The Antecedent of Life's Pronoun

Seddiq Qotbi:

“The simple sentences of breeze and water and stream are the intransitive verb of the plant’s breathing, the solid noun of star, stone, the derivation of leaf from tree, and what questions arise from this; in the lap of the sage of the age and the school of his truths we have more or less heard and read familiar points. But no one ever told us where is the antecedent of life’s pronoun?” (Shafi’i Kadkani)

Perhaps there is no need at all to become aware of the antecedent of life's pronoun. Our task, as Sohrab said, is not to discern the secret of life, but to float in the enchantment of life: "Our task is perhaps this / that we float in the enchantment of the red rose." The desire to find a way to the secret of life will not only fail to find a suitable answer, but will also rob us of the sweetness and glory of floating and enchantment. A Spanish poet (Joaquín María Bartrina) tells of a simple man who had a piece of diamond, bright and brilliant—as pure and clear as the tears of stars. But the simple man took a fancy to analyze it and know its essence and nature. He went and learned chemistry, and the result of his work was that at the end of the experiment, he found the brilliant, precious diamond to be a piece of coal—pure coal: for is not diamond anything other than pure carbon?... When the Spanish poet recounted this story, he said: If you wish to be happy, do not analyze, my son, do not analyze.(1) Hafez of Shiraz advises us to seek the "secret of the age" less and to speak of the beauties and attractions of life: Speak of the minstrel and wine, and seek less the secret of the age, For no one has ever solved, nor will ever solve, this riddle with wisdom. It seems that when someone asks about the meaning of life, they have lost their connection with life. The very moment that the essence of life and living loses its attraction and allure for the individual, no simple or complex answer will ever be able to connect them to life again. Wittgenstein said: "We find the solution to the problem of life in the disappearance of this problem. The solution to the problem you see in life is a way of living that makes the problematic matter disappear. That life is problematic means that your life does not fit the form of life. You must change your life, and if your life comes to fit the form of life, the problematic matter will disappear."(2) Meaninglessness needs to be treated, not answered. Treated in the sense that such transformations and metamorphoses occur in the individual's mind and consciousness that even if they find life entirely empty and devoid of meaning, they still remain committed and faithful to it. The treatment for meaninglessness is commitment to life. Forough Farrokhzad said: "The lineage of the blood of flowers has committed me to living." It seems that when we have a healthy spirit, many moorings can commit us to life and keep us afloat within it. The only remedy for the predicament of meaninglessness is floating in the pond of life and mingling with its essence. A connection with the process of life, regardless of destination, purpose, and the secret hidden within it. Taking pleasure in the path, stepping forth, and becoming intoxicated by the vistas that occasionally fill your eyes during this journey and voyage. A way of living in which a person, with astonished eyes, finds themselves at the banquet of life, seeking beauty, pleasure, goodness, truth, and flourishing. Like a fish floating in water, the very act of floating soothes its mind, and like a perishable and mortal flower, intoxicated by the taste of the breeze, it blossoms and thrives, and indifferent to the question of the "antecedent of life's pronoun," says yes to life. Meister Eckhart, in expressing this very meaning, has said: "This I know, that the only right way to live is the way of the flower which lives without why. You might ask life for a thousand years: 'Why are you alive?' and still the only answer you will receive is: 'I live so that I may have lived.' Why does this happen? Because life arises from its own foundation and is grounded in itself. Therefore, life lives without reason— life lives for the sake of life."(3) Irvin Yalom, in expressing the indirect pursuit of meaning through connection with life, says: The more an individual seeks happiness, the more happiness flees from them. This view led Frankl to say: "Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue." Alan Watts says: "The very moment you are searching for it, you lose it." So pleasure is not the final goal but rather the consequence of the individual's search for meaning. ... The more we pursue pleasure, the more it flees from us. Frankl says pleasure is a product of meaning, and the individual's search must be directed toward meaning. I believe the search for meaning is equally paradoxical: the more we search for it with logic and reasoning, the less we find it; the questions an individual poses before meaning always outlive the answers.

Meaning, like pleasure, must be sought indirectly. The feeling of meaningfulness is a product of commitment. Commitment does not logically refute the fatal questions that arise from a galactic perspective, but it renders them of little consequence. This is the meaning of Wittgenstein's statement: "The solution to the problem of life is seen in the vanishing of the problem." One must grapple directly with death, freedom, and isolation. But when it comes to meaninglessness, the therapist must help patients distance themselves from the question: instead of wallowing in the predicament of meaninglessness, they should choose the solution of commitment. The question of the meaning of life, as the Buddha advised, does not bring perfection. One must immerse oneself in the river of life and let the question go its own way."(4) .

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. 1- Poetry Without Lies, Poetry Without Mask, Dr. Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub, Elmi Publications, Eighth Edition, 2000 2- Wittgenstein and Wisdom, Malek Hosseini, Hermes, Second Edition, 2010 3- Breakthrough: Meister Eckhart's Creation Spirituality in New Translation, Matthew Aaron Fox (ed.), translated by Masiha Barzegar, Zehn-Aviz Publications 4- Existential Psychotherapy, Dr. Irvin D. Yalom, translated by Dr. Sepideh Habib, Ney Publications, First Edition, 2011

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The Antecedent of Life's Pronoun

Author: Seddiq Qotbi

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