DEACON 11: The Superfluous Addendums to Life

Diogenes the «dog», or the cynic, which means σκυλί or dog in Greek, once walked with a lit lamp in the middle of the day and when he was asked what he was doing he replied that he was looking for an honest man among scoundrels… But is that really true? Maybe. There are many things about Diogenes that are simple myth, legends and fabrications. Like the legend of his death that said that he committed suicide by holding his breath…

But there are many truths surrounding the philosophy of this Greek thinker. He discarded everything that he considered superfluous in his life. He lived in the streets and only sheltered himself within a large jar used to contain wine, a pithos. At first he carried a small bowl to drink water but when he saw a boy drinking water by cupping his hands he scowled at himself for having carried this superfluous bowl around for so long. It is also said that he had a slave but when his state of poverty was so overwhelming that he could not afford to keep the slave he let him free stating that if the slave can live without Diogenes then Diogenes could live without the slave.

Diogenes is the father of Cynicism, one of the philosophical paths developed in Ancient Greece. He embraced the life of a «dog», thus becoming a cynic. Once Alexander the Great confronted him, stood before him and said «I am Alexander, the Great, the conqueror.» Diogenes replied: «And I am Diogenes the dog.» Alexander inquired as to why he was «the dog». Diogenes replied that it was because he would bark at the fools who surrounded him and bite the evil ones. Alexander was amazed and told Diogenes to ask him for whatever he wanted and that he would give it to him. Diogenes asked him to move aside as he was blocking the sun he was bathing in…

And the idea here is not to guide anyone into living the life of an ancient Greek cynic. Not many of us can detach themselves from so many things. Modern life is too imposing and we are so attached to «things» that it would be impossible. But what I want to convey is that attachment and detachment are the two sides of a very crucial coin that we carry around in life. Flip it and see which side it falls on. Do it every day and when the detach side pops up, try and see if it is possible for you to simplify your life, or at least your thoughts. Because thoughts are things too, they carry weight and weigh us down when perhaps, if we were lighter, we could fly.

I don’t think Diogenes walked through the streets in daylight with a lamp to actually look for an honest man. I think he was trying to see the shock, or the repulsion in the faces of the city dwellers that his seemingly irrational action was causing. Thus he realised how futile it was to try to reach the minds of those who were already so set in their ways.

Sort of reminds me of Saint Francis who also discarded all his worldly things, gave them back to his father and left naked and alone to receive what God would surely grant. After all, does not God dress the flowers of the fields and feed the birds of the sky and are we not much more valuable?

CHEERS