From: Sehkenenra (Sehkenenra@netzero.net)
Date: Thu Jul 18 2002 - 14:36:41 MDT
>Have you read Freud? What psychotherapeutic implications have you
>considered? Sex is a natural dricve and I suspect that to artificially
>repress
>it causes psychological problems in an individual, and societal problems at
>large. The last thing we need is a high priesthood of Extropian cultists.
Frankly, Freud can take his theories of sexual repression and shove them.
The sanest, happiest people I've ever met were the Zen Buddhist monks I met
last summer at Mt. Shasta Abbey. Contrary to your theory, Buddhists do not
project or emotionally displace themselves towards another figure- their
entire religion is based around understanding and percieving reality simply
as it is and accepting what is, good and bad. I looked at the entire
lifestyle of these monks, and compared it to that of my parents and
grandparents. The monks hardly have what I'd call a poor, impoverished
lifestyle- they eat far better than I do most of the time, and have very
pleasent, peaceful surroundings. When I compare those monks to my father-
who makes over half a million dollars a year yet still needs to yell at the
TV and drink himself to sleep every night- I wonder which one has the saner
lifestyle?
But I decided the life of a monk wasn't for me. It wasn't the discipline- I
want to build discipline in my life. It wasn't the calm of the monastery-
that was quite refreshing, especially compared to the previous two weeks I
had spent in Seattle. It wasn't the celibacy- since I can't seem to stay in
a relationship for longer than a week, that's of little concern to me. It
was that it felt like I would be leaving all my dreams behind if I pursued
the monastic life, and that was something I couldn't do. I've never really
wanted to pursue material pleasures or wealth, or sexual conquests, or
political power for it's own sake. All those goals seem rather empty to me.
What I've really wanted to do is become a hero. I want to actually
contribute something to the evolution of humanity.
After I left the abbey, I felt confused. I'd gone there looking for
answers- I had told myself that I was going to become a monk, and that I
wouldn't leave until I truly understood myself. Instead, after only a few
days, I was departing, even more empty and confused than before. I had
found a path to profound peace and contented emptiness- but this wasn't what
I was looking for. I was looking for empowerment. I had a glimpse of
eternity while standing in front of the stupa of Jiyu-Kennet Roshi,
contemplating the lines of her death poem- and it both scared and
exhilerated me. But I couldn't stay.
I returned to Sioux Falls and enrolled myself in college. I intended to
double major in Political Science and Physics- but after half a semester of
my science curriculum, I decided that Physics wasn't for me. Despite my
high marks in Math on the ACT and SAT, the Calculus class just didn't make
any sense to me. I couldn't pay attention, the numbers swam on the page of
my text... none of it made any sense to me, which is very strange for
someone with as mathematical a mind as mine. So I decided to pursue Poli
Sci instead.
A week ago, I couldn't sleep. It seemed as if every problem that I had
encountered over the last two years was racing through my head- and for
once, I had answers to these problems. The constant political debate
between my Libertarian and Liberal sides was finally resolved. I figured
out precisely what the Transhumanist movement was doing wrong, memetically.
I came up with an experiment to try to spread Transhumanist memes among the
students of my unsuspecting college. I decided that I'm going to go to
graduate school when I'm done with college- and that I'm going into
politics. Through self-training and experience, I'll develop the necessary
charisma to sell my ideas. I'll start meditating again as well. I'm going
to complete the transhumanist-themed game I'm working on developing- and I'm
going to get it published. After that, I'll write the novels I've always
talked about. And I'm going to move to Seattle and get my own apartment-
preferably with a good friend.
At the same time that I realized all this, I understood something else- that
the calm I had experienced at Mt. Shasta *was* the empowerment that I was
looking for. I started to recall a Buddhist concept that I had read about
in a book by Robert Thurman a year before- that of the Bodhisattva- someone
who takes this calm out into the world, and acts from it, rather than
avoiding the world like a monk. I understood that if I could develop and
work from a higher state of consciousness, it would help me be more
rational, compassionate, and effective. Maybe, then, I really can do
something to help the world.
-Nicq MacDonald
Transhumanist with Buddhist tendencies
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