Dostoevsky

I forgot how much I really loved The Brothers Karamozov. I suppose when I first read it, I didn’t quite get it all. Reading it again has given me a whole different appreciation for it. The philosophical spectrum he presents with his characters creates more questions than it answers. Anyway I really enjoyed this little passage from the Elder Zosima in response to people criticizing monks for being isolationists.

“For all men in our age are separated into units, each seeks seclusion in his own hole, each withdraws from others, hides himself and hides what he has, and ends by pushing himself away from people and pushing people away from himself. He accumulates wealth in solitude, thinking: how strong, how secure I am now; and does not see, madman as he is, that the more he accumulates, the more he sinks into suicidal impotence. For he is accustomed to relying only on himself, he has separated his unit from the whole, he has accustomed his soul to not believing in people’s help, in people or in mankind, and now only trembles lest his money and his acquired privileges perish. Everywhere now the human mind has begun laughably not to understand that a man’s true security lies not in his own solitary effort but in the general wholeness of humanity.”

Isn’t this really where many of us are at? We worry about all of our acquisitions, worry about our retirement security, worry about whether we can afford a new house in a better neighborhood. But the reality is if we all recognize how we are all connected we could build a more secure feeling for everyone. I won’t go on about health care (yet) or our economic system (yet), but this is exactly where we are at. Encouraging the individual to make good, and ignoring the involvement with the community. Think about how you measure success. Please. If you are happy with your answer, whatever it is, I applaud you. If you aren’t, try to decide how you would like to answer and pursue that course in your life.

Thanks Galina for giving me the wonderful translation of The Brothers Karamazov before I left. It makes for wonderful reading and thought.