The Unexamined Life

I watched a documentary recently about a high security prison in the United States. To a man, every prisoner here were there for violent crime and ongoing violent behaviour. In order to control that violence it was decided by the ‘powers that be’ that volunteers for a new meditation program might be a good idea.

As it progressed, it proved to be a course so different and ultimately tough that one inmate thought his seven years on death row was a walk in the park in comparison. The meaning  of the course was self-reflection and the search for the truth therein. Looking at yourself with warts and all without trying, for once, not to blame others was the centre of it all. That in the end explained to them why they were so angry. It was a unique self- examination and by extension it would be for anyone else should they opt to try it.

Hard men did not become meek through this medium of self reflection but did come to the reality of taking responsibility for their actions and why they had continued negative behaviour whether it was an ill wind that came their way or good fortune; the habit was hard to break. “The unexamined life is not worth living” was how Socrates saw it and blaming others for whatever reason only delays the examination.

Taking responsibility for one’s own action and the thoughts that drives them can be quite a challenge to anybody, and many people project and exert anger and dominance to avoid just that, which can have terrible and sometimes fatal consequences for others that includes themselves.

Being alone, completely alone, for many hours or even days, whether in meditative form or in an empty room and without the distraction of beautiful views, can prove more unnerving than a hostile room full of those who mean you no good. Bad company before, it seemed, was better than no company at all as someone reasoned to escape meeting ‘themselves’ such was the fear of knowing who they were and the influences that had once binded them to that self. Altering the behaviour was facing it and the past that led to it, except this time the burden had to be carried alone and not on some real or imagined backbone of another whether it existed or not. 

Truth with oneself and in the interaction with others is the only path to true freedom whether you are locked in a cage or flying free with wings.

By Barry Clifford