Gabriel Marcel: Session 1

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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James Finley (0:10)

Greetings, I'm Jim Finley. Welcome to Turning to the Mystics.

Greetings, everyone, and welcome to our time together, turning for trustworthy guidance to the teachings of Gabriel Marcel. In this session, I'm going to be reviewing and refining some of the main points that Kirsten and I went over together in the introductory session, and expanding on it. The thought of Gabriel Marcel, I think it's very helpful to understand what makes him so accessible. What makes him so accessible is that he's inviting us to become more aware of the quality of our awareness. It's very important. And this is very similar to psychotherapy in a way. You know, when you're in psychotherapy, you present your whatever, depression, anxiety, whatever it is, the therapist listens. But what they try to do, they form an alliance with you in which they point out there are certain aspects of your awareness, certain assumptions that you're making, that are actually contributing to the symptoms you're experiencing. And they also suggest a more spacious, gracious, reality-based way to understand this situation, which enhances self-knowledge. And this is what Marcel is doing. Marcel is always staying in the intimacy of our mind. And our awareness says we listen to him, he's offering guidance insofar as we listen, the observations he's making, they ring true.

They ring true about direct observations of this. So I'm going to begin with Kenneth Gallagher's book, The Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel. And I'm going to begin with the first chapter of his book, The Winding Path. He says this about Marcel's thought.

He says his whole thought invites a certain attitude. And he said the attitude is at the same time when learning to listen, really listen to reality, listen to yourself, to listen. And then he says, and the manner of listening is strangely tranquil, unafraid, patient, and expectant.

He also says in this first chapter, he said a certain attitude must be brought to the portals of thought, its humility.

And we're kind of established in a humility. And also it brings us to a kind of deepening clarity. And so we're following him, sharing a series of insights and observations. So he's mentoring us and guiding us in this vision, this way that he sees the vision aspect, like what the world looks like to awakened eyes. And he's sharing his awakened eyes. So as we listen, we're being awakened. And then this will lead to the remaining talks, which is the path. What is the way of life? Were it become habitually established in this awakened state? So right now we're in the vision aspect of being aware of the quality of our awareness. I'm now moving to chapter three of Gallagher's book, Problem and Mystery. This is a nice practical place to start. First, a problem. A problem is an inquiry which is set on foot in respect to an object which the self apprehends in an exterior way. So the thing about the problematic is that it's exterior to us or dualistically other than us. And so examples again that I, Kirsten and I went through, for example, if your car won't start, that's a problem. Some insect is destroying your vegetable garden or your flower garden, that's a problem. If your roof is leaking, that's a problem. And so these are problems. So he said the thing about a problem is that it is a problem. And what you search for is a method to solve the problem. And sometimes we go to someone who's trained in that method. So if your car won't start, you go to a mechanic, power garden, you go to the flower store, tell them, show them a leaf and they'll tell you what to use. There's another kind of problem, too. It's closer, but it's still a problem. Let's say you have a pain in your stomach. So it's your pain, but it's a problem. Because it's a symptom. Like it's not me, I know who I am, but I have this problem. And so you go to someone who's trained with such things, you go to a physician. Likewise, if you're having psychological symptoms, depression with suicidal ideation or anxiety with panic attacks or whatever, you go to a mental health professional if needed. So that's the realm of the problematic. And then once you get your answer, or once you solve it, you move on, you're done until you face the next problem. And so life has this problematic aspect to it. Then Gallagher said, For Marcel, a mystery on the other hand, is a question in which what is given cannot be regarded as detached from the self. There are data which in their very nature cannot be set over against myself for the reason that as data they involve myself. And examples he then gives is this, examples we could give. If we ask, what does it mean to be human? It's I as a human being that's asking what it means to be human. In a way it's kind of the answer asking the question. If I ask, what is consciousness? It's I in my consciousness asking what consciousness is. So consciousness is not a problem, it's a mystery. Being human is not a problem, it's a mystery. What is love? It's me who experiences love, seeks love, that's asking what is love. So love is not a problem. I mean, love can be a problem. There's problems with love. But in essence, it's always a mystery. Even the problems of love are mysteries, really, because you can't separate them from yourself. What is death? It's me as being unto death asking what is death. So death is not a problem. See, death is a mystery. And so the mystery then are mysteries because we can't objectively set them over dualistically other than ourself because the mysteries are aspects of ourselves, are mysteries. But here's the thing about Marcel, and this is key to his thought, his key and one of his big insights. He doesn't mean this in a reductionistic sense, where everything is reduced back to my opinion, my emotions, it doesn't mean that at all, it means the opposite. When I ask, what does it mean to be human? It means that my cell extends out into, is woven into the mystery of humanity itself. When I ask what is consciousness, it isn't my private consciousness, but my consciousness extends out into and is woven into the mystery of consciousness. When I ask what is love, I'm woven out into the mystery of love. That's mystery for myself. I want to give an example that helps me to see this distinction. As you listen to this, see if it rings true to you. The poet Robert Frost has a poem where someone in the middle of winter in a snowy landscape is riding in a little one-horse open sleigh going at night through the woods, through the snow, off heading somewhere. And in the middle of the woods, they're in the dark alone. He stops. This is the poem. Robert Frost is the person in the sleigh stopping in the woods. He says, whose woods these are, I think I know. His house is in the village, though. He will not mind me stopping here to watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer to stop without a farmhouse near. He gives his harness bells a shake to ask if there is some mistake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.