Acquiring knowledge of Truth and dispelling personal ignorance is the goal of Philosophy.

In Sanskrit, philosophy is called darshana sastra.   Darshana means "vision" and sastra means "discipline".   The theory is that we do not accurately see the Truth; hence, philosophy is the quest for true vision.   In the familiar example from Hindu philosophy, we may look at a rope and yet mistake it for a snake.

In this context the cartoon character, Mr. Magoo, is a metaphor for Everyman.   Magoo sees everything from his own limited perspective... colored by personal likes, dislikes, inclinations, and prejudices.   And we the audience, endowed with clearer vision, rock with laughter each time Magoo is blinded by his own anger, and rages against injuries that exist only in his own imagination.

For Magoo, life is truly "...a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing..." Perhaps these words of William Shakespeare inspired the creation of Quincy Magoo.

Could it be that all of our conflicts with friends, strangers, family members, supervisors and coworkers result from situations that would be equally laughable from a more enlightened standpoint?   Could it be that all of our squabbles are as petty as Mr. Magoo's?

One of the things that characterizes the enlightened sages is the profound inner peace (shanti) that they have attained.   And so, to all the seekers of Truth and to every visitor to this webpage, I bid each and every one you:    Om Shanti... Shalom... Peace.

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