Finding Alice Read online

  “I like that painting,” said John pointing to it.

  “Its a favourite of mine too. I did that on the front porch, we get a lot of lorikeets around here. It won the local art show this year.”

  She was warm and charming and started to talk about painting and arts and crafts.

  Jane in fact was much more than simply warm and charming. Much more. She and her husband James had been part of the hippy culture in the late 1970’s. As teenagers they had been too young to attend the famous Woodstock Festival, which had been held in the spring of 1969 at White Lake in the US and had attracted an estimated 400,000 people. But both had been drawn to its concepts of victory for love, peace and music.

  Not knowing each other, they had each traveled separately to Woodstock '79. This was a rock concert that was held at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1979, the year of the 10th anniversary of the original Woodstock Festival. Some of the musicians from the original festival of 1969 met there, to celebrate the spirit of freedom of the original Woodstock.

  Both had finished their studies, Jane a BA (Hons) and James a Dr of Philosophy. Individually they were looking to find more meaning in life, than they had found in Australia from their respective Christian upbringings. They met at the 1979 reunion and the attraction was instant and mutual. After the festival they had hitchhiked across the US to California. But the 1960’s era of love and peace and “wearing a flower in your hair” was over. Protests and hard drugs had replaced it. Instead of the love and peace of the original hippies of the 1960’s, all they found was anger and hard drugs.

  They decided to leave the US and travel to SE Asia and had finally ended up in India, where they had found what they had been looking for, in the Buddhist Philosophy of living. Not only had they finally found what they had been looking for in this philosophy, they actually spent some time in a Buddhist Monastery and had later been married in a Buddhist Wedding Ceremony.

  A number of things had concerned them both about the Christian religion. For a start they had both questioned its emphasis on just believing rather than questioning everything and there are a lot of things in the Bible, which are far too hard to just believe, without questioning.

  Both had found the Bible very heavy going and in some places repetitive, while in other places quite contradictory. Why for example did the Old Testament say “an eye for an eye” while the New Testament says, “Turn the other cheek”? Also, how come Moses in the Old Testament was an ordinary man who heard the call from God, while Jesus in the New Testament was “the Son of God” and some sort of personification of God, having been born from a virgin, who was impregnated by an angel?

  There were many, many, other questions. How come Adam, the first man, was carved out of clay and Eve was carved from a rib bone? Also, why was eating an apple so bad they were banned from the Garden of Eden, so that all of us for ever more, would be born with “original sin”, for which we had to feel guilty about all our lives and continually pray for forgiveness?

  How come there were so many miracles committed by both Moses and Jesus, that defy logical explanation? Moses was able to turn a stick into a snake in front of the Egyptian Pharaoh and even more impressive, make the Red Sea collapse on the Egyptian Army, when he and his people were fleeing from Egypt. Both had also read that scholars could find no evidence to support this claimed mass exodus from Egypt.

  Did Jesus really walk on water? Was he really able to bring someone back from the dead? How did he turn water into wine and feed a vast multitude of people, with a few loaves and fishes? It was all just too much to believe without questioning and they were therefore attracted to Buddhism.

  They had discovered Buddha's real name was Siddhartha Gautama and he was born around 543 BC into a wealthy high caste Indian family. He was born by natural means and was a normal human being. After marrying and producing a legal heir, he left home and set out on a journey to search for understanding and wisdom. It was the custom at that time, once his dependants had been provided for; he was free to go on his quest.

  What he found in his travels was a lot of human suffering. He wanted to find the reason for human suffering and a way out of such suffering. It is recorded that not only did he eventually achieve this, but became an enlightened human being in the process and devoted his life to helping others achieve enlightenment.

  Some of the major differences they had discovered between Buddhism and Christianity were:

  Firstly, there are no miracles to believe in Buddhism and Siddhartha’s mother was not a virgin. He did not claim to be God or even “a god” or “the son of God” even “the prophet of a god”.

  Secondly, unlike Christianity where followers are required to believe without questioning, the Buddha actually encouraged his followers to question everything he said. Only by questioning said the Buddha, can followers decide for themselves and gain a full understanding. With their enquiring minds, both Jane and James liked this, as it was in line with what Socrates had taught in ancient Greece.

  Thirdly, underlying Buddhism is the notion of impermanence. Nothing is permanent; everything is changing all the time. Nothing stays the same. A tree grows new leaves but eventually dies; even a rock is worn away by erosion. So how can people believe in a God who is constant and never changing? In fact Buddhism is as much a philosophy as it is a religion.

  After their marriage Jane and James had decided to return to Australia, but found the “consumer society” not to their liking, after their “awakening” and marriage in India. So for a time they had lived on a commune at Nimbin, where Alice was born. However just as things had changed in America from the love and peace generation, so too they were changing in Nimbin. New hard drugs like heroin and speed were being brought into the commune and by the time Alice was 10, it had been time to leave.

  They had both decided it was time to return to the mainstream, James becoming a professor and lecturing at the university and Jane running an art gallery. Eventually they had saved enough to buy the land and cottage at Tyrone.

  So now, here was John, sitting in the kitchen at Tyrone, talking to a woman who had experienced life to the full and was a deep thinker.

  They got to talking about Leonardo da Vinci and of course the Mona Lisa. John knew this is kept in the Louve in Paris but little more about it than it is probably the most famous painting in the world. Jane was able to explain to him that the mysterious quality of the woman’s smile seems to be brought about by the fact that Leonardo subtly shadowed the corners of the mouth and eyes, so that the exact nature of the smile cannot be determined. She also went on to explain other features of the painting. For instance the dress is unadorned, and the eyes and hands stand out from other details. The landscape background, which John had never noticed, is dramatic showing the world seems to be in a state of flux. Also the colouring is subdued and using oils, but blending them on the surface achieved the extremely smooth nature of the painting, so that the brushstrokes are indistinguishable. Leonardo carried the painting with him for a number of years and continued to work on it until he was finally satisfied with it.

  She explained how Leonardo had an ever-curious mind. He would become fascinated with a subject and study it until his interest became exhausted. He would then go onto a new undertaking. When told by one of his teachers that he needed to study anatomy, physical observation was not enough for him. He was given permission to dissect human corpses in various hospitals. In this way he became as much of a scientist as a painter. In the end he made over 200 pages of drawings. Leonardo also studied and drew the anatomy of many animals, dissecting all sorts of animals and comparing their anatomical structure with that of humans in his drawings. For much of his life, he was fascinated by the phenomenon of flight and produced many studies of the flight of birds, as well as plans for several flying machines. In this way he became an engineer and scientist as much as a painter.

  John had expected her to be knowledgeable about art, but he was finding she was obviously well read too. The d
iscussion was fascinating. Next they got on to talking about Galileo Galilee whom Jane regarded as one of her great hero’s. In Galileo's day the Catholic Church was in a very powerful position and held the view that the earth was the centre of the universe and that the sun, went around the earth. Jane explained that it was easy to hold this misbelief, for everyone can easily see that every day sun rises in the East and sets in the West. Any casual observation would suggest that the sun obviously goes around the earth.

  At the time the Church claimed the Bible supported these observations from texts such as "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." and “the sun rises and sets and returns to its place.” However with the invention of the telescope Galileo was able to observe the sun and stars to a degree that had never before been possible. His observations were able to show that not only was the earth not fixed, but neither were the stars and that the earth actually orbited the sun not the other way around. Galileo was ordered to stand trial on suspicion of heresy. He was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to house arrest, which he remained under for the rest of his life. Jane commented that,

  “Don’t think that ignorance has been defeated in our modern world. It is still alive and well today, John.”

  Next they discussed Descartes and the importance of the saying “I think therefore I am”. John had heard of this saying but never understood its importance. Jane was able to explain to him that Rene Descartes lived around the same time as Galileo although he was 30 years his junior.

  During this time a major conflict engulfed nearly all of Europe. It was a series of wars that are commonly grouped together and known as the Thirty Year War. This seems to initially been a conflict between Catholics and Protestants but spread throughout Europe and included various territorial claims by the rulers of different countries. It was a horribly destructive war resulting in widespread death, destruction and spread of diseases throughout Europe. Fed up with the whole thing intellectuals and writers started to question the roles of the churches and monarchies which had for so many years caused such havoc in Europe. For the first time in history they started to question what their rulers and the churches were really doing. They started to go against tradition and particularly started to question everything and examine things in a scientific way. The Thirty Year War had shown that the teachings of the church and control by various rulers had only caused death and destruction.

  This new thinking generally began with Galileo Galilee questioning the teachings of the church and introducing rational, logical thought. He went about forming hypotheses then setting about proving or disproving them. This was a radical change and different to anything that had preceded it and still remains the basis for scientific investigation in today’s modern world.

  Others followed in Galileo’s footsteps and the period was to become known as The Age of Enlightenment or The Age of Reason. It involved the removal of restrictions on human thinking that had been imposed by rulers and heads of religions throughout history

  The Age of Enlightenment sort to change society by using logic and reason rather than blindly following what the churches and rulers had been teaching. While no one person can be totally credited with the Age of Enlightenment Rene Descartes was a leading figure in this revolution in thinking. He believed that the pursuit of science would provide real truth rather than superstition and blind faith. He was profoundly affected by Galileo’s new scientific approach that had been so condemned by the Church.

  “So,” said Jane, five words changed the course of human history, Descartes famous saying:

  "I think therefore I am.”

  Although most people have heard of this phrase few understand its full meaning and even fewer understand the impact it has had on the modern world. Thought cannot be separated from me, therefore I exist. I am able to think, therefore I must exist. The simple fact of questioning if one exists or not is in itself proof one really does exist. If I am capable of thought then I must exist.

  This one seemingly simple statement, was the breakthrough that changed human thinking forever and opened the way for the Industrial Revolution, a hundred years later.

  “How could five simple words change the world?” asked John, “How can this phrase be so important?

  “Well, for a start this disarmingly simple phrase embodies a whole myriad of philosophical thought,” continued Jane.

  “Because logic and reason tell me my thoughts (rather than the physical me) exist, I don’t need a church, a god or a monarch, to tell me how to think. I can reason things out for myself. I have freedom of thought. I am free to think freely without my thinking being controlled by the church, the monarchy or anyone else for that matter.

  Descartes shifted the right to determine what is truth from God to Man. Up until this time the churches claimed to hold access to the real truth, which came from an external authority, namely God. Descartes was now saying no, a rational human being using scientific methods can determine the truth. This was revolutionary and as with Galileo the Church banned Descartes writings. However the door had been opened for mankind using reason to think freely for themselves. This provided the basis of modern thinking (whose repercussion are still ongoing). Man was now free find his own truth and not be told what to think by the church or monarchy.

  This simple phrase became a fundamental element of Western philosophy and forms a foundation for all knowledge. While other knowledge may or may not be true the very act of Descartes doubting his own existence, was actually proof that his thoughts at least, really did exist...... I am, my thoughts exist and no one will control how I think.

  A common mistake is that people take the phrase as proof that they exist as a physical person. However, this is not what it means. It only proves that one's mind and thoughts exists (that part of an individual that observes oneself doing the doubting). It does not rule out other possibilities.

  It is not that Descartes did not believe in God. However he thought that because God is well meaning, we can have some faith in reality our senses provide us with. God has given us our mind and senses and does not want to trick us. However God wants us to think for ourselves, not blindly believe what the church, monarch or other ruler tells us to believe

  With Descartes providing the basis for free thinking, without any outside influences or restrictions, “I will think for myself, no one will tell me how to think,” the basis for The Industrial Revolution had been set.”

  Jane stopped to ponder what she had been saying,

  “You would think John with these great people who have gone before us the human race would have learned something. However as I get older I am starting to despair that much of their work is being ignored. Although free thinking allowed the Industrial Revolution to take place and give us the wonderful medicine and technology we have today, it has also resulted in a population explosion leading to climate change that no one seems to be able to stop. It is up to the younger generation like you and Alice to try to get the thinking of the Age of Enlightenment recognized again.”

  Talking to Jane was so fascinating and challenging looking at the major issues facing the world, that John had lost all sense of time and had totally calmed down after his fateful encounter with Alice on the wharf. Then without warning, Jane put her hand across and gently squeezed his lower arm saying,

  “Give her time,” and without missing a beat continued on talking with him, just as if she had said nothing out of context.

  This was a lovely woman. I wish my mother had been more like her, John thought to himself. All his mother could talk about was bowls and what was happening at the local RSL Club.

  Then he noticed on the wall a framed script that read:

  “Buddhist Wedding Prayer “

  “Today we promise to dedicate ourselves completely to each other, with body, speech, and mind.

  In this life, in every situation, in wealth or poverty, in health or sickness, in happiness or difficulty, we will work to help each other perfectly.

&
nbsp; The purpose of our relationship will be to attain enlightenment by perfecting our kindness and compassion toward all sentient beings.

  Lama Thubten Yeshe 1979”

  Jane noticed him reading it.

  “That was part of our wedding ceremony,” she offered.

  They chatted on and John mentioned her husband being in hospital, but she didn’t seem to want to talk too much about it, so he dropped the subject.

  It occurred to John that while he had a cursory knowledge of art and some of the important people in history, this woman had a deep understanding. John had studied art and history, not so much to learn from it, but so he could relate more to his wealthy real estate clients. Many had copies of famous paintings in their homes. Being able to show a knowledge of different artists and their styles of painting was a way of gaining credibility with them.

  However it was different with Jane. She was actually teaching him and unbeknown to him at the same time delving into his personality. Working him out as they talked. John’s hard side was blatantly obvious but Jane also sensed a soft side that John seemed to be continually trying to hide. She kept thinking to herself as they talked, why does he try to hide his true self all the time? He only let his guard down for a moment when her cat rubbed up against his leg and John lent down patted it. Her cat did not go to anyone it didn’t like and this more than anything gave John’s soft side away.