Be nobody for yourself and everything for others.

Primary school was run by religious men.
Roman Catholic friars who lived in celibacy in a monastery nearby the school.
They were dressed in cassocks and had Latin names.
Head of school was Brother Fabianus.
Teacher of the 5th year was Brother Mansuetus.



Besides the regular teaching at this Primary school, there was also religion.
It consisted of the pupils having to learn the catechism.
A small book with questions and answers.



First question in the Roman Catholic catechism was:
For what reason are we on this planet?

The answer:
We are living on this planet to serve God.
And because of that to become happy here and in the afterlife.

Now that is very different from what we discovered yesterday the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard was saying.


Kierkegaard maintained that the individual has the sole responsibilities of giving one's own life meaning and living that life passionately and sincerely, in spite of many existential obstacles and distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, alienation and boredom.

If you want it easy in life, better be a Roman Catholic compared to an Existentialist.
A Roman Catholic is not wondering too much why to live.
And how to live.
Simply serve God and not only makes that happy in life, but it also guarantees a happy afterlife.
The religion offers the answers to existential questions.
Sit back, enjoy life and relax!

What Kierkegaard has to offer is the naked fact that you will be on your own in life.
No one to help you to be happy, like a Roman Catholic God or anybody.
You must try yourself to give meaning to your life and Kierkegaard not only has no guarantees for happiness to offer, but afterlife is not included either.
That means many questions to answer in life, hard work and tough experiences.

One of the other philosophers of existentialism was the German Friedrich Nietsche (1844-1900).


In his classic work "Also sprach Zarathustra" he wrote:
"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?

This opinion comes close to what Bhudists think.
There is no God.
Except for the godliness inside yourself that needs to be celebrated, developed and practiced.



People like Nietsche and Kierkegaard have created a terrible mess in the Western world.
They took God away from many people.
And made many people believe that they could play God themselves.
To achieve meaning and happiness in life by only serving the ego as a god.

The fundamental principle that is lacking in existentialism is that true meaning of life and real happiness is never possible on your own.
The meaning of life and happiness can only be achieved through interaction with fellow human beings.
A Godless person bombarding himself into a God, as Nietsche advised, and pursuing the meaning of life and happiness only by himself, heads for misery.
Wealth and richness may result that may give comfort to the Nietschian but no fulfillment of the meaning of life nor happiness.
Besides of not being of much use for the community.

Kierkegaard and his followers have planted the seeds for a society in the West that consists now of a majority of extreme egoists.
Men and women believing they are God and wallowing in hedonism.
While they are greedy, close their eyes for the well being of others and have no limit to their materialism.

Hence, how to become godly?
Get rid of the ego first.
Be nobody for yourself and everything for others.



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Spirals can also go upwards.

While in retreat at “Estero del Tomate” in Baja California, Mexico where focusing on creating new conceptual images, there is also time to read a book.
This is a privilege because when travelling in Europe and elsewhere, usually life is so complex and hectic that there is no time to even read the Herald Tribune newspaper.

But being in a peaceful place in harmony without any obligations whatsoever and time available books can be read.
In such a situation a good book can have a deep impact.
Because it is experienced without any distraction.
The reader gets completely into the story and as a consequence the emotions and feelings are highly influenced.

These days a feeling of defeatism dominates.
Responsible are two books that have been read over the last week.

“The beautiful and damned” by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

F. Scott Fitzgerald.

And “Elementary particles” by Michel Houellebecq.

Michel Houellebecq.

Very interesting books but telling tragic stories making one loose hope for humanity.

“The beautiful and damned” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the story of Anthony Patch and his wife Gloria.
Harvard-educated and an aspiring aesthete, Patch is waiting for his 30 million $ inheritance upon his grandfather’s death.
His reckless marriage to Gloria is fuelled by alcohol and is destroyed by greed.
The Patches race through a series of alcohol-induced fiascos.
First in hilarity, and then in despair.
The book “The beautiful and damned” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a devastating and shocking portrait of the nouveaux riches in New York in the 1920’s.
How materialism and wealth can result in destructive decadence, nihilism and evaporate ethical and moral values.
It is tragic to read about the downfall and destruction of the protagonists in this book.
Because it is realized that the story is exemplary for many more people.

F. Scott Fitzgerald himself to begin with.
This makes the book so strong because much of what is described comes from his own life.

“Elementary particles” by Michel Houellebecq is the story of two half-brothers.
The book covers their lives from the 1960’s on and in fact describes what has become of our society.
How we became more and more materialistic.
How we lost religion, the values of morality and century old traditions.
How we got into selfishness and narcissism ruining the fine social structures of the society that used to exist.
“Elementary particles” by Michel Houellebecq is also very much about how sexuality became for many people a way of extreme efforts to obtain satisfaction.
The conclusion is of course that all this materialism, loss of morality and practicing extreme sex make people not happy at all.
In “Elementary particles” by Michel Houellebecq too many protagonists die in tragic ways.

Both books are depressing.
Mainly because the two authors have a very negative way of looking at reality.
This is effective to have an impressive book as a result because so much drama can be offered.

But both books present a one sided view of society.
And this knowledge must be kept in mind constantly while reading those books to avoid sliding into a deep depression.
To avoid to think that we as humanity are lost and have no future.

Maybe this is so.
Maybe F. Scott Fitzgerald and Michel Houellebecq are right.
Maybe as humanity we are in a deadly downwards spiral.
But if this is so, the personal and individual life can be lived in an opposite way.
Spirals can also go upwards.

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To learn more about the book "Elementary particles" by Michel Houellebecq, click on:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://hcs.harvard.edu/~hbr/issues/spring06/images/houellebecq.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hbr/issues/spring06/articles/houellebecq.shtml&h=2838&w=2128&sz=646&tbnid=3UiGzHUtfdoJ::&tbnh=150&tbnw=112&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmichel%2Bhouellebecq%2Bimage&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&cd=1


To learn more about the book "The beautiful and damned" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, click on:

http://books.google.com/books?id=Af8IE-KGUkQC&dq=F.+Scott+Fitzgerald+the+beautiful+and+damned&pg=PP1&ots=pEEhDET3Hy&sig=4XGDX3yM4uCxaFFaup_Kr3uuwKQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result






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