The historian of philosophy can very well trace the course of currents of thought over the decades, identifying trends here and there, and see them as shaping the results that he identifies. In doing so, one has a view perhaps not of the evolution of thought, but of the origin of ideas, of what kind of stimulus encourages them and what kind of stimulus they respond to. This is certainly beneficial; however, the historical panorama is insufficient for the intellectual to be able to claim to be the master of such developments. In order to do this, he needs to experience the process from the inside, take on the ideas put forward as his own and let them take the path they want within him. This may not be possible for all philosophical problems, but especially for the most current ones, this exercise usually leads to very different conclusions from those that spring up with an air of immediate consecration.
Psychological States
It’s curious how the mind, despite not knowing the limits to the intensity with which it experiences its states, can hardly reconstitute them accurately. It is much easier to recall acts committed, even if these have generated less intense psychological effects, or even none at all. This seems to show that psychological states only make a mark insofar as they induce some real action; and it is this, after all, that makes them recallable. A very useful precept can be drawn from this: when we want a state of mind to last, we have to act under its influence; when we want to forget it, we just have to entrust its dissipation to inaction.
When One Really Matures…
When one really matures, as time subtracts, as responsibility increases and the past acquires weight and volume, one also acquires the ability to detach oneself from accessories until, finally, life becomes simpler. This process, however, depends on the ability to understand and see oneself proportionally in the panorama of existence, something that naturally results in a fair sizing up, without exaggeration or too much modesty, of what one can and should do.
It Is Traditional of Indian Wisdom…
It is traditional of Indian wisdom to insistently reinforce the importance of the present, given that the mind reaps regret from the past and apprehension from the future. Therefore, it seems objectively impossible to have a peace that is not summed up in a serene and consenting immersion in the now, an immersion that is self-satisfied. But oh, how difficult it is! That minimum that is missing, that wanting that is not much but is placed in a hypothetical future, that real, full, recognized happiness that requires little but is distanced from the moment, all of this is certainly the burial of peace. And the affliction that arises from this realization, or rather from this attitude, is one of those that cannot be overcome, because one cannot speed up time, nor live the future in the present. So, no matter how difficult it may seem, and no matter how repetitive the sages of old India may seem at times, the truth is just that: what there is is simply now.