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Sitaram · Site Admin Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 1079

Date: Sat Jul 5, 2003 6:09 pm
Subject: Plato's Cave Analogy

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/hum_303/zarathustra.html

1: What other famous figure began his mission at the age of thirty by
retreating into the wilderness? How long did the other figure stay
there? How long does Zarathustra stay there? Much of the imagery here
is probably borrowed from "The Allegory of the Cave" in Plato's
Republic. (Nietzsche generally disliked Plato, and disagrees with him
on many points; but he was greatly influenced by him nevertheless.)
Plato says that an enlightened thinker is like a man who gradually
struggles free of the chains of illusion in an underground cave and
who learns by ascending to the world above and viewing things in the
light of day, finally discovering the essence of truth by gazing at
the sun itself. However, it is not enough for the philosopher to
grasp truth for himself: he has a responsibility to descend back into
the cave of illusion and free the prisoners of falsehood. This is
what Nietzsche means by "going under." What arguments can you make
that the discoverer of truth has an obligation to preach that truth
to others?

http://theosophy.org/tlodocs/AllegoryoftheCave.htm

Those having Lamps will pass them on to others. - PLATO
Republic (328)

The liberated prisoner will obviously require to grow accustomed to
the sight of the upper world. He will first see the shadows best,
then the reflections of men and objects in the water, and then the
objects themselves; and then he will gaze upon the light of the moon
and the stars by night. At last he will be able to see the sun. He
will come to see that the sun is the guardian of all that is in the
visible world and in a certain sense the cause of all that he and his
fellows had been accustomed to behold. He would remember his old
habitation and the delusions of his fellow prisoners, pity them and
felicitate himself on the change in himself and in his position. He
would no longer care for the honours conferred upon one another by
the ignorant prisoners on the basis of who were the quickest to
observe the passing shadows.

The first test that the liberated prisoner has to face is to get
accustomed to his new condition and to forsake his long-cherished
illusions. The second test is to see the unity of all things. The
third is to show compassion towards his fellow prisoners and not
merely revel in his own happiness. The fourth is to detach himself
completely from the false valuations and hierarchical distinctions
made by the men in the den. His fifth and much more difficult test
comes if he is then made to re-enter the cave of darkness, for he
would appear ridiculous to the prisoners who still cling to their
former illusions centered on the shadows. They would say that he had
become blind to realities since leaving the cave, that it is better
not even to think of ascending, that they would be entitled to put to
death anyone who tried to free another and lead him up to the light.

The entire political moral of the parable has a close resemblance to
the Kumaras, who refuse to create but are induced by cosmic necessity
to complete divine Man by incarnating in him. The unwillingness of
the sower in the field to heed the voice of his master involves the
latter in unearned and unnecessary suffering, but he accepts this
burden flowing from his decision to become involved in the process of
evolution. The incarnation of the Kumaras, which makes cosmic
evolution possible, is paralleled by the sacrifice of the
Nirmanakayas who resolved, even before attaining perfection, to
renounce its fruit and re-enter the world of human ignorance and
suffering. Similarly, the Avatar who descends amidst humanity
cheerfully accepts the risk of ridicule and rejection, so that at
least a few may be called to the pursuit of spiritual truth and many
more aroused out of their state of slavery and illusion. The
probationer on the path of the spiritual life has to emulate the
example of the Avatars and the Nirmanakayas. He has both to isolate
himself from humanity in his all-absorbing pursuit of pure truth and
to heed the voice of suffering humanity, ever ascending on the
pathway of the soul and ever preparing himself for the perfect
service of humanity.

http://www.namaste-bazaar.com/generic36.html

In Plato's work the Republic, the parable of the cave is a root
metaphor for the mystical. Plato likens all humanity to prisoners in
a cave watching a shadow procession on the walls. The cave is dimly
fire-lit and the prisoners' hands are loosely bound behind their
backs. Some prisoners dare to go to seek the mystical `Form of the
Good'. These philosopher mystics return to the cave out of a sense of
compassion. It is much like the Buddhist's concept of the
Bodhisattva. The few share the story of the sun. The wonder cannot be
explained in cave language. How do you explain the sun? Is it a
luminous ball in the ceiling of the cave? Of course, some of the
fellow cave dwellers are skeptical; some are hostile. They say, "You
must be crazy. You must be drunk."

Plato was a prime mythologist. Mythos is the story that points to the
Source, the Unknown. Plato was also one of the exponents of logos-
reason, order, and structure. Interestingly, in the King James
translation of the Bible, John 1:1, "In the beginning was the
Word . . . ." is a very Neoplatonic concept. `Word' in Greek means
logos. It is the cosmic structuring, the principle of reason that was
one with the Unknown, the Father of the Light. `Word' does not mean
the written Bible.

Stories are seeds. Matthew 13:3 speaks of Jesus as the sower of
seeds. The stories stir something deep in the unconscious mind. Upon
hearing the stories, you do not get closer to the Source, God, or
Goddess. The stirrings produce nostalgia, homesickness. Often times,
when we literalize the stories, we are carried away with our personal
myth and the deeper meaning is lost. If we balance the myths with
logos, then the stories indeed could become seeds, life changing, a
spiritual awaking. If archetypal stories, like the parables of Jesus
move you, they need to lead to a quest. If they do not, then the
stories are seeds that have fallen on so-so ground. It is not up to
Jesus or the guru to clean out the thistles and thorns. That is your
responsibility.

The object of the quest is assumed somewhere out there. The outside
quest is connected to the archetype of the pilgrimage: the traveling
to Mecca, Lourdes, Jerusalem, Varanasi, spiritual growth workshops,
or metaphysical seminars. It is important to experience the quest.

In the Bhagavad-Gita, the sacred book of many Hindus, the moment of
epiphany is in the last chapter. In chapter 18, Krishna says, "This
is my highest word and my most secret. I love you well." The word
that is translated as secret is 'guhayana'. Guhayana in Sanskrit
means that which pertains to caves that which is hidden in caves.
Krishna's most hidden truth is not when Arjuna, the warrior saw
everything that was good and bad, or when Arjuna saw all his friends
and enemies, or all his disappointments and joys, or every river, and
every galaxy in the cosmic body of Krishna. The real moment of
epiphany and transformation for Arjuna was when he recognized he was
truly loved.

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/books/dws/lexicon/g.html

Guha: (Sanskrit) An epithet of Karttikeya. "The interior one." --
guha: "Cave." See: Karttikeya.

Guhavasi Siddha: (Sanskrit) A guru of central India (ca 675) credited
with the modern founding of Saiva Siddhanta in that area, based fully
in Sanskrit. Guhavasi--literally "cave-dweller; he who is hidden"--is
also a name of Lord Siva.
Guheshvara: (Sanskrit) "Lord of the cave." A name for Lord Siva
implying His presence in the heart or the interior of all beings.

Gita Ch. 18, verse 64

Sarvaguhyatamam bhuyah
Of all most secret again,

Hear again My supreme word,
Most secret of all.
You are surely loved by Me;
Therefore, I shall speak for your good.

- Winthrop Sargeant
SUNY Press
ISBN 0-87395-830-6

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