Dear Friends,
It seems to me, only when we recognize that we are not special, can we actually be special. That is to say, if you were born in Germany in 1922, you would probably have been a Nazi, had you been born a white person on a plantation in 1835, you would have probably seen nothing wrong with slavery, had you been born a Roman in the Republican years, you would have gladly taken up arms against Volscia. or if you were born as a peasant in dark ages Europe, you would have followed in your mother’s or fathers trade. We are largely who and what we are born to be. Until we recognize that fact we are stuck in that paradigm. Once we recognize this however, we then have the perspective to transcend our station, (who and what we were born to be) to become someone greater… someone special.
The value of being able to transcend our station is enormous. The greatest degree of effect is on those born to the lowest stations, of course, but every person no matter what station we are born to, can find utility in transcending it. Imagine you are a boy born into a single mother family, your mother loves you but is out of her element controlling you, as a result you are not properly socialized. The strong likelihood is that you would then spend time in prison. Not because your mother was bad, or that you are diabolical, but because the situation you were born into put you in that position. The means to transcend that station then would be invaluable to you. Yet that ability starts with understanding the root of the problem then choosing not to be the person you were born to be.
A problem can only be addressed once it is recognized, until then it is not in the conscience, and thus doesn’t exist in the mind, so cannot be addressed. Everything that humankind has made, done or created has first existed in the mind of a person. Until someone visualizes something it cannot come into material reality. This goes for creating works of art or solving problems. Until people had to move heavy loads, there was no need of a wheel but once people had the problem, they solved it by imagining wheeled vehicles. Until we understand that we have a problem, that of following blindly in the role we are born to, we cannot get off that track. So let’s recognize that we are largely, not entirely, the person we were born to be. Then, we can move to the next step, transcending that station.
It is hard to accept that I could have been a Nazi, but part of wisdom is accepting difficult truths. Take Hsun Ching’s thesis, “The congenital nature of man is evil.” If we accept this as fact, we have to come to grips with the idea that we were born evil, and the goodness in us was learned. This is too hard for some to accept. They would rather live in the fantasy they are good, and everything they seek is good, no matter what they seek. Hedonism is an enthralling fantasy but it yields poor life results. Moreover, it leads to famine, poverty and want. Understanding that you yourself, had you been born in the right circumstances, could have been a death camp guard, is the first step to not ever being a death camp guard. It is only by acceptance and acknowledgment of our congenital nature that we can transcend it.
Transcending our station could be as small as not being so angry, being more agreeable, or less agreeable, being more courteous… to as large as becoming rich, writing the next great American novel, or invention. To transcend our station we need the perspective that recognizing, we are largely who and what we were born to be, gives us. As hard as that might be, it is preferable to wallowing in a mire not of our own creation, unable to understand why we are in it, and thus never knowing how to escape it. Such knowledge is of immense value to everyone. So, recognize that who you are and what you do, is largely because of the circumstances of your life, and you then have the ability to transcend those circumstances. For your own betterment and that of the human condition… become special.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
