Simone Weil - Grace Woods H01

THE VIRTUE OF ATTENTION

Much of Weil's philosophy lies in empathy. True understanding and compassion could only arise from a genuine willingness to share the pain of others, as she believed. Even as a child, she was acutely aware of other's suffering. Particularly there were her concepts of affliction and attention: physical and mental suffering that was almost a necessity to achieve spiritual transformation, and the importance of bearing witness to this pain in others wholeheartedly. How people respond to suffering is crucial: there is no running away from it through any number of distractions. Affliction, she argued, had the power to strip away the superficial layers of self-interest and allow people to confront the deeper truths of existence. In order to do so, Weil emphasized the great importance in paying attention and being fully present in every moment. There is a rarity and purity to true attention, and it is a form of generosity more important than simple warmth and pity. Things such as consumerism and the relentless pursuit of pleasure present in modern society were seen as obstacles; true attention involved a deep engagement with reality and a detachment from one's own desires and prejudices.

"Complete attention is like unconsciousness."

In order to fully experience another's pain, and let them grab your attention, Weil presented the concept of decreation, or letting go of your sense of self; only then can you perceive the world as it is. This notion involves a radical transformation of the self, a deliberate undoing of the ego and its desires. Through this loss of personality and individuality, you could immerse yourself entirely in someone's emotions, and truly feel with them. Decreation is a way of breaking down the self in order to be filled with a higher, transcendent reality. This process of self-emptying fosters a sense of humility and solidarity with those who are suffering. Ego, with its attachments and illusions of separateness, was a barrier to this union, but by detaching from it, one can better understand the needs and experiences of others and act with compassion.

FINDING A SENSE OF BELONGING

Weil described the concept of "rootedness" as the need for individuals to have a sense of belonging and connection to a community or culture. This was a human need almost as fundamental as food or water. It provides people with a sense of purpose and stability. Rootedness, for Weil, was not just about physical location--it encompasses one's connection to heritage and tradition. People thrive when they are part of a community. Uprootedness, caused by factors such as industrialization and urbanization, leads to alienation, which in turn gives rise to social and political problems. People become disconnected from their own humanity and the humanity of others, and are more susceptible to manipulation and control by authoritarian regimes with this loss of identity and purpose, an issue that was prominent within Weil's lifetime.

"We can only know one thing about God—that he is what we are not."

In Weil's later years, she converted to Christianity (having been raised agnostic), and was a Christian mystic. Christian mysticism is defined as "the sense of some form of contact with the divine or transcendent, often understood in Christian tradition as involving union with God." She believed that God is a perfect being that fills all space, and because of that, creatures can only exist in the absence of God. Thus, creation only occurred when God "withdrew" from the picture. Humans are inherently unholy because they were created in this absence of divinity, she argued. Evil is present not because God is incapable of creating a perfect world, but instead creation itself implies that perfection is impossible. However, Weil did not believe this doomed us as a race, rather evil and the suffering that followed only drives us closer to God. "Evil is the form which God's mercy takes in this world," as she said. Once again, the concept of decreation comes into play; in order to have a deeper relationship with God, one must let go of their "self." In her book Waiting for God, she explores the interplay between human longing and the presence of the divine. The work is a collection of her writings compiled after her death, including letters and essays, where her quest for truth and her pursuit of a higher, transcendent reality resonate throughout.

LINGERING MORALS

In the final year of her life, Weil battled with tuberculosis, although her cause of death was ultimately ruled suicide. She would refuse food while in the hospital; after all, her French country men had only meager rations to live off of, as she said. Weil's philosophy, and her entire life, was based around other people. How do others feel? How do they hurt? How can I understand them? Focus was only placed on the self when it came to "emptying" it. While it's tricky to advocate going to the extremes that Weil did, i.e. self-starvation, her beliefs of working to understand and connect with people in more deeper and meaningful ways, and cultivating true empathy, are virtues that should be of greater importance in our modern society. If we tried harder to understand one another, what pain people are experiencing, would our world look a lot less bleak? At least, it would seem a lot more compassionate.