Published in 1998, Becoming Human is part of the CBC Massey Lectures and had originally been presented as five talks titled: Not surprisingly, he writes with a simplicity that sounds much like Thich Naht Hanh‘s and he refers to metta, the Buddhist practice of loving kindness. Indeed, he notes: “It is my belief that it is not religion or culture at the root of human conflict but the way in which groups use religion or culture to dominate one another.” Absent religious pride, it is entirely possible to apply Vanier’s approach from within any religious context. Doing and living are more important than the particulars of religious belief. Although religious belief lies at the foundation of all Vanier’s work, his is not an overtly religious voice.

Along the way, a spiritual mentor named Father Thomas Philippe introduced him to some disabled people under his care and this was the seed that flowered as l’Arche. Vanier began his career in the navy, signing up when he was only thirteen, but quit to study philosophy and theology in Paris. Jean Vanier is the founder of l’Arche which now has 130 communities throughout the world serving the needs of people who struggle with developmental disabilities. Vanier contemplates it deeply, not to give an answer, but to share the insights that seventy years of experience have offered him.

The question is more like a koan, where the simple fact of contemplating it yields insights. While, at some level, the question of what it means to be human is unanswerable, that does not make asking the question a fruitless exercise. You may recall Lanier’s thesis: in creating software that facilitates online interaction, designers often contribute to alienating experiences because they fail to give prior thought to the question of what it means to be human.

Jean Vanier’s Becoming Human serves as an excellent companion piece to Jaron Lanier’s You Are Not A Gadget which I reviewed earlier this month.

Becoming human vanier