Frederich Nietzsche’s Workout for the Spirit-1

Frederich Nietzsche’s Workout for the Spirit-1

Wisdom of German philosopher, Frederich Nietzsche, is often overlooked due to an unfair reputation that precedes him. Lets explore his thought-provoking concepts that can nourish our soul – the will to power, his conception of Apollonian and Dionysian (explained ahead) and the endless return.

It challenges our way of living and invite us to live with bravery, joy and authenticity thus, it can be seen as an advice for strengthening our spirit and to find our inner self.

The will to power, Nietzsche says, is what life is; and because we are life, we are also it. We are fundamentally will that wants to overcome its limitations, to rise from the obfuscation to lucidity and to go on with our life in a merry way. If we are made of such wonderful matter, where does the weakness of our spirit come from? How come there are times when we feel down and unable to take control of our own existence? If we are a guest of honor in this cosmic symphony of beauty why aren’t we acting like it?

Nietzsche writes in his famous book, ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’ a powerful metaphor where he describes the three transformations that our spirit undergoes. In the beginning we are a camel: we live an arid life carrying a tremendously heavy burden: the moral – that is, all the dos and don’ts of society. We go around doing what others tell us to do and we behave how we are supposed (conditioned) to behave. In this stage, we affirm life, but by doing and believing stuff that does not spring from our own will.

Nietzsche's-three-metamorphoses
Nietzsche explains the three transformations that our spirit can undergo. When the camel gets tired of bearing all the weight he rebels. He no longer wants to do what others tell him to do: his spirit screams for authenticity. Annoyed with the values that are subscribed to him he becomes contumacious: a lion.

In this stage we fight the world and all its rules. We say a firm “no” to the moral, making it a stage that negates, characterized by its rebelliousness and ferocity. Perhaps, now, life is no longer heavy, but rather a problem that needs to be kept at bay or fought against.

Once we get tired of being gruff; when we see that there is no point rejecting everything, the final moment of this metamorphosis comes – it’s glorious and super fun! The child. This transcends the former stages as we no longer think in terms of whether what we are doing is morally correct or incorrect, or is imposed or comes from within. Our actions have now acquired a very distinct characteristic: we do what we want because we want it! Like a child on a playground who has genuine fun not because he is told to (camel) or because he doesn’t want to do what he is told to do (lion) but because he finds a great deal of joy in doing it.

The things that have to get done are no longer heavy nor something that we have to fight against, the categories proper-improper, correct-incorrect dissolve and we are left with a delightful game. The world turns into music and we no longer walk or talk but rather dance and sing. There is nowhere to get to or nothing to be attained, for you are already there and having everything that you could ever need. Our actions no longer need justification, they are all grounded in what we want to do, just by the mere fact that we want to do them! We need not make logical arguments or rank it in terms of how proper it is, there is just an unfolding delight.

Om Namah Shivay