Focus on Life™

How Society Works: Plato’s Contribution By J.G. Hulsmann

2.400 years ago Plato spoke about the importance of division of labour. So who’s the adam smith now?

For us the visible reality is the real thing. We associate ourselves with it and respond to it as well. Often we feel uncomfortable and find hard to match with the world around us. Inside we are at distress with the outer reality. It does not reflect our ideal inner state.

Throughout the ages it has been said that the visible world is not real or it is called as an illusion or maya. Plato had his famous The Allegory of the Cave which described the same with a dark cave and shadows that the people we’re obliged to observe - not the true figures or the outside world. These metaphors are hard to grasp and to realise by us living in the modern world.

Still nothing could be more true. Maybe the phrasing could be different but the original message remains intact - always. This visible reality is the one where we communicate and observe. Still we are present in other planes as well. They are not visible to us but still we are members on those ones as well. Beside the physical body we have also our feelings and emotions as well as our mental capabilities. They are as real for anyone as the physical world itself even thought we cannot see them.

So, where’s the real reality and what does it mean? The world every wisdom tries to illustrate and refer to is the reality of thoughts. That is where anything is first created - it is thought out. Only after that it can be expressed and materialised. No matter are we talking about going shopping, building a house or even speaking. First it has to be created and then it is a matter of realisation depending on the case at hand.

A thought without any feeling is not complete. Saying ‘I love you’ without a feeling is meaningless. Similarly the feeling or the passion / desire has to be combined with the thought. Together they are something. This applies to talking, building a house or any other matter. (The third required element is power or will to execute or carry out the matter but this is just a hint for the considerate reader and not relevant for the topic.)

Why should we not focus on the outside world and instead purely concentrate on the inner higher reality? No matter where you look you find the wise words that encourage to look inside or as Pythagoras has so nicely put it: “Man know thyself then thou shalt know the Universe and God.” These should not be understood in a manner that one ignores the visible world or isolates from the world. They purpose is to encourage to focus on the essence or the source where everything is really taking place and where one can have control and real influence on the visible world.

First this may sound quite a bizarre or contrary but just consider how much in control of your world you really are? Are you pretending to be in control or just really facing the facts that you are only an observer for the occurring events. A feeling of being in control is not the same as having a real influence on the issues and understanding what’s really causing them. Can you have a peaceful and happy life?

Some people can. And they have followed the advice. They have realised that in order to achieve something one has to look inside and find it first there and only after that can it materialise in the outer world as well. Actually nothing can prevent it from occurring shall the desire be strong and persistent enough. Why is this so hard to believe and start to implement?

Simply because we are used to live and look outside of ourselves. We take it as granted that by doing something in the outside world we can make something to happen in our desired manner. But what happens when you start to do this? One creates a perpetuity machine without even realising it and having a chance to jump out. Often only the final desperation makes the person to get out of the cul-de-sac and start to look inside for strength. Only then can something start to happen. The reason for this is very simple. The outside reality is just a mere cause of the activities that happened before - ie. the results or the reflections of the mental thoughts and feelings. Nothing can ever change in the outer reality till the thought and emotional structures are changed accordingly.

One has to ’see’ and ‘feel or believe’ together the desired outcome first and only then it can start to happen. If you just look the current state of the visible world and take it as granted without any creative and passionate effort then nothing will ever improve or change. Actually the opposite often happens. A negative spiral is created - things look so bad and hence I will be so depressed and so on. Naturally a positive inspiration and feeling is also possible to happen - then only the sky is the limit - isn’t it?

Why is this so hard to believe - still? Since we do not see the real reality and thus we do not consider it matters. We think that we can think, feel or say whatever we feel like without much consideration or significance. And look the state of the world today! Have we been able to live in peace and love each other as humans? How about your thoughts and feelings - only loving and peaceful everyday and towards everything, permanently?

Maybe we should start to consider more carefully the wise words repeated so often to us throughout the centuries. We even have living proves of people who have achieved a permanent state of tranquility and happiness. Even the latest science do not disapprove this. Einstein and quantum mechanics can do wonders if one wants to study them. Why is it so that the observer effects the observation or to put it differently the thought effects the thinker.

Plato’s ideal world consists of perfect items. Those items are
not present in our visible world, still we can get a feeling of
these perfect items by the world around us. We are living
around those items—only the proportion of the perfectness
varies. We recognize these forms, and we desire for more.We
would like them to stay with us, forever. Our endless quest is
to reach for these ideal items and surround ourselves by them.
Our life is a quest for ideal forms that cannot stay in a mate-
rial format but can reflect parts of life’s perfect existence, for
example, a quest for the Holy Grail, which is not a material
kind of quest. Therefore, the material sought is eternal—ideas
can only be found in their original form.

Some people remind us about humbleness, beauty, passion,
sympathy, love, intelligence, humor, selflessness, and so on.
These ideas are reflected in the person. We feel that these
items are something noble and very familiar to us. We are
naturally attracted to and moved by these ideas. Similarly, we
can find the same forms and ideas in the world around us.
The nature is always beautiful, and our humanmade art cap-
tures the essence of many timeless shapes of ideas. Still, like
Plato said, we cannot capture the formless into a physical
shape entirely. Only parts of it can be present, at best.

Next time you meet a person or see an object that captures
some fraction of the ideal form, ask yourself this question: Are
you attracted to the person/object or to the form it represents?
This is something worth considering for a while. If it is really
the person or item, then it should not matter if it is changing
over time—maybe reflecting less or decaying the ideal form
that caught your attention in the first place. Our disappoint-
ments in life reflect the fact that we fall in love with the idea
and not the object it represents. When the object itself
changes we are taken by surprise and long for the idea it used
to resonate.

Ideas and forms are eternal. They are always present but
they cannot be captured in time and space. They can be expe-
rienced only as they come and when they come—in that very
moment—the rest is pure illusion and shadows.