Putting the Allegory of the Cave into my own words seems comparable to
the Christian idea of using the lord's name in vain. First, I'd like to
introduce a phenomenon I have observed throughout my life time. I call it soul
resonance. Bear with me here. When two objects emit sympathetic vibrations,
the sound or force multiplies. Example: Two tuning forks of the same frequency
are struck upon each other and held a few feet apart. The vibration is much
stronger. Something basic about each object recognizes a similar quality in the
other, and amplifies it. As with so many other laws of science, this law
applies to many other phenomena. I believe this is what people feel when they
first hear the Allegory of the Cave . . . soul resonance. Somehow, something
deep inside tells them that here we have found a singular truth.
The Allegory, taken as the story of one man, narrates his life from
ignorance to enlightenment. He sits within a cave, facing away from a blazing
fire. He stares at the wall opposite him, watching pretty shadow puppets. He
listens to the exotic, wonderful, and large words whispered in his ears by the
puppeteers. He would naturally turn around, or perhaps even stand, but chains
bind him to the ground, and the puppeteers have servants who hold his head in
place. One day, a situation arises where he finds that the chains are broken,
and he stands. This is against the will of the servants, but they have no
physical power over him, if he does not allow it. He turns round and sees the
fire and the puppeteers and then he realizes that all has been lies. He is not
what they have told him. He does not feel what they have said he does. The
fire blinds him. The puppeteers, seeing they have lost another to knowledge,
quickly get rid of him by pushing him into the dark cave that looms off to the
side, hoping for his demise. The man is lost, he has gone from darkness t...