Aloha, PhiloSurfer!
This week’s reflection is a deep one. Don’t be afraid.
As with everything that can only be touched in the abyssal depths, we will take tiny steps.
We’ll also take a break between 2 long stretches.
All this to say that I’ve decided to split this long letter in 2 to walk a long distance..
Take a deep breath.
Begin your dive.
Immerse.
…
Ever Questioned “Your Self”?
I do. I do question “my self” almost every day.
And more often than not, I disagree with him/me.
That’s possible. Absolutely real.
And it’s healthy!
Understanding that you’re more than what “you” are takes a while.
On the other side of the mirror, the same happens when you figure out that you are not what you think you are.
Not only you “is” you.
You’re not even the same “you” to different people.
I know.
Deep & a little confusing.
Intriguing, at the very least.
Take another breath.
Explore.
Inspire.
…
Are You a Natural?
Since the days of Socrates, philosophers have been non-stop arguing about the nature of the self.
One of the central questions:
Is the self something we are born with or we somehow create in our upbringing?
Opposing his teacher Plato’s theory of forms, Aristotle was the first to insist that there aren’t innate ideas.
He believed that babies are born with minds that are essentially empty.
No natural self whatsoever.
Maybe A Smooth Board?
In the 17th century, John Locke took this idea a step further & popularized the term “tabula rasa,” Latin for “smooth board.”
He argued that all our ideas & mental principles come from experience.
That’s what philosophers call empiricism.
No experience, no knowledge, no self.
Experience shapes that “tabula.”
At the time of birth, according to Locke:
Our minds are blank.
Blank as…
(For the non-surfers, surfboard blanks are the inner shapeless foam that are the main raw material from which most of all surfboards are shaped.)
Are/Is “Your Self” Blank?
Hold on!
Wait a minute!
So your self are/is a blank, smooth board…
Don’t these things sound familiar?
(Blanks are shaped into different surfboard designs by shapers.)
A Soft Core With Hard Layers
Gerry Lopez, the ultimate Pipeline stylist, believes that we are constituted by:
- Inner Core: As he calls it, this “inner place of harmonious bliss” knows directions to happiness & freedom from suffering.
- Outer Layers: Unfortunately, this harmonious inner self is covered by many layers of ego that often come from narcissism, false beliefs, and unnecessary concerns. These layers are what distance us from happiness.
Bertrand Russell, the coolest of the English aristocrats of all time, also thought that the ego is covered by a “hard shell” (which only love can).
He wrote about it in his book “The Conquest of Happiness.”
Wait a minute?
A core & some hardening layers.
Again?
Ain’t that what surfboards are made of?
(Finally, surfboards are coated with fiberglass & resin, which gives them resistance. And sometimes even glassed, to give them that final glossy look.)
Ok, now, here’s the interesting part…
Be The Shaper Of Your Self
How to shape your own surfboard in 7 verses:
“We have made thee neither of heaven nor of earth,
Neither mortal or immortal,
So that with freedom of choice and with honor,
As thought the maker and molder of thyself,
Thou mayest fashion thyself in whatever shape thou shalt prefer.
Thou shalt have the power out of thy soul’s judgment,
to be reborn into the higher forms, which are divine.”
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola.
Renaissance shaper, humanist & poet.
Ta-Da!
…
TL; DR
Your Self is like a big block of marble. Sculpt it with freedom & wisdom to become the shape you prefer.
To be continued…
Aloha!
