...a culture focused on me and mine at least in the uk, on the surface it can appear very thelemic and libertine, but i dont think it has anything to do with true will at all,...
Wolfangel, I have to completely agree with you on this. As has been pointed out in your Liber Oz thread, there is a gross misinterpretation of it's meaning. There is a tendency to equate autonomy with freedom, when in fact, it is near impossible to achieve autonomy whether living in western (so-called) "civilized" culture, or in a rarefied and remote Papuan culture, (for example).
Spiritually, many doctrines seem to hold the soloist in reverence. I am thinking of the solitary retreats in buddhism, which Milarepa exemplified, or the solitary warrior/shaman. Being solitary and autonomous seems to be a necessary part of spiritual practice, only to arrive at the revelation that one is intrisically connected to everything.
What is disturbing me is, this rite of passage, (if I can call it that) is being mimicked by consumerism. As you pointed out Wolfangel, with the example of this "community" just being all of us sitting in our individual homes, at individual terminals. We are quite obviously replacing our inherent non-separateness with telecommunications. The contradiction in our society that we must strive for absolute autonomy yet we are encouraged to connect to the world via network news, internet, text messages, telephones, faxes, etc...seems to create isolation and at the same time manage to materialize and cement a very natural state of being. In a few words, we are replacing telepathy with telecommunication. We are being sold back our non-separability in individual, pre-packaged goods and services. Societal autonomy is certainly not equal to spiritual autonomy, yet I can see how many do percieve their self-sufficiency as being a spiritual-badge-of-honour. Not that I am knocking self-sufficiency, only when it is used as a false retreat. The retreat of a lama, monk, shaman, is done with the purpose of stripping the ego down in order to percieve the non-separability of everything (hence the joke, make me one with everything...), whereas simple self-suffiency just isolates and compartmentalizes, no matter how fast your internet connection is.
Being non-committal in relationships, deciding not to have children or other dependants, removing oneself from familial relations, etc...can also be misconstrued as a spiritual retreat. I find it amusing now in my life, that I had even attempted to disconnect like this myself, at one time. I tried to overcompensate my lack of real connection and imposed isolation, by trying to convince myself I was embracing everything and everyone if I wasn't focused on one person or situation. It is somewhat liberating, but it certainly not freedom. Yet, I see so many others mistake their isolation for freedom.
I am not sure where I am going with this thread, maybe others can steer it a bit. I think this may have been too broad a topic, as I am seeing so many different aspect that can be discussed.
Steer as ye will. |