Allegory of the Cave
A thin, hand sewn, shallow keeled raft, cobbled with long beams of bamboo, glides along, skimming the surface of a river of glass in the stillness of perpetual night. It’s nearing sunset outside, but inside Nam Lod Cave in northern Thailand, the darkness is absolute and unchanging, as it has been for millions of years.
Spires of calcite stalactites, tens of thousands of years old, hang from the cave ceiling like inverted cathedral spires inspired by Gaudi. Here, stalagmites appear as piles of cream frosting, piled high on the floor. Like children spying figures in the clouds, we note that some of the calcite formations look familiar. One looks like the Buddha, another a crocodile. I spot a perky breast, and realize that I miss home more than I realized.
As we venture into pitch darkness, our guide lights her camping lamp, priming it and setting it ablaze. I remember my father doing the same thing on childhood camping trips and I am at once transported in time to 1970’s summer nights in Wisconsin. The smell of the Coleman propane lamp remains present throughout our cave exploration, shining needed light and casting shadows on distant walls of this cave, the size of three IMAX theaters.
As I see our shadows cast in monstrous dimension on the opposing cave wall, I am reminded of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. In this story, Plato delves into the philosophy of truth, noting how people with different experiences or backgrounds may perceive truth differently.
As I see our shadows cast in monstrous dimension on the opposing cave wall, I am reminded of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. In this story, Plato delves into the philosophy of truth, noting how people with different experiences or backgrounds may perceive truth differently.
Plato writes about prisoners trapped in a cave, who are only able to see shadows against the wall. They perceive these shadows to be real. They don’t know where these shadows originate. The cave and its shadows are all they know.
The story reflects upon those who dare not look deeper or question their existence. They are condemned by their own ignorance, to remain prisoners in a cave of their own creation.
One of the most powerful themes the allegory of cave alludes to, is education. The prisoners in the cave are essentially people who have never been exposed to the world. Their entire world is their cave and the shadows are all they perceive. Plato encourages us to consider the prison of our perspective which is limited by our perception.
The truth perceived by someone who has only lived in a cave is very different from the truth for someone who has lived abundantly in and about the world. Quite literally, we must change our position to change our perception. We do not see the world the way it is. We see the world the way we are.
The person who has lived and traveled can easily understand the perspective of the person in the cave. But the person in the cave can never understand the perspective of the person with myriad life experiences. We learn and we come to know by testing and comparison.
Plato encourages us to escape from our own ignorance; to challenge the indoctrination that binds us to unchallenged, incorrect assumptions and accepted dogma and perpetuates small mindedness.
To do this, we must leave the comfort of our own caves and explore the vastness of the world and push the limits of our understanding of ourselves, others and our universe.
From the darkness of the cave, our small bamboo raft glides, without hesitation, toward the light. Hundreds of fish can be seen in the water below. They too are drawn to the light. The lamp casts our shadows on the wall one last time. I know that we are more than these shadows. Our lives are not meant to be lived in caves.
We cannot know what we will find in the light. But we do know that it will be abundantly more than we will find in the darkness.
But here is the important lesson from Plato. Once we know the way to the light, we become responsible for leading others from the shadows of the cave of ignorance.
Enlightenment creates responsibility to bring others into the light.
