The following untitled, undated fragment has been a source of inspiration
to me and others who struggled with their spiritual emergences. It was
found among Gottfried Leibniz's (1646-1719) writings. He was Sir Isaac
Newton's contemporary. Like Newton he was also a great mathematician. But
unlike Newton he was probably the first system thinker since the Greeks,
his theory of "monads" (wholes) witnessing to it.
The fragment has become known as the Philosopher's Dream. We can also call
it affectionally the System Thinker's Dream. Why?
Peter Senge says that our understanding of the LO depends on five
disciplines. In his book he singles System Thinking out as the fifth
discipline which binds all five together. SYSTEM Thinking and
Philosophising has much in common. Philosophy is the SYSTEMatisation of
knowledge which itself is the result of learning. Let us see what Leibniz
has to say about our efforts to find the Truth.
THE PHILOSOPHER'S DREAM
I was happy to be among humans, but not happy about human nature. I often
thought with sorrow of the evils to which we are subjected, of the short
duration of our life, the vanity of glory, the inconvenien- ces which
sprung from pleasure, the illnesses which crush our very spirit; finally,
the annihilation of all our glories and all our per- fections in the
moment of death, which seems to reduce to nothing the fruit of our
labours. hese meditations made me melancholy. I had a natural love of
doing good and knowing the truth. Yet it looked as though I were taking
pains to no purpose, and as though a fortunate crime were better than an
oppressed virtue, and the folly which satisfies preferable to the reason
which gives pain. But I resisted these objections, and the better part
truimphed in my mind through the consideration of the Divinity, who must
have ordered everything properly, and who kept up my hopes by the
expectation of a future capable of making up for everything.
The struggle in me was renewed at the sight of great disorder, either
among humans, when I beheld injustice triumphant and innocence afflicted,
or in nature, when tempests or earthquakes made havoc of towns and
provinces, and caused the death of thousands without distinction between
the righteous and the wicked, as if nature took no more account of us than
we take of ants and worms we come across on our path. I was greatly moved
by these spectacles, and could not prevent myself from pitying the
conditions of mortal humans.
One day, wearied by these thoughts, I fell asleep, and found myself in a
dark place, which was like a subterranean cave, very large and very deep,
and swarming with humans, who with strange haste pursued in this darkness
wandering fires which they called honours, or tiny shining flies under the
name of riches; many there were who searched the ground to find shining
pieces of rotten wood which were called pleasures. These unlovely lights
had each its followers; there were some who changed their course, and some
who abandoned their pursuit alltogether, through tiredness or dispair.
Many of those who were running blindly about, and who often thought that
they had attained their goal, fell over precipices, whence naught was
heard but their growns; some were stung by scorpions and other venemous
creatures, which made them wretched and often mad with rage. But neither
these examples, nor the arguments of some better informed persons,
prevented the others from running the same risks, or from fighting in
order to forestall others, or to prevent themselves from being
forestalled.
In the vault of of this great cave, there were little chinks and barely
perceptible cracks through which filtered some traces of the light of the
day, but it was so weak that much attention was required for it to be
noticed. Often there were heard voices which said: "Hold mortals;
whither you go, wretched that ye are?" Others cried: "Lift up uour eyes
to heaven"; but they did not stop, and only lifted their eyes to pursue
these dangerous trifles.
I was one of those who was extraordinarily struck by these voices. I kept
on looking up, and at last I saw the little light which required so much
attention. It seemed to me to grow in proportion as I looked fixedly at
it. My eyes became as it were inbued by its rays, and when I used them
immediately afterwards to see where I was and whither I was going, I was
able to discern what was around me, which was enough to save me from the
dangers.
A venerable old man, who had long been wandering in this grotto, and whose
thoughts were not unlike mine, told me that this light was what in our
world is called good sense and reason. I often changed ny position to
examine the different chinks in the vault through which this light came,
and when I was stationed in one place, where several lights could be
perceived at the same time from their point of view, I found an assemblage
of rays which greatly enlightened me. This occupation was of great
benefit to me, and made me capable of acting in this obscurity.
Finally, after having attempted several views, I was led by my good star
to a place which was the sole and most advantageous spot in the grotto
destined for those whom the Divinity wished to withdraw altogether from
these dark regions. Barely had I begun to look up when I was surrounded
by a great light gathered from all sides, and the whole grotto and its
horrors were fully revealed to my eyes.
But a moment afterwards a dazzling brightness took me by surprise.
Presently it took shape, and I saw before me the appearnce of a young man
whose beauty charmed my senses. His mien had a majesty which inspired me
with veneration mingled with awe, but the gentleness of his glances
reassured me. But I began to feel a weakness overcoming me, and was about
to faint, when I felt myself touched by a branch imbued with a marvellous
liquid which I cannot compare with anything I have ever felt, which gave
me the strength necessary to bear the presence of this celestial
messenger.
He called me by name and said in gracious tones: "Give thanks to the
Divine Goodness which withdraws you from this mob." At the same time he
touched me a second time, and that moment I felt myself raised up. I was
no longer in the cave, I no longer saw a vault above me, and I found
myself on a mountain which revealed to me the face of the earth. I saw in
the distance anything which I wished to look at only in a general way; but
when I considered a particular place fixedly, immediately it grew, and in
order to see it as if close at hand, I needed no other telescope tah my
attention.
This gave me wondrous pleasure, and embolded me to say to my guide:
"Celestial spirit, for I cannot doubt but that you are one of the
celestial angels, who pay court from near at hand to the Sovereign of the
Universe, since you have been ready to enlighten my eyes, do as much for
my mind". He seemed to me to smile, and to take pleasure in hearing my
wish.
"Your desires are granted" he said, "since you desire wisdom rather than
the pleasures of the vain spectacles which the world offers to your gaze.
But you will lose nothing of what is solid in these same spectacles. You
will see them with eyes quite differently enlightened. Your
understanding, being fortified from on high, will discover everywhere the
brilliant enlightenments of the Divine Author of things; you will observe
only wisdom and happiness where men custormarily find nothing but vanity
and bitterness. You will be satisfied by your Creator; you will be
enchanted by the sight of His works. Your admiration will not be the
result of ignorance, as is that of the common herd. It will be the fruit
of the knowledge of the glories and wonders of God. Whereas among men
secrets are despised when they are discovered, though they were previously
regarded with astonishment, you will find that when you are admitted into
the heart of nature, the futher you go the greater will be your delights,
because you will be only at the beginning of a chain which goes on to
infinity. The pleasures which charm your senses, and that fabled Circe wo
changes men into beasts, will have no power over you, if you bind yourself
to the beauties of souls which never perish and never cause displeasure.
You will be of our company, and will go on with us from world to world,
from discovery to discovery, from perfection to perfection. You will pay
court with us to the Supreme Substance, which is beyond all worlds and
which fills them without deviding Itself in doing so. You will be at one
and the same time before His throne and among those who are distant from
it. For God will establish His seat in your heart and the heavens follow
Him everywhere. Go then and lift up your mind above whatever is mortal,
and whatever perishes, and bind yourself only to the eternal varieties of
the light of God. You will not always live here below this mortal lofe so
like that of the brutes. A time will come when you will be wholly freed
from the chains of this body. Make good use, therefore, of the time which
Providence grants you here, and know that your perfections to come will be
proportional to the care you take here below to attain them."
Best wishes
--At de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre for Education University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa email: amdelange@gold.up.ac.za
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>