THOREAU'S CHALLENGE

Spirituality has a practical use, in summary, it is getting into the spirit of what moves us, it is to observe and realize the close relationship of dependency between the outside and the inside of ourselves to be able to make a profitable use both for ourselves and others. Henry Thoreau wrote in his 'Walden' a statement that I quote because it well expresses the concept: "To influence the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts." but which is its import? And why is it, in my opinion, a challenge?

Its value lies in what it implies, namely that man affects the outside through his consciousness, so that the external world is an extension of man. On the other hand, it also implies that the common daily human habit is to accept the day with its events and not to influence them, thereby it is to underline that man is practically not free, rather he’s commonly under the influence of facts. A condition that Thoreau discovered through his own experience of life in the woods, as narrated in 'Walden', where in close contact with nature, in the solitude that allowed him to go deep within himself, he realized the inconsistency of the stresses of the city life from which he got away. 'Walden' is not an exhortation to run away from the city, rather from the stresses that man himself creates within, along with many necessities not existent in nature. It's an invitation to become aware of what is happening within rather than of what happens on the outside, mere reflection of the inner man. It’s an exhortation to discover again the relationship with self, the only source of certainty. In order to affect the quality of the day, both the events that man encounters and those not manifested yet, first of all he must be aware of his influence over the outside, and, as a logical consequence, master it through the conquest of self-control and in this latter aspect lies the real challenge. It’s a challenge because it is not immediately acceptable the fact that he’s the only author of his own world, for it comes that he cannot judge or blame anyone or anything anymore, or accuse others or form alibis to justify his undesired circumstances, those are man’s common attitudes for he is accostumed to draw conclusions from the appearance of things and not from the real causes that originated them. It's also a test of courage in today's society, the mother of an increasingly exteriority, because the awareness of such a role allows only one way: to deal exclusively with the self and through the self with the external world, mirror of that activity; it is to dominate reactions during the daily chores and events. It's a work that does not negate the physical actions but subordinates them to the mental action in a conscious choice based on the result we want to see on the outside. Man is generally reluctant to accept such a responsibility, which, if properly understood, will no longer be a heavy burden but the door to freedom. In this situation the external world looses its value of causality and the personal attention shifts inevitably over the self, the only source of the external reality. That doesn’t mean isolation or lack of interest in what happens on the outside, rather the realization and focus of the real causes that generate it, which causes, if modified, can change it; so that the external world becomes necessary to observation, at first as a source of inner change and later as evidence of such a change, along with the enjoyment of the results pre-determined within, just like the change of the quality of the day. Thoreau compares this activity, which is spiritual, meaning an inner one, to a real art, the highest of arts, and I agree with that statement adding that I believe it is essential and the only art worth to be understood and practiced before any other because it is the art of living as totally free beings, since there is not full freedom if conditioned by some external form, meaning: if you allow the external to limit you!