When do
not learn from the past, we are bound to make the same mistakes, and when we do
not see where the present is taking us, we may one day find out there is no
future.
Before I comment upon the last four panels on the
right side of my shop, I recommend people to have a look at the panels ‘food
for thought’ and ‘three interesting ideas’.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
-Do you question own ideas (beliefs) as much as you do other people’s ideas
(beliefs)?
-Has religion had a positive or negative influence on our society?
-Is science bringing us salvation or self-destruction?
-Have perhaps all religions and philosophies safeguarded important values?
-Do you believe in God because your parents do, or do you not believe in
God because your friends do not?
-Would you be an atheist if you lived in a communist country and a Buddhist
if you lived in a Buddhist country?
-Are heaven and hell (purgatory, reincarnation, etc.) only for people who
believe in them?
-If the founders of our religions came back, would they recognize their
work?
-Imagine Jesus came back. Would he be a Baptist, a
Catholic, a Quaker...?
THREE INTERESTING IDEAS
1) Calling the Bible a ‘sacred’ book originally meant to recognize that it
holds secrets. The idea it contains the word of God and tells the truth
came later.
2) The word ‘religion’, which comes from the Latin word ‘relegere’ and
means re- reading, refers to reading the Bible time and again to discover its
secrets.
3) According to an old tradition, someone enlightened is able to create a
mystery that reveals itself many generations later. This is the case of the Bible.
Are you ready for the secrets in the Bible? Are you
willing to discover its hidden wisdom?
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG
WITH SCIENCE NOR WITH
RELIGION, BUT WITH WHAT
WE THINK THEY ARE.
SCIENCE STUDIES THE WORLD
WE LIVE IN, RELIGION STU-
DIES ANCIENT BOOKS ABOUT
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN.
HAVE PERHAPS ALL RELI-
GIONS AND PHILOSOPHIES
SAFEGUARDED IMPORTANT
IDEAS AND VALUES?
DO WE HAVE TO BE FAMILIAR
WITH DIFFERENT RELIGIONS
AND PHILOSOPHIES TO UN-
DERSTAND A 'SACRED' BOOK?
Also my conversation with Helène lasted more than an
hour. She told me that she had stayed a few days earlier in a Christian ‘albergue’. She said the
people there were very nice, but that when you do certain things because God
demands them and stay away from other things because God forbids them, you are
like a slave and not necessarily a nice and responsible person. I liked that
remark, and I am still reflecting upon it. My older sister once said something similar. She said that religion is for people who don't know what is right and what is
wrong, and that since she knew, she didn’t need one.
I didn't converse that long with Francesca, a twenty years old from
Indiana, since she made it to the shop not much before closing
time. She first came to the shop with friends.
When I learned they were students from a Quaker school, I told them that the year
before I had guided a group from a Quaker school from Maryland, and had been
impressed by how well behaved and educated they were.
As I had not seen them pay attention to the information
panels in the shopping window, I didn't tell them about my philosophlical
circuit. Therefore it surprised me that one of them had picked up the leaflet ‘REVELATION OR
CONTROVERSY?’ Not much later Francesca came
back. She told me she felt like she could talk to me for hours. Since she
was familiar with the Bible, conversing with her was very interesting.
Not much later we stood in front of the panel ‘DID YOU
KNOW? I told Francesca that not only Genesis, the first book
of the OT, but also Matthew, the first book of the NT, held a secret and that these
secrets demonstrate that originally calling a book ‘sacred’ meant to recognize
that it guards secrets and that the idea it holds the word of God and
says the truth is from later.
In only 10 steps I demonstrated that the dogma of the
Virgin Birth has its origin in a misinterpretation of an enigma in Matthew, and
this enigma instead conceals who was Jesus’ father. And in another 5 steps I
demonstrated that Matthew had fooled the Christian authorities on purpose; that
the same text that now reveals who was Jesus’ father, had many centuries ago
made the religious authorities assume that he was born of a virgin.
A STUDY DEMONSTRATES
WE DON'T PROCESS
INFORMATION RIGHT AND
IGNORE SOMETHING
ESSENTIAL ABOUT OUR
'CIVILIZATION.
Afterwards I referred to the first panel on the left
side of the shop. I told Francesca that this study referred to the secrets in
Genesis and Matthew. That our intellectuals have studied the
Bible for many centuries, and neither believers nor skeptics have discovered those secrets, demonstrates they do not process information
right and it is a mistake to trust ‘authorities’.
TO GUARANTEE MANKIND'S
SURVIVAL WE HAVE TO
DISCOVER WHY WE HAVE
CONFLICTS WITH EACH
OTHER AND WITH OUR
ENVIRONMENT.
THE ULTIMATE CAUSE OF
OUR CONFLICTS IS A BAD
UNDERSTANDING OF
OURSELVES AND THE
FORCES THAT GOVERN
THE UNIVERSE.
PEOPLE WHO HAVE
FAITH IN THEMSELVES
TRY TO UNDERSTAND
THEMSELVES AND THE
WORLD THEY LIVE IN.
Francesca had no problems with the next two panels.
When we stood in front of the fourth panel, I explained what it really meant. I
told her that when a Christian puts faith in a dogma, he doesn’t accept this idea because it makes sense, but because he trusts the religious authorities
that defend the idea. Therefore, faith in dogmas is faith in
religious authorities. When Francesca immediately understood this, I pointed out that having faith in authorites really means not having enough faith
in oneself.
Humility is important to obtain wisdom. But although
we must consider what seniors –wise old men– say, we must never accept something
that we don't understand. When they don’t manage to explain something, they
either don’t understand it well enough, or it is simply not right. Just as we
learn to question our parents, we must learn to question authorities. Growing up means learning to trust our own reasoning.
I told Francesca that Jesus said that the truth will
set us free, and that with the enigma in Matthew being obviously Jesus’ work, two
thousand years after his death Jesus was setting us free.
THERE IS ONLY ONE
REALITY. PEOPLE SEE IT
DIFFERENT BECAUSE
THEY FOCUS ON
DIFFERENT ASPECTS.
A BAD UNDERSTANDING
OF REALITY DIVIDES
PEOPLE. A GOOD
UNDERSTANDING OF
REALITY BRINGS PEOPLE
BACK TOGETHER.
LIVING IN HARMONY WITH
THE OTHER PEOPLE AND
LIVING IN HARMONY WITH
OUR ENVIRONMENT ARE
INTERRELATED.
WE NOT ONLY SUFFER
BECAUSE OF WHAT OTHERS
DO TO US, BUT ALSO
BECAUSE OF WHAT WHAT WE
DO TO OURSELVES.
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
WHEN WE DO NOT LEARN
EVERYTHING THERE IS
TO LEARN FROM OUR
EXPERIENCES.
A GOOD PERCEPTION
OF REALITY ENABLES US
TO SEE ALL CAUSES AND
ALL CONSEQUENCES
OF OUR BEHAVIOUR
WHAT ALTERS OUR
PERCEPTION OF REALITY?
WHAT MAKES US FOCUS
SO MUCH ON CERTAIN
ASPECTS THAT WE
IGNORE OTHERS?
A HEALTHY BODY AND
MIND REQUIRE A HEALTHY
DIET. DRUGS ARE LIKE
MEDICINE. INSTEAD OF
TAKING THEM, WE
SHOULD ASK WHAT
MAKES US SICK.
Regarding the last panels I offered some additional
information. Pointing at the panel ‘THERE IS ONLY ONE REALITY…” I
said it was because I often heard people claim that my reality is not necessarily
their reality, that I explained there is only one reality, but that reality can
be more complex than people realize. I gave the example of immigrants and said
it is only logical that some people welcome them while others regard them as a
threat. With immigrants accepting to work for less money, some 'classes' can suddenly
afford certain services, while others, those who offer those services, now have additional
competition, and therefore find it hard to demand decent wages or get enough work.
Referring to the panel‘LIVING IN HARMONY…’ I said
that since living in harmony with the other people and living in harmony with
our environment are interrelated, campaigns like Al Gore’s ‘Climate Change’
make little sense.
And in regards to the panel ‘WE NOT ONLY SUFFER.. ‘ I
explained that living in harmony with our environment means to recognize its
limitations, and that when we have a lot of children, we not only make it
harder for our family –the more children we have the smaller their inheritence will
be, and the more difficult it is for us to feed them and give them a good
education–, but also for our community , since this puts more
pressure on people's struggle for the resources.
Francesca would have enjoyed talking a bit more, but it
was 9 pm –I had been in the shop since 7 am– and I had promised to meet up with
some friends. Before she said goodbye, she encouraged me to continue ‘spreading
the Word’. I liked that.
For me these three young ladies are wise women, because
they asked the right questions and that is what wisdom is about. Wisdom is not knowing
a lot of things, but processing information right. Therefore, we should
not ignore any information. And welcoming new information is what these three wise women had done.
That Yukari, Helène and Francesca were young gave
me a lot of hope for the future. Since they managed to understand my reasoning, I reckon other young people will be able to do so as well. And with the new generations
understanding my ideas, I no longer have to worry about the fact that the older generations tend to ignore new information because of their prejudices. Whereas the older generations will soon belong to the past, the new
generations are the future. They will
change the world; they will put an end to our conflicts.
