Homage To — Paying tribute to minds that changed my mind.

Every once in a while it occurs to me that somehow , between the quasi-infinite amount of info-streams, updates and social media maelstroms, we tend to forget that some minds have given us the foundation for our current thoughts. As a society, as a civilization and finally, and maybe more importantly, as individuals.

And every once in the same while, I carry within me somewhat awkward feelings of appreciation and gratefulness that needs be addressed.

On that note, I silently pay homage and tribute to a particular mind that has lived and provided me (and I believe many others) with the ingredients and nutrients of thought I needed at that time.

That is a very personal feeling indeed, it feels almost like a confession to admit in this age and time of ‘quick-click’ everything, that I indulge in a state of thankfulness and appreciation to someone (generally, long passed away) that carried a certain impact on my life.

The Impact could have been a book I have read by that person, a poem I have heard recited, a work of art I have once beheld or even in some cases, simply an inspiration for a concatenation of ideas that resulted from a quote of that same human being.

This if so is my own ‘Homage to’ shorts, simply a few words relating to some specific minds that have influenced my thinking. In no way is this meant to be an exhaustive list, more of some highlights that my mind desires to acknowledge publicly. It may seem meaningless in itself, but I carry the sense that somehow by clarifying and remembering who from times past has bequeathed her or his legacy to me (of course it is ultimately subjective and may bear no interest whatsoever to anyone else) I am more clear as to my own possible unique thought.

Certain minds of the past have left behind a plethora of ideas and insights that have still to be decrypted and understood. Some are more clear than others, and some may have meant something completely different than our/my current understanding of their works implies.

Nevertheless, it is my view that an impact , more so than influence across time, is a fundamental aspect of our minds thought processes.

And so when I come to pay homage and have to choose with whom to start I have no problem in deciding, the reason if you care I will present in a few moments.

The first Mind I wish to pay Homage to if so is: Mircea Eliade

Mircea Eliade and more particularly his ‘eternal return’ theory gave me a foundation of understanding that continues to this day to inspire my thought processes on everything. From the casual to the most abstract.

Though I am in no way a religious person, quite the contrary in fact, I am nevertheless indebted to Mircea Eliade for his penetrating insight into the fundamental differences of times as pertains to the sacred and the profane.

Mircea Eliade had created an understanding of the myth and mythos , their histories and realities that allowed me at that time ( I read it in 1980 or so) a comprehensive rethink of all that I had been taught until then.

More specifically, I pay homage to Mircea Eliade because the book The myth of the eternal return opened my mind to the idea that the mythological realm, far from being (as the term is commonly used nowadays) illusions or delusions or ‘just some historical stories’. Represents a layer of our minds that is as ancient as language and to which we adhere whether we accept the myth or indeed understand it.

Mircea Eliade Inspired me to research, myths and histories of thought, and to develop a sense of the timeless.

The most important issue for me at that time, was the realization that the sequential time , Kronos ,in which we are embedded and by which tyranny we live our immediate lives, was much less relevant than our moments, Kairos.

It is generally accepted that Mircea Eliade was a philosopher of religion or of the history of religion. I believe it is more accurate to describe him as a philosopher of ‘mind time’.

To my understanding what Mircea Eliade wrote about is akin to a call of awakening, not of the archaic man nor the modern man, but a call to the potential post human. It is possible and maybe probable that Mr.Eliade would have not agreed with me, however it is in the nature of the inspiratory that at times the comprehension of the audience (me in this case) does not match that of the original intention. It is a fundamental aspect of our minds that we interpret that which we read in our own fashion, and that is perfectly legitimate and acceptable (or should be).

Finally , I wish to convey my respects for this great mind, his penetrating gaze, and to pay homage and give tribute to the following quote that goes with me for many years now.

“The way towards ‘wisdom’ or towards ‘freedom’ is the way towards your inner being. This is the simplest definition of metaphysics.”

~ Mircea Eliade

(Attributed in The Little Book of Romanian Wisdom (2011) edited by Diana Doroftei and Matthew Cross)