Daily Excerpt: Introductory Lectures on Religious Philosophy (Sabzevary): Editor's Introduction

 

Editor’s Introduction

 

This book is a transcription of lectures that revolve around two questions:  How does a person become educated?  What does it mean to be a teacher?  Without continuously entertaining the problems that these two questions create, no one should be licensed to discuss religion or philosophy.  These problems seem to have been forgotten in an age when anyone with the privilege of time, intellect and emotions can buy a PhD or publish a book and be considered “educated.”  But if not with the privilege of a PhD or with a voluminous collection of information, what qualifies someone as a teacher?  Introductory Lectures on Religious Philosophy addresses these questions within the context of five ancient traditions: the Epic of Gilgamesh, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.  The language of the lectures, the questions that guide the dialogue, and the social atmosphere of this class also comment directly on these problems of education.

            In these lectures, delivered at a summer evening class at Laney College in 2017, perennial religious and philosophical ideas are discussed in the cultural language of Oakland.  As such, perhaps one of the most startling aspects of this book is the casual language.  There is no scholarly language and no technical jargon.  There are no footnotes, no references to any readings, and no intellectual prerequisites of any kind but for the few, necessary citations.  By clothing profound ideas in profane language, no one is absolved of the burdens of examination.  Larger-than-life ideas act as grand and brilliant mirrors, reflecting the ways in which we are guided by petty emotions, cheap ideas, and juvenile self-images.  This book is not for those who find themselves more attached to the language and containers of religion and philosophy, than they are to seeking to understand and live these ideas.

            The class centers around students’ questions, which again, may frustrate a reader that is expecting an eloquent catalog of information.  Ideas are tailored to students’ questions, a demanding approach which usually inspires an invasive, personal back-and-forth.  This is not careless but calculated.  In place of linear, systematic answers, students receive stories that relate on many levels to their question, or the question is addressed later in response to a different question.  The attentive reader will note that once a student asks a question, each time they re-enter the dialogue, the lecture shifts to revolve around their previous questions.  The class rotates around these questions, approaching the same ideas from perspectives other questions create.  Education is not the acquisition of information; beautifying one’s intellect is not the same as beautifying one’s life.  In favor of appealing to the intellect, religious and philosophical ideas appeal to less accessible, more profound aspects of the human psyche.  Likewise, these lectures are layered, symbolic and frequently self-referential, touching upon the questions behind the question, so to speak.

Children roam freely in this classroom.  Food is brought and shared.  There are no lecture notes, assigned texts or obvious structure.  Many students in this class are not only not enrolled, but seem to have been sitting in these classes for quite some time.  Classes begin with a series of questions, some of which are unceremoniously dismissed while others carefully dissected.  There is an alternating atmosphere of levity and trauma as humor is used, among other reasons, to release some of the pressure created by extraordinarily difficult ideas.  Like any good art, the most pregnant moments are embedded within a seemingly casual context, as this context creates intimacy and trust.  Without this trust, without a very personal atmosphere, ideas remain mere information, removed from their ability to transform.

            In essence, this is a transcription of a living classroom.  The classroom, by any definition, should reflect the world beyond the classroom.  Yet could any environment be more sterile and lifeless than the modern classroom, subject as it is to political constraints that often perpetuate the very difficulties education is meant to resolve?  It is not difficult to read a book and then discuss the ideas from the book.  It is nearly impossible to learn how to live ideas, and moreover to convey this life in a way that inspires others to do the same.  This book is essentially a manual to life, and more importantly, how to become a good student of life.  As these lectures repeatedly stress, being a good student is not about the accumulation of knowledge, but rather about how to learn how to live with loss, poverty, and pain.  If the classroom can sufficiently reflect the troubles and turmoil, the uncertainties and the absurdities of life, then life itself can be turned into a classroom, seen through the lenses of those who ceaselessly struggle with the problems of being human. These are the philosophers whose poverty has earned them the title of “educated.”

For more posts about Dr. Sabzevary and his books, click HERE.

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