Well, as I recently mentioned in Facebook, given the entirely unsatisfactory nature of this blogging experience in terms of the administration of the blog on the WordPress platform, and the fact that most of the associated widgets etc. fail to function correctly, it’s time to bid a fond farewell to this digital publishing exercise. It’s been fun, but time to direct energies in other directions.
I think it’s safe to assume that Amazon will never pay me any royalties or register any sales for the novel ‘Advanced Binusism for Certified Wosers’ or even allow readers to comment on the book’s Amazon page. The same seems to hold true for Blurb and the two books of photography published via that platform. Likewise, my appeals for crowdfunding and/or readers making direct contributions to my current account have resulted in zero funds. Why this should be and what might motivate seemingly unrelated corporations to behave in this manner…well I’ll allow the discerning reader to draw his or her own conclusions.
Though while you’re at it, you might also stop to consider why society has its present structure and current configuration and is organised along hierarchical, materialistic lines, with the emphasis consistently and firmly placed upon the importance of the value of things above lives and the view that social and economic status is the ultimate acceptable personal goal? Why is society purposefully structured so that poverty and hunger is endemic across the globe when natural resources abound? Why is it that basic human rights and rights of expression and privacy are constantly under threat, hugely profitable wars are never ending, and we are all controlled by a financial system that seems little more than a sophisticated sleight-of-hand designed to favour so few whilst ensuring the suffering of so many? What is this world we live in where the constant message communicated to us implicitly, and at times explicitly, is that most of us are superfluous, not needed, entirely dispensable, that the world is over-populated and that there are just too damned many of us – even though, as an article published by the Washington Post in 2015 pointed out, if placed shoulder to shoulder the entire world population would fit into an area roughly the size of New York city?
You may also do well to ponder why it seems that the mainstream media and entertainment industry seem hell-bent on provoking, invoking and constantly reinforcing the most basic human impulses and emotions/mind states: fear, loathing, violence, greed, selfishness, competitiveness, sex, etc.
Finally, one might also take the time to briefly wonder why it should be that historically – consider even the recent past in the 1960s in the US, for example – any popular movement espousing the entirely laudable and common-sense values of how fine it might be to have peace instead of war, and love instead of hate etc. – have been immediately categorised, classified, derided and defamed, infiltrated, subverted and their leaders and principal spokespersons conveniently silenced and/or eliminated.
I mean, after all, on the face of it, peace, love, compassion and sharing form the core values of all human beings, don’t they? It’s what we would all like to see in our world, isn’t it? So why does society so clearly fail to encourage or exemplify these values? To what end? Who is ultimately benefiting from the status quo and the unnecessary suffering of so many innocent people?
Indeed, many such questions naturally seem to arise to a confused, impartial observer when you stop to analyse the current state of things and the conflict and disharmony witnessed over the ages by humanity.
The yogic view of human consciousness and energy
As a thought exercise, let’s pause at this point to look at Yogic practices, theory and philosophy.
Yoga means ‘union’. At a personal level this signifies the union and natural, balanced integration of one’s mental energy, emotions and physical body. At a higher level – and the ultimate aim of the original yogis – it is taken to mean the union or merging of individual consciousness with supraconsciousness or that which lies beyond the strictly human experience yet of which we form an undeniable part. The greater mystery of life.
Historically, Yoga is a discipline that arose as particularly spiritual/sensitive/mentally inquisitive people strove to find ways to observe, contemplate and understand the workings of the mind and the true nature of reality and its relation with different levels of consciousness, whilst seeking how to achieve balance between our human nature and the wider scope of things (the world and greater universe). Other goals included, for example, the maintenance of health and the minimisation of individual mental, emotional and physical suffering.
Through meditation, observation and experimentation the Yogis in India concluded (fundamentally):
-The mind and emotions influence the body.
-The body influences the mind and emotions.
– How we breathe has a bearing on both.
– Altering any one of these factors has a direct, quantifiable impact on the other two.
– All humans naturally experience different states of consciousness, including – an awake or sensory state, dream state, deep sleep, and transcendental states.
– We all have a consciousness of ourselves that transcends our own transitory emotional/mental/physical states, therefore, we are not strictly identifiable with said states. We are more than the sum of these – that is, there seems to be a transcendental ‘observer’ within us all.
As they further explored, using practices based on the above principal conclusions and observations, they also identified areas of the body which correspond to certain different unseen, but clearly felt, energy/psychic centres within each person, the activation of which have different direct effects on the person’s mind and conscious awareness.
Practitioners of Yoga and meditation identified 7 or 8 principal centres (given the generic name of ‘chakras‘ in the Sanskrit language). Associated with each energy centre and the corresponding physical areas in the body with which they may be loosely identified are different impulses and emotional/mental states that we all experience during our lives, at least potentially, to a greater or lesser degree:
In very general terms, these energy centres may be described as follows:
1) The root – associated to the area near the base of the spine (perineum) in the physical body. Related to the most basic, instinctual attitudes of self and individuality (self preservation and survival etc.)
2) The sexual – located in the body in the sacral area. Associated principally with sexual energy/impulses.
3) The midriff/abdomen – the main energy store of the body (the lower ‘dan tian’ or ‘Sea of energy’ also identified in Chinese internal martial arts and medicine). Associated with vitality, will, personal initiative, etc. That is, the desire and drive to ‘triumph’ with personal goals, plans and aspirations in the material world.
4) The heart – associated with a feeling of unconditional love towards others, without expectation of gaining anything in return. The point where the individual starts to develop a more objective conscious awareness of him/herself and the surrounding world and consciousness is no longer strictly limited to identification with one’s own body/mind.
5) The throat – associated with rational thought, verbal communication, creativity and ingenuity or inventiveness.
6) The pineal gland (the area between the eyebrows) – also known as the ‘third’ or ‘divine’ eye. Associated with intuition and intuitive knowledge and wisdom. The highest possible point of consciousness of the individual per se. Where consciousness of a ‘transcendental or impartial observer’ not identifiable with our own thoughts or the surrounding world becomes apparent. Also where you effectively become your own ‘inner master’.
7) The crown of the head – the point of contact or gateway/connection to supraconsciousness. Identification with the divine or universal mind. Dissolution of the ‘ego’. State of enlightenment. Unknowable in purely intellectual terms and which consequently cannot be communicated to and understood by others by the use of their rational faculties alone. That which has to be experienced for oneself directly. (The Tao in Taoism).
The Yogis concluded from the above energetic schema1 that their task, and indeed the task of each individual, is to elevate one’s initially dormant lower-level energy from the lower to the higher levels – effectively channelling it upwards through the spinal cord until each energetic centre is subsequently activated and balanced. This, in turn, would allow the individual to progressively enter and experience higher levels of consciousness and would promote a greater state of happiness and physical and mental health and general well-being, with the person ultimately living in peaceful harmony with both him/herself and the greater environment and realising their maximum spiritual/conscious potential. A realistic goal attainable by all to awaken ‘the best in each of us’.
It should be noted that Yoga never considered itself to be a religion, but rather a philosophical school of thought and practice that uses meditation and other approaches to promote the evolution and advancement of the practitioner. Although there are helpful guides (‘gurus’ – literally meaning ‘light’), there are essentially no leaders or followers, and you are embarked on learning to be, in the final instance, your own ‘master’, responsible for your acts, thoughts and consciousness. This is the end goal. As a logical consequence of this, in Yoga, there are no ‘ultimate keepers or guardians of secret truths’ – other than yourself, that is. It is not another system of beliefs that will control and occupy your mind and thinking, but rather a set of practices aimed at liberating you from the control of your mind, allowing your understanding to expand beyond this.
Historically, many of the practices used by Yogis in India to balance/awaken the higher energetic centres (principally via meditation) were later adopted and adapted by many religious organisations for their own respective ends: mantras (devotional singing), asanas (physical postures), meditational aids (candles and such like), and so on. It is said that the first Buddha was a practitioner of yoga, for example and his doctrines were largely based on and influenced by this. These theories of energy were also further developed by Chinese and other Oriental thinkers, resulting in the development of energy-based approaches to medicine and health (acupuncture and meridians), internal martial arts theory etc.
It should also be noted that one of the main conclusions of the Yogis was that the lowest level of human consciousness, firmly rooted in the five senses and the material world, is a necessary illusion when operating from a very limited egocentric perspective (a concept termed Maya in the Sanskrit language), which results in those who are only familiar with this level of consciousness mistakenly confusing it with the true nature of wider reality or believing it to be ‘all that there is’; a confusion which invariably results in unnecessary personal mental/emotional/physical suffering and wider social imbalance and distress.
Self-awareness and greater understanding
As you can see, the historical priorities of western society, which currently seems intent on defining and consolidating a global society and positioning itself as the dominant world narrative, actively distorts, blocks or creates imbalance in all of the lower energy centres, as identified by Yogic thinkers, systematically repressing or over-stimulating these, with their importance ignored or obsessively blown out of proportion. In addition, the heart energy centre and its associated impulses are dismissed or regarded as weakness not befitting of true manliness or a hindrance to clear, rational thought and so on. Lastly, the importance of logical thought and reason itself is greatly exaggerated and the role of intuitive thinking or wisdom is widely ignored or relegated to the level of mere superstition or mystic mumbo-jumbo. And as for connection with supraconsciousness and the divine mind– you can forget that completely. That kind of nonsense is obviously for those who can’t afford the latest iphone.
Unfortunately, in this hugely impoverished scenario of socially-acceptable self-awareness, the individual trapped in this self-defeating, disfranchising dynamic has little to no possibility of awakening his/her higher centres of understanding or even achieving a healthy mental/physical and emotional balance during their lifetime. They are steeped in what Buddhism would term to be ‘ignorance’ with respect to themselves and others and the true nature of reality (which, to reiterate, and again according to the philosophy of Yoga, is directly and intuitively experienced only when the lower psychic/energetic centres are balanced and unblocked and our energy is channelled to the upper centres, allowing these to be activated and function correctly). For whatever reason, higher levels of consciousness are largely dismissed, ignored or derided by the dominant, ‘socially-acceptable’ narratives of our time.
Of course, it’s these very-same narratives that actively encourage people to stuff themselves up the chimbleys of richer folks’ houses in order to clean them at will or work down mine-shafts all their lives for a pittance of pay or kill or be killed in armed conflicts that inexplicably arise time and time again against other people you have never even met and such forth. That’s all entirely socially-acceptable, reasonable, normal behaviour and should not be a cause for alarm, apparently.
Follow the leader
It should be noted that followers of any kind, are, by definition, incomplete or not fully self-realised individuals, whose will, thoughts and opinions may be manipulated and swayed and their energies and acts duly channelled and directed for the benefit of third parties, as needs be.
As we are all constantly learning about ourselves, we often assume, at least initially, that those who we trust to communicate knowledge to us are acting in good faith and in accordance with our best interests, and are not, in fact, abusing their positions of relative power to manipulate us for their own, private ends. Reason dictates, nevertheless, that we should always be ready and willing to critically revise that assumption when observation and experience indicates that such trust may have been seriously misplaced.
Finally, it must also be said, by equal measure, that those individuals who seek to realise their personal goals by manipulating others’ will, thoughts and actions can themselves be characterised as being deeply deluded and lost in the labyrinth of their own low-level ego schemes and soap-operaesque, serpentine plots and sub-plots of self-furtherance and as such are fully deserving of pity. Pity, yes; power granted by us to continue misdirecting our lives, most definitely not.
Let’s conclude this
I would go far as to humbly suggest that we would be wise to reject the pretensions of those wishing to create a global society based on ignorance, a lack of self-awareness and our collective non-advancement and continued suffering.
It all seems to be so unspeakably dull, daft and unnecessary. What’s next – the James Bond theme tune as the anthem for a gleamingly-superficial unified new world social engineering construct which will only serve to more clearly reflect our stubborn refusal to consciously evolve as a species and mire us deeper in mindless servitude and suffering?
I mean it’s a catchy tune and all that, but you can most definitely count me out.
Perhaps if humanity is finally to advance towards a global society which is a true outer expression of the best in all of us – peace, justice, truth, understanding, respect and harmony with ourselves and nature – now presents the perfect time to integrate the wisdom of the East into the thinking of the West. Maybe we can try and unpack our minds from the little boxes they seem to have been forced into since birth next time we proudly unpack the latest ‘must-have’, totally unnecessary technological gadget we’ve just bought, which in all probability represents one major advance and one advance only in our lives: it allows us to be controlled more efficiently, our meagre freedoms even further curtailed, and our every move and thought tracked and recorded by state intelligence services, corporations and those behind this absurd, unnatural shambles with even greater ease.
At the end of the day we can change this round if we really put our minds to it. So they control the social system they’ve designed and implemented? Natural enough, they created it, we fell for it, but in the wider-scheme of the universe that’s, how can I put this nicely, diddle-shit.
Personally, I may be busted, but I’d prefer to be busted than hurting anyone or making anyone else suffer. Obviously, I’d prefer to be financially independent and paid for my work instead of being defrauded and treated like some form of thought criminal who has all forms of potential revenue blocked by a bunch of satanic nitwits and is forced to rely on support from old friends and family to survive. But hey, I’ve put up with their continued intrusion and harassment for around 10 years now so a little longer won’t hurt. After all, I’m sure justice will eventually be done as more and more people start to question who actually controls the societies in which they live and begin to reject their ridiculous agendas wholeheartedly.
Wait, now that I think about it, is ‘diddle-shit’ hyphenated or one word? Would someone please explain the rule here once and for all.
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1presented here in a very superficial and summary fashion, taking salient points from Danilo Hernandez’s excellent and rigorously researched book Claves del Yoga, Teoría y Práctica. Published by la Liebre de Marzo.
Advanced Binusism for Certified Wosers 