School, threshold, meeting, self-esteem, attention, patience, reflexivity, rest… These are not just words that sound good. They are the tools to build the path towards a peaceful maturity. A path that begins in childhood and that Josep Maria Esquirol, professor at the University of Barcelona, ??has designed from philosophy in The School of the Soul (Acantilado). Philosopher, thinker and writer, Esquirol reviews in this interview with La Vanguardia the keys to graduating with the best grade in the school of the soul.

I want to enroll in the school of the soul. What is the first thing I have to do?

The first thing is to cross the threshold. It is difficult in a world where everything tends to be the same, to homogeneity. To cross the threshold you have to leave somewhere to find a place different from everything outside. If it is a simple copy, it is useless, because that threshold would not have been crossed.

You talk about altertopia. What does it mean?

It’s just that difference. If the school is the mimesis of society, it can no longer be that of the soul. Alter means other. That other place. I invented the word altertopia because it sounded a little similar to utopia and I liked that because today educational altertopia, that is, the school of the soul is like a utopia in the best sense of the word. Something that if it happens, is wonderful.

In the school of the soul encounters can occur…

Two types of encounters can occur. They are not automatic because the fact that there are many people together does not necessarily mean that they will occur. But they can happen. The first is the encounter with the teacher in a generic sense, with the one who can be a testimony of something, with the one who shows you, indicates you, leads you towards something valuable in the world, towards truth, beauty.

And the second meeting?

The meeting with the companion. It is not automatic either. It usually occurs when the place facilitates it. The meeting with your partner is also very valuable. With your partner you share something, you share bread. This double relationship constitutes the pillar of the school of the soul.

We already have the place, the guide and the companion. How should we proceed?

Non-indifference that equals peace. When there is violence in a place, even a little, there can be no school of the soul. Any type of violence mortgages the place: insult, contempt, mistreatment of the weak. It doesn’t matter that there are no computers or blackboards, the building may not even exist, but the school of the soul requires being free of violence. That is fundamental.

What is cultivated in the school of the soul?

Above all, the ability to receive, to receive something valuable, is cultivated. That is why attention is important, which is not a technique, it is an attitude that produces an openness that allows the beautiful to come to you.

Is self-esteem also cultivated?

In the school of the soul, the student grows and finds love for himself while finding love for others. No one can stand alone, to make their way, human beings need the help of others, the gaze of others. There are people who at any given moment feel bad, misplaced, disoriented and that can translate into rejection of everything. A good teacher can give confidence and make you feel that you are capable of finding your path and walking it. Self-esteem is not hypertrophy. Self-esteem is looking at yourself in such a way that you see yourself capable of doing something beautiful.

Is patience the school path of the soul?

I would say the ability to wait. In society, a kind of unsatisfied desire for everything predominates. People don’t stop consuming and moving and that generates dissatisfaction. The school of the soul cultivates knowing how to wait because there are things that are not achieved immediately. There is no catalog to choose from with one click. There are things whose achievement requires effort, repetition, tenacity, perseverance, perseverance to create confidence that takes you on the right path. Part of the malaise of our society has to do with the progressive inability to wait.

What causes this inability to wait?

There is a lot of hopelessness that we immediately associate with pathological situations, but that is not necessarily at the site of the disease. There are desperate people, who suffer great anxiety. A dissatisfaction that can cause depression, but that can be avoided if you mature well.

Another requirement of the school of the soul is thought…

Among the many things we consume are also culture and theories, but if they are consumer products they have an expiration date and are the opposite of thought. The good thought remains and precisely for this reason it must rest.

Are these instructions useful once you have left school? At work? With family?

Yes. The school of the soul is forever, because the human being is in movement. Life is movement. Sometimes we perceive change and it is obvious, we change in every way. But without a doubt, the fundamental change has to do with maturity.

When is maturity reached?

Maturity is bearing fruit, but the maturation process in human beings never ends. Never. Although if it is done well the fruits will come.

What is the main fruit?

To answer that, we first have to see what the essence, the core, the main horizon of the human being is. In my view, that is clarity and warmth, which are inseparable. It is what in usual language would be intelligence and affection or feeling. But I prefer to talk about clarity and warmth because they go together and necessarily and simultaneously imply perception, awareness and deep understanding of things and at the same time something radiates.

For example?

A truly wise person cannot be cold. It cannot be indifferent or distant, because wisdom is clarity and necessarily has to also be warm.

It is inevitable to think that less wise people are happier because they don’t think so much, they settle…

There is that belief, but it is not real. When Oedipus realizes that he has unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, he tears out his eyes. Clairvoyance and knowledge of it cause him great pain. But later, now blind, Oedipus sees more than ever, because he has matured and is wise, so he takes care of his daughters like he had never done before, he is not so arrogant, he is more placid and sweeter.

I have followed the course of the school of the soul. I am going to graduate. Is the title I will receive happiness?

No. For two reasons. First: in the school of the soul you enter to stay and there is never a last day of the course. Second: happiness is not a stage of fulfillment. Happiness has to do with the path itself, in doing things well during that journey. It’s not a title, it’s the entire process. Happiness is a well-oriented path for things to go.