Monday, December 31, 2007

It's an Ideal World to Become Who You Are (12.31.10)

I hadn't really intended to spark a discussion of psychedelic experience yesterday. However, someone mentioned Terence McKenna, who made a tremendous impression on me back when I was incubating in the graveyard shift in the supermarket in the mid-1980s. I would listen to the radio on headphones while working, and they used to play his lectures on the local Pacifica radio station between midnight and 5:00 AM.

I've mentioned before that I'd never heard such a spellbinding speaker. He would weave together such an unusual combination of subjects, and somehow it would all make perfect sense at 3:00AM -- psilocybin, brain chemistry, Joyce, Whitehead, Jung, chaos theory, temporal resonance, morphic fields, linguistics, mysticism, anthropology, art, none of it seemingly "forced." Although it was definitely odd, it was no doubt genuine. It was just his unique vision.

I remember at the time wishing intensely that I could somehow become like that, but in my own way. In hindsight, I now realize that throughout my life I've had a number of "ideals" that I've been able to activate and make my own by first locating them outside myself. This is the only way I can explain certain otherwise inexplicable things that have happened to me -- or skills that I have acquired -- during my life. It is as if we really do attract and become that which we "love" or idealize; as such, there is great spiritual danger in idealizing the wrong kind of thing or person, because you will become that as well.

Terence McKenna was definitely a vital stepping stoner on the way up and back to my Self. In turn, I hope this blog can provide this service for others. I realize that some readers sort of "idealize" me in a way. It makes me uncomfortable, but I suppose it's okay so long as I merely represent the exteriorization of something that is becoming active in you -- a memoir of your own future Self, so to speak.

Joseph Chilton Pearce has discussed this in at least a couple of his books. I have no time to dig them out, but he points out that we are born with a unique psychic blueprint, which may be thought of as an in-built "expectation" for certain kinds of experience. (Here you go -- this was pretty good, The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint of the Human Spirit.) The blueprint is like the lock, while the experiences, or external models, are like the key that unlocks it and gives it content. In fact, Jung speaks of the archetypes -- e.g., the Great Mother, the anima, the "wise old man," the crone, etc. -- in the same way. Bion called them "preconceptions," or "empty categories" awaiting and anticipating certain experiences that will automatically "make sense" on a deep level when we have them. Your "soul mate" is not just a person, but a whole world -- a world that you paradoxically co-create in discovering it.

Of particular interest is the archetype of the Self, which is your own unique constellation of factors -- as unique as your face. When you consider the fact that the billions of people who have lived and died have all had unique faces, and yet, have more or less been psychologically "faceless," you've hit on one of the enduring tragedies of life, i.e., that most people are condemned to die before they are even born.

In One Cosmos, I don't explicitly delve much into politics at all, but if there is a coonfluence between my political and spiritual views, this is it. For if the purpose of life is to realize one's archetype, then the ultimate value of a culture or nation or political movement will be the degree to which it either impedes or makes this realization possible (see page 180): "We must each of us, in our own way, fight for the cultural circumstances that make intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth possible, because most cultural circumstances actively suppress our growth as human beings."

As such, any purely materialistic political philosophy will be a non-starter. I never say that "Republicanism" is any kind of ideal. Far from it. It's just that the left is so incredibly dangerous and destructive to human ends, that it must be opposed, just as the Islamofascists must be. In the case of the latter, their great evil is the same: the systematic smothering of our spiritual individuation. To force women to live in bags -- i.e., to deprive them of their face -- is a terrifying metaphor of what they do to the soul, which is to say, bury it in darkness. Likewise, radical feminism sophicates the beautiful archetypal feminine form in an airless black bag of faceless ideology.

At any rate, all of the archetypes are collective save for one, which is your unique Self, and which is yours to keep as a consolation prize for this difficult journey we call life. Now, presuming there is a Creator, each person represents a unique "problem of God," something spoken of by Sri Aurobindo. And this is where we can run into a bit if trouble with institutionalized, "big box" religions, which can tend to cater to a psychological "type" rather than the individual. It doesn't have to be this way, any more than a Big Mac has to taste the same at every McDonalds in the world, but it's amazing how you can get people to choose things that aren't in their interests with enough salt and fat.

Now, there was clearly a time when it was necessary for institutionalized religion to be geared toward the collective, since it wasn't too long ago that what we call the modern individual Self did not exist -- or at least for only a very few lucky souls. If you don't believe me, try digesting Charles Taylor's 600 page explanation, Sources of the Self, followed by his latest offering, A Secular Age, and get back to me. I think he pretty much covers the waterfront on that topic.

The problem is, how do you have a timeless and unalterable truth geared toward individuals? In reality, it's not a problem at all -- it's like asking how can you have a thing called "life," and yet, all these diverse species. Or how can consciousness exist with all these individuals walking around calling themselves "I." Who is the real I?

Likewise, who is the real God? The answer may surprise you. In fact, if it doesn't surprise you, it's probably the wrong answer. More on that later. But to say that God knows the number of hairs on your head is a way of saying that he values your uniqueness.

Now, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Bolton says what amounts to the same thing in his Keys of Gnosis: "Because of the presence of its immanent principle or 'divine spark,' the soul can thus align itself with forces and influences which share its true nature, or it can align itself with forces which are alien to it and which tend to make it more and more a part of a physical system in which individuality would ultimately be lost."

Precisely. The exertion of free will becomes relevant here, for "the less free the will is, the more it functions simply in reaction to outside forces with standard responses to standard stimuli and stimulations." This is the Big Mac person, whom it is so easy for Demogogocrats to control. In all of their policies and pronouncements, they are always speaking to this type of unthinking McDullard. Occasionally the MSM gets hip to the spell, but then they fall right back to sleep, since the platitudes of contemporary liberalism speak to them on a very deeply shallow level, no matter how much they admit it to themselves.

A free will is a will that doesn't react, but acts. I think we'll be getting into this more deeply later in the week, but this is the true meaning of "turning the other cheek." For example, if someone pulls a knife on you, it is perfectly acceptable to pull a gun on them, so long as the act is not "kind for kind" on an emotional or spiritual level. This is a spiritually perilous area, and one must "walk the razor's edge" to not fall into the trap of retaliation, even while administering disinterested cosmic justice, for if done in the wrong spirit, then the wrong will return to you. I mentioned this last year, in reference to the barbarous spirit in which Saddam was put to death, in contrast to the sober manner in which Americans do the necessary deed. Those folks who were whooping it up are asking for it, karmically speaking.

Let's take some examples that come readily to mind. Liberals fantasize that we invaded Iraq for purely imperialistic reasons, or for reasons of "revenge." In fact, America never does this. Rather, it's as if we say: "if you attack us, we will force you to have democracy, liberty, free markets, and all sorts of other good things, so you'd better think twice." This is the very opposite of the type of purely talionic, punitive response which would have been carried out by ancient Rome, or the Soviet Union, or the Muslim world. Look at Israel. If they responded to the Palestinian savages in kind, they would simply eliminate them from the face of the earth and be done with them. There is no "cycle of violence" there. That's absurd.

Look at Germany and Japan. We conquered them in order to liberate them, fully in keeping with the deeper meaning of turning the other cheek. If we had responded in kind, then we would have simply destroyed them. Thus, when liberals fantasize about America being an "evil empire," it is simply a projection of their own spiritually debased state. Their talionic feelings toward President Bush could not be more childishly transparent. They really would like to torture and kill him. I mean, I've read threads in which they glory in the hope that his former spokesman will suffer and die of colon cancer, or that Dick Cheney will have a debilitating stroke. These are frightening souls existing in a very hellish dimension that they have chosen for themselves.

Now, back to free will. Bolton writes that three conditions are necessary in order to be "capable of consistent and self-originated activity.... namely, the physical strength necessary for it, a practical knowledge of what the action involves, and finally a relation of the actions to values and long-term purpose, not to accidental needs and whims."

Hmm, he forgot to mention sufficient time, of which I am now out.

*****

Cooncidentally, Mrs. G. has a post that touches on today's topic, In Memory of My Mother in Spirit, who passed away two days ago.

*****

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it -- being the end of the year and all -- I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who purchased books and things through the amazon links on the blog. To my surprise, it definitely adds up, basically providing enough in amazon coupons to keep me in books, which in turn provide the fodder for more posts as I reflect upon and dialogue with them. So keep it up, since it's for your own good!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post as usual!

Next time I will enter the One Cosmos, my litle clock thingie down on the right of my computer screen will tell me it's 2008.

And yes, I do admire your work... how do you get time to read all that books? Guess you'll have Petey to read at least half of them...

I'm off to dinner and some champagne, happy new years!

/Johan, der Dosmo-dude aus Schweden

walt said...

I had the pleasure yesterday of rummaging through the Archives over at Motel Zero yesterday, specifically the very early days of 2007, i.e. a year ago. So much time has passed, but I remembered each of Robin's photos well, and many of the haikus, almost as though they were from the last few weeks. He must use some sort of Invisible Glue, for they surely stuck with me!

And as another example of "time-passing", I noticed that a year ago there were serious rants around here from the infamous Inty, which occupied us for quite a while.

Using those two examples alone, I was struck by the sheer amount of terrain covered by tagging along with Bob and the Raccoons for a whole year! I thought Bolton's statement described it well:

"Because of the presence of its immanent principle or 'divine spark,' the soul can thus align itself with forces and influences which share its true nature, or it can align itself with forces which are alien to it and which tend to make it more and more a part of a physical system in which individuality would ultimately be lost."

Raccoons are awake to what are perceived as "alien forces" to our souls, and threats to our individuality. And Raccoon vision can spot the "divine sparks" flying off the One Cosmos each day -- why would we not wish to align with those?

Happy New Year to the Host, and all the Raccoons!

Anonymous said...

Per the post, we are the only nation in history who has (a) "forced" freedom on a people and (b) had that gift thrown back at us and decried as evil imperialism.


I made another contribution last night to the Bobjar with an Amazon book purchase... I'm glad it adds up.... to keep us all buying even more books ;-) (where *do* you find these books?)

Happy New Year to Bob, his family, and the rest of the OC family.

Gagdad Bob said...

Mrs. G has a moving post that directly ties into today's topic, about a Mother in Spirit whose death she just learned about.

Anonymous said...

Based on my parsing of Aurobindo, I would add, regarding the "spiritual blueprint," that this blueprint may not be completely out of the control of the soul that attempts to manifest it.

The life plot is hatched in the pre-life time, when the soul makes plans for the life ahead; this is what Aurobindo and the Mother have extended as what happens. I think it logical that the soul participates in its own evolution, so I intuitively support the notion. Major life strains/challenges/obstacles/events/circumstances are mapped and plotted in the chronological order that they should occur to achieve a desired teaching/gain of experience/shaping of the soul. God participates and mentors the planning and lays plans to spin the temporal unfolding to loosely match the desired spec.

Now, whether or not the blueprint can be adhered to is similar to the musings of the white-water kayaker--sure, as he eyeballs the cataract and plots his course, he knows theoretically he can shoot the rapids, but the execution of same is fraught with uncertainty.

Given that the waters of Lethe are sipped before birth, that white-water becomes a difficult challenge to the embodied soul. A good half are going to crack-up, flip, drown, or other wise blow it. That's why they call it a sport and that's why life is best seen as a sport.

Van Harvey said...

Ahhh...

"I realize that some readers sort of "idealize" me in a way. It makes me uncomfortable, but I suppose it's okay so long as I merely represent the exteriorization of something that is becoming active in you -- a memoir of your own future Self, so to speak."

with that in mind and this in hand,

"In One Cosmos, I don't explicitly delve much into politics at all, but if there is a coonfluence between my political and spiritual views, this is it. For if the purpose of life is to realize one's archetype, then the ultimate value of a culture or nation or political movement will be the degree to which it either impedes or makes this realization possible (see page 180): "We must each of us, in our own way, fight for the cultural circumstances that make intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth possible, because most cultural circumstances actively suppress our growth as human beings." "

I'll say this: I don't know if you understand how Good it is to hear someone else say that, and I mean 'someone else' as just that, someone, somebody, a typical non-standard person out there in the world, not some idealized figure of history or on the political stage, but a real living breathing person, with a family and similar cares as do I and numerous others.

Your real value, to me, anyway, is that you are Not one of the idealized few, but may in fact indicate that Ideas are alive and well among the many, that there must be many people who not only think along similar lines as I do, but who also have a way with those Ideas that I can learn more from.

That gives me a Great sense of satisfaction and hope for the New Year, and for the many years that will follow it.

Thank You Bob, and Happy New Year!

Rick said...

Well said, Van.
And thank you, Bob.
Happy New Year everybody!
Rick

Anonymous said...

Bob

I’d like to thank you for this last years posts. I am especially grateful for the “Jesus Prayer” I try to say it whenever I have a moment or two, like driving or waiting for something; and I have recently realized it is changing me. I have been less angry, more patient and much calmer. I have less trouble seeing other people as God’s creation and worthy of His love so I should be a little more forgiving too. I still find I don’t suffer fools gladly though but that maybe too much to ask. Some things, like Christ in the Temple, require our righteous anger.

Wishing all the Coons a Happy New Year.

Anonymous said...

Best wishes to all for a healthy & happy '08.

May we have Blessings & Grace to assist in becoming more ourSelves.

Thanks Bob & all ye Raccoons for trailblazing that path.

Anna said...

Something from my father, Peter (1945-1997):

Smile blooms
in the cradle of joy
Fragile yet strong
exquisitely free
Life giving
happy its harvest
Quick it grows
asking for no rest
Caught in a moment
it says forever
Spreading from cheek to cheek
exploding self
in a selfless endeavor.

c. early '70's


(at least I believe this is his; it is in a poetry notebook from his 20's, before I came to be. whom ever's it is, there we go, but I think he wrote it.)

julie said...

Happy New Year, Raccoons!

Anonymous said...

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ****************

Thanks Bob for all that you do.

phil g said...

Happy New Coon Year to everyone!

Thanks again and again Bob for your daily bread.

Robert said...

Thanks for be here. Happy New Year to all racoons.

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