Human Mind is a
Tool for Observing Life,
And One Must
Take Good Care Of It Every Day
Carlos Cardoso
Aveline
According to French Eclectic philosopher Victor Cousin (1792-1867), one
needs to know oneself before attempting to know the world.
In fact, these two levels of search for
knowledge are intimately associated and influence each other all the time.
Cousin is basically right: an efficient self-observation is essential to the
right perception of the world around us.
Commenting on the platonic
dialogue Alcibiades I, Cousin wrote
about the need for self-construction and self-preparation, if we wish to attain
real knowledge. He said:
“To ignore oneself is to
ignore the only instrument one can use; it is the same as ignoring the measure
of one’s forces. It means condemning oneself to employ one’s forces in a blind
way and to get exposed to total misguidance. The knowledge of ourselves is,
therefore, the basis of any stable knowledge. This is not all: we also cannot have an idea of the First
Cause or the Infinite Substance, if we do not have a clear idea of what a cause
and a substance are; and this idea is something that nobody can give us - except
ourselves.”
Cousin added:
“Thus, when we observe
things in depth or examine the preliminary question of every wise philosophy,
that of the method, we must recognize that the study of human nature is the
necessary preparation to any legitimate knowledge, and that Psychology provides
the basis to Ontology and even to Theology.” [1]
This is also the
theosophical approach to the problem. Helena Blavatsky’s esoteric philosophy
says that the key to the knowledge of Cosmos is in the direct relationship
existing between each individual and the universe. Man is a summary of the
solar system. Human being is himself the telescope or microscope
through which he can look at the world and understand it.
The task before the student
of philosophy inevitably includes, therefore, the need to observe and
understand the workings of his main instrument in the search for truth; his own
lower self. One must focus the lenses of this telescope. It is one’s duty to
keep these lenses free from dust and uncleanness, so that they can reflect the
truth.
Eclectic Theosophy and Eastern Thought
The theosophical value of
Victor Cousin’s life and work is undeniable.
Fiercely attacked by the
Jesuits and other sectors of the Catholic Church, Cousin had a universal view
of life. He accepted and discussed
different philosophical systems. He believed in free thought. He taught that
there is a transcendent and eternal wisdom and one must seek for it in an
independent way while keeping free from any religious organizations.
In the context of Western
philosophy, Cousin helped prepare the gradual discovery of something which even
today many a historian of philosophy seems to ignore: the fact that Eastern
countries possess philosophies of great depth, which are much older than the
classical Western philosophy.
The Eclectic School of
Cousin was one of the first in modern Europe to acknowledge the value of
Buddhist and Vedanta philosophies.
Referring to ancient
Greece, Cousin wrote:
“The language, the writing,
the alphabet, the industrial procedures, mechanical arts, the first forms of
government, the initial character of Art and the primitive cults, all of this
is Eastern; it is on this foreign foundation that the Greek spirit evolved;
this was the starting point for it to attain to this original and remarkable
form which we call the Greek way par excellence. The same occurred in
philosophy.” Cousin adds that in Greece, as in the East, philosophy was
intimately related to religion. [2]
Evidences of the Eastern
origin of Western philosophy are many. The cultural dialogue between India and
Greece has been studied and documented from various angles. French philosopher
Émile Bréhier followed Cousin in discussing the topic during the first half of
twentieth century [3]. There are countless points in common
between Western philosophy and Eastern Raja Yoga and Jnana Yoga. Pythagoras
learned Eastern Wisdom, as Helena Blavatsky demonstrated [4], and Plato studied the philosophies of the East through
Pythagorean writings and Egyptian mysteries.
NOTES:
[1] “Fragments de Philosophie
Ancienne”, Victor Cousin, Didier Libraire-Éditeur, Paris, nouvelle édition,
1855, 463 pp., see pp. 201-202.
[2] From “Introduction à L’Histoire de la Philosophie”, Victor Cousin, Didier Libraires-Éditeurs, Paris, 1861, 345
pp., see pp. 32-33.
[3] See “Histoire de la Philosophie”, by Émile Bréhier, Presses
Universitaires de France, Tome Premier, Fascicule I, Période Hellénique, 1948,
264 pp., Introduction, pp. 5-11. An
important article on the topic is “The Cultural Symphony of India and Greece”,
by Lokesh Chandra, at “The Adyar Library Bulletin”, Vol. 50, 674 pp., 1986, pp.
1-20. See also the volume “The Platonic Quest”, by E. J. Urwick, Concord Grove
Press, 1983, 262 pp.
[4] See the article “Eastern
Sources of Pythagoras”, by Helena P. Blavatsky. The text presents a compilation
of fragments and is available at our associated websites.
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On Victor Cousin and his philosophy, see also the article “The Need for Infinity”, by Carlos
Cardoso Aveline.
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On the role of the esoteric movement in
the ethical awakening of mankind during the 21st century, see the book “The Fire and Light of Theosophical
Literature”, by Carlos Cardoso Aveline.
Published in
2013 by The Aquarian Theosophist,
the volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.
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