Through the Eyes of an Animist Philosopher
I am an Animist Philosopher. From my philosophical viewpoint everything around us, all that lives, and all that exists, and all that we imagine as existing, all possess the quality of spirit. It is all animated with consciousness. I see this reality we live in as a prism through which an infinite stream of consciousness flows, projecting out myriad rainbows of experience into being.
A rock experiences itself as a rock, a tree as a tree, and ourselves as ourselves. This river that flows through us, this great consciousness, knows itself as reality, it is reality and all that is contained within that. It seems to me there are two fundamental elements to this reality, story and matter. You could see this as Time and the Dimensions it passes through to create the present moment we experience. A good story doesn't need to be "true" to powerfully change the texture of the reality we experience, after-all we do live in stories. All the material wealth in the world cannot just make one happy; yet, without water, air, and a meal to eat, we die. There is a balance.
It is appropriate to find this balance so that one might leave it and return to it at will, true freedom. Might this be what we describe as the game of life, how close to the edge can one get without going over? How deep into the abyss before one cannot get out again? Life is not just about finding some perfection and maintaining it forever, but also about change, exploration and adventure. We have wonder so that life might be wonderful! We have awe to inspire us, joy and music so we might dance, and beauty so that we might behold it. We have a sense of destiny that beacons us ever onward so we might chase after it.
We also have what is terrible so that we might be terrified and continually better ourselves. Why run when there is nothing to run from? Why not just sit down, waste away and disappear? This is the balance of life. It is good for life to be this way, but it can turn malignant, perverse and corrupt if the balance is destroyed. So being maintains that balance, and life goes on.
Wolves hunt deer. They bound forward, panting, as their being teases, "I'm going to catch you!" The deer holds it's head high, prancing away, jumping, almost dancing at times, as if to say, "Catch me if you can!" Both have joy in this life. The wolves the challenge of the hunt and the deer an exciting and daring escape. In return, both have what they need to live. The wolves have meat, and the deer have plants to grow, food for future generations. Without the balance the deer become overpopulated, eat everything before becoming sickly and weak and then finally they starve. Soon the wolves will starve too. Then there is no joy, only suffering.
In a nutshell, this is the Animist view of life. It is how I am learning and teaching myself to see this world I find myself living in each day. I believe it is how we are born to see the world. Certainly, this is the view our ancestors had of the world, life, and their place in it all. To try and see in this way opens the mind, transforms the self and the world, and makes them whole. All things become beautiful, except that which is truly ugly.
It is good to see that which is ugly, because even if you are blind to it, true ugliness is still certain to be ugly. If you can see its ugliness you then have the chance to make it beautiful. Life should be beautiful, but it is up to us to make it so. This is what I see when I peer out through the eyes of the animist philosopher within me.
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