Friday, June 05, 2009

The Messiah and the Dark Side of the Moonbat

What does God's little theo-drama have to do with us? For Balthasar, it is not a doctrine but a reality, the reality of the trinitarian God. Your mission, should you accept it, is to "appropriate this reality," to "enter into it and become absorbed into it," and to make it your own subjectivity. At once, you assimilate it into yourself while at the same time you become assimilated into it. Be careful though, because apparently some death is involved.

Think of how the assimilation of culture works for the child. Is he assimilating it, or does it assimilate him? Or how about language? Do we speak it, or does it speak us? This might seem like an idle question, but as I pointed out in my book, the average person is actually spoken by language. They more or less consist of a storehouse of disconnected memes that they rewordgitate like prerecorded tapes, depending upon which button you push. Indeed, this is what makes them so boring. But Petey never repeteys himsoph.

A person who is actually alive to language and operating out of a "free center" is always a dangerous person -- dangerous to the establishment. Perhaps I should clarify. "Establishment" is a term used by Bion to denote the "group container," as it were. It can only be understood dialectically, in relation to what Bion called the "mystic" or "messiah" (again, you need to strip these -- at least initially -- of their religious overtones).

Man is obviously a social animal who belongs to various groups. The first group is infant-breast (or even mouth-breast). And although it is becoming more of a rarity, some of us move on from there. However, it must be emphasized that the identical mechanisms that characterize that first group can and do operate in later ones, such as "culture."

As I explained in my book, whatever else it is, culture is first and foremost a psychological container that can be more or less in touch with reality -- just like a person. Thus, an orthodox Raccoon would not ask why this or that culture is so freaking crazy. Rather, he would ask why some are relatively sane. If you realize how crazy people are, then you understand why cultures are the way they are. Or, to put it another way, only someone who is completely blind to the dark side of human nature can proudly call themselves a "multiculturalist." Might as well boast that you have Multiple Personality Disorder.

You could say that a culture is just a neurosis writ large, while a neurosis is just a private culture. And the latter is a culture, because you don't have to be a clinical psychologist to know that the average person is at cross-purposes with himself because he is inhabited by various alter-egos with differing agendas, which we call mind parasites. Mind parasites generally operate unconsciously, while the conscious mind makes excuses for them in order to confer a spurious sense of unity upon the self -- a coherent narrative.

But this narrative is always a lie (more or less), as it is in the service of mind parasites, not Truth. Thus, to surrender to Truth is always a threat to the mind parasites. You might even imagine that you don't have any until you try to act in such a way that threatens them. One of the reasons I enjoy reading autobiographies of genuine saints and mystics is that they always go into detail about this -- about how they dealt with the rebellious mind parasites that were stirred up by virtue of their attempting to conform themselves to the Divine. So to enter the spiritual path is to declare war on your mind parasites, precisely.

Again, the establishment features the identical defense mechanisms that are present in the most basic group, i.e., mouth-breast. These include splitting, projection, internalization, deification, evacuation, envy, contempt and triumph. None of these has any necessary relationship to truth. For example, a person who is projecting may say something that is technically true, but that isn't why he's saying it. Rather, for that person, the real truth is the function of his defense mechanism, which is to expel the bad from the psyche in order to maintain homeostasis.

The mind is obviously an "order-seeking" organ. However, like all systems, it is open and at disequilibrium. As such, it can never actually achieve homeostasis except when you are dead (and it goes without saying that one may continue biological life long after one is intellectually dead, a point which is proven by the existence of the tenured). Therefore, all man-made intellectual systems, no matter how lofty, will have a component of the most primitive infantile anxiety, which comes down to the fantasy that I possess the breast (to be pedantic, this unconscious process is actually spelled phantasy, to distinguish it from conscious fantasy).

To cite one obvious example, the naive Darwinian who truly believes that his ideology provides any kind of adequate explanation of the human situation is really acting out of the most primitive defense imaginable -- just whistling past the graveyard. Please note that this does not apply to someone who simply embraces the science in a disinterested way, knowing that it's only a scientific abstraction, not to be confused with reality.

Only when people begin to invest psychic energy in these things do you see the primitive defenses coming to the fore. Obviously there are things worth getting excited over. Ida is not one of them. Nor even is the genome, since we share 98% or more of our DNA with chimps, 40% with a banana, and 30% with Keith Olbermann. But since a banana is infinitely more intelligent than a Keith Olbermann, there is more to life than DNA.

According to the sadly out of print New Introduction to the Work of Bion (used copies for only $84 to $140), "Attempts to evacuate, deify, or dogmatize are defensive reactions in the face of catastrophic change," a principle that applies "to any scientific, religious, therapeutic, or social group."

Change. Where have I heard that before? Oh yes. It appears that we are in the midst of some catastrophic changes these days. And what does the catastrophic change elicit and call out from the deep?

Yes, precisely. The Messiah. But of course, the Messiah is only the visible side of the moon. We all know that there is a dark side of the moonbat, so that whenever we see such a bright, gory sun god cast himself upon our alien shore (Henry Miller), we should always look for those other primitive mechanisms that surround him, because it's all just one great big defense. Against what? Against reality. Thus, to quote Vanderleun quoting some even grander loon, the more things change, the more they stay insane.

This is why in a creepily unprecedented way, the entire liberal media extablishment is working as a farce-multiplier for Obama's political deification. After all, no one is in the midst of a bigger crisis than the liberal media, who are in the process of becoming extinct, messiah or no messiah. Or, put this way: even the real God couldn't save newspapers. You could name Jesus editor of Snoozeweek, and even he couldn't wake it from the dead.

The more threatened the group, the more violent the projection and other primitive defenses. This is why they cannot stop demonizing conservatives, despite the fact that conservatives have absolutely no political power at this time. But if you wade into some of the more prominent left wing sites, they sound as if we are still on schedule for President Bush's theofascist takeover of the government. They must obsess over Bush and Cheney in order to "cleanse" the messiah of their own psychic toxins. After all, the toxins have to go somewhere. It's just a fact of psychic life: behind deification you will always find defecation.

It reminds me of an ironic comment that Bion made upon emigrating from England to the United States when he was well into his 60s. When asked why, he said something to the effect that in England he was so weighted down with honors that he was in danger of sinking without a trace. There is much truth to this, as it is possible to kill a man through idealization just as easily as through denigration. I ask you: how many so-called Christians kill Christ in this way?

Balthasar was certainly on the case. Why? Because the real messiah is exceedingly dangerous. He is not the cure for catastrophic change. Rather, he is its cause. He sets up his "death-jump" into history "as a model: he lures men from their limits out into the same inevitably deadly adventure. His fire is to burn on in others. Now and then he actually succeeds, like dynamite, in blasting a soul into the air, and far and wide the windows rattle and the foundations of houses quake."

BOOM!

Ah, but "what does one do when there is threat of conflagration? One hedges it in. One attempts to deprive the fire of its fuel and, if necessary, whole city-blocks have to be blown up and demolished. A bare strip is made through a burning forest, or, if it is a plains burning, a wide ditch is dug. So too must we attempt to hem him in. Create all around him a space void of air where neither fire nor love can breathe! Choke him -- but gently" (Heart of the World).

So, how can you tell a real messiah from a false one? The real one gets crucified. But only every day.

25 comments:

sehoy said...

"The real one gets crucified. But only every day."

It is so.

Excellent post.

NoMo said...

That's why there are days, and not just one long night (at least for the time being).

For reasons perhaps someone else can grok, today's post took me here (of course I especially love the ending).

julie said...

Makes perfect sense to me, Nomo.

...having a form of godliness but denying its power

Sounds like another way of expressing this:

It's just a fact of psychic life: behind deification you will always find defecation.

Joan of Argghh! said...

the average person is actually spoken by language


And I think my native tongue is Tourette's. . .

:o)

Van Harvey said...

"The mind is obviously an "order-seeking" organ... the average person is actually spoken by language..."

Just following orders.

julie said...

Yeesh. Hold onto your noses, folks, and look at this. Deification or defecation? Let the worshippers deicide.

will said...

Julie -

# 29 on the list strikes close to the secret heart of things, at least for me.

Maybe the evil clown/prince-of-chaos archetype?

Unknown said...

Julie's link: "You can send your Obama portraits here".

I sent this one: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/2851303515_3809f0566b.jpg

robinstarfish said...

Ah, but "what does one do when there is threat of conflagration? One hedges it in. One attempts to deprive the fire of its fuel and, if necessary, whole city-blocks have to be blown up and demolished. A bare strip is made through a burning forest, or, if it is a plains burning, a wide ditch is dug. So too must we attempt to hem him in. Create all around him a space void of air where neither fire nor love can breathe! Choke him -- but gently" (Heart of the World).

wv: Brafo!

Reaches for oxy tank in the dark, lights match to find it...

oxy tank said...

BOO(M)!

julie said...

Will - yep, I think that's the only one that shows some truth. The rest are all just dark glamour.

Van Harvey said...

Lynn, I get that same image whenever he pulls his chin up in a speech!

Gazriel said...

Bob said, "You could say that a culture is just a neurosis writ large, while a neurosis is just a private culture. And the latter is a culture, because you don't have to be a clinical psychologist to know that the average person is at cross-purposes with himself because he is inhabited by various alter-egos with differing agendas, which we call mind parasites. Mind parasites generally operate unconsciously, while the conscious mind makes excuses for them in order to confer a spurious sense of unity upon the self -- a coherent narrative."


And the Big Guy up in the clouds said unto all the dorks upon the land, "Scream! Let that internal energy of a negative persuasion burst onto the page in the conscious effort of releasing the pain. These split-off parts of the brain are the real dorks, the real ho-hum fee-fi-fo-fum dumbos. They shan't stand a chance with the Witness burning the Light right through their ass! Awareness is where the game is at. Let that unconscious swirling transfer into the standing chamber- all that lying down on the ground is non-sense."

How could I not take that advice? So every morning I scream and shout for three pages, allowing the darkness swirling inside of me to flow onto the page. (Read the book the Artist's Way for more details on this practice.) An example (be careful, it is DARK):

"The time has come to get out of my head. The perfect little soldier is dying, and now the rest are about to be fed cyanide. I need to kill, hammer, rape, steal, fuck this little cunt in the asshole so that I can learn how to feel. I need to rape, savage, destroy, call my own. This nightmare of reality is fixating me upon the drone. God help the butterflies. He doesn't care. The sound of the massacres is fluttering in the afternoon air. I need to send someone into the darkness. Now that is living.

Where or where can my honey burst be? I want to savor every flavor, go down on this bitch like she's my next door neighbor's teenage daughter. I want to fuck and suck and pull and gnash, open up the floodgates and give myself a heart attack. Where are the limits to the gross? If the ticket is a violation of the silence then an overdose should become a waver on the way to freedom. Do me, somebody help me. Get me a ticket to the long lost planet I forgot to see.

Death, death. Earth to Gazriel, your skin is turning red. The most comprehensive language on the planet is when you see that you are already dead. The nervous system is broken, now all you need is a guitar. When the lights come shining brighter then the soldier will learn his part. Dear little soul in the sea. Don't you understand that you are under the sway of mommy? This can't last if you ever hope to take the stand in the river. The consciousness unfolding gives you the flavor, but your contention is misogynistic and He is plugged into the real cookie."

This practice is A-number one when it comes to bringing the mind-parasites out of the darkness and into the light. Humans are antinomies, dual chambers that are seeming contradictions. To recognize this swirling darkness and pain is the key to living in the Light.

Word.

(P.S. Speaking of words, the ones they choose for safety verification are far out. The one I am getting ready to enter is "flarse.")

julie said...

One of the reasons I enjoy reading autobiographies of genuine saints and mystics is that they always go into detail about this -- about how they dealt with the rebellious mind parasites that were stirred up by virtue of their attempting to conform themselves to the Divine.

(Interesting timing, Gaz.)

It occurs to me that of all the reading I've been doing, virtually none of it is autobiographical. Do you have any raccomendations, Bob?

Van Harvey said...

Gazriel,
There is a difference between between exercising, and exorcising, your demons... I'm not so sure that last comment is making the correct distinction between them.

julie said...

Heh - you called this one ages ago, Bob.

Gagdad Bob said...

Let's see. I don't know if I would necessarily recommend these to others, but I'm thinking of Swami Abhishiktananda's letters; Bede Griffith's the Golden String; Franklin Merrell Wolff's Pathways Through to Space; Sri Aurobindo's On Himself; Frithjof Schuon's unpublished autobiography; Augustine's Confessions; the Mother's Prayers and Meditations; the biography of Father Seraphim Rose, His Life and Works (by Hieromonk Damascene); and a nice little book on Sri Madhava Ashish (Krishnaprem's successor) by S. Ginsburg.

Gazriel said...

Van said, "There is a difference between between exercising, and exorcising, your demons... I'm not so sure that last comment is making the correct distinction between them."

I think I follow you, but I don't know exactly what line you are referring to. This one?

"To recognize this swirling darkness and pain is the key to living in the Light."

I would take 'exercising' demons to be a state of identificaton in which the damned things are actually influncing action, hence they would be exercising your body in scenarios that are damaging, selfish, and destructive, be they of a self-imposed nature (shaming, addictive grasping, etc.), or of a projected nature (attacking someone, verbally or physically).

On the other hand, 'exorcising' demons is the process of staring them in the eye unflinchingly, knowing that they have no reality in the Presence of forever. All they are, it seems to me, are energies have been concentrated with a negative charge, and once that charge is untangled then the current of Energy has the oomph to flow freely up or down.

To me what is interesting is the actual formation of a negative emotional state. There is such a variable of triggers surrounding this phenomenon that depend upon the conditioning of the person. The real work for me has been identifying my 'pain-body' triggers, so that when they arise there is instantaneous awareness of what is happening and I can see that I am being attacked from within, not blame it on the situation that is arising 'out there.'

Which leads me to my final point. I used to feel an incredible amount of shame for having mind-parasites, and when one began attacking the way I would get sucked into identification was by thinking that I was being punished because the assult was happening. Once I truly saw that I am not the assaultng energy, my natural Goodness began framing the event in a way that was totally unexpected, and now I actually have begun smiling when they come on. "look at this jack-ass,' I'll say, shaking my head.

julie said...

Thanks for the suggestions; I'm sure Amazon will soon be thanking you, as well :)

Van Harvey said...

Gazriel said "I think I follow you, but I don't know exactly what line you are referring to. This one?..."

Nooo... the couple paragraphs following "be careful, it is DARK):" was more what I had in mind. I don't see much good coming from imagining your mind parasites have free reign... but then that's not my dept.

Good luck with it.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

"This might seem like an idle question, but as I pointed out in my book, the average person is actually spoken by language. They more or less consist of a storehouse of disconnected memes that they rewordgitate like prerecorded tapes, depending upon which button you push. Indeed, this is what makes them so boring. But Petey never repeteys himsoph."

Good point, Bob!

Anyone can see this occur at Daily Kuss, Huffing and Pissed or LGF.
If you are registered and say anything contrary to the groupthink, the responses are totally predictable.

Personally, I believe that an identifying characteristic of raccoons, if I may be so bold, is that we think for ourselves.

IRT groupthink, we are outlaws, so to speak. Which is why the comments (with the exception of trolls, "concern" trolls, and...well, idiots) at OC are so refreshing, and bring more to the table that Bob has set. Or more to the plot of the theo-drama, if you will.

IOW's, after the outstanding feast that OC offers everyday, there's always some icing on the cake in the comments, and very good quest-yons! No groupthink crap cluttering up the stage.

This is what keeps me coming back. Because other than the "pinks," Obamabots, anti-theists, and a host of downed-syndrome spritual retards, who doesn't like a refreshing
theo-drama that asks questions based on Truth, goodness and Beauty? :^)

Gazriel said...

Van,

It is not that I am letting them have free reign, just that I am discharging the energy into a harmless medium. Whenever I used to be a negative emotional state I would try and meditate, and after forty-five minutes of watching, maybe the state would be discharged. Now, with this practice, I keep myslef centered and let it rip, and most time 15 minutes later I am back in my Heart, able to spend the rest of my day abiding without a sense of isolation.

I would also like to point out that I deliberately chose an extreme example. Most times the words that come forth are not neerly as harsh. In fact, every now and again I get a flow close to what I imagine the Gagdaddy experiences, but he has many many years of experience of over-mental blogging on me. A man can dream, though.

The ultimate would be taking that negatively charged energy and transmuting it into a positive, Light filled expression. That would a trick indeed.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

Gaz,

You are one sick Son-of-a......
Being a perv myself though, I'm diggin' the sexual reference.
Rock on dude!

Gagdad Bob said...

Gazriel:

I read somewhere that some of the desert fathers had the idea -- or maybe it was a great rabbi, I can't remember at the moment -- that mind parasites do not necessarily interfere with prayer. Rather, prayer "purifies" them if you simply follow Jesus' advice, and "watch and pray." In other words, don't feel badly that they intrude, because that's what they do. They're like the ACLU -- attracted to spirit, but in a perverse way.

Anonymous said...

Would someone explain the Henry Miller reference? ("We all know that there is a dark side of the moonbat, so that whenever we see such a bright, gory sun god cast himself upon our alien shore (Henry Miller),...).

Thanks

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