The Classic Tribute to Hope from the Holocaust
Whenever we (my friends and I) discuss philosophy or in general touch upon the topic of purpose of life, the point where we usually end up is with the statements like
- Man should strive to be happy, content and peaceful in his life - by the way, who wants to be in constant worry!
- Man is the product of his surroundings and circumstances. If his circumstances are good he will be good. If not, he will end up as a bad one.
Be it be the Bhagavat Gita which tells us to
perform Karma without being attached to its results, or Sankara’s
Adwaita, which proclaims the World as unreal – it is on the sole pole
of being happy and peaceful to which we used to tie all our
shallow knowledge of philosophies.
But then, relatively, life has been kind to us. Just because we are spared by life so far doesn't mean life will be always kind to us. In one way or other at some point in time there is suffering to be endured by all (spare any lucky souls).
This is probably the key point which we overlooked in all our conclusions. We never looked at the philosophical question raised from the point of view of a chronic sufferer – be it be someone who is terminally ill or someone who went through a terrible tragedy in his/her life or someone who is in constant physical pain or a complex mental trauma. If we put ourselves in their shoes, we will easily fail the test of life as per our conclusions. How can be a chronic sufferer be happy or peaceful. Our philosophy gets a good thrashing here.
It is at this juncture Viktor E. Frankl has brought us a possible answer to our dilemma. In his book “Man’s Search For Meaning”, he comes up with a school of thought which could easily be powerful enough to change our perception of life - Logotherapy.
But then, relatively, life has been kind to us. Just because we are spared by life so far doesn't mean life will be always kind to us. In one way or other at some point in time there is suffering to be endured by all (spare any lucky souls).
This is probably the key point which we overlooked in all our conclusions. We never looked at the philosophical question raised from the point of view of a chronic sufferer – be it be someone who is terminally ill or someone who went through a terrible tragedy in his/her life or someone who is in constant physical pain or a complex mental trauma. If we put ourselves in their shoes, we will easily fail the test of life as per our conclusions. How can be a chronic sufferer be happy or peaceful. Our philosophy gets a good thrashing here.
It is at this juncture Viktor E. Frankl has brought us a possible answer to our dilemma. In his book “Man’s Search For Meaning”, he comes up with a school of thought which could easily be powerful enough to change our perception of life - Logotherapy.
He states –
“Logotherapy, or, as it has been called by some authors, ‘The Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy’, focuses on the meaning of human existence as well as on man’s search for such a meaning. According to logotherapy, this striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man.”
In other words what Frankl states is - Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning. The great task for any person is to find meaning in his or her life. This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can be fulfilled by him alone.
What a sublime way of looking at life. But then, we could still have reservations to accept this wholeheartedly if this is evolved by means of academic or philosophical research. However, it is not. This is substantiated by Frankl by enduring the abysmal depths of human suffering in terms of physical and mental pain at the Nazi concentration camps. If he is convinced even after this ordeal, then what stops us to be not?
“Anything can happen to us, anything can be taken from us, except one thing, our freedom to choose how we respond to the situation.”
A point which we overlooked sadly for all these years of life, but which could be the guide in our treacherous journey ahead. Frank presents this book as partly autobiographical as well as partly therapeutic. However, I felt this book is much beyond that – it is more like a deep religious philosophy without any religion in it – one which could transcend our souls to the realm of sublime human possibilities.
“Logotherapy, or, as it has been called by some authors, ‘The Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy’, focuses on the meaning of human existence as well as on man’s search for such a meaning. According to logotherapy, this striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man.”
In other words what Frankl states is - Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning. The great task for any person is to find meaning in his or her life. This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can be fulfilled by him alone.
What a sublime way of looking at life. But then, we could still have reservations to accept this wholeheartedly if this is evolved by means of academic or philosophical research. However, it is not. This is substantiated by Frankl by enduring the abysmal depths of human suffering in terms of physical and mental pain at the Nazi concentration camps. If he is convinced even after this ordeal, then what stops us to be not?
“Anything can happen to us, anything can be taken from us, except one thing, our freedom to choose how we respond to the situation.”
A point which we overlooked sadly for all these years of life, but which could be the guide in our treacherous journey ahead. Frank presents this book as partly autobiographical as well as partly therapeutic. However, I felt this book is much beyond that – it is more like a deep religious philosophy without any religion in it – one which could transcend our souls to the realm of sublime human possibilities.
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