Читать книгу Peaceful Revolution - Paul K. Chappell - Страница 14

It is confusing to be human. It is especially confusing when we live in a society that doesn’t teach us how to be human. Part of being an elephant, lion, or any mammal is instinctual, but these animals must also learn to be what they are. For example, wild animals born and raised in captivity will have difficulty surviving in their natural environment. Although a wolf is born a wolf it must also learn how to be a wolf. If members of its pack do not teach it how to hunt, survive, and live cooperatively with other wolves, it will perish.

Because our large brains take over twenty years to fully mature and human infants remain helpless for a longer period of time than the offspring of any other animal, learning to be human is a challenging process that requires many years. Mythologist Joseph Campbell said: “This altogether extraordinary prematurity of the birth of the human infant, so that throughout the period of its infancy it is dependent on its parents, has led biologists and psychologists to compare our situation with that of marsupials: the kangaroo, for example, which gives birth to its young only three weeks after conception. The tiny unready creatures crawl instinctively up the mother’s belly into her pouch, where they fix themselves—without instruction—to the nipples and remain until ready for life, nourished and protected in, so to say, a second womb … In the human species, with its great brain requiring many years to mature, on the other hand, the young are again born too soon, and instead of the pouch we have the home, which is again a sort of external second womb.”23

In some ways we are like marsupials, because although we are born human, when we come into this world we are far from being fully human. Someone born with healthy leg muscles and the capacity to run must still learn how to use those muscles. In a similar way, although we are born with the muscle of hope and the capacity for realistic idealism, we must learn how to fulfill that potential. Some might say that comparing physical and mental capacities is like comparing apples and oranges, but I will show how hope and our other innate human powers are similar to muscles in many ways. If our leg muscles are weak and we are forced to jump over an obstacle, we will fall. If we do not develop the muscle of hope and are forced to overcome a significant struggle, we will also fall.

When a wolf is born and raised in captivity, its development becomes stunted and it has difficulty surviving in its natural environment. So although wolves naturally crave the freedom of the wilderness, some confined wolves may prefer captivity because they never learned how to survive in the wild. In a similar way, when people are born and raised in slavery, their psychological growth becomes stunted, making it difficult for them to think and act for themselves. This is why some freed slaves returned to their masters: they never learned how to handle the responsibility that comes with freedom.

Being a free and responsible human being requires training, and this becomes more difficult when we live in a society that does not teach us how to be human. In addition, many of our society’s values lead us away from our humanity. Instead of teaching us how to achieve our full potential as human beings, our society teaches us that hoarding money is the most important thing in life. To survive as a global family we must offer people a more fulfilling vision of what it means to be human; one that makes greed look empty in comparison.

Psychologist Erich Fromm explained: “Many people have never known a person who functions optimally. They take the psychic functioning of their parents and relatives, or of the social group they have been born into, as the norm, and as long as they do not differ from these they feel normal and without interest in observing anything. There are many people, for instance, who have never seen a loving person, or a person with integrity, or courage, or concentration. It is quite obvious that in order to be sensitive to oneself, one has to have an image of complete, healthy human functioning.”24

To be sensitive to ourselves, to truly understand ourselves, we must explore healthy human functioning and what it means to be human. Realistic hope and hopelessness are both human potentials, but hope is a feature of our humanity that gives us inexpressible joy and the strength to change our world for the better despite overwhelming obstacles. A person without an ounce of hope would be depressed and suicidal. On the other hand, someone with enormous hope that grows into participation and realistic idealism would be called a visionary, a leader, even a saint. Most of us exist somewhere between these two poles, and our everyday choices push us in one direction or the other. We can choose to be hopeful or hopeless, just as we can choose to eat fresh vegetables or dirt. Where our emotional and physical health are concerned, not all choices produce equal results.

Together we will explore the choices that can improve our health not only as individuals but as a society, country, and global family. These are some of the same choices that Gandhi made in his life; choices that transformed him from a self-admitted coward into a mahatma, which means “great soul.” Einstein said of Gandhi: “Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth … Gandhi, the greatest political genius of our time … gave proof of what sacrifice man is capable once he has discovered the right path.”25

Gandhi led 390 million people to freedom from colonial oppression, yet he was neither a general nor a president. Martin Luther King Jr. said this was one of the most significant things that ever happened in world history. How did Gandhi do it? How did he become perhaps the greatest leader we have ever seen? With no official power and few material possessions, how was he able to inspire countless people across many generations? Many believe Gandhi was born courageous and holy without ever having to struggle for inner peace and joy, but he was not born a mahatma. He had to overcome many obstacles to become a great soul who was fully human.

As a teenager, the young Gandhi did not yet possess the enormous courage, strength, and compassion that would later define his life. As a self-admitted coward, he hardly resembled the later mahatma who would forever change our world. In his autobiography he said: “To be at school at the stroke of the hour and to run back home as soon as the school closed, that was my daily habit. I literally ran back, because I could not bear to talk to anybody. I was even afraid lest anyone should poke fun at me … Moreover, I was a coward. [In high school] I used to be haunted by the fears of thieves, ghosts, and serpents. I did not dare to stir out of doors at night. Darkness was a terror to me. It was almost impossible for me to sleep in the dark, as I would imagine ghosts coming from one direction, thieves from another and serpents from a third. I could not therefore bear to sleep without a light in the room.”26

Gandhi was not only fearful as an adolescent. He was also troubled by his moral failings. Although he showed great integrity and selflessness in his adult life, as a child he stole money from servants to buy cigarettes. During this difficult time in his life, he even attempted suicide: “It was unbearable that we should be unable to do anything without the elders’ permission. At last, in sheer disgust, we decided to commit suicide! But how were we to do it? From where were we to get the poison? We heard that Dhatura seeds were an effective poison. Off we went to the jungle in search of these seeds, and got them … But our courage failed us. Supposing we were not instantly killed? And what was the good of killing ourselves? Why not rather put up with the lack of independence? But we swallowed two or three seeds nevertheless. We dared not take more. Both of us fought shy of death, and decided to go to Ramji Mandir to compose ourselves, and to dismiss the thought of suicide.”27

In our society we are taught that a pill can solve all our problems. If you are lonely, take a pill. If you cannot concentrate, take a pill. If you lack joy in your life, take a pill. But no pill can give us the wealth of realistic hope that grows into participation and realistic idealism. No pill could have transformed Gandhi from a self-admitted coward into a great soul who was fully human. The ideals that give us the power to solve our national and global conflicts do not come in a plastic bottle but through strengthening our muscle of hope.

Hope is like a bicep. If we exercise our bicep, it will grow stronger; if we never use the muscle it will atrophy. Realistic idealism is not for the lazy. I am idealistic because I have put a lot of effort into it. Like Gandhi, we can all become great souls who are fully human if we live by our ideals and strengthen the muscles of our humanity. As Gandhi said: “The ideals that regulate my life are presented for the acceptance of mankind in general … I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith. I am but a poor struggling soul yearning to be wholly good.”28

Realistic ideals like justice, freedom, service, duty, honor, compassion, peace, being authentic, and never quitting helped Gandhi walk the path to becoming fully human. Hope is the psychological foundation of participation and realistic idealism, and possessing a strong muscle of hope allowed Gandhi to transform himself and our world. In the following chapters we will explore the other muscles of our humanity that give us the strength to improve our lives and the world around us, and we will uncover what it means to be fully human.

The road to peace takes us deep within ourselves and into our shared humanity. We live in a fame-obsessed society, but the important question is not, do others know you? The important question is, do you know you? When we explore our humanity and understand what it means to be human, we can stop being our own worst enemy. Knowing ourselves allows us to make peace with ourselves, which removes many of the roadblocks preventing us from having a meaningful and fulfilling life. On the path to understanding himself, first-century Greek philosopher Hecato said: “What progress have I made? I am beginning to be my own friend.”29 The road to peace not only gives us the strength to solve our national and global problems, it also leads to hope, joy, becoming fully human, and being our own friend.

In The End of War, I asked: What is the most difficult form of art? What art form is more challenging than painting, sculpting, or playing any instrument? The answer is the art of living. Living is certainly an art form. First-century Roman philosopher Seneca explained: “There exists no more difficult art than living … throughout the whole of life, one must continue to learn to live and, what will amaze you even more, throughout life one must learn to die.”30

Just as we must learn any art, we must also learn how to live. But unlike other arts, the art of living transforms us into both the sculptor and the sculpture. We are the artist and our life is the masterpiece. Living is not only the most difficult, but also the most essential art form. Unfortunately our educational system does not always teach us what is essential. Prior to attending West Point, I was never taught in school how to overcome fear, aggression, or hatred. I was never taught how to develop courage, compassion, and hope. I was never taught how to listen, be a good friend, or have a healthy relationship. I was never taught how to overcome adversity, question authority, or be an active member of our global family.

West Point taught me some, but not all of these things. In addition to what I learned at West Point and in the army, I learned about the art of living from life experience and humanity’s greatest peacemakers. When people in a democracy are not educated in the art of living—to strengthen their conscience, compassion, and ability to question and think critically—they can be easily manipulated by fear and propaganda. A democracy is only as wise as its citizens, and a democracy of ignorant citizens can be as dangerous as a dictatorship.

Educator John H. Lounsbury said: “Education, particularly in a democracy, has to involve the heart as well as head, attitude as well as information, spirit as well as scholarship, and conscience as well as competence.”31 Through practicing the art of living we can all transform our lives into the masterpiece of being fully human. And by using the wisdom others share with us to light our path, we don’t have to paint in the dark.