Reality Check

"What do I owe you! You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you I was properly humbled”

 - Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)

The past two weeks have been nuts with having to write a research paper for my Indian mythology class and write final exams. But it is all over! I handed in my paper and had my last exam on Saturday, and am now back at home relaxing and enjoying the holiday. Although it was overwhelming towards the end, it has been a great semester. I’ve read a lot, encountered many new perspectives about the world and beyond, and been challenged in many ways.

But while my head has been up in the clouds thinking about gender/sexual issues in literature, devotional Hinduism, and all sorts of philosophies and ideologies, I’ve been missing some very real aspects of myself that could use some improvement. It took a special person to point this out to me, and to show me how blind I have been in many ways. I have realized how flawed I am in certain areas of my life, and how these areas could most definitely be worked on (New Year’s Resolution?). I’ve also realized that I have to be careful not to be trapped in ideologies or philosophies while ignoring the realities and experiences of real-life.

And so, in light of this experience, I thought this quote was most suitable. It is taken from Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, which I read over the Christmas break four years ago. These words are spoken by Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth Bennet, who admits that he has been self-righteous, but has learnt his lesson.

Time for me to learn mine.

Hell...

Hee hee hee....

Ok, so it's been way to long since I've written on here. The past two weeks since my last blog post have been really busy with classes coming to an end, and having final assignments and papers to write. Perhaps it is rather fitting that this post is titled "Hell..."!!

The real reason I chose this title is because of a great quote I found several days ago. While I was doing research for my paper on James Joyce's Ulysses (for my British-Irish studies class) I came across a book of mythologist Joseph Campbell's writings on the works of James Joyce. Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) wrote extensively on comparative mythology and religion, and since I was researching religious motifs in Ulysses (of which there are no shortage) his book was very helpful. Anyways, while scouring through the book to find info relevant to my paper, I also found this really fascinating quote about hell:

"Hell is the state of a soul that is absolutely committed to its earthly experiences, fixed (as it were) in their time-space aspects, without recognizing through these experiences the radiance of the divine dimension. Hell is simply the experience of your limitations, to which you are so firmly committed that nothing can break them. No one can show you the divine dimension of life that transcends your experiences"

- Mythic Worlds, Modern Words: Joseph Campbell on the Art of James Joyce

I find this description of hell as the state of being 'limited' to earthly, time-space experiences, really fascinating and thought-provoking. The idea of hell as a state of mind, or "state of a soul", is really intriguing. Perhaps this definition could also fit into the Judeo-Christian notions of heaven and hell. Even if one believes that heaven is a sort of spiritual 'place' or 'existence' then perhaps hell is not an equivalently 'evil' spiritual place or existence but instead, as Campbell says, being limited to earthly experiences and not being able to move beyond these limitations. Then again, 'heaven' could be regarded as moving beyond, or 'transcending' these limits; a sort of 'enlightenment'...or nirvana. Hmmm...