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More than any other human being in the modern age, playwright, human-rights activist and former president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel was a Leader-Sage. A Leader-Sage leads not merely from the fragmented ego state, but is able to tap into a greater, transcendent intelligence, an Integrated Intelligence.
Havel epitomised three vital aspects of the human archetype: conscience, courage and compassion. These are three qualities that are badly needed in today’s world, in today’s leaders.
Vaclan Havel spent five years in jail under the Communist regime in his home country. As a playwright, his plays were not only banned, he was forbidden to leave the country. His ideas and ideals played a key role in the collapse of Communism in Europe. He received more honours and awards than I could possibly mention here, mostly associated with his work related to human rights. He was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Vaclav Havel is revered also by the small clique of dissidents and democracy activists in China today. He nominated jailed Chinese human rights campaigner and democracy activist Liu Xiaobo for the Nobel Prize, which he subsequently won. For this reason, Beijing was not Havel’s greatest fan. Notable was the contrasting reaction by Beijing at the recent deaths of two world leaders. They expressed deep sadness at the passing of North Koreas’ Kim Jong Il, calling him “a great leader”. They were utterly silent at the passing of Havel.
My admiration for Havel, however, is not merely in relation to his political and social work. It was his deep understanding of this unique moment in history that stands out above all, in my mind. He understood well that the modernist (scientific) and postmodern (relativistic) visions of world and cosmos are both flawed and impoverished. They do not address the true depth of human experience. This is best stated by Havel himself, in a talk he gave in 1995, and which was published in the Futurist, the World Future Society’s magazine.
