No Man is an Island

Peace can be found by treating life as a whole, and not otherwise.

Holism is an ancient philosophical concept stretching back over much of human history, even if the word itself arose from the unlikely pen of Jan Smuts early in the 20th century.

If we have become jaded by the often comic use of the word in ‘new age’ marketing ploys, we ignore the concept itself at our peril.

If we dig a little more deeply, we become enmeshed in the endless debate between the metaphysicians and the materialists.  The materialists hold that all things can be explained by reference to the parts from which they are made. Their opponents argue that the whole is greater than the sum of its constituent parts.

Emergence, to put it another way. We humans are made from the apparently inert substance from which the rest of the universe comes, and yet consciousness arises.

We humans are a complex adaptive system within an infinitely larger system.  We cannot be understood without studying the whole. 

No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were:
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were.
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

It isn’t just poetry: John Donne was profoundly correct.

So the seeker of tranquility must first look at himself and then take the wider world into account.  As to himself, he must consider not only his mind and body but also their interactions with the environment.

Health in mind and body spring from pretty simple routines, but surprisingly few of us are willing to put in the effort.  The right foods, avoiding junk and alcohol. Exercise and relaxation. Avoiding excess (in anything).

Balance in other words, a middle way. Again, common sense which doesn’t actually seem too common.  Some of course can’t follow these routines: poverty, illness, incarceration aren’t helpful to a balanced way of life.

And as to our interactions with the rest of the world, it is difficult to imagine that a life of intolerance, cruelty, violence or aggression can bring much happiness.  Do unto others. And yet of course so many of us fail to take the point. Or refuse to. Or don’t want to.

I find it difficult to imagine that Benjamin Netanyahu can congratulate himself on a life well lived. It is hard to believe he and his cronies have found peace or can sleep at night.

But on a smaller scale, even the most humble seeker of peace won’t succeed unless he tries to live in harmony with those around him. To give out kindness not abuse. To think and act with decency and respect towards all those he comes into contact with.

Holism: no man is an island. We are part of a biosphere, an ecology. Part of a society.  Even if we are of a hermetic bent, we can still ruin the life of those around us if we are careless in our words and actions.  And if we ruin the lives of others, if we treat animals with careless cruelty, if we don’t give a damn about our planet or our environment – then it is hard to imagine we ourselves will find much peace.

But you have to start somewhere. We may not be an island but if we are to comprehend what we are and where we fit in, it is best to start with our own thoughts. Since no action happens unless it is born as a thought.

Ignore the scientists who say we are  robots and that thoughts do not precede actions, that the only causality is physical. Atoms hitting atoms over billions of years so that we can retrace our history to the beginning and see our future to the end.

We must assume causation from thought. We must assume that at our very centre we are our thoughts.

In the beginning was the thought.

If you cannot initially change your thoughts, you can at least watch them. And if you become proficient enough in watching, you soon find you can resist acting on uncharitable or harmful thoughts. Eventually such unwanted thoughts become less frequent. With luck they may disappear altogether.

Right thinking is where we want to get to. Everything else follows from an internal benignity.

Aligning your thoughts with a desired pattern of behaviour seems to become self propelling. As man thinketh.

It’s always a work in progress of course. A lifelong effort to be what we would like to be and to behave as we would wish. No doubt some succeed more entirely than others, some more quickly and some less so.

But to make a start, to begin to turn out life upside down and get it “right”, brings with it tangible, concrete rewards. Or so most of us are likely to find.

No man is an island and without taking ourselves in hand, living well as a whole and as part of a whole, we are unlikely to find peace.

It has taken me most of my life to reach such a conclusion, and it’s entirety to put my views even partially into action. Better late than never.