The Pinnacle of Contemplation

         “But….what then is truth, if all knowledge is subjective to the learner?” wondered Ben as he and I sat atop our favorite spot. Questions like this were as common as they were expected when Ben and I were together, and more so when we sat atop our fortress of conversation. We have been coming here for years with a seemingly orthodox persistence.  When asked, we told people we came here for many reason. The spectacular view of downtown Denver alit and lights of the surrounding cities dotting out to an infinite horizon certainly afforded one an ethereal experience. We told them we came to find solitude, to escape the confusion of the world, and to enjoy our friendship alone; and while many sympathized with us with a touch of admiration in the eye, the real reason for the frequency had little to do with these excuses. In a society and generation so adverse to any form of ‘deep’, our true reason would have been quickly dismissed with a skeptical scoff.  We came because for some reason while we were seated here above the earth and its’ noisy confusion but below the heavens and their grandeur, we found that our minds were free to wander.  What thoughts spring up in the depths of the subconscious when the noises and confusion of the world are filtered out? The typifying would take too long to define.  We came to our fortress of conversation, which was secretly a water tower, to converse openly about whatever topic, no matter how trivial or complex, sprang up within our inner chasms. This is where learning begins, for the largest part of learning is truly a process of self discovery. Ben and I are only too eager to find ourselves, and so we sat atop the aptly dubbed pinnacle of contemplation, and wondered.
    Ben and I have very similar and distinct characteristics, which is probably the reason we have bonded to such a degree.  While neither one of us is content with what we currently know or understand, we have a deep ambition to maximize whatever our capacity may be.  Ben spends his time working so he can travel the world while he endeavors to memorize everything he sees, whereas I bury my nose in books; but despite our differences in approach, we have a common goal.  We do these things not to memorize ideas, concepts, or facts, but rather to comprehend and perhaps even take a grasp upon ourselves. Only through a process of self discovery are we ever able to understand and begin to learn. 
    We live in a society that has become fat with its’ means of instant gratification.  Indeed we have followed Kipling’s advice for maximizing the minute to an absurd degree.  Everything that is to be done must be done now.  This attitude is equally dominant in the academic world.  We as learners spend hours memorizing facts only to later regurgitate them for our teachers and peers, while the teachers quickly look to move onto the next subject, the next class, in order to fill us the learners with everything possible deemed ‘essential’. But sadly this voracious consumption of information rarely goes deeper than the stomach, and misses entirely the heart.  How often do we sit back and wonder about what we have been taught, and how it is to affect us on an individual level?  We spend so much time worrying about what is ‘essential’ for us to know, that we have not studied that which is actually important – the self.  For this, Ben and I escape, escape the world and all that she has, to ask the important questions: ‘Who are we’ and ‘What do we think’.
    And so, very slowly I considered my response, and then reasoned “Ben, there is very little value in learning the conceptions of man compared to real truths, for there is a large difference between truth and knowledge, truth is subjected to no subjectivity.” At this we leaned back, to admire the breathtaking view from the pinnacle of contemplation, and let escape a sigh of exhilaration as our minds and hearts once again began to turn and ponder, and indeed to wonder.