Beauty is enhanced by adversary. Rose, the most beautiful of all flowers, poses thorns. If one relishes the beauty of rose even with its thorns he must apply the same to life. Life can be as pleasurable as the beauty of rose with the thorns of pain. The presence of thorns adds completeness to the rose. Likewise presence of hardships in life leads to fulfillment.
Sublime is the strongest passion experienced by a human. Anything that impresses on our mind an idea on pain or danger is a source of sublime. Sublime is responsible for the strongest emotions we comes across. Out of the two, pain is stronger emotion than pleasure. Pain leaves a lasting impression our body and soul. One recalls an agony to its minutest details but ecstasy happens to cease quickly from our memory. This makes emotions of pain stronger than pleasure. Pain is projected as an emissary for king of Terror. When one has a brisk with danger or terror he is in pain and cannot enjoy it. However from a distance they become a source of pleasure which is called delight. A forsaken lover must have undergone a great trauma at the very instance of heart-break. But after some time when he overcomes the pain he suffered he recalls the pleasant memories of love.
The passion belonging to self preservation is the strongest passion. Death often evokes an idea of danger. One may prefer pains to death in many cases. Whatever we desire to achieve can be done so only if we have an existence. A Dead body does not take revenges for its injuries. Although life in itself doesn’t necessarily give us any considerable pleasure we are strongly affected by factors affecting our life or health. No other pain is more painful than the idea of our extinction. Our acts are often the influence of our self-preservation. Thus sublime makes us to act in accordance with self preservation. However one should develop a correct sublime so that it respects existence of others equally important as their own. Thus sublime has a greater role in development and existence of society in harmony.
A mind with a correct reasoning results in strong sublime. The sublime results in behavior of an individual in society. One often becomes cautious towards self preservation and develops misconception. In order to achieve a better life one distances himself from pains and carves from pleasures. Contrary to this it is the correct blend of both pleasure and pain that makes life meaningful. One must accept both pleasure and pains. Being partial towards one can makes life monotonous giving a sense of stagnancy. Excess of anything is harmful. “Excess of sorrows laughs, Excess of joy weeps.” Sublime must act towards developing a balanced thinking for opposite ideas. Only then can one derive pleasure from the roaring of lions, the howling of owls, raging of the stream and destructive swords, each of which stand for an idea of terror.
Contradictions lead to human existence. “Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence” [Blake]. In order to achieve completeness to ones life it should have both grief and sorrow. Opposite ideas attract each other and hence are always found together. They may appear contradictory but enjoy equal significance as pain and pleasure are equally important in life.
The notion is that one experiences pleasure on removal of some kind of pain and vice versa. “Pain arises necessarily from the removal of some pleasure; as they think pleasure does from the ceasing or diminution of some pain” [Burke]. On a deeper thought pain and pleasure are not related and both can be treated as positive. Pain can be as merrier as pleasure. However pleasure experienced from pain is different from the sheer pleasure. Such pleasure which is experienced by pain is called delight. “As I make use of the world Delight to express the sensation which accompanies the removal of pain or danger.” [Burke].
Thus if one considers pain as positive he may experience delight rather than suffering. The walk through hell may appear as a joy ride “As I was walking among the fires of hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity” [Blake]. Thus delight seems to be more positive than the pleasure itself. “Energy is Eternal Delight.” [Blake].
Delight caused by sublime has a significant role in society. It creates far deeper emotions like sympathy. It is only due our own experiences with pain that we realize the sufferings for others. Sublime develops concerns for others. It helps in transfer of ideas resulting in social affection. “It is by this principle chiefly that poetry, painting, and other affecting arts, transfuse their passions from one breast to another.” [Burke]. One also has a delight from the sufferings of others. “I am convinced we have a degree of delight, and that no small one, in the real misfortunes and pains of others” [Burke]. If this was not true we would have kept away from others sufferings. “If this passion was simply painful, we would shun with the greatest care all persons and places that could excite such a passion; therby avoiding people who need our help.” [Burke]. It is due to delight that we sympathies for peoples help them when they need us the most.
To consider others before you is the most sublime act. One must not be self centric. He should have concerns towards others feelings and come to their rescue in need. One may not progress in life as he needs supports of others. “No bird soars too high, if it soars with his own wings.”[Blake] A bird feels secure in nest and the spider in his nest. A man may feel more secure in the friendship of others. Thus sympathy towards others will make his ideas of sublime stronger. This develops a concern for others and results in social affection.
The greatest of thoughts originates from ones own mind. One cannot learn as much from material things as from his own thinking. Introspecting oneself if the biggest source of learning. An eagle will only waste his time if he learns from a crow. The apple tree never asks beech how it shall grow. Lion do not seek guidance of horse for hunting. If a lion seeks advice from a fox, that will only make him cunning. All this examples show a threat for self-preservation and our sublime cautions us to act against it.
Truth is all that we can believe. We must not impose restrictions to our mind and must follow our conscience freely. Stagnant water often turns out to be poisonous. He should let free his imaginations as whatever we see at present has transformed from the imaginations of past. One must have a faith in Divine and acknowledge him for his creations. He is responsible for the passions that we experience. The Pride of peacock, lust of the goat, anger in lion and beauty of naked women are all the passions he wants us to enjoy proportionately. One must develop a sense to derive pleasure from the roaring of lions, the howling of owls, raging of the stream and destructive swords that proposes an idea of terror. Enjoying the truth in its purest form is an act of sublime.
Busy bee has no time for sorrow. One must be constantly occupied by activities. Good Harvest is an outcome of hard plough. One must utilize his time to attain wisdom that to waste it in foolishness. Wise men accept their mistake and do not blame others for it. It is fox that blames the trap rather than his own walking into it. If a fox acknowledges his mistake he would not be trapped again in other sense acting in self-preservation. One must learn from his mistakes and never repeat them. “If a fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.”[Blake]
Sublime contributes to another important emotion of the society imitation. One finds a great delight in imitating others. Imitation helps one in learning. “It is by imitation far more than by precept, that we learn everything.” [Burke]. Imitation of terror and danger strengthens our power to face adversaries if they happen to come out of imitation into real. Sublime also inculcates ambition in person. A man wants to overcome his sufferings and outperform his fellowmen. Had it not for ambition one would have never progressed. “To prevent this, God has planted in man a sense of ambition and a satisfaction arising from the contemplation of his excelling his fellows in something deemed valuable amongst them” [Burke]. A progressive man leads to a progressive society.
Sublime, is the pillar for social development. It generates passions such as sympathy, imitation and ambition ensuring mans self preservation in society with. All these passions arise from the need to overcome sufferings or pain. With the absence of pain one would not have witnessed such passions. Hence pain and passions arising from pain have a significant role which needs to be acknowledges.
Every creature is a genius of god. When the world came to existence everything that exists was enjoyed to its sheer delight. Everything was accepted to be the genius god. However as men progressed in thoughts some with dubious intensions divided this system into two and called one good and other bad. “Prisons are built with the stones of Law, Brothels with the bricks of Religion.” They exploited the creation of almighty to their own advantage. “As a caterpillar chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joy.” [Blake].One must accept the system that was created by the Almighty and not his followers. The system so sublime, without any divide for heaven and hell.
