“I am the laborer of the abyss. I am the spectator of the abyss. I am theory and practice. I am the law. Outside of me, there is nothing. ‘I alone exist!’ cries the Mind.” Asketiki, Nikos Kazantzakis
Contemplation, the offspring of the Mind. The above words of Kazantzakis swirl in my mind, trying to appear contemplative, responding to the special honor my friend Giannis bestowed upon me to introduce his new book, Timely Reflections. These are the same words that shone on a full moon night in the starry sky of Taygetus when, as fellow travelers of the initiatory Ascent, we mystically philosophized with a clear Mind sitting around the Master's Sign (or at the Marble Threshing Floors).
With the capacity, therefore, of a humble companion of the author in the sacred ritual of Taygetus, I will dare as a non-writer(!) to express my critical thoughts on his work. The new work of Ioannis Dimopoulos is the quintessence of the world of Ideas that he introduced us to with his previous book, Dialectic of Love and Death. Here, the author with his torrential speech, direct and robust, like Hephaestus at the anvil, forges your emotions and compels you not to renounce your responsibility as a human being.
A demolisher and at the same time a Builder, he attempts to revive the "full Memory" of Sikelianos through the archetype of ancient Greek philosophy. He tackles the fundamental building blocks of human existence—the very self-luminous human entity—so grand yet so tragic, as this is defined and revealed through our ancient ancestors and contemporary thinkers, from Heraclitus to Nietzsche and to Liadinis. Audaciously, he deconstructs social concepts.
