Allegory of the Cave

Plato had an idea many, many centuries ago (several really, but let's just focus on one). This concept is referred to as the "allegory of the cave." The allegory is as follows:

There is a cave, with a high wall in it (partitioning the cave into two), on the inner part of the wall there are prisoners chained to the wall - and all they can see is shadows on the cave walls; these shadows are caused by the small fire that guards of the prisoners have on the open side of the wall. The prisoners are seeing shadows of the guards and people passing by in the cave due to the fire light, but they cannot actually see anything or anyone. Now, if one of those prisoners is taken out of the enclosed part of the cave and brought to the fire side of the cave, he will be shocked by the light at first, but once he has adjusted, he will be able to see the things that made the shadows. If this same prisoner is next taken out of the cave into the real world with the sun shining - he will at first be blinded by the sunshine, however, once he gets over it, he will begin to realize that the sun is the source of what created the things that made the shadow, and is hence the creator of all things. Here comes the twist - if this prisoner is then taken back to his prison and placed back with the prisoners who only see shadows, he is in a bind. He is no longer satisfied by the shadows - he knows what causes them and what creates the cause - so how can he simply accept the shadow? the illusion? At the same time, if he tries to explains it to his fellow prisoners, it is pointless, because since they haven't seen it, it is hard for them to understand it.

What is the connection of the cave and some prisoner and shadows and light? Us. We are the prisoners, our world the cave.. we see shadows and feel satisfied with it - simply because we don't know or have not experienced anything beyond it. And once we do, it is hard to be satisfied with just this, especially since it can't even be explained to someone else. So, does this prevent us from exploring what is beyond our immediate, materialistic world? I don't think so. But then wouldn't knowing the "beyond" and knowing what exists beyond materialism prevent us from living peacefully within the material world? What a conundrum, eh?

Here is what I think, or my "solution" to this allegory is:
Plato was a smart man - he came up with several notions, one which explained knowledge as something that cannot be taught or learned explicitly, but something that must be discovered or guided towards. The teacher is not there to give all the answers, but to guide the student with a series of questions and situations in order for the student to discover and learn for themselves. If we connect both of Plato's concepts we can find a semi-ok solution - which I would like to think is in play in our world today.

IF someone believes they have been to the sunshine, and have found their way back to the dark cave - our material world - they become our spiritual teachers. Take a look at the Buddha - he is one of the greatest spiritual teachers known to us. Reiki, yoga, meditation, ayurveda - all modes that lead to some form of "beyond." Many people mistaken sprirituality for religion - a fine line does exist, and must be put into play if this allegory has a solution. Religion is organized by us - lead by us - practiced by us - how is that outside of our world then? The sages of ancient India who roamed the forests in search of spiritual nirvana practiced a simple life - a nonmaterialistic life - BINGO!

Nonmaterialism is a stepping stone towards leaving the darkness of the cave. That is the step many of these spriritual teachers have taken. And a true teacher will never give us the answer and force/insist on us following them. Spirituality must be discovered by oneself - guided by the teachers, but learned individually. Look at what the Buddha says to us in so many of the scriptures written by his disciples; he says that in his search he found certain simple ways of living and being that can free us from the mundane, material world - but he also asks us to not follow him blindly - he wants us to explore for ourself, test out those ways and theories and see for ourself if the truth can be reached.

So, if we pause and think, what is it that we haven't experienced, whose shadow is all we ever see and be satisfied with, because we don't know its true form? All I can come up with is: Inner Peace. Think about it - we see materialistic, "shadows" of peace that is temporary at the best. We don't know what causes the shadow, or what creates the cause. We all strive to know the shadow, to know the cause - to obtain inner peace, but how many of us truly know the form, the reality of inner peace? How many of us have felt it? A lot of us might think we have, but if it is fleeting, then it is simply a shadow. Those who attain inner peace - true, sustaining inner peace - tend to stay that way for as long as they live. They cannot come back and embrace the shadows of inner peace, they have found the everlasting version. They try their best to explain it - but can't because those who don't have it don't know what it feels like. Keep the Buddha in mind - his history - and all of this makes a whole lot of sense.

What can we make out of all of this? Now we are aware that we live in a cave, that there is something else out there. How will we find our way there? Well, a lot of people will not. They will always be content with the mundane, the materialistic, cave world of darkness. They will live and strive for homes and jobs and society. Those who attain that, or are aware of the beyond will always strive for the beyond. An ultimate goal comes from this allegory - to find our way out of the cave, to find the source of the shadows - to obtain that knowledge of what it is that causes the source. It is a difficult path - because once we know what we know, believe what we believe - it will be near impossible to not know it anymore, to not believe it anymore. But then again, isn't that what soul searching is all about?