Party in the Bardo Room

'Hierarchy' is a conceptual superimposition that we project onto the phenomena we experience.

It does not objectively or truly exist.

People believe it does, and have corresponding emotional responses, similar to seeing something in the dark and believing it to be a snake and freaking out, but when you turn on the lights, it is clear that it is only a coil of rope.

I think rhizome is closer in describing the interdependence and impermanence that mark our phenomenal world.

The brain is not disctinct from the body, nor vice versa. EVERYthing is interdependently related, and nothing is separate, independent, or enduring.

Let me reiterate:
Hierarchy is not good or bad, simply because it does not actually exist. We merely believe it does. We believe in it so much (through our cultural conditioning and socialization) that we are emotionally dependent on it.

This is like a child freaking out when their sand castle is unexpectedly swept away by the rising tide.

The point is, we do not have to suffer or freak out at all. We can begin to recognize the patterns of interdependence and impermanence that are undeniably around us and that we are an intrinsic part of.
We can appreciate the basic beauty and ordinary magic that we are constantly participating in.

We can transcend the illusion of hierachy and all of its demeaning lies (that we tell ourselves), and abide in the natural state of things, peacefully.

1:27 PM


Theo_musher said...
you seem to be using the word "hierarchy" as a synonym for "evil"

Then you kind of slip into quasi buddhism and explain why "evil" (in this case hierarchy) is just an illusion.

But what if I don't see hierarchy as representative of all that is evil?

What if I just see it as one set of relationships, like a repeating pattern that matter arranges itself into?

Speaking of Buddhism, That is a hierarchal religion. It has a top down autocratic leadership structure.

Its not democratic or egalitarian at all. That doesn't mean its bad, it just has that pattern. Does a Zen master neccessarily need to prey on his students for it to be a hierarchy?

3:32 PM


sventastic said...
First:
I did not assert nor imply an association between hierarchy and "evil." In fact, I explicity stated:
Hierarchy is not good or bad, simply because it does not actually exist.
Very simply: something that does not exist can't be anything, let alone "evil."
Second:
"Hierarchy" is a conceptual framework based on a belief system of an ontology of power relationships.
Since all relationships are conceptual and relative phenomena (they are subjective interpretations of empirical experience, and as such are variable, diverse, and can change) they do not have an objective status as being truly existent in and of themselves.
Nothing and no experience exists independently, separately, or permanently; requisites for "objectivity."
For instance, one considers the mosquito that bites them and drinks their blood as a pest, whereas the mosquito considers you to be a delicous meal. Who is correct? How can you possibly assert your experience as being superior to another's? It is all merely experience, and one cannot assert a variable interpretation of an experience (which can and does change over time due to the vicisitudes of memory) as being "more real" than any other.
It is the same with socio-political power structures.
Many people fear the government, most likely because they have been taught to. But people and institutions only have the power that we are willing to invest in them, consciously or not. Beliefs in "superior" and "inferior" are subjective interpretations of relative power relationships.
"Hierarchy" is the structure of some being superior over those who are inferior in some way. But beliefs in being subordinate to someone else are variable, diverse, and change over time, and are therefore not truly existent.
Let me reiterate:
Despite the fact that they have shotguns and tear gas and tasers does not make the "government" be superior or have power over me. It can coerce or even destroy me through violence, but that does not make it powerful.
A volcanic eruption or hurricane can coerce and destroy me through "violence," but I do not superimpose the same power dynamics on them that I do to the government.
In fact, it has been historically shown that there is a force more powerful than violence or the threat thereof: love.
One can look to recent examples of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and their amazing successes in producing social change my means of non-violent methods, in the face of beligerent and violence-wielding institutions and structures.
Indulgence in violence is of course the par for the course for humanity, and is the path of least resistence for those who are greedy, hate-filled, or afraid of others. But it does not have to be the only way, and in fact, there are forces more powerful than these.
Those who insist on perpetuating "Hierarchy" employ fear and hate-mongering, encourage apathy and complancency, and espouse propaganda and ignorance.
These tactics and strategies are unsustainable and destructive, and has lead us to the brink of global annihilation.
Thirdly:
Buddha said in the Sutra on Pure Realms Spread Out in Dense Array:

"Do not accept my Dharma merely out of respect for me, but analyze and check it the way a goldsmith analyzes gold, by rubbing, cutting and melting it."

That does not sound hierarchical to me. Buddha, and the philosophy he taught, is inherently based on individual examination of one's own experience, use of reason and logic, and innate potential of every single being to become awake to how the world functions. It is not based on coersion, threat or use of violence, or any other features or qualities of Hierarchy.

Like any human institution, Buddhism has unfortunately been co-opted here and there by those who are greedy, scared, or full of hate. But these are absolutely not features of what the Buddha taught, but are rather superimpositions and bad choices made by a few people who call themselves "Buddhists."
That is why the Buddha also said:

Rely not upon the person, but upon the doctrine.

With respect to the doctrine, rely not on the words but on the meaning.

With regard to the meaning, rely not on the interpretable meaning, but on the definitive meaning.

With regard to the definitive meaning, one should rely not upon comprehension by an ordinary state of consciousness but upon an exalted wisdom consciousness.

Because of this, the reliability of teachings cannot be determined by the person who taught them but by investigating the teachings themselves.

11:20 AM


Theo_musher said...
So how is Jeff critiquing somthing that doesn't exist?

Do you consider that to be like critiquing the tooth fairy?

I don't follow you.

I just made the observation that the cells of the human body seem to be arranged in a hierarchy.

Strawberry's seem to be arranged in a rhizome. There appear to be several patterns in nature.

9:37 PM


sventastic said...
More like a perverse combo of the Easter Bunny and Big Brother.

I think what Jeff is critiquing and what I'm trying to expose is the ultimate deceitful con: that it is okay, and actually preferrable, for us to subordinate ourselves to the whims of others.
We are complicit in this indoctrinated system of deception as long as we remain ignorant of it and do nothing to counter it in our own lives.
Daniel Quinn describes this as the constant background hum of socialization to which we've been desensitized called Mother Culture in his great book Ishmael.
The fact that we are not aware of this pervasive ignorance to how things are is testament to the insidiousness of its illusion.
Like I've said, "hierarchy," or belief and emotional investment in it, is not evil, just highly unfortunate and unnecessary.
It is like seeing someone across the street and recognizing them as your friend, and when you run over to greet them, you see with your own eyes that it's actually a stranger. This mistake is not bad or evil, it's just a mistake. We do it all the time. We are being tricked and are tricking ourselves.
The key point here is that we consistently make this mistake with our government. The more propaganda they spew, and the more a complancent populace gobbles it up, the deeper entrenched their heinous scheme becomes.
Hierarchy does not truly exist. We mistaken believe it does, and empower those who exploit us in its name to perpetuate our misery.
Even hierarchy in a non-human context does not exist; relationships are relative and variable. They do not truly exist one way or another, but rather in interdependence with everything. There are infinite points of view of every thing, and therefore no absolute or correct structure or system or hierarchy between them.
The world is what we make of it.
We can chose to continue to imprison ourselves in a twisted web of self-deception and subordination, or we can wake up to the fact that we are inherently good and free, and that the world is actually a magical and blissful place.
In an interesting twist of semantic genius, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, describes nature in terms of "natural hierarchy," which is a non-dual, non-conceptual mode of pure being. He does this in stark constrast with our conventional notion of hierarchy, which is a stratified order of superiors dominating inferiors.
Natural hierachy, as Trungpa Rinpoche coined the term, is actually remarkably similar to what Jeff calls rhizome. It is suchness, plain and simple. No good, no evil. No better or worse. No hope and no fear.
This is not contradictory to what I'm espousing above. Trungpa Rinpoche is using language to subvert our common notions of hierarchy, and subversively invented this term to wake us up to the non-dual, non-conceptual nature of reality.
If this is interesting to you, I highly suggest you check out the book.

10:21 AM

MLK:
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.... The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Strength to Love (1963)

Violence is an expression of hierarchy: it is the intention and action of dominance over another.

Change occurs, violence happens; that's the way of the world. We, as humans however, have the capacity to choose how to act with each other and our environment.
We may find ourselves in less-than-ideal conditions, but that's the hand we're dealt, and we have to work within the realistic context we find ourselves in. That's the dynamic relationship between choice and choicelessness. We are choiceless in the circumstances we find ourselves in, but from that very place, we can choose how to think, feel, and act.
The world is what we make of it. Be the change you want to see in the world, is pretty simple, profound, and brilliant.
That does not mean indulging in idiot-compassion or spiritual materialism. It doesn't necessarily mean pacifism. But it does mean opening our eyes, hearts, and minds, and realizing that "business as usual," a.k.a. hierarchy and its patterns of violence, are futile and self-destructive.
There is a better and more ultimately skillful way to go about things, one based in simplicity, altruism and loving-kindness.
By-the-by, in terms of Dalai Lama and Tibet: It's true that Tibetan history is rife with the worst of bureaucracy, politics, and sectarian violence. But at the same time has produced self-actualized and amazing people. Maybe it was time for these teachings to leave that container and spread throughout the world.

The whole world and its inhabitants are impermanent, like a bubble, or like an exposed candle flame in a hurricane.
The sooner that we recognize and genuinely accept this fact, the better off we'll be.
Change and death are inevitable, the only things we can truly count on. It is the pinnacle of futility and childishness to try and avoid or ignore this.
Simultaneously, it is the most beneficial and rewarding experience to realize how interdependence functions, and make the best of our actual situation that we find ourselves in, and relax and let go of the clinging to unrealistic expectations, preconceptions, and belief systems that we are inured of and addicted to.
Death appears to be the final result, the end all and be all.
I disagree with this assumption.
There can be no life without death. If everything lasted forever, the world would be covered with shit.
What does this have to do with Peak Oil and its aftershocks?
Well, if we can intelligently and critically analyze what is really going on, we can prepare for what is likely to come next. We need to remain fluid and adaptaple, for things might change drastically and unexpectedly in a short amount of time.
We need to open our hearts and minds, prepare our bodies and skill-sets to be able to handle and persevere a radically different landscape. As Jeff says, we need to become resilient. To me, this means accepting that things will change and one day we will die. When we honestly confront these distastelful truths, we become fearless. They lose their power over us, or more accurately, we no longer invest power in them, but rather invest it where it will be of most benefit: in how things actually are.
We need to divest ourselves of our resentment and fear of decay and dying. A wise man once said, It is only after one has lost everything that one is free to do anything.

Hiya team.

Here's a little poem that came up:

time appears; restless momentum flows from the
future to the past, past to the future.
an old year comes to its end, a new one is on the way.
Now i'll relax and let go of the flow, and rest choicelessly in the current.

there's a lot to reflect on, and a lot to let go of (and rest non-conceptually).

in the realitive aspect of our Buddharealm here, call it Endurance or Earth, what have you, there are forces at work that we cannot see or comprehend, some that we can, but they all are fairly ordinary.
the main point is about taking responsibility.
accountability for our actions and intentions is key. This is, in my short experience, what I think is called "growing up;" it's pretty difficult to measure maturity (it like most things is constantly fluctuating), but there is a difference in attitude between someone who is able to acknowledge and accept their circumstances, and people who are constantly clamoring for something else, who are not willing to relax and abide in the present moment.
we have to make choices in our lives, but we don't need to be controlled by them. i think people need to learn more about surrendering and choicelessness, what a wise fried of mind calls "investing in loss."
this is not any passive or cynical or depressed activity; rather it can be fearless, noble, and compassionate if done genuinely.
so, just take a step back, take a deep breath, and relax. let go. see what gifts stillness and silence can bring if you are able to accept them.

New Post
Post-post.
"What's in the evening post?"
Post-haste.
Yes.
Wicked-good.


Om ga te ga te pa ra ga te pa ra sam ga te bo dhi sva ha

This Rocks.
Welcome to the Bardo; you're gonna die!
(just remember: every birth is a death, and every death is a birth. Think about it.)
peace,
Sven