Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Only You Can Prevent the Apocalypse

Today's highly orthoparadoxical invocation:

For in the same being of God where God is above being and above distinction, there I myself was, there I willed myself and committed myself to create this man. --Eckhart

To summarize Bolton's position, the creation bifurcates out into fate (or nature) and providence, so that man represents the possibility of their re-union. In turn, man bifurcates out into body and intellect, the union of which is the soul.

Now, one way to understand cosmic evolution -- which recapitulates in miniature in man -- is to see it as the gradual mastering of fate (and the conquest of dimensionality, more on which later). As Bolton writes, "the moment when man arrives on earth he belongs to Fate, which leads him captive for a long time in the vortex of fatality." You might say that, with the Fall, we are cast naked into the fate stream with no canoe. Still, man "bears a divine seed within him which can never be entirely confounded" by fate.

Nevertheless, it will take mankind countless generations to master fate and slowly discover its destiny, both individually and collectively (individuals were able to do it long prior to any large collectives). From the Raccoon perspective, we look to history for certain easily identifiable points at which there was a tremendous influx of vertical energies to help lift us from fate to destiny. Some of these would be Abraham's failure to sacrifice Isaac, the downloading of the Torah, the Incarnation, the emergence of free markets, the American revolution, the Beatles' first appearance on Ed Sullivan, etc.

Eventually man is able to discover that we are endowed by our Creator with the right to life and liberty, which is to officially plant our colors on the side of destiny. It is to say that we are no longer controlled by fate. Leftism is, of course, the atavistic embrace of fate, i.e., passive victimhood, so it is hardly as if fate has been vanquished.

When the left talks about "freedom," it is necessarily in a highly limited way that paradoxically frees one to abandon oneself to fate. In other words, since they deny the higher realm -- the true object of our free will -- will is reduced to mere horizontal willfulness. It is will with no real freedom, since it denies the sufficient reason for our freedom, which is to know the absolute and govern ourselves accordingly. A will that is not lured by the good, true, and beautiful is not actually free, but a plaything of fate.

So, each of us "has the means to unite himself or herself in an equally natural way to either the Providential or Fatidic order" (Bolton). But again, genuine free will cannot belong to nature, but can only be understood as a gift of Providence. Therefore, our Founders were correct to insist that to deny God is to deny freedom. And as we have mentioned before, it is also ipso facto to deny the mind, which is the "internal space" of freedom's possibilities.

Which invites another paradox, in that only by becoming a "slave" to providence are we actually free. But really, this is no more paradoxical than saying that only by becoming a slave to truth do we gain wisdom. No one has ever gained wisdom by declaring his independence from truth, a sad fact to which our liberal universities offer abundant testimony. No. "The soul which aligns itself with Providence, and therefore with freedom, will thus be the one which realizes the possibilities of the spiritual nature to the fullest extent possible for the individual concerned" (Bolton).

Consider our dispute with the reductionistic Darwinians, who specifically deny Providence and believe they can fully account for man with recourse only to the realm of fate, or nature. Since real ontological freedom is necessarily abolished in this crude reduction, then so too is the possibility of truth -- which is again dependent upon freedom. In other words, if we are not intrinsically free to discover truth, then we can only know what we are fated to know -- which is no knowledge at all, just an extension of necessity.

Again, it is by aligning ourselves with Providence that we actualize our true freedom. This is why the "perfect prayer" includes the formula thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. That's what it really really says. It even outlines the way in which this free will is actualized, that is, by assimilating each day our daily vertical bread.

In turn, this is why we must "resist temptation," which specifically refers to the horizontal world of fate, which operates through hypnosis, seduction, and temptation of those parts of ourselves that remain mired in fate, i.e., mind parasites. Again, a mind parasite is like a closed, unevolving, circular entity that goes on being by borrowing a piece of our subjectivity and "going into hiding" below the threshold of consciousness. It then enlists the objects and experiences it needs to continue its viral pseudo-life, or "living death." Only when you start to feel enslaved by your mind parasites are you beginning to break free of them. The most unfree people generally feel quite free, since they don't stir up trouble their mind parasites.

A truly free will would have to be "one," would it not? Since Wisdom is one, it can do all things (Wisdom 7:27). So long as one is inhabited by various sub-wills at cross-purposes with one another, that's a kind of perversion of freedom. It is as if the one will is "broken" into fragments that are then purloined by various subpersonalities. Generally speaking, the sicker the individual, the more autonomous and split off are the subpersonalities. Likewise, the healthier the individual, the more unified the will -- and therefore, the more real the freedom.

Looked at in this way, one can easily see how "the truth sets you free," because freedom is really a prolongation of truth. Again, if there were no truth, there would be absolutely no possibility of freedom, any more than art would be possible in the absence of beauty. Is an artist less free because he is a slave to beauty? Hardly. Beauty is a kind of breach in the fabric of nature through which celestial energies flow, and which always carry with them an ability to "transport" us to their source. In short, beauty is liberating. Haven't you ever noticed how enclosed and "hemmed in" you feel in an ugly environment?

This is also how I would feel in typical university -- and also, sad to say, in a typical church. If a church service doesn't give access to real truth, real freedom, and real beauty, then something has gone wrong. Its only reason for being can be to facilitate an experience in O, which is much deeper than any mere (k). Reduced to (k), religion is hardly better than scientism. Which is one reason why I prefer so many of the premodern theologians, whose minds and beings hadn't yet been hijacked by the cultural demands of a spiritually desiccated scientism.

Speaking of which, contemporary man stands at a crossroads. Which is nothing new, since we are always at that crossroads between fate and destiny, whether we know it or not. However, just as there are historical ingressions of vertical energies, we can equally see periods in which the tiller of history is seized by the horizontaloids. When that happens, the center cannot hold (the interior center being a reflection of the One), and a kind of hell is unloosed from below.

Here's how Bolton describes it: "as mankind fails to realize the role as Mediator, natural forces grow increasingly violent and chaotic, and disasters become more frequent. The Apocalypse is the final extreme of this disorder."

Don't think "it can't happen here," since it can only happen here. And only we are free to prevent it, since the unfree are its architects. (BTW, I'm using "apocalypse" in a more colloquial sense, as "ultimate cataclysm.")

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52 comments:

Warren said...

"as mankind fails to realize the role as Mediator, natural forces grow increasingly violent and chaotic"

So it's not Bush and "global warming", but actually the Left itself that's responsible for all the tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc? (Of course, there aren't any more of these than there ever were, but let that pass.)

I just knew it.

NoMo said...

This may be the least saturated, most original presentation of the "good news" I have ever heard.

Beautiful.

wv: gospel (just kidding)

QP said...

I was thinking the same thing NoMo!

Beautiful writing Bob.

Ephrem Antony Gray said...

One reason why I suppose a certain level of subtlety is required - at least, for those who have the capacity for it - because willing service and slavery can seem like the same thing.

wv: amena!

Ephrem Antony Gray said...

In fact, it can be hard to discern the difference between any of these things. We can be serving providence joyfully only to find it is not really providence we have been serving... or we can think we are enslaved to fate only to find that we are indeed in service of providence. Ah! But he who serves joyfully no matter what and seeks to do no evil - he will be the servant of the Good, if not now, eventually.

julie said...

"Only when you start to feel enslaved by your mind parasites are you beginning to break free of them."

So it's a good thing they're driving me crazy...
:)

One thing that's been bugging me for a week or so, now: how do we keep from passing them on to the next generation?

James said...

The idea of the Apocalypse has always angered me. I remember thinking if God ended the world during my lifetime how pissed I would be. I guess it's selfish of me, but I want my whole life here. I think this is one of my hangups that kept me away from Christianity for the longest time. Of course I'm starting to see that the Apocalypse is not something that God will impose on us it is something we will impose on ourselves. That pisses me off more. I still want to believe that we would not mismanage everything so badly. Of course that is pride talking. As I get older its hard to deny our capacity for stupidity. It is impossible to deny my own. It makes me sad because there is something in me that wants to be independent to stand on our own. I'm a typical guy. I don't like to ask for directions or for help even when I need it. It is a strange humility to realize you are incomplete and you need something outside of yourself to live a full life. They certainly don't teach that in school. They should it would prevent many problems.

Anonymous said...

Forgive my ignorance of Christian theology, but doesn't an Apocalypse necessarily precede resurrection in both the human and macrocosmic spheres?

wv: epotoric -- I know you are, but am I?

robinstarfish said...

"Only when you start to feel enslaved by your mind parasites are you beginning to break free of them."

Struck by that too. It's also the flashpoint where recognition causes them to redouble their efforts. It's not the time to back off even though it can feel hopeless. Otherwise it's worse the next time around - that sevenfold principle again.

How do I know this? Heh.

Anonymous said...

I believe, Anon, that the issue is how bad the whupping has to be for you to get your mind right with God, so to speak.

Anonymous said...

>>"as mankind fails to realize the role as Mediator, natural forces grow increasingly violent and chaotic, and disasters become more frequent. The Apocalypse is the final extreme of this disorder." <<

Pree-cisley. The idea that natural disasters are Gaia's revenge for eco-abuse is reductionist, materialistic tripe. I think that Gaia, the spirit of the earth, does exist, but she is not a conscious, sentient entity, but rather something of a "reflector shield", plastic in nature. That is, Gaia will reflect human passions, and the more base those passions, the more riotous nature becomes.

I also think that whereas the materialistic forces have gained an unprecedented ascendency on earth, there is also a great influx of vertical energy at this time, an acceleration of Universal Kundalini, in effect. For those inclined toward spiritual growth, this marks a great window of opportunity, possibly the *greatest ever*. But for those still mired in human passion - well, there's a resulting exacerbation of passion and that in turn impacts the fire element in nature. And that results in natural chaos.

Anonymous said...

Julie -

>>how do we keep from passing them on to the next generation?<<

By breaking free of them to the extent we can, I would think.

I think that even if we never address the next generations directly, or have children of our own, we still have an impact - (a much larger impact than we would generally imagine) - on the earth's spiritual ecology by simply working to fulfill our own spiritual potential, as individuals. Spiritual osmosis, in effect.

You too, can prevent forest fires from the comfort of your own living room.

Anonymous said...

Also, it is important to at least develop an accurate "narrative" to bind them together, so to speak, which helps prevent projection of the unmetabolized elements into the next generation. More on which later...

julie said...

"By breaking free of them to the extent we can, I would think."

I suppose it's the "to the extent we can" part that worries me. The ones I know about, I can struggle against and hopefully not pass along; after all, it must be possible or I'd be a total basket case at the mercy of generations of some truly foul parasites. It's the lurkers whose presence I have no idea about (until something triggers one, anyway) that are likely to sneak right on by.

Another case of "do the best you can with what you've got," I suppose.

julie said...

Thanks, Petey - I'll be watching for that.

mushroom said...

GB says: No one has ever gained wisdom by declaring his independence from truth, a sad fact to which our liberal universities offer abundant testimony.

Yes, that explains an awful lot of economic and political theory as well.

how do we keep from passing them on to the next generation?

So, Jules, what are you trying to tell us? Will there be a little cork popping soon?

wv: babletsp -- Barney Franks sings "a spoonful of babeeww makes the baiwout go down, in a most dewightful waaaay!"

James said...

Julie,

I just ask God for whatever help I can. It has never failed. For me that is what faith is all about, not having to worry, or at least not wasting time worrying about things that are happening under the hood. I also realized I have a lot to do, but I need to focus on one thing at time. In my case I must overcome my pot addiction before I'll be ready to write.

wv diaters - Nope I've gots the daily bread.

Anonymous said...

Julie, if we remain attentive commited to the Mission, then the unconscious lurkers will, in time, come to the surface where we can deal with 'em mano a mano.

Patience, as they say. And let me tell ya, you could have them coming at you all at once in a screaming hoarde - this is a genuine possibility and it's something you don't want, trust me. Be diligent, take your time, be happy.

Anonymous said...

Of course, anyone who seriously commits to the spiritual journey is going to 'activate karma", so to speak - this means that the unconscious lurkers are going to come howling to the surface - and this will probably be sooner than later.

The good news is that you have the capacity to deal with the suffering entailed. The bad news is that you never realized just how mamy hits you could take without falling apart like a cheap pup tent.

James said...

The bad news is that you never realized just how mamy hits you could take without falling apart like a cheap pup tent.

Ha! True that. True that.

Ephrem Antony Gray said...

When people realize how 'spiritual' video games are, or rather, how they are icons of the spiritual path, they will be astounded and disbelieve; the Logos is subtle and precise.

julie said...

Mushroom, if I'm very lucky then with the miracle of modern science there will one day be twinkle in DH's eye, maybe even in the next year or so.

But not yet.

Will,
"this means that the unconscious lurkers are going to come howling to the surface - and this will probably be sooner than later."

Actually, that describes this past Fall (heh) fairly well in some respects. In some senses I was happier when I was blissfully ignorant, but I don't consider that a good thing, nor do I wish to return to that state.

Ephrem Antony Gray said...

Paul said, "When I learned of the Law, I became a sinner..."

In some sense they keep us in a 'nice prison', something that feels okay and doesn't chafe too much. But it's not really going where we want to go. It's when we try to break out that they get all up-in-arms... It seems like when our eyes are opened we can see the source of the various miseries more clearly. And we also can see how counterfeit were many of our pleasures and desires, alas.

If we try to find peace and stillness in that place, we almost have to completely kill ourselves within to attain it. Instead of detachment with the goal of proper re-attachment, we have the destruction of the self. In that kind of nirvana, I suppose one can find peace anywhere. But at what cost?

robinstarfish said...

The bad news is that you never realized just how many hits you could take without falling apart like a cheap pup tent.

Very good, Will. ;-)

The good news is that you have the capacity to deal with the suffering entailed.

Barely sometimes, just barely. But 'by the skin of your teeth' is still a win.

mushroom said...

"...and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore..."

Joan of Argghh! said...

At Sunday's prayer service (new to us) the little group always sings the fourth verse of My Coontry 'Tis of Thee. It became my meditation and an essay then, and I even have a blog post in the queue about "Freedom's Holy Light".

As a country, we have rejected the Holy in Marriage, in Life, in Death, and Destiny. Even Holy Orders, as a sacrament, have been subjected to the vital entity and denied their holy inheritance from above.

It's why I have held my breath in matters about Iraq, it's where I disagree with our current President: peoples don't naturally yearn for freedom's Holy Light. They mostly yearn for relief and leadership out of pain. Very few, it is now apparent, really want to bother with all that adjunct responsibility and discipline that freedom requires. Not to mention the idea of regarding it as a precious and Godly heritage.

I scoured the old book stores and garage sales for the old Catholic School readers for my son's education. Faith and Freedom were much the theme in all the old school literature. Can't have Freedom without faith. I'm convinced that history has proven as much.

Anonymous said...

what the heck does "wv" mean?

Joan of Argghh! said...

We can't tell you unless you name yourself, Anon.

:o)

wv: nonraci
I'm an equal opportunity pain in the arse.

jp said...

Anon:

Here's a hint.

You, youself, have alreayd wv-ed.

wv: hampr

Your anonity has hampr-ed your ability to get an answer.

Anonymous said...

With regards human thought effecting external reality, I suppose if poltergeist phenomena can be explained with credulity by the mental tensions of the person experiencing it,then I'd have to keep an open mind on events on a global scale.

jp said...

Uh, human thoughs are in the business of influencing external reality on an ongoining and continuing basis.

It's kind of the business of human thoughts to influence external reality.

wv: nentelly

Now I'm getting British slang.

Anonymous said...

julie said...

"Only when you start to feel enslaved by your mind parasites are you beginning to break free of them."

So it's a good thing they're driving me crazy...
:)

One thing that's been bugging me for a week or so, now: how do we keep from passing them on to the next generation?

have some children and just watch your parasites get mirrored!
do the necessary work to release the underlying fears and viola, the next generation won't have your baggage. they come in w/ their own and will probably acquire their own and hopefully use you as a stellar model for moving towards the True, Beautiful and the other worthwhile thingy that's slipping my mind :)

jp said...

I meant "continuous basis".

I won't repeat this wv in a public forum.

jp said...

Thoughts, not thoughs.

I can't even spell properly tonigth.

Anonymous said...

"As a country, we have rejected the Holy in Marriage, in Life, in Death, and Destiny."

I have to say, I'm as depressed as I've been, maybe ever, about this. It's the dark days up here, so maybe that's it, but clarity of perspective seems very painful.

I try to remind myself to have more faith and be less self-centered, but I spend about half of each day in mourning and much of the other half distracting myself.

wv: stsecops? Was there a St. Secops? And why has the enigmatic friend suddenly returned after a long absence? Or is that just a figment of my computer's imagination?

Rick said...

Maineman,
Who loves ya, Baby.
:-)

Anonymous said...

*cough* mohammedans are catching up *cough*

julie said...

Phastru! We can't have that. They've finally let me cast my vote for the day, so that's one more.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Maineman-
Yeah, bein' part of the Remnant sure ain't for the faint of heart.
And then add to that bein' a Raccoon you got yerself some major mojo goin' on.

Anonymous said...

if i name myself al-norman can someone please tell me what wv means? is it west virginia? or wagons volk? or white vegans? will somebody please enlighten my poor computer illiterate ass? i want to start using wv at the end of my comments...

a reward is offered to the first that can tell me!

Anonymous said...

Al Norman-

What it is.

Blind lemon Skully

jp said...

River said:

"When people realize how 'spiritual' video games are, or rather, how they are icons of the spiritual path, they will be astounded and disbelieve; the Logos is subtle and precise."

Ah, that brings back memories of playing Ultima IV - Quest of the Avatar in middle school.

Naturally, I played in on a cracked version of the game.

From Wikipedia - I forgot how to link again:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultima_IV

"The object of the game is to focus on the main character's development in virtuous life, and become a spiritual leader and an example to the people of the world of Britannia. The game follows the protagonist's struggle to understand and exercise the Eight Virtues. After proving his or her understanding in each of the virtues, locating several artifacts and finally descending into the dungeon called the Stygian Abyss to gain access to the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom, the protagonist becomes an Avatar.

Conversely, actions in the game could remove a character's gained virtues, distancing them from the construction of truth, love, courage and the greater axiom of infinity -- all required to complete the game. Though Avatarhood is not exclusive to one chosen person, the hero remains the only known Avatar throughout the later games, and as time passes he is increasingly regarded as a myth."

As I recally, there was a blind saleslady in the game who would take any amount of money for your purchases. You had to pay her the correct amount of money, but you had the option of ripping her off. If you ripped her off, you ruined your Honesty virtue.

wv: joysh

I feel only a little joysh at the
moment.

jp said...

Al Norman:

wv = Word verification.

You have to type in the word from the Google word verification to be able to post.

The wvs are the nonsense words that people are given to be able to post.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Here's an interesting post by Anrew Klavan that addresses what Joan brought up:

Hooray for Big Hollywood

I like how he put this:
"Now yes, it’s aggravating that good values have to go disguised as super heroes or vampires or Spartans while those who hate America and God can speak out plain. But if liberals in the arts sometimes bully conservatives into silence, it’s partly because conservatives let it happen. When the people whose welfare policies helped destroy the black family call us racist, we cower. When the people whose sexual revolution helped spread the plagues of divorce and STD’s call us sexist, we quail. When the people who blame 9/11 on America call us warmongers, we get defensive.

Well, to hell with that. They’re full of it. We ought to spit in their collective eye.

We’re beginning to get that idea. The very existence of this website is evidence of it. Andrew Breitbart’s not afraid of these clowns. Neither is John Nolte. Neither are the rest of us who’ll be blogging here. And I’m willing to bet that once we start talking out loud, there’ll be more of us and then more.

Because here’s the thing: It matters. The right to individual liberty is the greatest gift with which our Creator endowed us. It is immeasurably more important than some so-called Common Good as defined by intellectuals or politicians; more important than political correctness; more important than being loved by the rest of the world. A small band of brilliant dead white men bequeathed to all of us a machine for preserving this right: America and its Constitution. It’s a wonderful machine and it has to be defended in every generation.

Sometimes, sadly, it has to be defended with the guns of our military. One day, it may have to be defended with the gun you have in your house. But always—every day—each of us has to stand up for it in our thoughts and with our words."

Good stuff!

julie said...

Ben, I read that earlier today. Klavan is awesome. I may be losing my taste for fiction, but I'd like to make an exception for his. Right after I get through my big stack of Omwork texts...

xeddlyat: a small, catlike creature, distantly related to sphinxes. Associated particularly with shrines to Yottle.

julie said...

Also the root of the word "xeddlyattitude:" an enigmatic, playful and occasionally acerbic outlook on life, ascribed mainly to xeddlyats but also on occasion observed in a specific species of raccoon.

Anonymous said...

I guess I'm lucky in that I know where my mind parasites are,but unfortunate in that they are in cahootes with my genetic memory and keep bringing id to my mind. When I try to uncover their nature, all I get is~ File format unkown~

Anonymous said...

"For though the xeddleyat doth annoy Yottle with clawing and chewing at Yottle's leathery flanks and swarms of evil puns and most constant beseeching for foodstuffs and treats, yet Yottle doth love his xeddleyat."

From The Book of Yottle, act two, scene six.

"The Egyptians were overcome with violent sneezing and expectorations. "Surely we have offended Yottle," they exclaimed. believing that it was Sanqual, Yottle's xeddleyat who had brought these allergies upon them."

From the Book of Yottle, pages 16 - 18, section A, sub-paragraph 3

Anonymous said...

jp, you da man (or woman). thank you. finally!

you win a free trip to my refrigerator any time you want.

**can't be used in conjunction with any other offer/some food and beverage restrictions may apply/offer expires January 06, 2009**

woo hoo. i'm lovin' this now. check it...

wv: pottaye -- pottaye on wayne! pottaye on garth!

Van Harvey said...

AwesOme post and comments. Saved to disk, and still uploading.

Anonymous said...

wv: inglumse

How appropriate.

Julie, Don't wait till you have kids to start getting rid of the mind parasites. But I know you won't. I'm just being contrary with one of the other posters.

When I hit eighteen, I determined that the mind parasites were going to stop with me. I called it the family history, though.

I had about eighteen years to work on the parasites before the kiddles came along. I'm very grateful for the time. And the amount of garbage I waded through to get to the other side.

I was telling my husband this week, how wonderful it is to watch kids growing up who are not starting out at -0 and fighting to get to normal. They are so much more aware and resilient than I was at their age. And joyful!

Note, I have still not gotten rid of all my mind parasites, just a goodly number of them.

A particularily deep and nasty one has come to the surface in the last few weeks. This one has the potential to affect the kiddles, if I'm not careful. I think God's timing in helping bring this to the surface and how it was done, is astonishing.

Anonymous said...

Heh. I just realized that eighteen was the same age that I consciously joined up with another outcast, hanging on a cross.

my real name is godsdog

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