Maya
Member
The contrast between what appears to be and what really is. The contrast between the truth of things and the illusion and delusions that can be caused to us.
What being is, is the truth of things, the deeper value of things. What appears to be, is the wrapping paper of something. Nothing deep, only the image of it. The wrapping paper can reflect the truth of being, but most times it doesn't.
Today the "being-seeming" phenomenon is more intense than in any other era, since our era, the era of the image, as we say, allows such a thing. The obsession with the apparent, however, is an obstacle in our attempt to approach and recognize the truth. As if what is seen is real. We put emphasis on "seeming" and not on "being".
This happens because the virtual is easier and more obvious. Truth requires more thought, deep searching, reflection and critical ability to be mastered. Moreover, this happens because the appearance is most often more beautiful than what it really is, and we are dazzled. Too often we even refuse to face the harsh reality and settle for lies that seem more painless and utopian. But the boundary that separates these two concepts is very thin and indiscernible.
Doing circles around ourselves and trying to invent things to alter what situations seem to be. To confuse being with appearance. An example from Greek mythology is the myth of Narcissus, a young boy who admired himself too much and placed too much importance to seeming (appearance) which led him to his drowning. This shows us that we should place weight on the inner world and not on the image made.
The cave allegory of Plato shows this contrast between being and seeming.
"In a cave, underground, there are some people chained in such a way that they can only see the wall in front of them. They can't look back, right, or left. Behind them, however, a fire is burning. So whatever manifests behind their backs is represented as a shadow on the opposite wall. Because the only things these people have seen in their entire lives are the shadows of things, they have the impression that the shadows they see on the wall are the things themselves. But if one of the chained men in the cave succeeds in freeing himself, getting out of the cave and going up to the earth and, under the light of the sun now, seeing things, he will understand the delusion in which he lived while he was in the cave. He will then realize that his companions, who are still chained in the cave, are still living immersed in illusions."
Plato's interpretation of the myth is that the free bondman is the person who sees the beings themselves, the ideas, and not their idols, while his chained companions are the common people who, having become addicted to the illusory representations of sensible things, they live, without knowing it, in a lie.
There is always, of course, for Plato, the possibility of chained people escaping from their shackles. To break free from their chains, they must trust their mind. The myth is universally considered one of the most important messages to humanity in order to understand that we live in the illusion of this world. The myth of the cave has a multidimensional interpretation that reaches up to the present day. Humans, like the binders of the myth, from ancient times to the present day, live imprisoned in our bodies, dominated by our self-centeredness, desire for power, indifference to our fellow men, attachment only to our bodily needs and material goods.
Some people who are bound, manage to get rid of the influence of these senses, and go about their lives based on right reason, clear thinking, education and realizing, now, what is meaningful in life.
Plato, with the myth of the cave, illustrates how manipulative the human mind is, how easily it is "tied", through the image and the senses in general. It is frightening that he realized that man based on image and "appearance" would misinterpret reality, a truth that has been valid since ancient times until today. But man is not only senses, nor does the world revolve around "appearance". Man is ideas that make him a thinking citizen, able to resist the "Sirens" of pleasure - aesthetic, economic or any other. Ideas that produce critical thinking, which ultimately helps a person not to be manipulated by idols, even if they seem to hide behind a beautiful "wrap".
The unity of the perishable and the imperishable, the eternal and the transitory, emerges in an endless becoming where the world of sense is the supreme manifestation of Being.The truth has to be showed. The truth has to be reflected on the appearance.
What being is, is the truth of things, the deeper value of things. What appears to be, is the wrapping paper of something. Nothing deep, only the image of it. The wrapping paper can reflect the truth of being, but most times it doesn't.
Today the "being-seeming" phenomenon is more intense than in any other era, since our era, the era of the image, as we say, allows such a thing. The obsession with the apparent, however, is an obstacle in our attempt to approach and recognize the truth. As if what is seen is real. We put emphasis on "seeming" and not on "being".
This happens because the virtual is easier and more obvious. Truth requires more thought, deep searching, reflection and critical ability to be mastered. Moreover, this happens because the appearance is most often more beautiful than what it really is, and we are dazzled. Too often we even refuse to face the harsh reality and settle for lies that seem more painless and utopian. But the boundary that separates these two concepts is very thin and indiscernible.
Doing circles around ourselves and trying to invent things to alter what situations seem to be. To confuse being with appearance. An example from Greek mythology is the myth of Narcissus, a young boy who admired himself too much and placed too much importance to seeming (appearance) which led him to his drowning. This shows us that we should place weight on the inner world and not on the image made.
The cave allegory of Plato shows this contrast between being and seeming.
"In a cave, underground, there are some people chained in such a way that they can only see the wall in front of them. They can't look back, right, or left. Behind them, however, a fire is burning. So whatever manifests behind their backs is represented as a shadow on the opposite wall. Because the only things these people have seen in their entire lives are the shadows of things, they have the impression that the shadows they see on the wall are the things themselves. But if one of the chained men in the cave succeeds in freeing himself, getting out of the cave and going up to the earth and, under the light of the sun now, seeing things, he will understand the delusion in which he lived while he was in the cave. He will then realize that his companions, who are still chained in the cave, are still living immersed in illusions."
Plato's interpretation of the myth is that the free bondman is the person who sees the beings themselves, the ideas, and not their idols, while his chained companions are the common people who, having become addicted to the illusory representations of sensible things, they live, without knowing it, in a lie.
There is always, of course, for Plato, the possibility of chained people escaping from their shackles. To break free from their chains, they must trust their mind. The myth is universally considered one of the most important messages to humanity in order to understand that we live in the illusion of this world. The myth of the cave has a multidimensional interpretation that reaches up to the present day. Humans, like the binders of the myth, from ancient times to the present day, live imprisoned in our bodies, dominated by our self-centeredness, desire for power, indifference to our fellow men, attachment only to our bodily needs and material goods.
Some people who are bound, manage to get rid of the influence of these senses, and go about their lives based on right reason, clear thinking, education and realizing, now, what is meaningful in life.
Plato, with the myth of the cave, illustrates how manipulative the human mind is, how easily it is "tied", through the image and the senses in general. It is frightening that he realized that man based on image and "appearance" would misinterpret reality, a truth that has been valid since ancient times until today. But man is not only senses, nor does the world revolve around "appearance". Man is ideas that make him a thinking citizen, able to resist the "Sirens" of pleasure - aesthetic, economic or any other. Ideas that produce critical thinking, which ultimately helps a person not to be manipulated by idols, even if they seem to hide behind a beautiful "wrap".
The unity of the perishable and the imperishable, the eternal and the transitory, emerges in an endless becoming where the world of sense is the supreme manifestation of Being.The truth has to be showed. The truth has to be reflected on the appearance.