Faith

In 1994, the rock star John Bongiovi (a.k.a., Bon Jovi) exhorted us to "Keep the Faith" in the title cut from the album.  Here's the refrain:

Faith: you know you're gonna live thru the rain
Lord you got to keep the faith
Faith: don't let your love turn to hate
Right now we got to
Keep the faith
Keep the faith
Keep the faith
Lord we got to keep the faith

The word, faith, comes from the Latin fides, although the modern definition as complete trust or confidence goes back to Greek mythology in the form of the goddess Psitis.  My sense is that Bon Jovi was being true to his Greek and Roman ancestors when he penned the lyrics to the song.  He was also exploring the fundamental concept of faith as it was subsequently developed in the Christian tradition.  In the Gospel of Matthew we have the teaching Jesus to his disciples in response to their questions as to how he was able heal a boy when they could not.  Jesus' retort, "Oh ye of little faith" (one of the most repeated phrases from the New Testament) is followed by:

“Truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”--Matthew 17:20

Since mustard seeds are very small (approximately 1mm in diameter), the suggestion is clear-- we need only have the smallest amount of faith to accomplish anything.  In a cynical world full of doubt and uncertainty, how may we apply and strengthen this virtue without getting caught up in the religiosity that surrounds its modern interpretation?  

Allow me to suggest some small experiments that go as follows:

-First, set a good intention (right intention).
-Then, begin and persist (right action and effort).
-Finally, allow circumstances to unfold while knowing that in time your intention will come to fruition despite difficulties or challenges that arise (right view and mindfulness).

Go ahead, give it a try, and...keep the faith.

Persistence and Perseverance

Persistence and perseverance account for a large part of success in any venture, especially when it seems difficult to make progress.  This virtue consists of the quality of sticking with a situation even through difficult circumstances until you have resolution--one way or another.  

Examples from the lives of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison help illustrate the benefit of regularly practicing this virtue.  Both men were known for many stories of their persistence and perseverance while facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles.  In addition to Ford’s early experiments in his home that led to the invention of the internal combustion engine, we have the story surrounding the creation of the V8 engine.  Henry Ford was looking for a way to cast the V8 in a single block.  His engineers told him at the time it could not be done, however, Ford would not be denied.  He charged his engineers to figure it out; no matter how much time it took them.  Six months went by, then twelve months, and still no breakthrough.  After the eighteenth month the engineers had figured a way to do it. The Ford Flathead was the first independently designed and built V8 engine produced by the Ford Motor Company for mass production and ranks as one of the company's most important developments.  The Flathead was licensed to other producers, including car and truck manufacturers all over the world.

From the annals of the life and times of Thomas A. Edison we have the well-known story about the invention of the electric light bulb.  In the period from 1878 to 1880 Edison and his research team in Menlo Park, NJ worked on thousands experiments to develop an efficient incandescent lamp.  When asked by a reporter who interviewed Edison about his “failures”, Edison is reported to have replied (paraphrase) “I have not failed a 1,000 times.  I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb."  Edison’s response points to what Napoleon Hill urges us to do in looking for the seed of an equivalent benefit in every failure. 

What can we learn from these men, along with other men and women who persevered throughout history?  They all seemed to have a quality of inspirational discontent.  That is to say, when obstacles presented themselves they did not give up. They stayed “in spirit” while not being content until they achieved their goals.  Also, they took a “problems are my friends” attitude.  When problems arose they saw them as challenges to be overcome on the way to their goals.  In many worthwhile endeavor in life, we often face obstacles and seeming failures.  The difference between those who succeed in their pursuits and those who do not has much to do with how they view and respond to those failures.  Napoleon Hill in his book: “Think and Grow Rich” encouraged us to “look for the seed of an equivalent benefit” in every setback.  In that way we learn from our attempts, and mover closer to our goals.

Let me conclude with one of my favorite inspirational quotes on this subject from Calvin Coolidge, the 30^th President of the United States of America: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

Honor

Can there be honor in a society without the duel?  Can there be a civil society without honor?  I believe the answer to these questions is no, and no.

It has been nearly a century and a half since the last duel was fought in America between United States Senator David C. Broderick, of California, and ex-Chief Justice David S. Terry, of the Supreme Court of California, on September 13, 1859.  The encounter took place near Lake Merced on the south western edge of San Francisco--a place where I stood many times when I lived in that beautiful city.

It is no small irony that that last duel in America was fought between two men of the law: a U.S. Senator, and a State Supreme Court Justice. After all, since 1859 America has become a nation of laws.  In a nation governed by laws, the duel is prohibited as a method for settling disputes.  Instead, we have a system of laws at the local, state, and federal level that are too innumerable to count.   The Affordable Care Act alone is nearly two thousand pages.  Tolstoy would be impressed!  

A decade before the duel between Broderick and Terry, Henry David Thoreau lamented the slide of America toward a nation of laws in his essay entitled, Civil Disobedience, published in 1849. He foretold of the enslavement of the citizen to the "machine" of the state.  And yet, despite Thoreau's warnings and the daily evidence to the contrary, many today believe we have a more "civil" society where individuals settle their differences at the bar of torts, attorney in one hand and checkbook in the other.  This we call "justice".

Nearly a decade after the Broderick-Terry duel, in a small southwestern Virgina town, an honorable man named Robert E. Lee became the President of a struggling college after the end of the Civil War.  Among the many things he accomplished during his five year tenure as President of what was then called Washington College, included the abolition of the set of formal written rules and regulations that governed student behavior.  Lee established one central idea: that each student "conduct himself as a gentleman." Lee also transferred the responsibility of administering the "honor code" from the faculty to the student body.  Sacrebleu!

In a truly civil society, where individuals conduct themselves as gentlemen (and gentlewomen), which is a better response when a grave offense has been committed by an individual against one's person, family, or property: 

1) Call on an officer of the law, or
2) Challenge the offender to pistols for two at dawn, and coffee for one?

Fortitude

Mountains are sacred places.  In Greek mythology, Mount Olympus is the dwelling place of the gods.  In the Judeo-Christian tradition, Mount Sinai is the place where Moses encountered God and received his commandments.

The nature of mountains is elemental.  Earth (rocks), water (glaciers and streams), air (wind), and fire (lightning). They are rooted in the very crust of the earth.  During the day, as the sun traverses the sky, the mountain sits.  Light, colors, shadows change moment to moment, and yet the mountain stays.  Clouds, fog, wind, rain, and snow may swirl around the massive peak; and when all is clear, there is the mountain, abiding all change.

On its surface, glaciers move, snow fields form and dissipate, boulders break loose from the freeze and thaw cycle.  At its base, streams and rivers flow; animals and plants are nourished.  And yet, through it all, the mountain sits, unmoved by the weather and what happens on its surface.

As we lead our lives, what is possible if we adopt the "mountain perspective".  Can we embody the same unwavering rootedness and stillness of the mountain in the face of everything that changes in our environment?  Can we adopt the strength and stability of the mountain as the turbulence of our day-to-day existence attempts to push us this way and that?

It can be helpful to see the events that happen to us are much like the weather on the mountain.  While we tend to take them seriously and personally, the events of our own lives are not to be ignored, denied, or resisted; they are to be encountered, felt, and known for what they are; and then allowed to pass.

On Enthusiasm

 “Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson
 Enthusiasm: To be possessed by a god, or by God. How we have lost sight of the meaning of this word.   As modern western society increasingly moves away from organized religion toward secularism, can we take seriously Emerson's admonition to be enthusiastic?  After all, to be enthusiastic is to be with God. That is heresy in a secular society.  I, for one, do not have difficulty with the original meaning from the Greek, since I know that when I am not enthusiastic about my life, then I grow farther from God.

For the secular, let's try a philosophical approach to capture the essence of this virtue.  In the Buddhist philosophical tradition, the equivalent of enthusiasm is "Virya", which is also known as the Paramita of joyous exertion. This paramita is associated with the qualities of vigor, vitality, endurance, diligence, as well as continuous and persistent effort.  When we firmly anchor ourselves in Virya, we can view failure as a step toward success and danger as an inspiration for courage.  This would be in keeping with Emerson’s description, and as Winston Churchill said: “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”

If the religious and philosophical approaches are not satisfactory, then where else can we turn to understand and incorporate this virtue into our daily lives? How about Walt Disney,  who encouraged us to "Whistle while [we] work" in the animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  I can offer no better advice for enthusiastically going about our daily affairs.

On Wisdom

“Information is what you find on the internet.  Knowledge is the synthesis of information.  Wisdom is the application of knowledge.”—J. Rufus Fears, Historian, Scholar, Teacher.

In the Eastern traditions, the idea that wisdom (or “prajna”) can be experienced through meditation on suffering has been with us since the Buddha sat under the Bohdi tree.  In the West, of course, it’s a bit more complicated.

 

Starting with Homer’s Iliad, we come to understand that we increase our wisdom through suffering.  We recall that Achilles’ intense rage and suffering over the loss of his dear friend Patroclus led Achilles to slay Hector at the gates of Troy.  When Hector’s father, Priam, goes to Achilles to claim his son’s body, Achilles’ rage turns to compassion as he sees in Priam the same suffering that he experienced with the loss of Patroclus.  Achilles gives the body of Hector to Priam and calls a truce so that the funeral rites may be performed for Hector.

From the Athenian tragedies of the 5th century BC, we come to understand that moral blindness (“ate”) was the negation of wisdom. Moral blindness led men and women to commit acts of hubris (or, outrageous arrogance) that led to ruin.  It was only at the cost of much suffering that men and women gained wisdom. In Greek tragedy, it was frequently those who were most sure of their wisdom who suffered a tragic fall. Pentheus in the Bacchae of Euripides is a fine example of someone who believed himself wise but, in fact, was fatally flawed. His refusal to recognize the power of a new god, Dionysos, led to Pentheus’ downfall and the destruction of those he loved.

The theme of human suffering as a path to wisdom is embodied in the book of Job (also written in about the 5th century BC). Job endures the loss of his family and all of his possessions.  He is then subject to horrible bodily afflictions.  Job, a righteous man, appeals directly to God to explain why he is suffering.  God does not give an explanation to Job.  He proclaims his own power as all that is needed. When Job bows his head to acknowledge God’s power; his life, family, and wealth are restored.

What can we learn from these ancient tales of wisdom and pass them along to our children?  Well, in the contemporary era, children are generally educated in a three-stage process:

First is the presentation of information—a collection of facts and data.

Second is the weaving of these facts and data into patterns of knowledge.

Third is the application of these patterns in one’s daily life, thereby approaching wisdom.

Teachers and parents can influence children and young adults in steps one and two.  Wisdom ultimately is an act of reflection and application. Children (and their parents) can come to wisdom only by contemplating and applying what they have learned.

Focus

"This requires total concentration” (Bruce Lee paraphrase)

Martial artists can focus their mental attention and bodily energy to apply physical forces that astonish most other mortals because the latter cannot see beyond the distractions of their own busy, active minds.

Today, the advent of electronic media and the internet have enabled many distractions that seem appealing at first, yet enslave us in the end.

Text message.  Email.  Phone call.  Tweet.  Pandora.  ipod.  Video game.  Facebook.  Pinterest. Netflix.  Hulu.

Now, where was I? Oh, yes.  Focus.

Fox News.  CNBC.  Politico.  CNN.  Talk radio.  The New York Times.  The Wall Street Journal. Bloomberg.  Reuters.  

What was I doing?  Oh yes, writing a blogpost.

Napoleon Hill in his 17 Principles of Success described a quality he called “Controlled Attention” as the ability “to focus the powers of [the] mind upon the attainment of a definite objective and to keep it so directed at will.”  If one is often distracted, bouncing from activity to activity like a pinball on steroids, how can one achieve or accomplish anything worthwhile.  “Multi-tasking” is an oxymoron!

So, what can we do when we are either assaulted or tempted by the barrage of today’s electronic distractions? I do have a few simple recommendations:

1) Cancel your cable/satellite TV service.  Throw out all radios, ipods, gaming consoles.

2) Read only one literate newspaper each day.

3) When with people, place your cell/smart phone in “airplane” mode, and be fully present for the people you are with.

4) If you must check and respond to email, do so only 3 times each day (morning, around lunchtime, and late-afternoon).

5) Rise early and meditate each day.

I recognize that what I am suggesting here is a radical departure from the way many individuals act these days.  Who among you has the courage to reclaim your focus?