Inner Life: The Forgotten Dimension
18/02/2008
- Opinión
Inner life represents, today, one of humanity's most forgotten dimensions. It is urgent to rescue it, because that is where serenity and the sacred feeling of dignity are to be found.
In the first place, it is important to clarify the word inner or interior. It is the opposite of outer, or exterior. Life possesses an exterior dimension. It is our corporality. Modern culture has inflated outward appearance by all the means of mass media. People's lives have been laid bare.
But the interior also exists. The interior is generally that which is not directly seen. We can know and even be fascinated by a person's exterior, by someone's beauty and intelligence. But to know a person we need to consider the interior, the heart, the way of being and vision of the world. Only then we can make an appropriate and fair judgement about the person.
Moreover, the interior connotes a quality of life. Thus we say that life "in the interior" (of the country) is more tranquil, more integrated with community and nature; in fact, with more possibilities for making us happy. It is because life "in the interior" is not subject to the logic of the city, with the comings and goings of the people, with the technical and bureaucratic paraphernalia, and with the threat of violence.
Finally, interior signifies human depth. This interior, the deep, appears when the human being slows down, remains silent, and begins to look inside himself and to think seriously. When a human being poses decisive questions, such as: what is the meaning of my life, of all this universe of things, instruments, work, suffering, struggles and pleasures? Is there life beyond life, since so many friends die, sometimes in absurd ways, in auto accidents or by a stray bullet? Why am I on this small planet, so beautiful, yet so badly abused?
Who offers answers? In general, religion and philosophy, because they always deal with these questions. But it is illusory to think that by attending a cult or by adhering to a certain vision of the world inner life is guaranteed. All that is important, but only to the degree that it produces a meaningful experience, a new upheaval and a vital change.
Inner life is not the monopoly of religion. Religion comes later. Inner life is a dimension of being human. That is why it is universal. There is inner life in all times and in all cultures.
Religions fulfill their mission when they encourage and nourish the inner life of their followers, when they help them to make the inner journey, towards the heart, where Mystery lives. Inner life is supposed to listen to the voices and the movements that come from within. There is a profound I, filled with longings, searches and utopias. We feel an ethical demand that invites us to do good, not just personally, for oneself, but also for the others.
There is a Presence that prevails, greater than our conscience. A Presence that speaks of that which really matters in our life, of that which is decisive and which cannot be delegated to any one. God is another name for the experience that satisfies our insatiable search.
To cultivate this space is to have inner life. The most immediate effect of this inner life is an energy that enables us to face everyday problems without great agitation. Those who possess inner life radiate a beneficial atmosphere and transmit peace to all those around.
To nourish inner life, as Arthur da Tavola constantly repeats in his television program, "Quem tem Medo de Música Clássica?" ("Who's Afraid of Classical Music?"), is to not be lonely anymore. Loneliness is one of the greatest enemies of the human being, because it uproots the human being from the universal connection. Inner life is a link to the Whole of which the human being is part.
(Free translation from the Spanish by Melina Alfaro, done at Refugio del Rio Grande, Texas.)
In the first place, it is important to clarify the word inner or interior. It is the opposite of outer, or exterior. Life possesses an exterior dimension. It is our corporality. Modern culture has inflated outward appearance by all the means of mass media. People's lives have been laid bare.
But the interior also exists. The interior is generally that which is not directly seen. We can know and even be fascinated by a person's exterior, by someone's beauty and intelligence. But to know a person we need to consider the interior, the heart, the way of being and vision of the world. Only then we can make an appropriate and fair judgement about the person.
Moreover, the interior connotes a quality of life. Thus we say that life "in the interior" (of the country) is more tranquil, more integrated with community and nature; in fact, with more possibilities for making us happy. It is because life "in the interior" is not subject to the logic of the city, with the comings and goings of the people, with the technical and bureaucratic paraphernalia, and with the threat of violence.
Finally, interior signifies human depth. This interior, the deep, appears when the human being slows down, remains silent, and begins to look inside himself and to think seriously. When a human being poses decisive questions, such as: what is the meaning of my life, of all this universe of things, instruments, work, suffering, struggles and pleasures? Is there life beyond life, since so many friends die, sometimes in absurd ways, in auto accidents or by a stray bullet? Why am I on this small planet, so beautiful, yet so badly abused?
Who offers answers? In general, religion and philosophy, because they always deal with these questions. But it is illusory to think that by attending a cult or by adhering to a certain vision of the world inner life is guaranteed. All that is important, but only to the degree that it produces a meaningful experience, a new upheaval and a vital change.
Inner life is not the monopoly of religion. Religion comes later. Inner life is a dimension of being human. That is why it is universal. There is inner life in all times and in all cultures.
Religions fulfill their mission when they encourage and nourish the inner life of their followers, when they help them to make the inner journey, towards the heart, where Mystery lives. Inner life is supposed to listen to the voices and the movements that come from within. There is a profound I, filled with longings, searches and utopias. We feel an ethical demand that invites us to do good, not just personally, for oneself, but also for the others.
There is a Presence that prevails, greater than our conscience. A Presence that speaks of that which really matters in our life, of that which is decisive and which cannot be delegated to any one. God is another name for the experience that satisfies our insatiable search.
To cultivate this space is to have inner life. The most immediate effect of this inner life is an energy that enables us to face everyday problems without great agitation. Those who possess inner life radiate a beneficial atmosphere and transmit peace to all those around.
To nourish inner life, as Arthur da Tavola constantly repeats in his television program, "Quem tem Medo de Música Clássica?" ("Who's Afraid of Classical Music?"), is to not be lonely anymore. Loneliness is one of the greatest enemies of the human being, because it uproots the human being from the universal connection. Inner life is a link to the Whole of which the human being is part.
(Free translation from the Spanish by Melina Alfaro, done at Refugio del Rio Grande, Texas.)
https://www.alainet.org/pt/node/127752
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