The Art of Life
No slanderer or enemy of life am I. Rather do I love it as I love myself – strengths, weaknesses, warts, weirdness, and all. It might be assumed that many people could say the same thing. Does not everyone want life, and therefore love it? No, not everyone does, and the fact that some nevertheless carry on only demonstrates the force of habit, and the power of the fear of death. Slow suicide is their method, an approach that can be described as cowardly for it is not self-directed, and rather waits for circumstances and the accumulated effects of self-abuse to do the job. This is no way to die, and it is certainly no way to live.
The art of growing and ageing well has become important to me. In my late 30’s I lost my “mortality virginity” in a series of health and personal problems that presented me with the necessary sacrifice of two major life dreams, the death of a loved one, and a heart attack followed by a quadruple by-pass…and it didn’t end there. Yet I came thru all of this better and wiser. Why? Because it brought me to a crossroads I couldn’t avoid, and that forced me to make a decision: I could continue to cast about trying one thing and then another, looking for some scheme or path in the external world to grant me value and acknowledge my sense of worth, all the while sinking deeper into well established habitual patterns, stultifying my consciousness and turning it into a fortress from which I would hurl insults and criticisms like bombs at the world that was failing to conform to my fantasies, ceasing to grow, suffering countless compromises and defeats…and then suddenly I would be an old man, frustrated, bitter, raging impotently against the injustice of the world and everyone in it, a boring malcontent and a failure, far from the heroic ideal of my own eyes!
Or – I could push back against the all too easy and insidious tendency towards degeneration, and bring forth whatever capacity for magic, creation, self-transformation, and genius I have within me, pushing myself into new and higher realms of consciousness and spirituality, growing into the vital and wise old artist, sage, and wizard who lives as a seed in my Darkness. It was Now that I had to assert a conscious control of the process of growing older, and do it brilliantly, like a work of art.
My efforts in this quest have provided the perfect contrast to the unpalatable demonstrations of degenerate ageing I currently witness in all too many friends and extended family members who take out there growing discontents and frustrations on each other, engage in psychological poison-mixing and suspicion-sowing, spout hatred-fueled ideological rants, all the while trying to drown themselves in oceans of alcohol as if it were some kind of cure. I see nothing but a succession of ugly days crouched upon this path.
I originally titled this essay “The Art of Ageing Well”, for that was how I understood what I was aiming for. I then realized that the “secret” of ageing well is actually the secret of self-transformation, which is none other than the secret to the Art of Life itself. If I live my life in the right way, I will grow and age in the right way. The two cannot be separated.
The Art of Life requires an increasingly determined and conscious effort to direct the inner realm from which arises my unique and unparalleled ability to create, interpret, and assign meaning to my own life as it is experienced in the Objective and Subjective Universes. This effort is facilitated and sharpened by having an agenda, a project, a purpose of my own that belongs to me and no one else.
The Objective Universe in itself is devoid of meaning, for "meaning" is a human concept. Nature does what it does without self-awareness, therefore without question or criticism. Meaning arises from an interaction between the Objective Universe and a separate, "outside" position that is removed from it - the Subjective Universe of the human psyche. With this duality of the Seer and the Seen, perspective is born. Meaning and perspective are inseparable, for meaning implies relativity - meaning according to whom, and to what? Perception is not a simple observation or act of recording that adds or subtracts nothing. Perception is a creative, interpretive act that orders stimuli into a dynamic, hierarchical structure sculpted by a hidden artist within who has mysterious motives and imperatives that my consciousness is largely if not totally unaware of. Because of the degree of unconsciousness involved in the creative aspect of perception, many people go thru life unaware of the fact that they are indeed creating and assigning their own sense of value and meaning for themselves, their environments, and their experiences. This can become extremely problematic later in life when a complex confluence of changing body chemistry, fluctuating social and economic status, political and cultural developments, and altered or decreased expectations of the objective world, other people, and myself combine to challenge and even threaten my mental health and good humor. If I am not in command of my essential ability to create and assign my own meaning and value but instead keep looking to the Objective Universe to indicate it for me - throwing it up in my face like it seemed to do when I was a child - I am sunk! I simply cannot direct my life according to any sense of meaning and value if I do not know its source, and exercise no control over it.
There is an old psychiatric parable about two brothers, one of whom is a pessimist, the other an optimist. Their parents want to balance them out, so on X-mas morning they fill one room with presents for the pessimist, another room with manure for the optimist. The pessimist sits surrounded by his gifts and sulks, saying "What a bunch of junk! The boy next door has better toys." The optimist digs excitedly thru the manure, shouting "Where there's shit there must be a pony!" In its exaggerated way, this bit makes its point very well. Different children from the same parents, raised in the same environment according to the same rules, can go on to respond to the Objective Universe in very different ways. One will revel in difficulties and thrive anywhere he goes, while the other spreads desolation in any old paradise he finds himself in. Both may feel perfectly justified in their attitudes, perhaps even supporting them with "objective" evidence, yet the meaning and sense of value underlying their respective experiences of life does not derive from an objective observation of external, material, and social realities, but from the secret wells and hidden topography of their own psyches.
The fact that young people are generally unaware of their true power as sentient beings to create the meaning of their own experiences is not surprising. Childhood is the time for naivety, which confers its own special type of ambiguous power. The Objective Universe becomes a great big canvass for projections of fantasy, most of which are culturally determined. Fantasy can be a crucible for future schemes and dreams of greatness, a launching pad into the unknown, a source of melancholy and hilarious memories, and at worst the seed of delusion, carnage, and self-destruction. Yes, it is quite natural to be unaware of the inner source of value and meaning when you are young, and to look for it in Objective Universe things, situations, and relationships that are unconsciously imbued, but to continue on into the middle and later years of life in this fashion is a set-up for tensions, disappointments, and disasters that few if any can foresee. And then they are upon you!
The world looks different when you get older. Endless possibilities for expansion and adventure and conquest no longer hang out on every street corner, and physical mortality ceases to be merely a concept. Career paths, family, home ownership, all the conventional paraphernalia of success and well being do not turn out to be the "happily ever after" they once may have appeared to be when they were beyond reach. Very often when people achieve these benchmarks of outward success the internal problems begin to boil over. Woe to those who are not in touch with the source of value within themselves! - Who are not intimate with their ability to create and assign meaning to their own life! - Who do not have a project and purpose that is entirely their own, justified and directed from within!
The RHP interprets meaning and value to be an Objective Universe property that exists independently of human consciousness, and therefore something that must be accepted and conformed to regardless of unique and individual requirements for growth and happiness. As such, different expressions of the RHP tend to serve totalitarian inclinations: Its not about you but God / the People / the Nation / the Race, the Clan, etc. barf!
People create and assign their own meaning even when they think they are obeying the commandments of an external Other. They abdicate a crucial responsibility for their own consciousness and actions when they do so. This abdication of responsibility and embrace of delusion contributes to the chronic and dull unhappiness, frustration, loss of purpose, bitterness, ennui, random hatred, and unpredictable outbursts of temper associated with growing older and ageing badly, not to mention the many attendant horrors favored by our time such as substance abuse, addiction, glorification of brutality, and bigotry masquerading as patriotism.
Happiness is the symptom of a self-directed life, and hangs upon it like a magical coat of arms, defending and advancing it. The Art of Life requires a conscious and growing communion with my own unique, individual, and unparalleled ability to create, interpret, and assign meaning to the Objective Universe, and to my own Subjective Universe, from which the ability arises. Of course, there are other conditions that must be met: physical health must be maximized and maintained with proper diet and regular exercise. The details of how to approach this are out there in numerous publications. The necessity of keeping the mind active with new learning, challenges, and social interactions is another, frequently discussed requirement. What is not frequently discussed is this necessity of expanding one’s consciousness towards greater self-knowledge and self-determination, without which the self-directed life is not possible.
Seek the mysteries within you and beyond you! Bring your essential and god-like self-determination further into conscious Being! From this life-long process of Initiation you may accomplish something much more than just growing and ageing well, but growing and ageing brilliantly. A genius of Life, Death, and Immortality you may Become! At any rate, you will enjoy yourself more.
The art of growing and ageing well has become important to me. In my late 30’s I lost my “mortality virginity” in a series of health and personal problems that presented me with the necessary sacrifice of two major life dreams, the death of a loved one, and a heart attack followed by a quadruple by-pass…and it didn’t end there. Yet I came thru all of this better and wiser. Why? Because it brought me to a crossroads I couldn’t avoid, and that forced me to make a decision: I could continue to cast about trying one thing and then another, looking for some scheme or path in the external world to grant me value and acknowledge my sense of worth, all the while sinking deeper into well established habitual patterns, stultifying my consciousness and turning it into a fortress from which I would hurl insults and criticisms like bombs at the world that was failing to conform to my fantasies, ceasing to grow, suffering countless compromises and defeats…and then suddenly I would be an old man, frustrated, bitter, raging impotently against the injustice of the world and everyone in it, a boring malcontent and a failure, far from the heroic ideal of my own eyes!
Or – I could push back against the all too easy and insidious tendency towards degeneration, and bring forth whatever capacity for magic, creation, self-transformation, and genius I have within me, pushing myself into new and higher realms of consciousness and spirituality, growing into the vital and wise old artist, sage, and wizard who lives as a seed in my Darkness. It was Now that I had to assert a conscious control of the process of growing older, and do it brilliantly, like a work of art.
My efforts in this quest have provided the perfect contrast to the unpalatable demonstrations of degenerate ageing I currently witness in all too many friends and extended family members who take out there growing discontents and frustrations on each other, engage in psychological poison-mixing and suspicion-sowing, spout hatred-fueled ideological rants, all the while trying to drown themselves in oceans of alcohol as if it were some kind of cure. I see nothing but a succession of ugly days crouched upon this path.
I originally titled this essay “The Art of Ageing Well”, for that was how I understood what I was aiming for. I then realized that the “secret” of ageing well is actually the secret of self-transformation, which is none other than the secret to the Art of Life itself. If I live my life in the right way, I will grow and age in the right way. The two cannot be separated.
The Art of Life requires an increasingly determined and conscious effort to direct the inner realm from which arises my unique and unparalleled ability to create, interpret, and assign meaning to my own life as it is experienced in the Objective and Subjective Universes. This effort is facilitated and sharpened by having an agenda, a project, a purpose of my own that belongs to me and no one else.
The Objective Universe in itself is devoid of meaning, for "meaning" is a human concept. Nature does what it does without self-awareness, therefore without question or criticism. Meaning arises from an interaction between the Objective Universe and a separate, "outside" position that is removed from it - the Subjective Universe of the human psyche. With this duality of the Seer and the Seen, perspective is born. Meaning and perspective are inseparable, for meaning implies relativity - meaning according to whom, and to what? Perception is not a simple observation or act of recording that adds or subtracts nothing. Perception is a creative, interpretive act that orders stimuli into a dynamic, hierarchical structure sculpted by a hidden artist within who has mysterious motives and imperatives that my consciousness is largely if not totally unaware of. Because of the degree of unconsciousness involved in the creative aspect of perception, many people go thru life unaware of the fact that they are indeed creating and assigning their own sense of value and meaning for themselves, their environments, and their experiences. This can become extremely problematic later in life when a complex confluence of changing body chemistry, fluctuating social and economic status, political and cultural developments, and altered or decreased expectations of the objective world, other people, and myself combine to challenge and even threaten my mental health and good humor. If I am not in command of my essential ability to create and assign my own meaning and value but instead keep looking to the Objective Universe to indicate it for me - throwing it up in my face like it seemed to do when I was a child - I am sunk! I simply cannot direct my life according to any sense of meaning and value if I do not know its source, and exercise no control over it.
There is an old psychiatric parable about two brothers, one of whom is a pessimist, the other an optimist. Their parents want to balance them out, so on X-mas morning they fill one room with presents for the pessimist, another room with manure for the optimist. The pessimist sits surrounded by his gifts and sulks, saying "What a bunch of junk! The boy next door has better toys." The optimist digs excitedly thru the manure, shouting "Where there's shit there must be a pony!" In its exaggerated way, this bit makes its point very well. Different children from the same parents, raised in the same environment according to the same rules, can go on to respond to the Objective Universe in very different ways. One will revel in difficulties and thrive anywhere he goes, while the other spreads desolation in any old paradise he finds himself in. Both may feel perfectly justified in their attitudes, perhaps even supporting them with "objective" evidence, yet the meaning and sense of value underlying their respective experiences of life does not derive from an objective observation of external, material, and social realities, but from the secret wells and hidden topography of their own psyches.
The fact that young people are generally unaware of their true power as sentient beings to create the meaning of their own experiences is not surprising. Childhood is the time for naivety, which confers its own special type of ambiguous power. The Objective Universe becomes a great big canvass for projections of fantasy, most of which are culturally determined. Fantasy can be a crucible for future schemes and dreams of greatness, a launching pad into the unknown, a source of melancholy and hilarious memories, and at worst the seed of delusion, carnage, and self-destruction. Yes, it is quite natural to be unaware of the inner source of value and meaning when you are young, and to look for it in Objective Universe things, situations, and relationships that are unconsciously imbued, but to continue on into the middle and later years of life in this fashion is a set-up for tensions, disappointments, and disasters that few if any can foresee. And then they are upon you!
The world looks different when you get older. Endless possibilities for expansion and adventure and conquest no longer hang out on every street corner, and physical mortality ceases to be merely a concept. Career paths, family, home ownership, all the conventional paraphernalia of success and well being do not turn out to be the "happily ever after" they once may have appeared to be when they were beyond reach. Very often when people achieve these benchmarks of outward success the internal problems begin to boil over. Woe to those who are not in touch with the source of value within themselves! - Who are not intimate with their ability to create and assign meaning to their own life! - Who do not have a project and purpose that is entirely their own, justified and directed from within!
The RHP interprets meaning and value to be an Objective Universe property that exists independently of human consciousness, and therefore something that must be accepted and conformed to regardless of unique and individual requirements for growth and happiness. As such, different expressions of the RHP tend to serve totalitarian inclinations: Its not about you but God / the People / the Nation / the Race, the Clan, etc. barf!
People create and assign their own meaning even when they think they are obeying the commandments of an external Other. They abdicate a crucial responsibility for their own consciousness and actions when they do so. This abdication of responsibility and embrace of delusion contributes to the chronic and dull unhappiness, frustration, loss of purpose, bitterness, ennui, random hatred, and unpredictable outbursts of temper associated with growing older and ageing badly, not to mention the many attendant horrors favored by our time such as substance abuse, addiction, glorification of brutality, and bigotry masquerading as patriotism.
Happiness is the symptom of a self-directed life, and hangs upon it like a magical coat of arms, defending and advancing it. The Art of Life requires a conscious and growing communion with my own unique, individual, and unparalleled ability to create, interpret, and assign meaning to the Objective Universe, and to my own Subjective Universe, from which the ability arises. Of course, there are other conditions that must be met: physical health must be maximized and maintained with proper diet and regular exercise. The details of how to approach this are out there in numerous publications. The necessity of keeping the mind active with new learning, challenges, and social interactions is another, frequently discussed requirement. What is not frequently discussed is this necessity of expanding one’s consciousness towards greater self-knowledge and self-determination, without which the self-directed life is not possible.
Seek the mysteries within you and beyond you! Bring your essential and god-like self-determination further into conscious Being! From this life-long process of Initiation you may accomplish something much more than just growing and ageing well, but growing and ageing brilliantly. A genius of Life, Death, and Immortality you may Become! At any rate, you will enjoy yourself more.
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