I have, like so many before me, asked myself the same question: "is life determined by destiny, patterned in the holds of superstition and fatalism, or does life resemble the dynamics of a game of roulette?" is everything what is now, meant to be what is now? is the course of the future bound to its historical fate? or is it all a mere matter of randomness? what are the chances?
As an extraordinary contributor of wisdom, Peter L. Bernstein, was sharp to point out: questions only lead to the need of more knowledge, not knowing that it is precisely the need of more knowledge that further complicates answers to those same questions.
Does it really matter to ask ourselves whether life is regulated by destined forces in the heavens? or should we interpret everything as luck, a concept so many gamblers today rely upon? indeed, should we look for answers in the clouds, rainy and stormy as they so often are? or should we dare to accept that the answer is within us as it has been for centuries?
If everything is a matter of luck, taking chances would be a meaningless exercise. invoking luck obscures truth, because it separates the event from its cause. when we say that someone has fallen on bad luck, we relieve that person of any responsibility for what has happened. when we say that someone has good luck, we deny that person credit for the effort that might have led to the happy outcome. but how sure can we be? was it fate or choice that decided the outcome? what are the chances?
Over the years I have been asking myself the same questions people -in the search of their forefathers- asked themselves since the beginning of our concept of time: what was before all of this? how did it all started? where did our obsession with the beginning of time came from? note that all of the above questions of central importance imply a perspective towards the past, instead of to the future. we take such pride in proving all sorts of phenomena that we often forget to look at what the future might bring. for many of us, the future is but an empty concept, an unknown guess at its best. we logically believe we can not control time, for none of us are born with the ability to foresee the future.. none of us are blessed with the hands of time.
How wrong we are.
Time is a controllable force, it is a means to slaughter the "mysteriousness" of the future; it is a means to create a future of prosperity; no; a future of enlightenment.
Still, my words leave little impression on the ears of those blinded by the voice of the past. my words are but voiceless eyes to those who passively hear.
The future is as unpredictable as is the chance of hitting black at the roulette table. it is only a matter of chance. a matter of good luck you might say. still, few of us doubt that Bill Gates -at once the richest man alive- became a wealthy citizen by just good luck.
If in the end luck is all we can be sure of, it surely is not to come to a lucky ending.
Though the very subject of this blog is a humble effort in providing guidance, I do not advice you to take my advice. after all, advice is precisely that what has come to be known as politics, whereby practitioners of the art -politicians; or "sorcerers" some prefer to call them- try to manifest their views of reality; a same sort of reality Herr Hitler believed in when justifying the killing of millions of innocent human beings. never take advice without consulting the oracles of logic. there is a rational reason the word advice contains the word vice, the notion of immorality.
Immorality, a word with a life of its own. it always fascinated me how often the word has been used for individual justification of something that reaches further than just the person who uses the word. nobody wants to act in accordance with immorality, so when uncertainty finds its way through the timeless path we call "life", we consult the prophets of the past for moral justification rather than the powerful oracles of human logic and reason. am I unreasonable now to utter such immoral words?
Immorality, a word with a life of its own. it always fascinated me how often the word has been used to describe me. indeed, according to many -but what is to be called "many" in a universe that counts more stars than men and women?- I am everything that stands for the hedonistic society of selfishness and individual quest for reaching happiness; "modern society" is how modern economists would call it. indeed, I think of myself long before I ever dare to consider those around me; I have the certainty of the touch of one woman, yet I often find myself in the presence of temptation, unable to say no to the beauty of other women's eyes; it gives me great pleasure to find myself in a state of intoxication; to drink seas of alcohol like Dionysus, God of wine, did in order to find true happiness. whether it makes sense to assume one is to find happiness at the bottom of a glass of wine, it doesn't stop us from looking there. as far as the eye can see, as far as we expose our lungs to the poisons of the plants of the orient, hoping to find some clarity; to find a sense of meaning, a sense of order in the midst of chaos.
I have been labeled immoral by more than one. but like any self-righteous narcissist, I omit to see my reflection in the water. for it is a reflection that Narcissus himself dare not see. and it indeed is difficult to see with eyes closed.
Not too long ago, my eyes have been exposed to a view far greater than any politician nor sorcerer could ever dream of. it is a view grounded in reality, because the
moving finger writes; and having writ, moves on: nor all your piety nor wit shall
lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all your tears wash out a word of it.
Profound words have a tendency to manifest themselves in the history-books. yet, some words are too profound to be that simple as are some words too simple to be deemed profound. is A.'s advice the gathering of obscure words of inner wisdom? or are the words as simple as the fact that 1 + 1 = 2? if indeed, 2 it is.