Asking the Tough Questions

 

Below is something I'd posted in an online Discord server a day or two ago:

How do we harmonize with the discordant strumming of those capitalistic, imperialistic, consumeristic and overall anti-humanistic structures with their over-mic’d and out-of-tune guitar droning on and on demanding us to march? Can a cell in a sick and seemingly dying organism be truly healthy? Are mindfulness practices a luxury of the privileged? Is it a way to pat ourselves on the back and muse about how if we can’t control the chaos around us at least we can control the chaos in our hearts and minds? I’m torn because on one hand I do see the pedestrian Western spiritual path as sort of defunct and hollow - as a self-indulgent productivity tool companies now offer to their workers and private individuals use in order to destress and unwind as a gentle form of self-care. These practices begin to become the opposite of what they were intended to be. They are not a means to escape discomfort, they are a means to confront it. 

The spiritual path, if practiced authentically, is difficult, rife with struggle, yet many practitioners appear averse to discomfort and adversity, instead seeking to retreat into meditation as a reprieve from struggle and pain - be it emotional, physical, psychological or otherwise. Ultimately these practices are tools, and can be misused. 

On the other hand, spiritual practice has tremendous potential to liberate us from our ignorance, to heighten our awareness, to help us realize we are all one and that what we do to others we do to ourselves. These kinds of deep experiential revelations can usher in that more beautiful world we all know is possible™️ and so their value should not be understated. 

The challenge is realized when we consider how to be moral inside an immoral system. How can we purify the accumulated toxins and defilements of capitalism in the modern era? How can we ‘do no harm’ when, as citizens of nation states, our tax dollars go toward funding war, militarization, bombing of civilians, genocides, coups, invasions, forced migrations, fossil fuel subsidies, institutional oppression and the development of nuclear weapons capable of rendering most of life on this planet obsolete?

It isn't easy being greezy. Whether we're just trying to be better people or better citizens, there comes a time when it is necessary to critically examine the world around us. Doing so - assessing the external fabric of the national, social and ecological bubbles in which we all live - should reveal to us insights about our own internal environment. For example, a good Dhamma practitioner might seek to live a moral life. To do so is to be chaste, to abstain from intoxicants and sexual immodesty, to not kill or harm other beings. If this same person were to live in accord with the rules laid out for a 'good' life, is it considered killing to order some steaks from the butcher on her way home from work to feed her family? Sure, she didn't kill a cow, but her participation in the transaction as a consumer of a killed animal makes her complicit, or at least partly responsible, doesn't it? When Charles Manson suggested his family kill the people living in the house at Cielo Drive in Los Angeles, he technically didn't murder anyone. Was he acquitted of his charges?

Most people, if given sufficient time to think, can begin to piece together that something isn't right with the modern world. Things seem off. Pesky questions might arise about why there is so much war, why so much inequality, why so much political corruption, why are so many people homeless and starving, why do there seem to be more natural disasters, heatwaves and species extinctions, why do things keep getting more expensive while the minimum wage remains the same, why is there so much addiction, drug abuse, alienation and suicide? Answers to these questions may not come as readily as the questions themselves. The problem is that many people don't even have the requisite time to look around and reflect on the situation. Worse still, is that many people receive messaging through the media they consume which propagandizes them into channeling their abstract feelings of exploitation and injustice at manufactured scapegoats and boogeymen: immigrants, the poor, minorities, Muslims, each other. 

In his most recent book, entitled Illegitimate Authority, celebrated intellectual Noam Chomsky observes:

Both Lippmann and Bernays credited the Creel Committee for demonstrating the power of propaganda in "manufacturing consent" (Lippmann) and "engineering of consent" (Bernays). This "new art in the practice of democracy," Lippmann explained, could be used to keep the " ignorant and meddlesome outsiders" —the general public— passive and obedient while the self-designated "responsible men" will attend to important matters, free from the "trampling and roar of a bewildered herd." Bernays expressed similar views. They were not alone.

The trampling and roar of the bewildered herd has been misdirected, leaving the true enemy unseen and unscathed, with most of us not even noticing a trick has been played; that we've been duped. We're too busy fighting one another. We're too lost in fearful and worried thoughts about violent migrants pouring in over the border with guns and drugs, of swarthy, depraved, blood-thirsty terrorists, plotting, lurking, waiting, hellbent on the destruction of western democracy, threatening the safety of innocents everywhere. A buzzing blitz of macabre mayhem and murder await us in our pockets, reminding us that the threat is constant and unending and that as soon as one major tragedy or concern has waned, a fresh frenzy is ready to take its place. We are made to believe we are always under the threat of imminent destruction; a hostile nuclear submarine armed and ready off the shore, or maybe the next global pandemic. These drummed-up fears are incessantly broadcast on the news and propagated relentlessly across social media, whether they be financial, local, epidemiological or more personal - big-dicked black men ready to steal your woman, critical race theory trying to shame you for your whiteness, debauched liberals eager to reassign the gender of your children, trans people and other sexual miscreants lying in wait in public restrooms to ogle and molest young boys and girls, Mexicans flooding in to take your job, the list goes on - while the real, actual threats go unreported. For example, the climate crisis is the most pressing issue we face as a species, yet it gets scant coverage by comparison. The need for action becomes more urgent by the day yet we see little movement on this topic and, in conservative circles, flat out denial.

In order to liberate ourselves from this litany of false and exaggerated fears and focus on what truly needs our attention, we need the space to reflect - to contemplate our circumstances. This is why mindfulness practices matter now more than ever. How can one be expected to think about saving for their retirement if they can't think about how they're going to survive until the end of the month? 

A lingering observation from my time at the Vipassana retreat hinges on this very idea. I see now how vital it is to be in an environment insulated from the onslaught of worries and distractions that define the everyday default world we live in. Once inside such a space, there is finally the possibility to decompress, to declutter and allow the mind to settle. This is absolutely necessary in order to develop the clarity and focus needed for genuine insight and observation. 

If focus is regularly disrupted and misinformation keeps the mind confused and agitated, then the cogitative climate, rather than being suitable for realization, becomes quite opaque and intractable; the true nature of things remains impenetrable. The more conspiratorial part in me wonders whether this is by design. It would seem prudent to keep the governed throttled and in the dark, snapping at one another and quarreling over scraps, lest they uncover the big secret: there's more herd than shepherds. To quote David Hume:

...nothing appears more surprising to those, who consider human affairs with a philosophical eye, than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few; and the implicit submission, with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers. When we enquire by what means this wonder is effected, we shall find, that, as Force is always on the side of the governed, the governors have nothing to support them but opinion. It is therefore, on opinion only that government is founded; and this maxim extends to the most despotic and most military governments, as well as to the most free and most popular.

Poor Things

Last night I watched Poor Things, the newest film by Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos. So often when new movies are released they follow the same safe, formulaic patterns beaten into well-worn footpaths. It's hard to find anything weird or experimental, particularly when it comes to Hollywood. When movies like The Lighthouse, or Beau Is Afraid, or Everything Everywhere All At Once make it to the silver screen, I usually get giddy with excitement. This movie can be added to the company of those above. If you read nothing else, read this mini-review I wrote earlier in one of my scummy, villainous Discord hideouts:

It's a little bit Frankenstein a little bit Paradise Lost a little bit Metropolis and a lot of dark comedy. The acting is phenomenal, particularly Emma Stone's performance, but Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe's, too. Honestly, I started shaky on Ruffalo, but really enjoyed his portrayal of the character after only a short time. The score is unique and arresting and perfectly suited to the film's absurdity. It lends an amazing atmosphere which is further complimented by the cinematography and the use of ultra-wide lenses and disorienting camerawork. The story is full of important philosophical questions around shame, sexuality, exploitation, toxic masculinity, women's liberation, capitalism, etc., and is a bizarre sort of 'coming of age' tale with Emma Stone's character being perhaps one of the most badass Buddhamind bitches I've ever seen. 

Note that it is extremely sexually graphic, so if watching soft-core porn of Emma Stone isn't your thing, then you should probably skip it. Personally, I am a theater-boner enthusiast following in the long tradition established by Paul Reubens and most recently reprised by Republican senator Lauren Bobert.

The film, at around 2.5 hours in length, inexplicably left me wanting more. When the credits rolled I felt legitimate sadness that the ride was over. Nearly everything about the film is wonderful: the acting, the casting, the costume design, the sound, the sets, the music, the story, the themes. It is a remarkable and memorable film that invites repeated viewings. As mentioned earlier, the wide-angle lenses create a sense of kaleidoscopic disorientation and vastness that seem to puff the world out at the edges. Closeups of Emma Stone are mesmerizing. After watching Poor Things I couldn't help but feel it reminded me of something. Only after waking up this morning did I remember how I felt when watching Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a child. The world was so strange and engrossing. Growing up I watched the film countless times. Vivid memories return of the distinct smell of the warm insides of the VCR as the cassette rewinded. Both films have eccentric characters, outlandish costumes, unusual creatures and bizarre happenings.

But back to Poor Things. A particular scene stands out in my mind, starring the very talented and very flexible Kathryn Hunter whom I'd first seen in the opening of Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth. In Lanthimos' film she is an aged brothel owner possessing sagely wisdoms and a violent love of lobes. She skillfully dispenses these insights and encourages our heroine to endure her hardships despite the struggle, revealing a precious truth: if one does not experience all the colors and shades of her life - the hopeless and the exalted, the miserable and the ecstatic - how can one really know anything? How can one discover truth or make meaning? Suffering, if nothing else, is instructive. 

This lesson is rattling around my head from the recent Vipassana retreat. The teacher, S.N. Goenka, repeatedly reminded us that without pain, without the body clamoring for escape, without confronting intense sensation, there is no true chance for metamorphosis. Imagine for a second a stringed instrument, perhaps an acoustic guitar. In order for it to make a sound, the strings need to be taught. Strumming a series of limp strings will only generate at best a sad metallic swishing sound. Once the strings are tightly pulled, however, suddenly something magical happens: a series of notes ring out. But it isn't enough to simply strike a bunch of open strings. Doing so only creates a discordant sound lacking harmony. Instead one must apply pressure to the strings - the right amount of pressure in the right place - to produce a euphonic sonorous sound. One must learn where to place their fingers along the guitar's neck to summon the desired vibration and bring it into existence. So too our bodies must be taught. We must sense with our higher selves in order to learn where to apply the right pressure to make those beautiful karmic melodies we want to hear. In time we must realize we are to play jazz, to improvise as best we can, and remember not to bludgeon ourselves for our false notes nor crave the rapture of grand rhapsodies. 

I know I drifted away from the half-assed movie review. That's fine. We eliminate the possibility of further spoilers this way. Go see the movie. It's fucking good. 

If you don't like it, fuck a seagull or become a goat.