La faille sacrée 677

Zinebloukili9, 2 mon.

- Philosophy -

3.7 min read.

Si je suis ici, vivante et tangible sur cette Terre, c’est bien parce que je suis une créature, un être humain. C’est ainsi que j’ai été façonnée, avec toute la complexité, la fragilité et la grandeur que cela implique. Comprendre ce qu’est l’être humain c’est en réalité tenter de me comprendre moi-même au plus profond. Car en chacun de nous résonne cette même nature humaine, un mélange de chair, d’âme et de conscience. Selon les traditions religieuses, Dieu aurait créé l’homme à son image lui insufflant une essence divine. Dans le Coran, la sourate Sâd (38), versets 71-72, relate : « Je vais créer d’argile un être humain. Quand Je l’aurai bien formé et lui aurai insufflé de mon esprit, jetez-vous devant lui prosternés. » La Bible, dans le livre de la Genèse (1:26-27), évoque aussi cette création : « Faisons l'homme à notre image, selon notre ressemblance, et qu'il domine sur les poissons de la mer, sur les oiseaux du ciel, sur le bétail, sur toute la terre, et sur tous les reptiles qui rampent sur la terre. » Et pourtant, paradoxalement, cette créature porteuse de lumière est aussi capable d’ombres terribles. Sans détailler les horreurs que l’homme peut commettre, nous savons qu’il est capable du pire. Comment un être doté de conscience, d’un souffle divin même peut-il devenir l’ombre de ce qu’il est ? Je me tourne alors vers un verset qui me passionne. Tiré du Coran, sourate Al-Baqara (30). Avant même de créer Adam, Dieu annonce son projet aux anges, qui s’étonnent : « Vas-Tu mettre sur terre celui qui sèmera le désordre et répandra le sang alors que nous, nous te sanctifions et te glorifions ». Les anges, créatures de lumière et d’obéissance, ne saisissent pas cette contradiction. Et pourtant, Dieu créa l’homme. Pourquoi Dieu choisit-Il de créer un être à la fois si parfait dans son origine et si imparfait dans ses actes ? Est-ce un acte de confiance divine en sa capacité à évoluer, à apprendre, à réparer ? Ce paradoxe, certains y voient une faille. Si Dieu est parfait, pourquoi le mal existe-t-il ? Le philosophe Épicure, déjà au IIIe siècle av. J.-C., posait la question : « Dieu veut-il empêcher le mal, mais ne le peut pas ? Alors il est impuissant. Dieu le peut-il, mais ne le veut pas ? Alors il est méchant. Dieu le peut-il et le veut-il ? Alors d’où vient le mal ? » Mais des voix spirituelles comme celle de Rûmî nous offrent une autre lecture. Pour lui, Dieu est un artiste. Le mal tout comme le bien participe à son œuvre. « Le mal aussi vient de lui… Ce don du mal est en soi une preuve de sa perfection… Les peintures laides comme les belles témoignent de sa maîtrise. » Rûmî affirme que dans la création, il n’y a ni mal ni bien absolu. Tout participe à la révélation divine. Dieu seul en tant qu’unité transcende les opposés. Il est la coïncidence des contraires. « Les opposés qui semblent en lutte sont en réalité unis et agissent en harmonie. »(Mathnawi) Un autre maître spirituel, Frithjof Schuon, explique que même le mal manifeste l’infinitude du possible. Il appelle cela « la possibilité de l’impossible ». Dans cette vision, Dieu n’est pas absent du mal mais il l’encadre. Il en fait un révélateur, un contraste qui fait ressortir la lumière. Une parole mystique dit : « J’étais un trésor caché, et j’ai désiré être connu. J’ai donc créé la création afin d’être connu. » Cela signifie que Dieu, invisible et mystérieux a voulu se révéler. L’univers, les êtres, la vie ne sont pas là pour lui, mais pour que nous puissions le découvrir, le reconnaître. À travers tout ce qui existe, Dieu se donne à voir, non pour sa propre gloire, mais pour que nous puissions grandir en connaissance de lui. Chaque être, conscient ou non est une manifestation de Dieu. « Tous les hommes, jour et nuit, manifestent Dieu, certains en sont conscients d’autres non. » (Fîhi mâ fîhi) Et pourtant, nombreux sont ceux qui diront le mal vient de Satan. Le Coran décrit cet instant-clé. Dieu crée Adam d’argile, ordonne aux anges de se prosterner. Tous obéissent, sauf Iblis. Il refuse, méprise cette création : « Je suis meilleur que lui, tu m’as créé de feu, et tu l’as créé d’argile. » (Sourate Sâd) Ce refus n’est pas qu’un acte de désobéissance. C’est un rejet de la nature humaine. Un déni de sa valeur. Satan devenu l’adversaire et se jure de prouver que l’homme ne mérite pas cet honneur. Il le tente, le détourne espérant le faire chuter. Mais peut-être faut-il aller plus loin. Et si l’adversaire n’était pas toujours extérieur ? Ibn Arabi l’exprimait ainsi : « Celui qui se connaît lui-même connaît son Seigneur. » L’homme est un miroir du divin, voilé par son ego, son nafs, cette part basse de l’âme qui l’éloigne de sa propre lumière. Rûmî, encore lui, disait que le vrai combat se joue à l’intérieur. Iblis, aveuglé par l’orgueil, n’a vu que l’argile. Il a méprisé le souffle divin. Il n’a pas cru en cette lumière capable de transcender l’instinct. Et peut-être que le véritable piège, c’est ça : accuser Satan… alors que bien souvent, c’est notre propre cœur qui nous égare. Il y a en nous une force capable d’un amour immense, mais aussi d’un déni glacial. Une lumière mais aussi une ombre. Il faut parfois craindre sa propre âme plus que n’importe quel démon. Et si je me pose toutes ces questions, sans toujours trouver de réponse, c’est parce qu’au fil de ma vie bien que courte, j’ai vu des choses. J’ai croisé une humanité lumineuse, rayonnante, aimante, mais aussi sa face sombre, violence, cruauté, indifférence. Parfois, j’ai vu les deux dans un même regard, un même geste. Je ne prétends pas toujours comprendre, ni avoir toutes les réponses. Parfois c’est dans l’acceptation du mystère que naît la paix. Mais je me demande, qu’est-ce qu’être humain au fond ? Peut-être que c’est justement cette tension entre lumière et obscurité. Cette imperfection, ce déséquilibre constant et ces forces contraires qui cohabitent en nous. Ce paradoxe vivant. Le combat du bien contre le mal, n’est-ce pas avant tout un combat intérieur ? Un théâtre invisible où se rejouent sans cesse les mêmes choix ? L’homme est à la fois son propre ennemi et sa propre raison d’espérer. C’est dans cette lutte intime cette confrontation avec soi-même, que réside peut-être la vraie nature humaine. Alors, je m’adresse à l’univers À cette force mystérieuse qui a tout façonné Je lui murmure combien l’être humain m’apparaît à la fois parfait et imparfait un paradoxe vibrant, une faille sacrée Je lui confie mon émerveillement ma confusion Et peu à peu je comprends un peu mieux ce que veut dire ce souffle divin qui anime toute chose.

Zinebloukili9

Des mots, des émotions, du partage. J’écris pour le plaisir, tout simplement.

400

THE ENCHIRIDION - I 2267

Bluwr X Commons: Epictetus, 2 y.

1.1 min read.

There are things which are within our power, and there are things which are beyond our power. Within our power are opinion, aim, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever affairs are our own. Beyond our power are body, property, reputation, office, and, in one word, whatever are not properly our own affairs. Now the things within our power are by nature free, unrestricted, unhindered; but those beyond our power are weak, dependent, restricted, alien. Remember, then, that if you attribute freedom to things by nature dependent and take what belongs to others for your own, you will be hindered, you will lament, you will be disturbed, you will find fault both with gods and men. But if you take for your own only that which is your own and view what belongs to others just as it really is, then no one will ever compel you, no one will restrict you; you will find fault with no one, you will accuse no one, you will do nothing against your will; no one will hurt you, you will not have an enemy, nor will you suffer any harm. Aiming, therefore, at such great things, remember that you must not allow yourself any inclination, however slight, toward the attainment of the others; but that you must entirely quit some of them, and for the present postpone the rest. But if you would have these, and possess power and wealth likewise, you may miss the latter in seeking the former; and you will certainly fail of that by which alone happiness and freedom are procured. Seek at once, therefore, to be able to say to every unpleasing semblance, “You are but a semblance and by no means the real thing.” And then examine it by those rules which you have; and first and chiefly by this: whether it concerns the things which are within our own power or those which are not; and if it concerns anything beyond our power, be prepared to say that it is nothing to you.

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER - PREFACE 2368

Bluwr X Commons: Mark Twain, 2 y.

- Short Stories -

0.6 min read.

Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual—he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture. The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children and slaves in the West at the period of this story—that is to say, thirty or forty years ago. Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in. THE AUTHOR. HARTFORD, 1876.

THE MEDITATIONS - Book I.[1/3] 2432

Bluwr X Commons: Marcus Aurelius, 2 y.

3.7 min read.

1. I learned from my grandfather, Verus, to use good manners, and to put restraint on anger. 2. In the famous memory of my father I had a pattern of modesty and manliness. 3. Of my mother I learned to be pious and generous; to keep myself not only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and to live with a simplicity which is far from customary among the rich. 4. I owe it to my great-grandfather that I did not attend public lectures and discussions, but had good and able teachers at home; and I owe him also the knowledge that for things of this nature a man should count no expense too great. 5. My tutor taught me not to favour either green or blue at the chariot races, nor, in the contests of gladiators, to be a supporter either of light or heavy armed. He taught me also to endure labour; not to need many things; to serve myself without troubling others; not to intermeddle in the affairs of others, and not easily to listen to slanders against them. 6. Of Diognetus I had the lesson not to busy myself about vain things; not to credit the great professions of such as pretend to work wonders, or of sorcerers about their charms, and their expelling of Demons and the like; not to keep quails (for fighting or divination), nor to run after such things; to suffer freedom of speech in others, and to apply myself heartily to philosophy. Him also I must thank for my hearing first Bacchius, then Tandasis and Marcianus; that I wrote dialogues in my youth, and took a liking to the philosopher’s pallet and skins, and to the other things which, by the Grecian discipline, belong to that profession. 7. To Rusticus I owe my first apprehensions that my nature needed reform and cure; and that I did not fall into the ambition of the common Sophists, either by composing speculative writings or by declaiming harangues of exhortation in public; further, that I never strove to be admired by ostentation of great patience in an ascetic life, or by display of activity and application; that I gave over the study of rhetoric, poetry, and the graces of language; and that I did not pace my house in my senatorial robes, or practise any similar affectation. I observed also the simplicity of style in his letters, particularly in that which he wrote to my mother from Sinuessa. I learned from him to be easily appeased, and to be readily reconciled with those who had displeased me or given cause of offence, so soon as they inclined to make their peace; to read with care; not to rest satisfied with a slight and superficial knowledge; nor quickly to assent to great talkers. I have him to thank that I met with the discourses of Epictetus, which he furnished me from his own library. 8. From Apollonius I learned true liberty, and tenacity of purpose; to regard nothing else, even in the smallest degree, but reason always; and always to remain unaltered in the agonies of pain, in the losses of children, or in long diseases. He afforded me a living example of how the same man can, upon occasion, be most yielding and most inflexible. He was patient in exposition; and, as might well be seen, esteemed his fine skill and ability in teaching others the principles of philosophy as the least of his endowments. It was from him that I learned how to receive from friends what are thought favours without seeming humbled by the giver or insensible to the gift. 9. Sextus was my pattern of a benign temper, and his family the model of a household governed by true paternal affection, and a steadfast purpose of living according to nature. Here I could learn to be grave without affectation, to observe sagaciously the several dispositions and inclinations of my friends, to tolerate the ignorant and those who follow current opinions without examination. His conversation showed how a man may accommodate himself to all men and to all companies; for though companionship with him was sweeter and more pleasing than any sort of flattery, yet he was at the same time highly respected and reverenced. No man was ever more happy than he in comprehending, finding out, and arranging in exact order the great maxims necessary for the conduct of life. His example taught me to suppress even the least appearance of anger or any other passion; but still, with all this perfect tranquillity, to possess the tenderest and most affectionate heart; to be apt to approve others yet without noise; to have much learning and little ostentation. 10. I learned from Alexander the Grammarian to avoid censuring others, to refrain from flouting them for a barbarism, solecism, or any false pronunciation. Rather was I dexterously to pronounce the words rightly in my answer, confining approval or objection to the matter itself, and avoiding discussion of the expression, or to use some other form of courteous suggestion. 11. Fronto made me sensible how much of envy, deceit and hypocrisy surrounds princes; and that generally those whom we account nobly born have somehow less natural affection. 12. I learned from Alexander the Platonist not often nor without great necessity to say, or write to any man in a letter, that I am not at leisure; nor thus, under pretext of urgent affairs, to make a practice of excusing myself from the duties which, according to our various ties, we owe to those with whom we live. 13. Of Catulus I learned not to condemn any friend’s expostulation even though it were unjust, but to try to recall him to his former disposition; to stint no praise in speaking of my masters, as is recounted of Domitius and Athenodorus; and to love my children with true affection. 14. Of Severus, my brother, I learned to love my kinsmen, to love truth, to love justice. Through him I came to know Thrasea, Helvidius, Cato, Dion, and Brutus. He gave me my first conception of a Commonwealth founded upon equitable laws and administered with equality of right; and of a Monarchy whose chief concern is the freedom of its subjects. Of him I learned likewise a constant and harmonious devotion to Philosophy; to be ready to do good, to be generous with all my heart. He taught me to be of good hope and trustful of the affection of my friends. I observed in him candour in declaring what he condemned in the conduct of others; and so frank and open was his behaviour, that his friends might easily see without the trouble of conjecture what he liked or disliked.