I-Thou:
We reach a new level of awareness when we approach
the other as a Thou - as a relational
being. The Thou is changed by my awareness of it in that it responds to my awareness - and thus
establishes a relation between I and Thou. Buber notes three ways in which we can become
aware of the Thou:
-
In nature: this is the bare minimum awareness
of Thou - other creatures can respond
to us or not, depending on their own awareness of our Thou-ness. When we attempt
to communicate with them (which we would never do with an object), we are at "the
threshold of speech" - because we never know if they understand us as a Thou.
- In
other humans: this is the most common experience of another Thou. While we can
experience other persons as objects, we only know them as complete beings when we
are aware of them as another Thou - a being which we can enter into a relationship
with. When we address another, we usually get a response. This establishes the I-
Thou relationship with the other, and is fully realized in conversations.
- In
spiritual beings: Here is where we get close to Mysticism in our expression - for
Buber says here that "here the relation is clouded, yet it discloses itself; it does not use
speech, yet begets it." In the end, we cannot speak of the Thou of which we are
aware - yet it still seems to be undeniably here for us.
How do we know if the Thou exists?
"But with what right do we draw what lies
outside speech into relation with the world of the
primary word?"
The essence of his answer is this: we realize
that each thing we encounter can be a Thou if we
choose to see it as such.
"In every sphere in its own way, through
each process of becoming that is present to us we look
out toward the fringe of the eternal Thou. In each we are aware of a breath from the eternal
Thou; in each Thou we address the eternal Thou."
We are acutely aware that there is more to the
world than our experience of it - there is some
profound other of which we are aware, yet cannot express. That of which we are aware is not
an It, not an object which can be experienced, but rather something of which we become aware.
The clearest way to express this is that we can have a relationship with the other.
Consider a human relationship which has progressed
to a deep level of understanding. To some
people, this relationship will look like each of the persons in it are treating each other as objects.
But to the persons in the relationship, they are aware of the other as a Thou - a being apart from
the I, yet also a part of the I. It is a pity that quite a few 'relationships' are nothing of the sort
-
each of the persons experiences the other as an object, as an It rather than as a Thou. These are
the 'relationships' which remain static and which end in disaster. We are unsatisfied with such
'relationships' because we feel they are missing something. We are correct - they are missing the
very thing which defines them as relationships - a Thou. A true relationship with the Thou is a
dynamic, growing, creative , changing awareness.
But a relationship can only be built on choice
- the Thou can "step up to meet me", but I must
choose to reciprocate - or the relationship fails. If I go out looking for a relationship by looking
for
an object, then I will never find that which I seek.
For Buber, the same is true of our 'search'
for God - if we see God as a thing, as something to be
experienced, then we will be frustrated in our search. God is not an It, but rather is a Thou. All
that we need to do to find God is to choose to become aware of God. How do we do that?
"If you explore the life of things and
of conditioned being you come to the unfathomable (witness
the current state of physics), if you deny the life of things and of conditioned being you stand
before nothingness (are you listening, Nietzsche?), if you hallow this life you meet the living
God."
1. I
