Alex, this is one of the most thought - provoking pieces of yours I've read, and is of particular value.
I recall the optimism of the 1960's, 70's and 80's regarding the New Age, and the pop song "Aquarius Let the Sun Shine In". The Aquarian Age seems not to be arriving; things have actually got worse. I've often felt that I don't belong here, that there's a great "wrongness" to the way this world operates and is being "mismanaged". A difficulty of being human is simultaneously being part of the whole and yet a sovereign individual, of Spirit and heart on one hand, of mind and matter on the other. We are dualistic creatures, which may partially explain why our behaviour in general tends to be erratic (in real terms) to the point of being bipolar.
In response to Penny Kelly: "Are you a discrete and separate individual in a world of other? Or are you the totality of all relationships, converging at a particular locus of attention?" I think we are both, but need to leave "the world of other" behind us. Indeed spirituality cannot be proven in or by the mind, but is an act of trust, or "faith". This doesn't necessarily need to involve a religious or other doctrine, and tends to be a matter of a person finding his or her own path. Separation is probably the root cause of humankind's abysmal behaviour over the millenia, often described as "the human condition". This includes wars, slavery and utter domination of weaker individuals or countries by stronger and more agressive entities. Separation from Nature has led us to disregard and lose respect for the Earth and Nature generally. Now we're facing the consequences which include widespread environmental damage on land, in the oceans and the atmosphere, and a feeling of personal isolation and loss on a subtle level.
For many people, including myself, the way the Covid pandemic was mismanaged was a wake - up call. In general, this points to ministers' vested interests, dishonesty, incompetence and disregard for the health and well - being of the population they misgovern. The secrecy, censorship, and gaslighting say it all and continue to this day. We must not forget this! Governments and their representatives or spokespeople cannot in general be trusted. They seek to divide and utterly dominate the people.
The worldly wake - up call described above is described by some as an awakening; an awakening to the true nature of the utter corruption that is part and parcel of worldly existence. There's also a spiritual awakening (which may incorporate a worldly awakening) which brings us into the realms of transcendence and Spirit.
As far as I can gather, wars and standing armies have been part of human life more or less since urbanisation began in what is now part of the Middle East (formerly Sumer, between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris) some 4 to 6 millennia ago. It's believed that a period of peace as cities were gradually established was followed by wars between city - states. There have been wars ever since.
Many teachers, visionaries and commentators agree that direct action in the physical world is a useful path, but that inner change, development and resilience is even better. Eisenstein expands most eloquently on this. I think he's a true visionary, and it's well worth watching his videos, and those of similar people, in order to receive positive input and help balance out the darkness of this benighted world.
Thank you. Yes, I agree that this kind of material is valuable - more so, ultimately than the more workaday exposure-type pieces I often write. Trouble is, it's hard to get (British) people to engage with it. Many seem to prefer staying at the level of what-is, which is of course makes the world seem a very dispiriting place. It means they miss the golden nugget at the heart of the thinking of Eisenstein, Kelly and others - all the chaos and conflict is an expression of something which, if we don't screw things up completely, will ultimately pass.
This genre of writing is as important as workaday exposure pieces. Possibly more important. But the two go hand in hand: in the same way that the spiritual is made manifest, what has manifested as spiritually bereft must be explained. This writing is vital because the ultimate revolution is the revolution that has to take place inside each of us, and no amount of corruption exposure will nurture the inner revolution unless people change their conception of their relationship with to power. Power is sadly seen by most as something 'out there', to be acquired, consumed, and enjoyed like a product. Under this impoverished and commodified paradigm of limited power for the individual, a few of us (very few) have what it takes to capture and consume a disproportionate share of power. Good luck to them, so the thinking goes, and the rest of us must simply make do with what little is left over. There are many barriers to the realisation that the power is ours, but that we collectively surrender it unconsciously to the few.
I noted the observation that it's hard to get the average Brit to engage with this writing and I was reminded of an observation (by a famous writer, I can't remember who it was) that the average Brit is impervious to psychoanalysis, which is a sort of parallel observation to the one about the apparent British resistance to a psychoanalytical exploration of the mess we’re in. To the extent that it may be true, it's not an innate thing and there must be reasons underpinned by a rational guns-germs-and-steel type of hypothesis for this resistance. The subject of a whole other essay, no doubt. But when it comes to this sort of thing, we have to simply adopt the build-it-and-they-will-come attitude.
There are many different ways to conceive of and communicate this relationship with power, and I think this piece is one of them. I keep telling myself I will start writing more about Natural Law (I’m still very much a student in this area) and how an understanding of it can change the individual's conception of their power and their responsibility to understand and change this relationship with power. Anarchism is another way to re-imagine individual and group power.
So much to say here but I'll keep it brief. I *could* write that essay on the factors behind British imperiousness but I suspect it would make me so unpopular it wouldn't be worth it. Suffice to say, as a literature graduate, I've been reading observations about it (Forster, DH Lawrence, Orwell) since my teens. In fiction, they're couched gently enough as to be acceptable.
Where Britain is waking up is in what could be called the consciousness movement. I see so many things that would not have happened twenty, even ten years ago. Trouble is that so far most of the participants are focused on personal development and don't make the connection with power in its wider sense and the threats that we must deal with if we're to survive.
I think I know exactly what you mean. The consciousness movement is so inwardly focused on the individual and fails to situate the individual in the social and political context. In that sense, I believe that calling it a consciousness movement could be a misnomer. It's actually solipsistic. There is no point in being conscious of self if we aren't conscious of what is going on around us. We are not islands. I am seriously unimpressed with today's consciousness gurus.
Alex, this is one of the most thought - provoking pieces of yours I've read, and is of particular value.
I recall the optimism of the 1960's, 70's and 80's regarding the New Age, and the pop song "Aquarius Let the Sun Shine In". The Aquarian Age seems not to be arriving; things have actually got worse. I've often felt that I don't belong here, that there's a great "wrongness" to the way this world operates and is being "mismanaged". A difficulty of being human is simultaneously being part of the whole and yet a sovereign individual, of Spirit and heart on one hand, of mind and matter on the other. We are dualistic creatures, which may partially explain why our behaviour in general tends to be erratic (in real terms) to the point of being bipolar.
In response to Penny Kelly: "Are you a discrete and separate individual in a world of other? Or are you the totality of all relationships, converging at a particular locus of attention?" I think we are both, but need to leave "the world of other" behind us. Indeed spirituality cannot be proven in or by the mind, but is an act of trust, or "faith". This doesn't necessarily need to involve a religious or other doctrine, and tends to be a matter of a person finding his or her own path. Separation is probably the root cause of humankind's abysmal behaviour over the millenia, often described as "the human condition". This includes wars, slavery and utter domination of weaker individuals or countries by stronger and more agressive entities. Separation from Nature has led us to disregard and lose respect for the Earth and Nature generally. Now we're facing the consequences which include widespread environmental damage on land, in the oceans and the atmosphere, and a feeling of personal isolation and loss on a subtle level.
For many people, including myself, the way the Covid pandemic was mismanaged was a wake - up call. In general, this points to ministers' vested interests, dishonesty, incompetence and disregard for the health and well - being of the population they misgovern. The secrecy, censorship, and gaslighting say it all and continue to this day. We must not forget this! Governments and their representatives or spokespeople cannot in general be trusted. They seek to divide and utterly dominate the people.
The worldly wake - up call described above is described by some as an awakening; an awakening to the true nature of the utter corruption that is part and parcel of worldly existence. There's also a spiritual awakening (which may incorporate a worldly awakening) which brings us into the realms of transcendence and Spirit.
As far as I can gather, wars and standing armies have been part of human life more or less since urbanisation began in what is now part of the Middle East (formerly Sumer, between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris) some 4 to 6 millennia ago. It's believed that a period of peace as cities were gradually established was followed by wars between city - states. There have been wars ever since.
Many teachers, visionaries and commentators agree that direct action in the physical world is a useful path, but that inner change, development and resilience is even better. Eisenstein expands most eloquently on this. I think he's a true visionary, and it's well worth watching his videos, and those of similar people, in order to receive positive input and help balance out the darkness of this benighted world.
Thank you. Yes, I agree that this kind of material is valuable - more so, ultimately than the more workaday exposure-type pieces I often write. Trouble is, it's hard to get (British) people to engage with it. Many seem to prefer staying at the level of what-is, which is of course makes the world seem a very dispiriting place. It means they miss the golden nugget at the heart of the thinking of Eisenstein, Kelly and others - all the chaos and conflict is an expression of something which, if we don't screw things up completely, will ultimately pass.
This genre of writing is as important as workaday exposure pieces. Possibly more important. But the two go hand in hand: in the same way that the spiritual is made manifest, what has manifested as spiritually bereft must be explained. This writing is vital because the ultimate revolution is the revolution that has to take place inside each of us, and no amount of corruption exposure will nurture the inner revolution unless people change their conception of their relationship with to power. Power is sadly seen by most as something 'out there', to be acquired, consumed, and enjoyed like a product. Under this impoverished and commodified paradigm of limited power for the individual, a few of us (very few) have what it takes to capture and consume a disproportionate share of power. Good luck to them, so the thinking goes, and the rest of us must simply make do with what little is left over. There are many barriers to the realisation that the power is ours, but that we collectively surrender it unconsciously to the few.
I noted the observation that it's hard to get the average Brit to engage with this writing and I was reminded of an observation (by a famous writer, I can't remember who it was) that the average Brit is impervious to psychoanalysis, which is a sort of parallel observation to the one about the apparent British resistance to a psychoanalytical exploration of the mess we’re in. To the extent that it may be true, it's not an innate thing and there must be reasons underpinned by a rational guns-germs-and-steel type of hypothesis for this resistance. The subject of a whole other essay, no doubt. But when it comes to this sort of thing, we have to simply adopt the build-it-and-they-will-come attitude.
There are many different ways to conceive of and communicate this relationship with power, and I think this piece is one of them. I keep telling myself I will start writing more about Natural Law (I’m still very much a student in this area) and how an understanding of it can change the individual's conception of their power and their responsibility to understand and change this relationship with power. Anarchism is another way to re-imagine individual and group power.
So much to say here but I'll keep it brief. I *could* write that essay on the factors behind British imperiousness but I suspect it would make me so unpopular it wouldn't be worth it. Suffice to say, as a literature graduate, I've been reading observations about it (Forster, DH Lawrence, Orwell) since my teens. In fiction, they're couched gently enough as to be acceptable.
Where Britain is waking up is in what could be called the consciousness movement. I see so many things that would not have happened twenty, even ten years ago. Trouble is that so far most of the participants are focused on personal development and don't make the connection with power in its wider sense and the threats that we must deal with if we're to survive.
I think I know exactly what you mean. The consciousness movement is so inwardly focused on the individual and fails to situate the individual in the social and political context. In that sense, I believe that calling it a consciousness movement could be a misnomer. It's actually solipsistic. There is no point in being conscious of self if we aren't conscious of what is going on around us. We are not islands. I am seriously unimpressed with today's consciousness gurus.