The Search Is Impossible

and yet we understand certain currents that sustain or deplete

Oedipus and the Sphinx (1882-1884), Niels Skovgaard (1858-1938)

The spiritual search is a riddle. It is a journey in search of a land we cannot identify.

The very difficulty of the search is that it is intimate in practice—but undefined in aim. The aim is described—sometimes—by people assumed to have attained it. But—I do not know this. Neither do you.

Teachers are usually known to us historically not practically. Many times, I cannot recognize another person’s state. People extol teachers because they mistake sycophancy for apostlehood.

So, why do we search?

In this article I provide several principles—and pitfalls to avoid—that deepen this question.

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There exists a belief, I think warranted, that life is more than appetite. As such, there exists a greater life. Some “gold star” pupils call it transcendence of appetite or related concepts. Maybe—maybe—the destination is fulfillment of appetite. That should be sufficient to make divines stop reading.

I want us to be very careful about saying what the search is and is not. I do not care what someone wrote somewhere, whatever its vintage. Such an approach invites lines of demarcation that may appear starker than they really are.

I recently watched a documentary about the strange life of actor Corey Feldman. In between odd musical performances, Feldman greets fans. There is palpable affection.

During a Q&A following the film, it was remarked how sad it is that a life bereft of love—Feldman suffered as a child—stands on the empty compensation of nostalgic adoration.

I am not so sure.