Welcome

Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. Everything has been figured out, except how to live. One always dies too soon or too late. And yet, life is there, finished. The line is drawn, and it must all be added up. You are nothing other than your life. There is only one day left, always starting over. It is given to us at dawn and taken away from us at dusk. We do not know what we want and yet we are responsible for what we are, that is the fact. When you live alone you no longer know what it is to tell a story: the plausible disappears at the same time as the friends. You let events flow by too.Suddenly you see people appear who speak and then go away; you plunge into stories of which you can't make head or tail. You'd make a terrible witness. It is true that people who live in society have learned how to see themselves in mirrors as they appear to their friends. Luckily, I only have a few...

Dr Shaw is a lecturer in Further Education at Edge Hill University, Ormskirk. She also offers philosophy courses at the School of Continuing Education, Lifelong learning, at the University of Liverpool. In 2015, she has completed her Doctorate in philosophy with a focus on existentialism, the equilibrium doctrine and narrative. She has worked as a teacher of English and Comparative literature and Philosophy at The American University in Cairo, Egypt where she also obtained her BA (Hons). Dr Shaw has an MA in Philosophy and Literature from the University of East Anglia where she also taught on a number of humanities subjects. Whilst working in North Wales in Further education, she gained a PGCE aimed at teaching in FE and HE sectors. Dr Shaw moved to Liverpool in 2010 where she now resides.

Interests: Existentialism, Narrative, Comparative Literature, Feminist Thought, Public Speaking, Arab Existentialism, Philosophy of Education, Art, Music, Film and Theatre, Greek Mythology, Existential counsellor and psychotherapist.

https://liverpool.academia.edu/ShereenHamedShaw


Saturday 6 November 2010

The Beauty of Rumi

Thoughts by Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (Persian: جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), and popularly known as Mowlānā (Persian: مولانا) muslim poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic.

The drum of the realization of the promise is beating, we are sweeping the road to the sky. Your joy is here today, what remains for tomorrow?

The armies of the day have chased the army of the night.
Heaven and earth are filled with purity and light.
Oh! joy for he who has escaped from this world of perfumes and color!
For beyond these colors and these perfumes, these are other colors in the heart and the soul.
Oh! joy for this soul and this heart who have escaped the earth of water and clay,
Although this water and this clay contain the hearth of the philosophical stone.

We are as the flute
, and the music in us is from thee;
we are as the mountain and the echo in us is from thee.

We are as pieces of chess engaged in victory and defeat:
our victory and defeat is from thee, O thou whose qualities are comely!

Who are we,
O Thou soul of our souls, that we should remain in being beside thee?

We and our existences are really non-existence;
thou art the absolute Being which manifests the perishable.

We all are lions, but lions on a banner:
because of the wind they are rushing onward from moment to moment.

Their onward rush is visible, and the wind is unseen:
may that which is unseen not fail from us!


Our wind whereby we are moved and our being are of thy gift; our whole existence is from thy bringing into being.

From Masnavi Book I, 599-607

References:
http://www.rumi.org.uk/poetry/

http://www.armory.com/~thrace/sufi/poems.html

Thursday 4 November 2010

Philosophy in the City festival & Bluecoat’ Chapter & Verse literature festival


The Celebration of a Troubled Genius: John Lennon (1940 –1980)

Maybe I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one... those were the worlds of John Lennon, one of the most talked about founding member of The Beatles who made a name for himself by writing timeless lyrics that touched everyone in the past, in our present time and will continue to influence many more in the future. The song-writing partnership formed by Lennon and Paul McCartney was one of the most successful partnerships of the 20th century.

On the 16th of October, 2010, in the Bluecoat, many people met to celebrate the lyrics and music of John Lennon. The event was part of the collaboration between the Philosophy in the City festival and the Bluecoat’s Chapter and Verse literature festival. This was a great opportunity to reconcile literature, philosophy, and music as disciplines that strive on each other to flourish.

John Lennon, according to the four contributors who were forming the panel to discuss his song writing and music with members of the public, was seen by many critics as a troubled soul. He lived a life surrounded by many yet felt alienated. His music presented a deep look into one’s consciousness, one’s relation to others, and one’s stand in society. Born and raised in Liverpool, his love for music started at a very early age. He formed his first band the Skiffle Craze as a teenager, later on the The Quarrymen, evolving into The Beatles in 1960. According to critics and biographers, Lennon had a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, his writing, his drawings, on film, and in interviews, that were very controversial. But where did John Lennon stand in society? He was famous, loved as a member of The Beatles who took UK by storm. A time of The Beatlemania, and yet he felt lonely, and in capable of living a happy life which led him to drugs. The panel mentioned that, according to biographer Ian MacDonald, Lennon's experience with LSD brought him "close to erasing his identity". The use of such a drug profoundly affected his songwriting, as a product of his self-examination, and in the "hallucinatory imagery" he captured in his lyrics. For example in his song, Strawberry Fields Forever", Lennon sang "'Strawberry fields...Nothing is real.' Those simple phrases had a powerful effect sharing a rhythm and a rhyme. Hence, the image and the ethos are fused in meaning for the duration of the song. Even as The Beatles disintegrated in 1970, Lennon launched a solo career including his albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and iconic songs such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine" which became title track anthems for anti-war movements, yet some of the lyrics offended religious groups. Lennon's explanation says the panel of contributors to the public, was, "If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion—not without religion, but without this 'my God is bigger than your God' thing—then it can be true." Moreover, the contributors discussed how through Lennon’s work as a peace activist, his lyrics touched all generations as if he sang what everyone else, including himself, was feeling at the time in response of global events, such as his views on Vietnam War which were very criticised. Using his lyrics as a tool to address the world, he revealed his deepest fears of the future, anxieties and troubles. He addressed everyday man and woman, of all ages and said “maybe someday you’ll join us and the world will be as one.” His lyrics had such an impact that other song writers started to realise that music is about the people, the events, the worries and the troubles that life brings.

Listening to the songs of Lennon in the Bluecoat again was a revival and a reminder of how words that touch our deepest sense of humanity are valued and should be treasured forever. What Lennon felt through the good times and hard times were beautifully conveyed in his songs and thankfully he caused such a revolution in song-writing and music genres to the extent that thankfully other musicians took notice which means today that he will no longer be the only one...Members of the public showed their appreciation of the event by taking part in the discussion noting that if Lennon was alive today, he will have so much more to say about the dramatic changes and divisions in our society, the ongoing invasion, where one feels alienated, unnoticed and merely attempting to survive on a daily basis a survival of the fittest scenario. Lennon says, “My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel, not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all”.

Remaining at the Door


“To learn and to think is to remain at the door. To assume the posture of the lotus is to come home and sit in peace” (Steiner 160)

The idea of reducing oneself to nothingness- remaining at the door- and admitting how little one knows (epistemology), in order to be ready for the process of absorbing knowledge is a controversial matter in moral ethical philosophy. By looking at oneself- knowing thyself- one will be able, according to Steiner author of Lessons of the Masters states, to be a “true disciple who learns to follow himself” (117). Once that is accomplished, the need for a guide emerges to lead one’s quest and journey to mount the hill of knowledge, depart the cave of darkness and get out to the light. Hence, being in company with the guide and creating a bond between the guide and the seeker or the master and the disciple is a must for the success of the educational process. A masterpiece in medieval literature, Dante’s Inferno: Divine Comedy presents such a bond and highlights the disciple's fear during his quest. It is a must for any seeker of knowledge to undergo “humiliation and rejection before the Master’s acceptance” (160). In both works, Lessons of the Master and Dante's Divine Comedy, the disciples were reduced to nothingness as they were consigned to stages of experience in a journey that would prepare them for an ultimate goal, as they must obtain a state of “perfect emptiness towards the extinction of the ego in an infinite zero” (161). In the Divine Comedy, Dante narrates his journey that starts by being lost in the wilderness, his acknowledgment and confessions of being wrong and lost is in itself the first step that Steiner stresses on in his book. The masterpiece of the Medieval Ages reveals Dante’s experience and realization of being at one point in his life “strayed from the True Way into the Dark Woods of Error” striving for the first light he could find, namely the sun that stood for the divine illumination.

“Midway in my life’s journey, I went astray from the straight road and woke to find myself alone in the dark wood. How I came to it, I cannot say, so drugged and loose with sleep has I become when I first wondered there from the True Way. (4)

Starting from this point, Dante was eligible, as Steiner would probably claim, to start his quest which started by meeting his guide, Virgil. Steiner has already predicted the descent of a guide “from his mountain cave to instruct the three (platonic) orders of mankind: common folk, the warrior caste, and the philosophers-poet” (115). Thus, Virgil as a poet and, from Dante’s view, a philosopher, was assigned to be Dante’s master, guide, and instructor, this was apparent in the dialogue between both when they first met, where Dante says: “For you are my true master and first author, the sole maker from whom I drew the breath of that sweet style whose measures have brought me honor” (7). While Virgil replies: “You follow me and I will be your guide and lead you forth through an eternal place” (8). Therefore, both roles, guide and seeker relies on one another to be complete as there is no master without a slave and vice versa. In the process of teaching, the disciple becomes hesitant and reluctant about his ability to pursue his quest, such humbleness is necessary because it helps the disciple to reach the zero state of being, creates a realm of understanding, love, and appreciation from the disciple to his master, or a seeker and his guide. Moreover, Steiner ends his book stressing the importance of such relation when he says:
“Relationship between master and disciple as sketched: the need to transmit knowledge and skills, and a desire to acquire them, are constants of human condition. Mastery and apprenticeship, instruction and its acquisition must continue as long as societies exist” (179) And as Dante shows how reluctant he was as a seeker, he narrates his fear of not being able to continue his quest, as he is a mere human being with limited abilities especially when it comes to unveiling the truth, thus, Dante seems to doubt having faith in humans’ abilities to see the light which is a core idea in theology in general. Dante claims: “ I, one man alone, prepared myself to face the double war of the journey and the pity, which memory shall here set down, nor hesitate, nor err. Look at me and look through me—can I be worthy? May I presume to this high quest and not fear my own brashness? You are wise and will grasp what my poor words can but suggest”. (12) A proof of Dante’s doubt is his fainting throughout his journey whenever he is faced with any truth or reality, which is an act of showing the limited ability of human beings in general and the incapability of being faced with the truth. Besides, wondering where does this weakness in human beings come from? A typical ancient philosophical answer will say: from the world! And yet the world becomes the source of all evil that hinders one’s quest by creating obstacles in one’s way to the divine. In Dante’s journey the obstacles were presented by animals who carried different qualities, such as the lion who stood for violence, the fox for cunningness, she-wolf for lust and desire, and leopard for deception and fraud. Therefore, as Dante tried transcending a slope that gets him out of the Woods of Error to the light, the sun, these obstacles stood in his way, and thus he was able to overcome most of them, overcoming all was nearly impossible as mere human beings are always tempted by the world to indulge in error, sin and evilness. The idea of indulgence and awakening is vital in Dante’s work as referred to by Steiner who said that: “To awaken in another human being powers, dreams beyond one’s own; to induce in others a love for that which one loves; to make of one’s inward present their future.” (185)

The whole teaching process becomes an awakening of the being to realize being lost. Steiner’s claims that one’s quest must be a never ending one, a lesson that is not over as one should seek more and more. Steiner asks his readers at the end of his book “is there no time for another lesson?” The only joy and happiness brought to human beings is through a never ending journey where seeking something is essential, such as the divine as an ultimate goal for instance. By the end of Dante’s journey, descending to hell and seeing the tortured souls, then ascending to heaven as the final state leaving his guide, Virgil, behind, as readers, we get an understanding of the transcendence of the character and the completion of his quest that brought him situated him back on the right track. Steiner even points out that the guide’s departure, Virgil being left behind, is a normal ending to any master and disciple relation, as the disciple has reached a higher state that calls for one’s solitude and responsibility as well. Steiner claims: “Now I bid you to lose me and find yourselves: and only when all of you have denied me, shall I return to you” (117). Thus, the master’s role ends and now the disciple must continue his path alone. Dante finally says: “My guide and I crossed over and began to mount that little known and lightness road to ascend into the shinning world again”.

Dante, Inferno: The Divine Comedy, 1321.
Steiner, George. Lessons of the Masters. Harvard Press. London, 2003.