The Founding (Conscious) Father
The Founding (Conscious) Father
No gains without pains. ─ Benjamin Franklin
I was surprised when I joined the school that Benjamin Franklin was considered a conscious being. The Teacher asks us to take any new information, such as this, as a theory and to verify everything, so I had to ponder Franklin as an enlightened being for some time. And given the 250th anniversary year of the “American experiment,” I thought I’d briefly share some of my thoughts and verifications surrounding this enigmatic figure, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
A Lie stands on one leg, Truth on two. ─ Benjamin Franklin
I admired the famous polymath (printer, inventor, diplomat, politician) like many others, and for instance, read many of his aphorisms published in Poor Richard's Almanac with awe and wonder. As a printer and publisher, Franklin encountered and devoured knowledge like it was water. It is not too hard to imagine some of the sources of his poignant sayings and quips, but he turned these ideas into his own unique expressions of profundity, humor, and satire.
The Things which hurt, instruct. ─ Benjamin Franklin
After I read his Autobiography, his inner life and struggles became clearer to me. His historical and worldly roles were well known and off the scales by any standard. His contributions to science, political science, diplomacy, and civic society are gigantic. What jumped out for me in his telling of his story is the test of overcoming obstacles, including personal hubris. A master in time management, before it was a thing, Franklin had to be told by a friend that his list of self-improvement areas was incomplete. It was missing vanity/humility. My impression is that he took this new timely perspective and ran with it. This bit of psychological insight was not left on the printer’s table.
A man is never so ridiculous by those qualities that are his own as by those that he affects to have. ─ Benjamin Franklin
He that falls in love with himself, will have no Rivals. ─ Benjamin Franklin
I recently saw the Ken Burns documentary on Franklin and was reminded about his struggles and transformation of personal suffering, as well as being given a fresh look at his contributions to America (really, to the world). We say someone is ahead of their time when we want to say someone’s vision was out of sync with the people of their time. Some people, like Benjamin Franklin, appear to make history out of thin air, not by dominating or ruling over people, but by Being and acting in the moment - playing their crucial part. He made history because he was a catalyst of consciousness, the application of psychological wisdom in a sleeping world. A rare actor on an unconscious world stage.
He that can compose himself, is wiser than he that composes books. ─ Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin, Jean Antoine Houdon, Metropolitan Museum of Art
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