Gde je tu Duša? / Where is the Soul in all that?

Ni u okruženju ni u nasleđu ne mogu pronaći pravi instrument koji me je oblikovao, onaj bezimeni valjak koji je na moj život utisnuo izvesni zamršeni vodeni žig, čija neponovljiva šara postaje vidljiva tek kada kroz arak života propustimo svetlo umetnosti.

Vladimir Nabokov – Govor, sećanja (iz knjige “Kod duše”, Džejms Hilman)

Ne znam da li sam usamljena u tome, ali kada sam bila mala devojčica imala sam osećaj kao da živim u nekom paralelnom svetu. U nekim trenucima dok sam sama i zaokupljena nečim, osetila bih skoro pa prisustvo nečega što nije opipljivo. Ja sam to doživljavala kao magiju, kao ples sa nečim prelepim što mi pripada, a nije materijalno. To su momenti u kojima vreme ne prolazi, tiho je i skoro sveto. Vuklo me je nešto da razgledam, a kasnije i čitam knjige ne baš svojstvene deci: rečnike, enciklopedije, priručnike, biografije, istorijske knjige. Sve o čoveku me je zanimalo. O njegovom postanku, o životu na Zemlji, o smislu i svrsi postojanja.

Znala sam oduvek da postoji nešto više od golog života, i što sam se više udaljavala od tog mističnog jezgra, život mi je imao sve manje smisla. Kao da me je u nekom trenutku neko otrgao iz tog čarobnog sveta. Počela sam da se vezujem za materiju i osetila sav užas i besmisao takvog života i to me je mučilo, kao da sam i sama proživljavale sav taj pad čovečnosti i duhovnosti kroz koji su prolazili ljudi kroz vekova, pa sve do sadašnjeg trenutka.

Ne govorim o razlogu življenja, smislu života uopšte ili o filozofiji nekog religijskog vjeruju. Knjiga ne pretenduje da pruži odgovore na takva pitanja. Ona se obraća osećanju svakog od nas da postoji opravdanje za to što moja jedinstvena, neponovljiva ličnost postoji u ovom svetu, te da ima stvari koje nadilaze svakodnevicu i za koje se moram pobrinuti kako bi ta svakodnevica dobila razlog postojanja; osećanju da svet na neki način želi da ja budem tu, da sam odgovoran za jednu urođenu predstavu čije obrise popunjavam u sopstvenoj biografiji.

Džejms Hilman, Kod duše

Tek sada se ponovo osećam kao izraz božanskog koji je tu sa razlogom. Ponovo se povezujem sa svojom dušom koja zna sve puteve i nepogrešivo me vodi do smisla. Lepo je na tom putu imati saveznike i male podsetnike koji me korak po korak približavaju sebi.

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Neither in the environment nor in the heritage can I find the right instrument that shaped me, that nameless roller that has pressed upon my life a certain intricate watermark, whose unique design becomes visible only when we let the light of art shine through life’s foolscap.

Vladimir Nabokov – Speak, Memory (from the book “The Soul’s Code”, James Hillman)

I’m not sure that I am lonely in this, but when I was a little girl I felt like I was living in a parallel world. In some moments while I am alone and preoccupied with something, I would almost feel the presence of something that is not tangible. I experienced it as magic, as a dance with something beautiful that belongs to me, and it is not material. These are moments when time does not pass, it is quiet and almost sacred. I was drawn to observe and later to read the books that are not very typical for children: dictionaries, encyclopedias, manuals, biographies, history books. Everything about humans interested me. I was eager to learn about human’s origin, about life on Earth, about the meaning and purpose of existence.

I always knew that there was something more than a bare life, and the further I moved away from that mystical core, the less meaning my life had. It was as if at some point someone had pooled me out of that magical world. I began to attach myself to matter and felt all the horror and meaninglessness of such a life, and it tormented me, as if I myself had experienced all that decline of humanity and spirituality that people have gone through throughout the centuries, until the present moment.

I’m not talking about the reason for living, the meaning of life in general or the philosophy of a religious believing. The book does not pretend to provide answers to such questions. It addresses the feeling of each of us that there is a justification for my unique, unrepeatable personality to exist in this world, and that there are things that transcend everyday life and that I must take care of them that everyday life gets a reason to exist; the feeling that the world in some way wants me here, that I am responsible for an innate expression whose outlines I fill in my own biography.

James Hillman, The Soul’s Code

Only now do I feel again as an expression of the divine who is there for a reason. I reconnect with my soul that knows all the ways and unmistakably leads me to purpose. It is nice to have allies and small reminders on that path that leads me step by step closer to self.

Tijana Stupljanin

Man vs. Nature / Čovek protiv prirode

Since the beginning of time, the man had to face the forces of nature to ensure his own survival. The nature has been observed as hostile, the man had to fight with his body and mind to concur the nature and make it his servant. However, more than once, the nature has demonstrated how powerful and wild it can truly be and the man, with all his science and technology and progress, stood no chance. Nevertheless, the mankind survived, there are more people in the world today than ever before.

If you start to think about this, it becomes clear, there is no man vs. nature, the nature is within a man, and the man is within the nature, we do not exist apart from it. If we fight the nature within, then we fight against our own bodies, our own instincts, senses… And if we fight the nature around us, we inevitably lose, because we are just a small piece of it. How about if we stop fighting and start listening, begin working together, cooperating, learn from it as much as we can and then co-create, play with it. This is the abundant planet, there is enough food, clothes and homes for each and every one of us. Nature is greater than all of us together, she gave a birth to everything that exists, we call it a Mother for a reason. She gave us everything she had so that we would live a happy life, as every mother would, and she did it with love.

And how do you treat your mother? Do you show her respect? Are you thankful for her gifts? How do you show your love?

If you do not understand your nature, that is within you and all around you, then you cannot appreciate it and you wouldn’t know how to love yourself or the world around you. Even that’s o.k., mother is forgiving and compassionate, her own love is enough, but you better show her respect! Because the Earth will survive without us, but where would we be without the Earth?

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Od početka vremena čovek je morao da se suočava sa prirodnim silama kako bi obezbedio svoj opstanak. Na prirodu se gledalo kao na neprijatelja, čovek je morao da se bori i umom i telom kako bi je pokorio i potčinio je svojim potrebama. Međutim, više puta je priroda demonstrirala koliko moćna i neukrotiva zaista može biti i čovek, sa svim svojim naučnim dostignućima i tehnologijama i napretkom, nije imao nikakve šanse. Ipak, čovečanstvo je preživelo i danas ima više ljudi na svetu nego ikada pre.

Ako se zamislimo nad ovim, postaje jasno da čovek ne može protiv prirode, jer priroda je u čoveku i čovek je u prirodi, mi ne postojimo odvojeno od nje. Ako se opiremo prirodu u nama, onda se borimo sa našim telima, sopstvenim nagonima, čulima… A ukoliko se borimo sa prirodom oko nas, neminovno gubimo, jer smo mi samo mali njen deo. Kako bi bilo kada bismo prestali da se borimo a počeli da slušamo, da sarađujemo, da učimo od nje što više i onda da stvaramo zajedno, da se igramo. Ovo je planeta obilja, ima dovoljno hrane za sve, odeće i krova nad glavom za baš svakoga od nas. Priroda je veća od svih nas zajedno, ona je rodila sve što postoji, ne zovemo je uzalud Majka Priroda. Dala nam je sve što je imala kako bismo živeli srećno, baš kao prava majka, i to je uradila sa ljubavlju.

A kako se mi ponašamo prema svojoj majci? Da li joj ukazujemo poštovanje? Da li smo zahvalni na njenim darovima? Kako joj pokazujemo ljubav?

Ukoliko ne razumeš svoju prirodu, onu koja je u tebi i onu koja te okružuje, onda je nećeš ni ceniti i nećeš umeti da voliš ni sebe ni svet oko sebe. Čak je i to u redu, jer majka je puna saosećanja i opraštanja, njena sopstvena ljubav joj je dovoljna, ali bolje bi ti bilo da je poštuješ! Jer Zemlja će nastaviti da postoji i bez nas, a gde bismo mi bili bez nje?

Tijana