Allegory of the Cave by Plato

This to me is a true story of enlightenment. Perhaps, as my German wife pointed out, that Kant's vision of enlightenment was lost to me in translation. Which makes me visualize another entry for my blog.

The Allegory of the Cave. It is making me think too much at the moment. I always think too much anyway.

So right now we are all stuck in our cave of understanding and slaves to our ideas and desires. We see the shadows on the wall that we associate with our reality. The fire is our false light of understanding. We are prisoners to ourselves. We want what is in this cave because we have been told since birth that this is what life is about and what you should do with your life. However, at some point, probably when you have become older and less satisfied with what life has had to offer, your mind opens to the possibility of not needing what is in this cave.

A house is just a house. We have been made to associate owning a house with a successful life. What car you drive makes no difference. The car is just a tool to get you to where you need to be. The“best” of anything is only in how you perceive your current situation. Do the things you own make you who you are? Does your job? Your spot in society? No. Only how you perceive how you are makes you what you are.

So you are stuck in your cave, or in what you know. You have become satisfied by this, until that one day when some “idea” or even a dissatisfaction of some area of your life creeps in. It is a nagging feeling. It persists. You try to shake it off but it won't go away. It is then that you may turn toward the blinding light that exists outside your cave. It is a painful transition. It is painful to you, and to those around you. You are shaking off what has been your definition. You struggle. You want to turn back sometimes and wallow in the misery of where you were before, and you do go back. However, the need for freedom from your ignorance is too strong. You take small steps in the beginning; going farther and farther outside your cave. Slowly you get used to the blinding light of reality. And yes, you are blinded. There is no turning back into the darkness of your cave once you are enlightened. You cannot see in the light, or in the darkness. You, once blind, can only live in what you can touch before you.