SCOPE, READING METHOD & BENEFITS
«Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.»
–François Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel, (16th century)
1. Understanding the role and importance of philosophy in the development of intelligence poses many challenges due to one factor–materialism. In recent history, the primary concentration of human intellectual energy on action and manufacturing, which the dominance of technology and commerce highlights since the Industrial Revolution, holds considerable implications.
2. Globalization and the information age have accelerated interconnectedness and established competition as a rule and measure of success. As a consequence, since the mid 20th century, education efforts in OECD countries ––an intergovernmental organization including Europe, Turkey, the Americas, and Oceania mostly, whose aim is to stimulate economic growth––focus on fast and gratifying ways to extract value from the physical world, thereby obliterating (wiping out) what leads to action: thought, the domain of philosophy. Within this framework, a deficit, a lack in intellectual capabilities impedes the cultivation of philosophia, the pursuit of wisdom.
3. Aiming for wisdom conditions clarity in reasoning and decision-making, an essential skill to grapple existence, but also the foundation of any creative intent, and of science, which has, etymologically, less to do with numbers than the ability to organize and validate knowledge. Indeed, the term “science” originates from the Latin word scientia, denoting knowledge, awareness, and understanding. Any endeavor devoid of scientia and its deeply nurturing quality to the mind, intellect, and spirit dooms the practice of wisdom to invisibility.
4. Yes, wisdom is a practice, an existential muscle, so to speak, that is trained by observation (study), experience, and encouraged by inner impulse or rather personality tendencies. Wisdom causes us to question the very nature of reality, to inquire existence beyond matter (what our 5 senses can fathom), find answers, that is, discern what is true from what is false, and realize what our finitude implies.
5. Human societies are inherently materialistic. Materialism isn’t confined to politics or economics, or to the 21st century only; Materialism is existential. It shapes our perception of value solely from a material standpoint. Across ancient philosophical canons, from less religious texts like Stoic literature to more authoritative religious scriptures, there is a common theme warning against seeing life through the lens of matter only. So, materialism predates modern capitalism, which is a culmination or extreme manifestation of it.
6. Therefore, even amidst highly materialistic times, those who are naturally inclined to seek wisdom, which is spiritual in essence, meaning, detached from material pursuits, are present. This inclination towards wisdom may arise from inherent tendencies or be nurtured through exposure to canonical literature or oral traditions. In our current materialistic context, where the practice of wisdom has been pushed into the background, the value of wisdom, as well as the function of those who are natural wisdom seekers or passers, saints, poets, philosophers and scholars, disciples, and aspirants, is either ignored (rendered obsolete) or recuperated to fit dominant materialistic ideologies, as exemplified by the epidemic of social media poets, or the insidious infiltration of identity politics in the academia, another discreet effect of materialism.
7. While ancient wisdom and contemporary saints consistently caution against materialism, manifested in desire and avarice (greed), human societies do require political and economical organization as they depend on physical resources for their sustenance. In ancient religious and mystical traditions, these material aspects turn malevolent, or destructive, only in the absence of scientia, wisdom.
« What is matter if the Spirit leaves it? »
–Ram Lal Siyag, Yogi, modern Saint and Samarth guru – Public speech, 2006, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India
« Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? » –The Bible (Matthew 6:25).
SCOPE OF THE PRESENT ARTICLE
8. We are currently witnessing a pronounced devotion to materialism, an unrestrained pursuit of desire satisfaction. The liberal arts, once cultural pillars that elevated education and society, now find themselves diluted in mass culture whose aim is to entertain, amuse, divert, rather than to cause to contemplate.
9. Materialism hinders wisdom, where thought, reason, and introspection flourish. Thought, a tool that can either serve materialism or wisdom, is rooted in philosophical competence—the ability to think correctly. This competence is crucial for cultivating a taste for wisdom, essential not only for addressing existence but also, within this article’s scope, for expressing genius and sublimity in creative pursuits.
10. I won’t discuss the toll materialism exacts on our existence here. That reflection may find its place in a separate article. As a yogi, I deplore the desolation of our inner lives—manifest not only in poetry and art, but also in the overall fabric of our existence. This is all the more disheartening since this intellectual and spiritual aridity is neither necessary nor inevitable.
11. Materialism is an effect of dualism, the perception that the inner and outer world are distinct entities, therefore separated. This article aims to illustrate how Non-duality, a philosophy prioritizing wisdom, reconciles these domains. Focusing on what’s absolute, complete, rather than relative and incomplete, non-duality not only solves existential paradoxes, but defragments knowledge.