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Scent of Light Episode

by Ken Norton

Holy Curiosity

Original Broadcast September 22, 2019

The audio file above is the spoken word recording without background music provided to Radio KOWS 92.5 FM broadcast of the Scent of Light episode for insert into the Radio Spotlight Magazine (RSM) with host André Marc. Click here for the RSM recording of the broadcast with background music chosen by André which is posted to a google drive page.

Transcript

In this episode on the Scent of Light I will speak on Holy Curiosity.

A couple of months before Einstein died in 1955 my mentor Dr. William Hermanns visited Einstein accompanied by an editor of Life Magazine, William Miller and his son Pat, a freshman student at Harvard. Life Magazine published a tribute to Einstein in its May 2, 1955 issue called Death of a Genius. It is available online at Google books or at a library. It included a section titled Old Man's Advice to Youth: Never Lose a Holy Curiosity written by Bill Miller. The conversation is included in my mentor's book Einstein and the Poet - In Search of the Cosmic Man. Towards the end of the conversation with Einstein the student Pat asked, and I will read from the Life Magazine article:

"Does experience give us truth?"

Einstein warmed to the boy's search for guideposts. "This is a difficult question," he said, a slight lisp noticeable in his voice. "One is always seeing things without being sure that one does see them. Truth is a verbal concept, which cannot be submitted to mathematical proof."

Dr. Hermanns asked, whether truth were not inherent in man. "You once told me that progress could be gained only by intuition and not the accumulation of knowledge."

"It is not quite so simple," said Einstein. "Knowledge is necessary too. A child with great intuition could not grow up to become something worthwhile in life without some knowledge. However there comes a point in everyone's life where only intuition can make the leap ahead. without knowing precisely how."

"You do believe in a soul," persisted Dr. Hermanns.

"Yes, if by this you mean the living spirit that makes us long to do worthy things for humanity."

I [Bill Miller] broke in to describe my son's philosophical impasse: "Now he
can find no reason why he should strive to achieve."

Einstein looked at Pat and simply asked, "Does not the question of the undulation of light arouse your curiosity?" (The nicest thing about the question was his simple assumption that the boy would understand it.)

"Yes, very much," said the boy, his interest brightening.

"Is not this enough to occupy your whole curiosity for a lifetime?"

"Why yes," said Pat, smiling rather sheepishly. "I guess it is."

"Then do not stop to think,' said Einstein, "about the reasons for what you are doing, about why you are questioning. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day. never lose a holy curiosity. Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value. He is considered successful in our day who gets more out of life than he puts in. But a man of value will give more than he receives."

My mentor memorialized Einstein and his holy curiosity in his poem:

                      Einstein

                                                    by William Hermanns

"When dead, then let my worthless body burn,
my ashes throw into the silent air;
on earth no hole shall give my name a place."

We rowed through darkness with your precious urn.
There was a splash, a bubble sobbed somewhere.
Yet, friend, creation has preserved your trace.

The trace leads up; your pillow is a star.
your dream? You see a golden ladder rise
and youths ascending, white and black and brown,

rung after rung, reach out and touch afar
a light, heart-formed, that gleams into the skies.
The pilgrimage is endless up and down,

and they are changed. They radiate and glow.
Filled with your conscience, your intuition,
they act now with dimensions infinite.

Their will and purpose crush what's base low
and stop the atom from its hell-bound mission.
They carry in their heart a holy writ:

We are cosmic substance, co-creators, we,
of all that was and is and what shall be.
And these, my friend, were your last words to me:
"Have always holy curiosity."

This is Ken Norton on the Scent Of Light. You can contact me via Ken at KennethENorton.com. The Scent of Light episodes are archived on the web at kennethenorton.com. Thanks for listening. 

               About the Author and Producer

Ken Norton earned his master's degree in Materials Science from Stanford University as the Vietnam War was ending. During that time Ken served as the personal assistant to a poet/sociologist Dr. William Hermanns as he prepared his writings for publication, exposing Ken to not only the sciences but also the humanities and comparative religion for making conscious and conscionable choices.

Ken is a regular contributor to Radio Spotlight Magazine with his episodes on the Scent of Light.

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Reference Links:

Death of a Genius, Life Magazine, May 2, 1955, can be read at this link: Google Books online.

Einstein and the Poet - In Search of the Cosmic Man  www.williamhermanns.com/Einstein_and_the_Poet.html 

Ken Norton in practice of Tai Chi Chuan

 2018 Photo by Elaine B. Holtz

I co-produce Women's Spaces Show with my loving partner and its host Elaine B. Holtz. Take a visit.  All the shows are archived on the website.

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I am the Trustee and Archivist. Visit the website I built in honor of my mentor.

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Be still and know,
We're in the flow
Of Love to grow
From seeds we sow.*

                    Kenneth E. Norton

* stanza from his poem Intuition's Joy