From This Wreckage
It is Sunday.
I considered launching an anti-Christianity rant this morning. On second thought, these lines are more important, and widely universal than any critique of Christian fundamentalism. I am a recovering Jesus Fundamentalist. (Everyone starts somewhere. No child has a choice about that or anything else) I am not unlike an alcoholic, who has attended monthly AA meetings without number. I’ll indefinitely need words of courage and support from others on a similar journey of recovery.
The quoted statements are a proposal for a non-sectarian form of self-realization and creative world-making. Something apt for the 21st century, a composition of parts, salvaged from our personal histories, and from the wreckage of traditional myth and secular ideologies – is what we are after. A new way of life, comfortable with difference, demonstrating with rite and collective event the primacy of freedom, the unspeakable privilege of life/existence, our belonging to the earth and to one another.
The most difficult of the vectors on this short list is the last, No. 7. Put plainly, knowing when to shut-the-fuck-up, to simply be there.
1. A sense of the meta-rational, ways to go beyond laminated thinking into smooth (or nomadic or “chaotic”) thinking & perception.
2. An actual definition of self-realized or liberated consciousness, a positive description of its structure, & techniques for approaching it.
3. A coherent archetypal view of epistemology –that is, a way of knowing (about history, for example) that utilizes hermaneutic phenomenology to uncover patterns of meaning.
4. A teaching on sexuality that assigns value to pleasure rather than self-denial, not only for its own sake but as a vehicle for enhanced awareness or “liberation.”
5. An attitude of celebration, what might be called a “Jubilee concept,” a canceling of psychic debt thru some inherent generosity in reality itself.
6. A language (including gesture, ritual, intentionality) with which to animate & communicate these five aspect of cognition.
7. Silence.
[We are becoming] Rootless Cosmopolitans,
determined to sift the detritus of all tribes, cultures & civilizations
(including our own) for viable fragments
–& to synthesize from this mess of potsherds
a living system of our own
–lest (as Blake warned)
we become slaves to someone else’s.
T. A. Z. The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism by Hakim Bey, COMMUNIQUE #10 Plenary Session Issues New Denunciations – Purges Expected, page 51.
8 thoughts on “From This Wreckage”
An interesting set of instructions on how to get “better”, if one could understand them. I can’t. Imagine how few people could find peace in trying to understand them, who could make sense of what they need to do to find peace from those instructions, but of course I’m not very smart I guess.
Maybe one should reject what their parents taught them, maybe just rebel against ones parents for what they taught you, but then you’d have to go after their parents for what they taught your parents and on and on, and to what good. You’ve got what you got, deal with that, that is enough. Maybe a few “fuck it’s” are also in order. I wish I could help anyone in destress over what their parents may be guilty of, but for what good? Will it really free one’s spirit? Forget your parents rules, they were just someone else’s before them, just work on what bothers you, don’t blame anyone but yourself and fix that.
Gary, I appreciate your comments. The quotation from Hakim Bey, the numbered list of principles is not easy to understand As Bey suggests these are a radical departure from what you and I had assumed to be the rule-of-thumb for creating the future. I would suggest as well that the principles are not focused upon individual improvement, rather the emphasis is upon the general outlook of a society. You are well read, and benefit from a sharp intelligence. So your level of intelligence acuity is not the problem.
Rejection of one’s roots, the patterns learned from our parents does not help at all. These are embedded and still assert themselves even though one rebels. Better that one gives oneself permission to become aware, little by little to wake up. “Fuck-it” is an expression of frustration and certainly helps one to feel better. But I do not think that deals with the problem. I agree with you “you got what you got.” And yes, I cannot directly help anyone else come to grips with their past. Yet, through friendship, by working at honest exchange of ideas and emotion – someone else may discover a degree of freedom of spirit. Learning and freedom is always up to the student. I think you’d agree.
How about coffee sometime? I am in Libertyville on occasion.
Your first commenter noted that perhaps you are suggesting that we blame our parents and hence our mutual ancestors for the issues we face in our own lives. To a degree we can point a gentle finger, but what I’ve observed is that each generation has an opportunity to improve their lot by learning from the past mistakes of those who came before. Most do not do this. We see the majority of people acting out their unconscious sublimated hostilities on their own children furthering the cycle of dysfunction. Only by remaining mindful of those patterns and making a conscious choice to break that cycle can we make that better world.
Trump could be the poster child for unconscious behavioral dysfunction. He cannot fathom that he learned his cruelty and misogyny from Fred and that his acting out is all about proving something to a long dead parent. And this is the president of our nation. YIKES!!!
I didn’t intend any blame for parents. Blaming or resentment is opposite of the response that I want to advocate. Our past, parents, grandparents, as far back as we can imagine is the matrix from which we do take our lives, and the learned behaviors by which we navigate change. This is fact and no one is an exception.
The quotation from Bey outlines the intention and method of learning from the past. Self-realization is a life-long process, a great opportunity which a majority of our fellows do not recognize, or perhaps elect not to sign on for themselves. The journey is arduous, as simply remaining tethered to marionette strings is the default. Doubling down on what-one-knows, no matter the dysfunction as you note is often seen around us.
If the President comes across as a mother-fucker, he comes by it honestly. Sadly many of us resonate with that vibe.
Jerry, you comment of, “Our past, parents, grandparents, as far back as we can imagine is the matrix from which we do take our lives, and the learned behaviors by which we navigate change.” is what I’m talking about. When I say reject them I don’t mean the parents themselves but those ideas which contort you. I was witness to a fight a week and chose not to be that way with my family. You seem hurt by your Immersion in fundamentalism at a young age, can’t you reject what you learned and cast it aside as a bad idea taken in by you parents, you are free, the cuffs are off. All Christians are not fundamentalists, some barely seee the inside of a church, so what! Are you not condemning all of Christianity because of what your parents insisted you follow?
As you have said, with a bit of education as a matter of the intellect, one recognizes the well meaning lies that one inherited. Rejecting such ideas is easy, and I agree with you. However one cannot refuse the damage, the deep ruts in thinking style, and in habits of behavior that have accrued over the years of exposure and years of belief in such ideas. Yes, we are hurt by all manner of lies that we were taught when children. Almost no one escapes, as such are not limited to bad ideas. Freedom is not as you describe, as it is hard won, and takes much time.
Your comment about Christians prompts me to again think that nowadays a Christian is whatever the imagination might conjure up. I do not go out of my way to condemn Christianity, even if my sense of decency obligates me to be very wary of anyone wearing their faith emblazoned on the back of their jacket.
Here is a quote that I think you will like:
William V. Mayer, biologist, 1984
Arrogance comes in a variety of forms. The arrogance of great wealth, the arrogance of great power, the arrogance of great beauty, and the arrogance of a great master are bearable because they rest on an acknowledged and measurable base. The arrogance of ignorance, however, is unbearable because action with being isolated from the facts of the case. The anti-evolution plank in the platform of Christian fundamentalism is a classic example of the arrogance of know-nothings.
I must to add to your suggestion of Evangelicals belonging to the class of the arrogant and ignorant, the current occupant of the White House and his lynch-mob like, simpatico home-boys, all bent upon transforming society into their image. To arrogance and ignorance we must add unrelieved violence…