Autobiography - Part 4

NOTE: I will indicate the new inclusions (which may also be current thoughts in italics and blue to differentiate this writing from its earlier incarnation. Those in italics and green are comments made by my professor.)

I respect, honour, and love my Church. So too do I “blame” her along with my family for my now resentful attitude towards authority, law, and any other form of control that robs us of our freedom and, ultimately, our divinity. [I agree with this pairing of concepts.] Perhaps the word “blame” should not be used; a better substitute might be “owe” her. For indeed it is as a result of the rigid rules set by the Church and enforced mainly by my father that I have come to resent such restrictions on humans as much as I respect each individual’s right to freedom. Along with those resentments have come also an attitude to constantly question and seek [It may be that there are no ultimate answers or answer. It seems that it is our fate to keep asking questions AS FAST AS we come up with answers. So true, what my professor says. I don’t know if I agreed with him then, but I certainly see what he means today.] an answer to those questions.

Herein lies the core of my paper. The central theme that I wish to write about concerns the philosophy of life that I have come up with. Might I point out here at this stage that the conclusions that I have drawn are based primarily on my experiences, many though not all, as a result of questioning and seeking answers to those questions. Unfortunately, perhaps, I will probably be unable to list all my experiences that led to the various conclusions. The secondary source for my theories, ideas, and beliefs must surely come from my interaction with and observation of others, as well as reading. After the Self, that is my “Self,” has sieved through the many identities presented to me and I have encountered, consciously or unconsciously, I have come to where I am today. Much like Schumacher [not Michael Schumacher] then, I will attempt to present to you, at least a part of, my “map of life.” [Please be reminded this writing was over 2 decades ago. Much has changed now – and much has remained the similar.]

As with Schumacher, I am of the opinion that our Institutions (the schools, the Church, family, universities, etc.) fail to recognize the “invisible” in our world.  Society has been so caught up with the materialistic and the physical, that the metaphysical or “supernatural” which is of equal, if not greater, importance have been neglected. [Today I talk a lot more about the material world and the non-material world. Today’s language that I did not have back then.] Man has become a master in the art of, as Boorstin puts it, “… self-deception … hiding  ... reality from ourselves.”  [sounds interesting.] Like Boorstin, I too cannot describe “REALITY” but I do believe that what we are seeing are merely illusions [or at best – just one of many aspects of reality]. I do not imply here that the physical world is not in existence; they do exist but are “unreal.” Our perception of it renders it “unreal;” our perception of the world and of “REALITY” is at most only partially true. And so my philosophy of life, though encompassing more than this concept of “REALITY,” in this paper will be confined primarily to this area or idea.

To be continued …

Peace,
Syl