WORLD AS SANCTUARY

This is a collection of essays by some of those who have been inspired by Henryk Skolimowski's philosophy ending with a postscript by Henryk himself. In the perspective of the 20th century Henryk Skolimowski was an obscure maverick philosopher, in the 21st century he may become one of the prophets of our time. In total world history he may become one of the great spirits who have inspired the upward evolution of mankind. Skolimowski's philosophy starts with the diagnosis of a deep wound in Western culture. Philosophy since the 18th century has combined with the rise of science to produce a dominant empiricism which has separated facts from values. The nature of the outside world gives us no clue as to the meaning of our lives, or the way in which we should live them. It also produces the total split between mind and matter. This has produced the many ills of our time, social alienation, environmental degradation and cultural anomie. In total contrast his eco-philosophy recognises that our minds and our bodies are part of nature, and we should play our role in it with reverence and joy. We are not something separate from the rest of nature. We should not dominate or destroy as we will. We must act with reverence and respect as a part of nature. Above all we must act responsibly as self-aware agents in the upswing of the evolution of life on this planet. This positive moral vision is something beyond the fashionable pragmatic 'greenery' of politicians who perceive the economic and political dangers of possible climate change. It is the proclaimation of a positive and optimistic identification with the planetary life force. Such a philosophy has disturbing unconventional consequences. The first is that the whole rational analytic process of modern Western thought including the triumph of modern science is, all of it, on the wrong track. It separates man from Reality instead of inviting him to participate in it. The second consequence is that it demands that the philosopher himself should seek not merely understanding but wisdom, and wisdom implies knowing oneself and seeking further enlightenment for one's own mind. The whole fashion of 20th century Anglo-Saxon philosophy for positivism and linguistic analysis is thus dismissed into irrelevance by this requirement Two questions immediatetely arise from Skolimowski's philosophy. The first is how is it possible for him to be so optimistic? The second is exactly what role does science play in his total vision? In his youth he lived through the horrors of Poland in the 1940's – devastation, death and oppression. He embraces the life force, but nature is red in tooth, claw and parasitical torture. How can he be so joyful ? The answer is that he is a mystic. The term is not used lightly. For him the veil has been rent, and he has sensed the transpersonal light beyond skull bound everyday experience. He knows that everything shall be well, and all manner of things are well. There remains the problem of science. In his vision of the Light Henryk Skolimowski wants a new cosmology in which science, the meaning and purpose of life, and the upswing of spiritual evolution all are one. In this perspective modern science appears inadequate and limited. Our knowledge of cosmology and the atom may be as limited as he says, but it is aware of its own limitations and is part of an open self-correcting system. However imperfect, it is still knowledge with tremendous power for good and evil. It is surely not without some significance that medical science has nearly doubled the life expectancy of mankind during the last century. Does his vision merely dismiss science, or does it transcend it ? The vision of a great spiritual teacher cannot be subject to rational analysis, but teachers have disciples, and disciples have followers, and followers create sects. The history of religion shows how much sects need the process of open self critical analysis which is the bench mark of the scientific attitude. Henryk Skolimowski gives us an inspiring vision of the future, and leaves us with the problem of how we get there from our present. This book should encourage those who have not read his works to delve further and acquire greater inspiration.