Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue (Harper-Collins, 1998)
This is a self help book for the soul in which traditional Celtic wisdom from Ireland is couched in universal terms. It is full of quotable anecdotes about living correctly and completely.
On the downside, affirmative thoughts are frequently undermined by woolly references to ‘spiritual’ values that imply all life’s gifts are God-given. O’Donohue argues that “At every moment and in every situation, God is the intimate, attentive, and encouraging friend”, ignoring the fact that there is not a shred of concrete evidence to support such a statement.
As a life-long Atheist I find the pseudo-religious aspects of the book frustrating primarily because it seems at odds with the admirable Humanist thrust of the key ideas. How can we be truly free as individuals if we are subservient to a divine being?
On the one hand, the author acknowledges our existential plight by accurately stating that “Everything that we do in the world is bordered by nothingness” but then contradicts the sobering finality of these words with unsubstantiated claims such as: “Death is not the end; it is a rebirth.”
On the topic of loving awareness O’Donohue can be just as exasperating. He writes: “Love begins with paying attention to others, with an act of gracious self-forgetting” then undermines the wholesome simplicity of this message with more obscure statements such as: “Your soul knows the geography of your destiny.” or “Each one of us was sent here for a special destiny”.
But if you can ignore these pretentious and preachy tendencies, there is plenty of practical wisdom to be gleaned from this book. O’Donohue is at his best when exposing the superficial banalities that drive our accelerated culture. He dismisses TV and the Internet as “great empty shadow-lands” where stubs of information too often pass for more profound knowledge.
He argues persuasively that we have forgotten the value of quiet contemplation and simpler values. Furthermore, he highlights how we are constantly encouraged to ignore the finite nature of existence, stating that “the whole world of media, image, and advertising is trying to cultivate a cult of immortality.”
So how can we survive and thrive in this messed-up world of our own making? Broadly speaking, O’Donohue advocates abstinence over indulgence. Solitude and silence are constantly recommended as antidotes to the distractions that pervade our daily lives.
In a society driven by the notion that nothing succeeds like excess, existing quietly and humanely becomes a perverted and subversive way of living. Ultimately, it all boils down to mindfulness, in other words: “In our minds we are always elsewhere. We are seldom in the place where we stand and in the time that is now.”
