Socrates or Buddha?Maybe it’s just that your eye is drawn to the horizon in a
way it can’t go in the city, and that draws you to patterns and
processes that are nothing to do with you. They are ones that
chart a slower, circular passage through time. In contrast, in
the city, my mind’s eye is repeatedly drawn to my own proj-
ects: the urban social imaginary is ego-aggrandising not ego-
transcending. Time is fast and linear – good for activities like
earning a living, less good for contemplation.
Another possibility has been identifi ed by the philosopher
Peter Singer, as ‘transcendent causes’. These are concerns that
reach beyond your struggle to establish your place in the world
by attending to matters that are not in your own interests. They
will be ethical: Singer himself is known for his involvement in
animal rights and ecological activism. The point about both is
that they do not benefi t him directly, and may well curtail his
pleasures in life – those of eating meat, say, or fl ying regularly.
But that sacrifi ce carries his concerns elsewhere, towards what
Jung called the Self.
Singer puts his money where his mouth is: he gives one-third
of his income away to his transcendent causes. Speaking about
it, he’s said: ‘The fi rst donation was the hardest to make. The
fi rst time I wrote a check that had at least a couple of zeroes
at the end – that was the hardest thing.’ This is impressive.
But there is a problem with transcendent causes: how to avoid
pursuing them not because of the good they do to others,
but because of the spiritual meaning you hope they’ll deliver
to you?
It’s a question of how not to put the cart before the horse,
of not being too calculating about it. In order to sustain you
in your devotion to them, you’ll need to want to pursue them
genuinely for their own sakes, or else you’ll readily become dis-
contented with monitoring what you’re receiving in return.
This is why, generally speaking, giving everything up and trav-
elling to Africa, say, to offer up your services, is not a recipe for
happiness, but for disaster. Your motivation has to be right.
(And if you’ve got to ask, it’s probably already too late.)