The Path to Enlightenment: Rediscovering Purpose and Heroism in a Modern World

It is often a sad site, for me, to see the immense suffering people put themselves through. As a sociologist I understand human behavior and the very things that make us happy... and I know we have lost site of those principles. 

I feel everyone I know is in a mad dash for achievement and responsibility. Whether they hold a job, have a career, go to college, run a group, organization, or club, or are merely involved in some other venture, there is this constant strive to take on more of that which holds no real purpose, no real future, and no keys to happiness. Now, more than ever, we must stop and ask ourselves, simply, WHY?

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We have forgotten what makes us human and how we derive happiness; like community, compassion, altruism, and becoming greater than ourselves. Real self-actualized human beings need no other reward for the previous four then the very satisfaction of knowing what they did contributed to a greater cause, benefited another, or was an investment for those to come. Now, we hide these feeling and corrupt these motivations with a price tag, material objects, or another point on the resume.

[The bourgeoisie] has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his "natural superiors," and has left remaining no other bond between man and man than naked self-interest and callous "cash payment." It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom—free trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.

The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honored and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage laborers." - Karl Marx 1

Think about your daily behaviors and the goals you strive for. What are the meaning of these actions? What purpose do they serve? What future do they hold? There was once a time when humans would try to transcend space and time by contributing to human consciousness. The so-called "immortal soul" was once the greatest human ambition. 

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Joseph Campbell once said:

We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us — the labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.” 2

There are no words more true then these…and we must be certain to ask: who are the heroes? And who are merely championed to corrupt human consciousness? 

As the earth continues to rotate without purpose I hope you, whoever you are, contribute to the human ethos and somehow, in a world gone mad, find happiness with the few left who still allow themselves to be free, allow themselves true beauty, and allow themselves to love. I wish you all the beauty in the world.  

With all my heart, I hope that you find the strength and courage to give of yourself and become the hero you hold inside. The task is a heavy burden for no teacher can tell you what to do, how to act, or what goals to pursue. You MUST look to yourself; you MUST be your own master, your own God. For you are the only one who can pull this world from these dark ages, the only one who can control your mind, and the only one who can return purpose, hope, beauty, and solitude to the collective human spirit. My respect and admiration are with you. For the future, for love, for truth, for freedom—to heroism… to you—Godspeed. 

"Your silence gives consent" - Plato 

"He is a man of courage who does not run away but remains at his post and fights against the enemy."  - Socrates 

1. Mark, Karl & Engels, Friedrich. "The Communist Manifesto." New York: Washington Square Press Publication 1964. p.61-2

2. Campbell, Joseph. "The Power of Myth." Quote from the series introduction. Joseph Campbell Foundation. DVD

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Other Related blog(s): Sociology of Love, Lyceum Recordz