I am sitting in a hotel room in Vienna. The writings on the wall say:
"Illusion is the first of all pleasures."
This really got me thinking. Is illusion really the first of all pleasures? How can something 'fake' be any pleasure at all?
One of my favourite lines ever written in a play comes from Tennessee Williams's "The Glass Menagerie", where the main character Tom says:
"I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion."
This has always been the way I have regarded theatre - and acting at large: as a means to lead someone towards the truth, in the disguise of illusion. Not the other way around.
Today, however, each individual is involved in a personal war. This is a battle he or she often fights alone, because our world has manufactured the perfect lie, which everyone can afford. It is sold at every corner and just adds to the inner turmoil and struggle to make sense of this world. This lie tells us: what ever makes you feel good, or gives you the highest amount of pleasure, is worth idolising and committing your life (and energy) to. Illusion is ignoring what is really going on and deluding oneself into thinking it is what everybody else does. Heads down, marching on!
Therefore, illusion wants us to think it is the first of all pleasures. In reality, illusion is the instrument of social and moral decay. We are given false promises that a customised world-view eventually leads to the truth and some sort of enlightenment. A pick and choose existence. (Not a Pikachu existence. Although life has become like choosing the right pokémon in order to 'win the game'.)
Some search their whole lives to simply figure out what this life is really about. Others prefer to just live in the moment and enjoy that attitude because they believe that's what it ultimately is about. CARPE DIEM - until they realise that seizing the day doesn't bring them closer to whatever truth they're looking for.
Yesterday, it was Guy Fawkes Day. The British commemorate this day with bonfires, a reminder that the King (James I) managed to escape the assassination. This was a plot by Catholics to reinstate a Catholic monarch. As if a Catholic king would have made a difference to the common man...
What does a man want? What does he desire? A few generations ago, people may have answered: work, a family, a home, daily bread and shelter from the cold. These are mostly tangible things. And we tend to place our hopes and dreams in material goods. That is why we call them 'goods'. They are not 'evils'. We believe certain things can truly make us happy.
But getting back to Guy Fawkes. Our greatest illusion today is that we are victims of an evil system ruling the world. It certainly affects many people to the point where paranoida and cynicism just drives them crazy. I had my fair share of that!
In our hearts, we are all Guy Fawkes. We plot to remove the things (or people) that cause injustice in our lives. We burn for the truth, so much so that we are willing to light the fire in our souls until it explodes and those around become collateral damage.
We are not called to accept the corruption, greed and utter imbalance of the scales of justice in the world. Far from it! We are expected to take a stand - in a non-extreme manner. Fighting fire with fire has been done throughout the centuries. As the man protesting on the street, we must come up with a better way to bring about change.
All our shouts, words, stone-throwing and graffitis make no difference in the eyes of powerful leaders. They are in high places that cannot be reached by the everyday person. And if there are people who want to take them on...their way to the top is so long and hard, that by the end, they are just as corrupt and greedy. As we move to the top, we lose a lot of the baggage that makes us who we are and change our clothing more than once.
We are disillusioned by the illusions placed in front of us on a daily basis. We lose touch to what actually matters. Building the world around us. If you cannot conquer the mountain, then take care of the surrounding valley. It is a valley full of shadows and needs our attention.
The revolution in the history of the world that made the most sense, was the one led by Jesus. He did not (directly) take on the powers of the day and attack the "government" for what it is not doing. He knew all along that governments come and go. But His kingdom was supposed to be completely different. It was going to be build by the common man and woman, those honest workers facing hardships 24/7/365.
Yes, we may have righteous anger towards those driving our earth to ruins. Nevertheless, anger can often distract us from what we should actually focus on: shatter the illusions set up around us. How can one live in comfort, while there are millions left hungry and without shelter at the end of a day? Jesus did not dwell in a palace. He was very pragmatic, going out and communicating with the people on the street. And provided that He was (*and is) who He claimed He was (*is), then we have all reason to believe that God himself will take care of the corrupt and greedy hearts of men. Especially those who rule over others.
I feel that is a comforting truth one can hold on to. You see, Jesus is for everybody. You don't have to do anything as a Christian except accepting the truth He offered (and thus would count as the one and only truth) and follow His ways of a revolution. Jesus gave us truth in the unpleasant and gruesome death at the cross. His resurrection was the logical (and surprising) conclusion to that truth.
This truth inspires all men and women who come to know it, to continue a revolution that is very human at its core. The war within us that I mentioned above can only be won when we share our burdens with others. When we wrestle with the truth together and encourage each other in the fight for justice and other honourable goals.
Instead of going out in the streets and wearing those masks used in the movie "V for Vendetta" - a story about revenge - we should be wearing masks of love, kindness and forgiveness towards those who are just as fallible as we are. THAT is the most difficult thing to do, because we desire revenge and think we ourselves are the best possible avengers.
The truth is right outside your doorstep, waiting to come in. It has tremendous power and will change you from the inside out, until you stop searching for the truth, but rather live it! The arrival at this truth, is the departure for a new life.
"Illusion is the first of all pleasures."
This really got me thinking. Is illusion really the first of all pleasures? How can something 'fake' be any pleasure at all?
One of my favourite lines ever written in a play comes from Tennessee Williams's "The Glass Menagerie", where the main character Tom says:
"I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion."
This has always been the way I have regarded theatre - and acting at large: as a means to lead someone towards the truth, in the disguise of illusion. Not the other way around.
Today, however, each individual is involved in a personal war. This is a battle he or she often fights alone, because our world has manufactured the perfect lie, which everyone can afford. It is sold at every corner and just adds to the inner turmoil and struggle to make sense of this world. This lie tells us: what ever makes you feel good, or gives you the highest amount of pleasure, is worth idolising and committing your life (and energy) to. Illusion is ignoring what is really going on and deluding oneself into thinking it is what everybody else does. Heads down, marching on!
Therefore, illusion wants us to think it is the first of all pleasures. In reality, illusion is the instrument of social and moral decay. We are given false promises that a customised world-view eventually leads to the truth and some sort of enlightenment. A pick and choose existence. (Not a Pikachu existence. Although life has become like choosing the right pokémon in order to 'win the game'.)
Some search their whole lives to simply figure out what this life is really about. Others prefer to just live in the moment and enjoy that attitude because they believe that's what it ultimately is about. CARPE DIEM - until they realise that seizing the day doesn't bring them closer to whatever truth they're looking for.
Yesterday, it was Guy Fawkes Day. The British commemorate this day with bonfires, a reminder that the King (James I) managed to escape the assassination. This was a plot by Catholics to reinstate a Catholic monarch. As if a Catholic king would have made a difference to the common man...
What does a man want? What does he desire? A few generations ago, people may have answered: work, a family, a home, daily bread and shelter from the cold. These are mostly tangible things. And we tend to place our hopes and dreams in material goods. That is why we call them 'goods'. They are not 'evils'. We believe certain things can truly make us happy.
But getting back to Guy Fawkes. Our greatest illusion today is that we are victims of an evil system ruling the world. It certainly affects many people to the point where paranoida and cynicism just drives them crazy. I had my fair share of that!
In our hearts, we are all Guy Fawkes. We plot to remove the things (or people) that cause injustice in our lives. We burn for the truth, so much so that we are willing to light the fire in our souls until it explodes and those around become collateral damage.
We are not called to accept the corruption, greed and utter imbalance of the scales of justice in the world. Far from it! We are expected to take a stand - in a non-extreme manner. Fighting fire with fire has been done throughout the centuries. As the man protesting on the street, we must come up with a better way to bring about change.
All our shouts, words, stone-throwing and graffitis make no difference in the eyes of powerful leaders. They are in high places that cannot be reached by the everyday person. And if there are people who want to take them on...their way to the top is so long and hard, that by the end, they are just as corrupt and greedy. As we move to the top, we lose a lot of the baggage that makes us who we are and change our clothing more than once.
We are disillusioned by the illusions placed in front of us on a daily basis. We lose touch to what actually matters. Building the world around us. If you cannot conquer the mountain, then take care of the surrounding valley. It is a valley full of shadows and needs our attention.
The revolution in the history of the world that made the most sense, was the one led by Jesus. He did not (directly) take on the powers of the day and attack the "government" for what it is not doing. He knew all along that governments come and go. But His kingdom was supposed to be completely different. It was going to be build by the common man and woman, those honest workers facing hardships 24/7/365.
Yes, we may have righteous anger towards those driving our earth to ruins. Nevertheless, anger can often distract us from what we should actually focus on: shatter the illusions set up around us. How can one live in comfort, while there are millions left hungry and without shelter at the end of a day? Jesus did not dwell in a palace. He was very pragmatic, going out and communicating with the people on the street. And provided that He was (*and is) who He claimed He was (*is), then we have all reason to believe that God himself will take care of the corrupt and greedy hearts of men. Especially those who rule over others.
I feel that is a comforting truth one can hold on to. You see, Jesus is for everybody. You don't have to do anything as a Christian except accepting the truth He offered (and thus would count as the one and only truth) and follow His ways of a revolution. Jesus gave us truth in the unpleasant and gruesome death at the cross. His resurrection was the logical (and surprising) conclusion to that truth.
This truth inspires all men and women who come to know it, to continue a revolution that is very human at its core. The war within us that I mentioned above can only be won when we share our burdens with others. When we wrestle with the truth together and encourage each other in the fight for justice and other honourable goals.
Instead of going out in the streets and wearing those masks used in the movie "V for Vendetta" - a story about revenge - we should be wearing masks of love, kindness and forgiveness towards those who are just as fallible as we are. THAT is the most difficult thing to do, because we desire revenge and think we ourselves are the best possible avengers.
The truth is right outside your doorstep, waiting to come in. It has tremendous power and will change you from the inside out, until you stop searching for the truth, but rather live it! The arrival at this truth, is the departure for a new life.
