Paging Mr. Hero…
So, I lost one of my heroes the other day, or at least I discovered that I was deluded about one of my heroes. (It’s not Michael Jackson, I swear). This experience was somewhat akin to losing Santa Claus as a little kid – a type of sadness that I did not know was possible for a person of my age. This led me to wonder what the nature of a hero or idol actually is, and what happens when you discover that your hero was never really there in the first place.
A hero, in my opinion, is someone who exhibits certain qualities that you wish you could embody yourself (and, of course, like all heroes, uses them only for good). He or she possesses more-than-human abilities insofar as you are the human in question. You try to emulate them and learn from them so that your own natural tendencies and instincts evolve to include the aspects of your hero that you hold so highly. For example, Plato is one of my heroes, as well as Dr. Seuss. I try to understand the world using universal concepts (per Plato) while also understanding that the most basic ideas and modes of communication are the most important (per Dr. Seuss).
So what happens when you discover that your hero is really not the person that you thought he or she was? Were you tricked? Were you deluded? Either way, your world changes very quickly. All of a sudden, the person that you were attempting to model certain parts of your life after instantaneously becomes someone completely different (in your mind, at least). What are you supposed to do with all of the training and energy that was put in to developing yourself in the model of the hero in question? Was it all for naught? Do you immediately change course?
After some serious speculation, I have come to the conclusion that nothing really changes except your relation to the person. Your hero is now a human being that is flawed just like the rest of us. You can now interact with that person (either physically or mentally) on an even playing field. There is no longer any ranking. You have lost a model, but gained a fellow.
And what about all of the energy that you put into your own personal “hero training”? Was that wasted? Not really – and here is my reasoning. I hope you are ready for it. Once you discover that your hero is not really the person that you thought he or she was, all of a sudden, that perfection that you believed in so much is now a void (or has been all along). It is gone! The modes of being that you looked so highly upon are now nothing more than figments of your imagination. Whenever there is a void, there is something that innately wants to fill it (a vacuum sucks because it needs matter to fill the void). And that is where you step in. Once your hero is no longer a physical person, your hero exists only in your mind. Therefore, you are your hero and have been all along. Once your hero is no longer physically embodied, your concept is all the more real. You now only have yourself to emulate.
Just like the Buddha said not to worship him but to find your own path, we should not try to be like our heroes, but use our abstract conception of them to propel ourselves forward.
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