Here is the email that "The Foolosopher" sent us to announce his coming for this meeting.
My experiment as a “Street Foolosopher” will be discussed as to its implications for psychotherapy and friendship on Thurs. The following is my account of the first experiment as a Foolosopher, and we will discuss the second, and perhaps try an experiment of our own. You might mine the article below for bits of wisdom.
Today is my 74th birthday and I am, after my recovery from a recent heart attack, hyper-appreciative of the gift of life. "Just to be alive is holy,"says Joshua Heschel. I am also so extremely grateful for the love expressed by family and friends. I am a blessed, multiply blessed. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Love,
Sky
At my friend Jim's 70th birthday party, I decided to do an experiment which would be part of the entertainment of the day. Jim and I long for the days when central to every Greek city and town was the agora: a large market and meeting place. The agora was the center of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city. It was a place where philosophical discussions were supposedly commonplace. Being a philosopher and having been a psychotherapist, I mused whether there would be a use in people talking about the “big issues” in a playful manner e.g. in the context of Godsil’s unusual party (one of several which will help him celebrate his “marriage with eternity.” ) A idea was hatched gradually within me which seemed to come unbidden from Beyond.
Another conscious motive I had for acting as a “Foolosopher” was to try out a new role for myself in a playful way. I have been an “educating entertainer” for decades who (after George Bernard Shaw) “trys to find the most important things to say and then say it with the most levity.” I want to be a spiritual teacher more than a standard psychologist, but I didn't know quite how to go about that other than presenting programs like: “Common Miracles,” and “Finding God through Nature, Science and Mystical Poetry.”
I seem to need to talk to others to find out what I know, and am surprised by the intuitive wisdom that sometimes emerges. Is that similar in you?
Since my mind, by itself, loves to remember important quotes, I printed up bunches of serious and humorous quotes from my collections, also teaching stories, sayings and mystical poetry, a few books, a few yards of white cloth for a toga, a small pedestal to sit on, a chair, for the person who wanted what I had to offer, and a sign which said:
The Philosopher’s Corner”
The Old Foolospher
Questions entertained….
New and Used Philosophy for Your Everyday and Eternal Needs at Next-to-Nothing Prices.....and Worth it!!!!
—Questionable Answers to your Unanswerable Questions- 5 cents
—Wonderful Poetry- Free
—Silent Communion -Priceless
With no little presumptuousness and some trepidation, I headed off to the party not knowing whether this plan was a little inspired or a little nutty…or both.
I had the inspiration to be almost entirely silent that day, except when requested to read a poem. I handed those who came up to my secluded corner of the party a note that said: “I am keeping silence today, but don’t let that disturb you, in fact, it is meant to do the complete opposite.”
I also had the notion, which turned out to be very valuable, to have a notebook which I wrote on: “Do you have a question?” I would hand the notebook to them and many thoughtfully pondered for a while before writing their question. These notebook pages provided a record of our conversation which I handed them at the end of the session and provided a way to have an intimate, frank and private conversation in the context of a party atmosphere.
I was committed to answer their questions with as much seriousness and funniness as I was capable of, and adding the most profound quotes and poems which seemed relevant to their concerns. I waited to see what would happen for the next few hours.
Results:
I couldn’t have been more pleased. A few people came up, I think thinking I would tell their fortune, and a few with stock questions like: “what is the meaning of life,” or “is there an afterlife? or” what causes magnetism,” but a goodly number seemed to be engage the fantasy with me that they were talking to a legitimate philosopher about important things.
At one point, five people waiting in line started a spontaneous discussion (more than I could have hoped for) about issues like racism, free will, cultural conditioning, old age, suffering and more. What a rich and wide-ranging discussion they had.
One very smart and articulate lady helped us distinguish between pain and suffering by demonstrating ( by lying on the ground) how she was almost totally immobilized by a herniated disc and how friends and strangers came to her rescue for nine months to help her do the simplest things that she could no longer do for herself. She learned, and helped us learn, that people wanted to help her, and it was a gift to them to allow them to help her. She related that although she was in excruciating pain, she did not suffer. She did not, as was not the case in her previous life, worry about the future… her constant preoccupation, but could only focus on the needs of the immediate present.e.g. how to get to the bathroom, who could walk the dog, etc. It was clear that she only had to deal with the pain but not suffering ,and told us that this was, in fact, one of the happiest times in her life. It was an illuminating story, especially for me, because it would seem that my purpose in life should be to help people eliminate the unnecessary suffering in their life by helping them see how they largely create their suffering by their identification with their past and/or their imagined future.
Maybe 20 of the 200 or so at the party took advantage of my services; most were oblivious to my presence, but it was immensely worthwhile for me.
Toward the end of the day, the most memorable interaction came with a woman who sat down shyly in the chair, and thoughtfully penned a question. Very quickly she mentioned that she was abducted at gunpoint. She was obviously dealing with some great pain and/or suffering around this issue and with issues around aging and Trust (with a capital T)..both universal issues for humans of any sort. Her questions, at bottom, were (like Einsteins question) “Is the universe friendly?” Another question was vaguely: “ What or Who can we trust in?” Implied in her questions, was a need for reassurance, What could I give her? What did I have from my own experience which might help? Would this brief dialog help?
Raw, honest sharing, even without “solutions” seems to help. She wanted hugs and photos after our session of twenty minutes seemed to indicate that something good happened between us. Did we meet by chance? Was her and my willingness to risk inspired from someplace beyond our conscious mind? Can we Trust this most mysterious Life Force? These are a few quotes I shared with her:
“This silence, this moment, every moment, if it’s genuinely inside you, brings what you need. There’s nothing to believe. Only when I stopped believing in myself did I come into this beauty.
Sit quietly, and listen for a voice that will say, ‘Be more silent.’ Die and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign that you’ve died. Your old life was a frantic running from silence. Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. Live in silence.”― Rumi,
Another by Anonymous...which seems to fit the day
I asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.
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