Friday, March 30, 2018

Hierarchy, Caste, and Light Detectors

Okay, I don't really know where I'm going with this idea of depth. So let's go there!

For example, last night I had a dream that took place in the southern US. I was looking at an empty space where one of their statues had been removed. An old classmate from grad school recognized me, and I sat at her table while pretending to recognize her.

As we chatted, I defended the statues, suggesting to her that there was much more to southern culture than just slavery -- as there is more to Germany than Nazism (or more even to New York than the Times). But she was thoroughly steeped in the Narrative, and obviously didn't understand where I was coming from. I could tell she suspected I was a racist, and there was no way for me to escape the imputation. In such situations, the more you try to explain, the more defensive and guilty you sound.

So, it was a case of level confusion. Yes, it was also a case of narrative vs. truth, but such simplistic narratives can only exist at a certain cognitive level. A more intelligent or curious or openminded person questions the narrative and thereby escapes the matrix.

Eh, that's not a very good example. How about this one: a couple evenings ago I had a wide-ranging conversation with a lady. She asked what I did for a living, and I said "psychologist," which for some reason always gets a rise out of people. But I always qualify it right away, since I don't at all relate to the field. Okay, then what am I?

Good question. Really, I'm just this guy having a wide-ranging conversation with you, nothing more, nothing less. It's kind of what I do. Including on this blog.

But again, it's a question of depth. For me, psychology is dwarfed by metaphysics, theology, mysticism, esoterism, philosophy. The latter are totally compelling, in comparison to which psychology is a cage.

Indeed, it reminds me of the old gag to the effect that for the sage, paradise is a prison. You could drop me into any earthly paradise, but if I didn't have the space and time(lessness) to simply be, then it wouldn't be paradise.

So, in a very important way, being is paradise, and vice versa. That's a bold statement. Can you back it up? I think you're just lazy -- and probably neurotic -- and that you hide behind these fancy metaphysical ideas to conceal your lack of achievement.

Oh shut up. One mother-in-law is enough.

Looking back on it, I've always been sensitive to "class." Not economic class, nor social standing. Rather, something more ethereal... I'm sure Raccoons know what I'm talking about: there are supernaturally natural aristocrats, or "beings of light," so to speak. Can't you tell when you're in the presence of one? Of course you can. You can also feel the darkness. The remarkable thing is that some -- or most -- people can't.

For example, Rachel Maddow is apparently the most popular cable news host these days. I literally cannot imagine what it would be like to regard her as normal -- to not sense the dark-and-crazy. Conversely, there are people who regard, say, Churchill as Hitler. Not just on the fringe, but in the Washington Post (my mother-in-law sent me the link, worried that I might be giving our son a one-sided perspective).

Hmm... if Churchill is Hitler, that means Hitler is Churchill, so what's the big deal?

This post is turning into the Usual Friday Ramble, isn't it? Let's try to restore order with some gimlet words from Schuon. And what is order but awareness of, and respect for, levels?

The man of “aristocratic” nature -- we are not speaking of social classes -- is he who masters himself and who loves to master himself; the “plebeian” by nature -- with the same reservation -- is on the contrary he who does not master himself, and who does not wish to do so.

To master oneself is in substance to want to transcend oneself, in conformity with the reason for being of that central and total creature which is man; in fact, the man of the “dark age” lives below himself. Thus he must transcend himself -- or re-establish the equilibrium between Maya and Atma -- in accordance with a norm which he bears within himself, and which comprises all that makes life worth living.

For example... let's just say I know of a family of billionaires in which the wife and daughters are devoted to the TV program Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Can you even imagine what that must be like? Which proves -- as if such proof is necessary -- that no amount of money can purchase the kind of class under discussion.

I can hear it now: who are you to speak of class, when you support Trump! Again, level confusion: politics is politics. Dennis Prager speaks for me:

the policies of a political leader matter much more -- morally -- than that individual’s sexual sins, or even character. It is truly foolish to argue otherwise.... That “60 Minutes” correspondent Anderson Cooper and many in our country found it acceptable to ask a woman, “Did he use a condom?” on national TV is a far graver reflection of America’s moral malaise than a man having a one-night affair 12 years ago....

The fact is it is none of my business and none of my concern whether a politician ever had an extramarital affair. To cite just one of many examples, a president’s attitude toward the genocide-advocating Islamic tyrants in Tehran is incomparably more morally significant. That is just one of many reasons -- on moral grounds alone -- I far prefer the current president to the faithful-to-his-wife previous president.

It is apparently difficult to escape the caste to which one has been assigned. Think of all the academics who shouldn't be thinking, but rather, engaged in some productive form of manual labor. Most of the real trouble in the world can be traced to miscaste "intellectuals."

Schuon: "Caste takes precedence over race because spirit has priority over form; race is a form while caste is a spirit." But the left, from Andrew Jackson to the present, maintains the opposite: that race is critically important. Really, diversity and multiculturalism are the substitution of race for natural hierarchy, such that even truth itself is denied.

We've discussed the idea of caste before. You don't have to take it literally to understand that there is something to it, based upon everyday experience. Who hasn't met a warrior, or priest, or scholar, or laborer, or merchant? Nor do I, for example, pretend to be a warrior. I could probably be one, but it wouldn't be me -- the guy who likes to have pointless, wide-ranging conversations.

There is first of all the intellective, speculative, contemplative, sacerdotal type, which tends towards wisdom or holiness; holiness referring more particularly to contemplation, and wisdom to discernment.

Next there is the warlike and royal type, which tends towards glory and heroism; even in spirituality... this type will readily be active, combative and heroic, hence the ideal of the “heroicalness of virtue.”

The third type is the respectable “average” man: he is essentially industrious, balanced, persevering; his center is love for work that is useful and well done, and carried out with God in mind; he aspires neither to transcendence nor to glory -- although he desires to be both pious and respectable -- but like the sacerdotal type, he loves peace and is not interested in adventures; a tendency which predisposes him to a contemplativeness conformable with his occupations.

Lastly there is the type that has no ideal other than that of pleasure in the more or less coarse sense of the word; this is concupiscent man who, not knowing how to master himself, has to be mastered by others, so that his great virtue will be submission and fidelity.

Modern liberalism is premised on the idea that anyone can be anything, which is really a way of saying that everyone is nobody. We are not infinitely malleable. You are who you are, and it is a matter of actualizing and deepening that you, not pretending you're someone else.

Surely there must be some aphorisms that can save this wayward and wooly post from itself!

Equality is not justice; it is merely the way of avoiding the obligation of attributing to each his own.

Unjust inequality is not remedied by equality, but by just inequality.

Leveling is the barbarian’s substitute for order.

Where equality permits liberty to enter, inequality slips in.

He who claims equal opportunity ends up requiring that the gifted be penalized.

There is something definitively vile about the man who only admits equals, who does not tirelessly seek out his betters.

Equality is not the fulfillment but the perversion of equity. Only a hierarchical ordering proceeds equitably with “the lion and the ox” (Dávila).

By the way, I'm not saying I'm better than anyone else. Indeed, I would love for just once to be normal. But I've resigned myself to the realization that that is something that can never be. So the conversation continues...

20 comments:

ted said...

I've been considering this notion of depth, and the "Beings of light" we encounter. I've found it interesting when we look at the archetypes of the thinker, the saint, the mystic, and the warrior. Rarely have a found a being with depth to be integrated with all four. Some are deep thinkers, but have no esoteric grounding. Some heroic types are so admirable, but can't really discuss their intentions coherently. And some deep mystics are rarely saintly types who are willing to give their lives over to those in need. Of course, I am simplifying things this since a real saint is probably a warrior and real deep thinker would be a sort of mystic who is grounded in intelligibility. But it's still seems depth can come in many colors and callings. And yet, we still know it when we see it.

julie said...

Rather, something more ethereal... I'm sure Raccoons know what I'm talking about: there are supernaturally natural aristocrats, or "beings of light," so to speak. Can't you tell when you're in the presence of one? Of course you can. You can also feel the darkness.

Yes, definitely. Notably, I can't think of any I've met among the worldly "high class" who fit that bill.

I don't understand even normal people liking the Kardashians, excpet that for most people I know "reality" tv helps them to feel better about themselves. A billionaire following the show seems utterly bizarre; don't they have anything better to do, or are they checking to see how their own lives measure up to that mess?

neal said...

Higher poisons. Ground states. Castes. That stuff will just be your head on a platter, to impress your betters.
Best to go out on the water, and yell at the clouds. Sometimes they stare back.

Anonymous said...

Great Post, Sir. I will gladly read 5 of your mediocre posts to get to the great one; these come along at reliable intervals. And at over 10 years at it, you have good longevity in the business. Yes, you like to have rambling conversations. If I were to place you in a codified, traditional caste, I would call you a Brahman. I think you are well suited for talk therapy in as a psychologist.

Obviously you can detect people vibes pretty easily; not everyone can or does. Loving those of all vibes comes sooner or later, although avoidance of some people is advisable for your own safety and well-being.

You can look indulgently on Kardashians and their ilk and reflect on where they are in their journey; they are probably where they need to be. Tolerance and affection are the virtues of the Brahman. Severity and censure lie in the bailiwick of the Kshatriya.

Unknown said...

The only GPS god gave humans is the moral GPS, once it is observed and respected all others aspects of life will fall in their proper place without much commotion. It is truth and justice. All archetypes are looked to through that lenses irrespective of the different labels. It is a journey in building honest relation first with god as the foundation for building other relations. Our souls, the tools of our consciousness are the compass ,once they have strengthened their relation with the source, navigation in the world darkness will become easy and successful, since our souls are programmed to know everything. Nothing in our universe is left undetected that is the purpose of our testing life and the existence of the next for reading the human scrolls individually and collectively. It is believe or disbelieve is the paramount question since our beingness has already been established for us.It is delving in our inner knowledge where the soul that contains the consciousness that open the doors to everything, knowing that external explorations become beneficial only if used for the enhancement of that inner light.

Rob said...

I've met beings of darkness. At a bar in Austin Texas. Two ordinary looking men having a drink who spoke to me after our band's set had broken up. I was a total stranger to them. Their ability to read into my character and find its faults and leverage them to toy with me in the space of a few passing words set them apart. To me, these two men dressed in white were two-dimensional fronts for unmitigated darkness. It was something I knew without question. No one since has struck me that way. Not the man who wanted me to go with him into the wilds of Big Bend in Texas to wait for the UFOs to come for us. That person was many things, but mostly self-deluded. I've met men whose animal passions had so little human veneer that the raw simian love of violence was barely contained. Lawyers whose entire professional lives consisted of carefully contrived frauds. They were bad, but none of them came across as if all that was inside was darkness.

Anonymous said...

Hello Rob:

I've met exactly one of these myself, in my whole life. Fortunately they are rare. The Rishis of old tell of them as "Asuras," and have a detailed description. No one knows what these are for. A famous Yogin thought the Asura carried out certain purposes for God, but as to what that could be is uncertain.

julie said...

Apropos of nothing, except that it seems very raccoonish, an interesting an interesting quote by Thomas Merton:

"...I am not living "like anybody." Or "unlike anybody." We all live somehow or other, and that's that. It is a compelling necessity for me to be free to embrace the necessity of my own nature."

ted said...

I like that quote Julie.

Happy Easter!

William Wildblood said...

In the Kali Yuga, which is now, caste is either denied or inverted but without caste there is no order. That is why, spiritually speaking, we live in time of great disorder even though that is not apparent to most people.

Beings of light do exist and what distinguishes them is their degree of openness to truth. All religious people should all try to reflect truth but they are transparent to it. By the same token, beings of darkness are closed to truth. Doesn't that increasingly define the modern left?

julie said...

Not only closed to truth, but openly at war with it on pretty much every front.

Gagdad Bob said...

William -- Very well put. If a person is closed to truth, how could they reflect the light? You're correct about the disorder too, although I hesitate to go full Yuga. But without question there is inversion and indiscriminate blending of levels going on. This book I'm reading on the Boy Crisis certainly explains a lot of it, because it's really a man crisis. Or a Pajama Boy crisis. What will happen if and when there are only Pajama Boys? It would be the end of civilization. Maybe it is the Kali Yuga!

Gagdad Bob said...

Linked at Instapundit, HOW A GENERATION LOST ITS COMMON CULTURE:

My students are know-nothings. They are exceedingly nice, pleasant, trustworthy, mostly honest, well-intentioned, and utterly decent. But their brains are largely empty, devoid of any substantial knowledge that might be the fruits of an education in an inheritance and a gift of a previous generation. They are the culmination of western civilization, a civilization that has forgotten nearly everything about itself, and as a result, has achieved near-perfect indifference to its own culture.

.... ask them some basic questions about the civilization they will be inheriting, and be prepared for averted eyes and somewhat panicked looks....

At best, they possess accidental knowledge, but otherwise are masters of systematic ignorance....

The pervasive ignorance of our students is not a mere accident or unfortunate but correctible outcome, if only we hire better teachers or tweak the reading lists in high school. It is the consequence of a civilizational commitment to civilizational suicide. The end of history for our students signals the End of History for the West.

Gagdad Bob said...

No time for a post today, but perhaps we should delve more deeply into this idea of Order tomorrow. In a way, it's everything.

Anonymous said...

Lady, gentlemen: I assure there is order. The New World Order to be exact. The NWO became fully operational this year; after a minor shakeup (nearly bloodless), the ruling elite is firmly in place.

Now, to the citizen, nothing has changed, and that's how we we govern. We have no territorial ambitions, no need for military might, no ambitions to create totalitarian states.

We want every citizen to be happy and productive, and have the freedom needed to innovate and grow their talents to the fullest potential. Sure, we take a hefty cut. That's our game. We shuffle money like 747's shuffle people, i.e, all over the place. We are parasitic, and we know it. But government by parasite seems to work for all.

The empty-headed youth are perfect for our scheme. They have been conveyed safely outside of history, and they can dispense with political thought and are free to innovate, create, and be themselves, all under our benevolent rule.

So, be it the Kali Yuga, or any other Yuga, the apparent disorder for you is a lovely order for your Globalist Deep State professionals. We mean no harm, because harm does not turn a profit.

William Wildblood said...

I know you're joking, or half-joking, Anonymous but the NWO you describe would be disorder because it denies transcendence thereby denying the proper hierarchical structure on which true order must be based. Order is not control.

But I fear you are right in what you say especially with regard to modern youth being conveyed safely out of history and therefore detached from the traditional notion of what humanity is so they can be easily reconstructed to something in line with the materialistic ideal.

julie said...

There is some truth to it, William, but among the young people I know there seems to be a lot of pushback, as well. Especially with young men. They've been told their whole lives they are at fault for everything wrong with the world, but a great many are not buying it. Not all of them are happy to be molded into the complacent soyboy cogs needed to feed the new world machine.

William Wildblood said...

I hope you're right, Julie. I know my 12 year old son instinctively rejects all the leftist propaganda that's fed him at school. Perhaps the time is coming for a reaction. It will be the young men who react first I think. I just hope the reaction doesn't turn into an over-reaction. That's always a problem when the lies are as extreme as they are at the moment.

Olden Ears said...

there are supernaturally natural aristocrats, or "beings of light," so to speak. Can't you tell when you're in the presence of one? Of course you can. You can also feel the darkness. The remarkable thing is that some -- or most -- people can't.

This is the gift of discernment of spirits.

Anonymous said...

What's wrong with Rachel Maddow?

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