Centuries ago, a brilliant mind named Spinoza dared to challenge the prevailing dogmas of his time. He rejected the "fancy stories" of organized religion, instead seeing nature itself as a vast, interconnected system – what he believed you could call "God," but certainly not the version promoted by the Church. For his radical ideas, he was heavily persecuted, silenced, and forced into isolation. Driven to the margins, Spinoza became a lens grinder, a solitary profession that, four hundred years ago, involved crude technology and immense personal cost.
Day in and day out, he meticulously worked with glass, inhaling the fine, sharp dust that inevitably entered his lungs. This constant exposure slowly but surely took its toll, leading to his premature death. Yet, it was through this very suffering, this brutal breaking of his own body, that his profound philosophy truly came into being. For, as it's said, genuine philosophy is born when falsehoods are shattered. To truly embrace life, we must be willing to dismantle the lies that have become our very breath, our backbone, our lifeblood. Becoming a true philosopher, a seeker of ultimate truth, demands this painful, necessary process of breaking down everything we thought we knew.
