Francis Berger's Blog, page 137

Our Spiritual Teenage Wasteland

William Wildblood has shared some fascinating insights at his Meeting the Masters blog about what he terms “The Modern Experiment.”

There is a school of thought that regards the whole development of modernity beginning in the West in the Renaissance as a terrible error, entirely destructive of true religion and spiritual understanding. I sympathise with that point of view but don't agree. The truth is there was a great purpose behind what we loosely call the modern world but it was a risk that could either advance the human race and take it to new heights or else take it back to a primitive level from where it would have to effectively start again. Or even destroy it completely.

The experiment was in consciousness. Human consciousness became more focused on itself, more individual, so that it could be more creative and, once realigned to a spiritual sensibility, more godlike. From being largely passive children of God we could become gods ourselves, able to wield divine powers for the creative enlargement of the universe. This was always intended as the evolutionary path that humanity should follow but I believe that in the West a few hundred years ago the process was stimulated and accelerated. A gradual evolution was boosted.

I must confess, I have thought about this a great deal myself. Pointing to the Renaissance as a signifier of the beginning of the end – as a sinful point in time in which Western man began to turn away from God and spirituality and began to focus instead on humanity and materialism – is a common trope in conventional Christian thinking, particularly among Catholics and traditionalists. I admit I have entertained the notion of “the harmful Renaissance” myself, but I ultimately rejected it for much the same reasons William does.

Now, there is no arguing that the Renaissance did indeed mark the beginning of the end of the Catholic Church’s dominance of religious life in the West. There is also no denying some of the deleterious side effects brought about by the gradual weakening of the Church’s influence in the West. Nevertheless, I have come to view the Renaissance and the centuries that followed – roughly up to the eighteenth century – as an inevitable and necessary step the further development of consciousness and spirituality in the West, a development of consciousness Wildblood argues led to heights of genius epitomized by greats such as Shakespeare and Beethoven.

The dominance of the Church marked the childhood of the spirit and consciousness of Western man. The Renaissance, on the other hand, signified the beginning of Western man’s spiritual adolescence. This spiritual adolescence can be directly compared to our own physical adolescence in our mortal lives. It is a time of growth, an awareness of new powers, a curiosity in the world around us, a direct questioning of authority, a smoldering sense of rebellion, an urge to be independent, a yearning to be accepted and appreciated, an appetite for adventure and pleasure and, most importantly, a longing to discover our true selves.

Like our own physical adolescence, Western man’s spiritual adolescence did not come without its fair share of hardships, challenges, self-doubts, and failures, but like our physical adolescence, our spiritual adolescence was meant to be a time of development; a time in which we were supposed to utilize our newly discovered freedoms and powers in order to make a successful transition into adulthood. In the spiritual sense, this transition into adulthood would entail a rediscovery of God from an evolved perspective as well as the honing of new skills and knowledge in order to make our way closer to God much the same way our physical adolescence is meant to be a time of preparation in order to become useful and beneficial members of society. The problem is, we never made the transition, as William points out in his post:

However, sound as the principles involved were, everything depended on the reception of human beings to their new powers, as powers is what they were. Would they use them to become more aware of God or would it be to pursue their own individual ends in their immediate environment? We know the answer to that.

And we do know the answer to that. The rub, therefore, lies not in the Renaissance, but in our utter failure as a civilization to properly use the new powers and freedoms we discovered at that time. To paraphrase Nietzsche, Western civilizations fully embraced the reality of being free from without prudently considering what had become free for .

The result is readily apparent all around us in the literal teenage wasteland the West has become. And like a true teenage wasteland, all positive or beneficial aspects of our spiritual adolescence seems to have fallen away at the collective level, leaving nothing but the worst juvenile aspects of material adolescence firmly in place. What else could possibly account for the faux rebellious attitudes, the rash hedonistic obsessions, the irresponsible reality denial, the thoughtless greed, the tawdry ambitions, the vulgar tastes, the insane impulses, and the suicidal individualism that poisons our crumbling societies?

Of course, all this could change, and change rather quickly if people in the West began to understand the vital importance of the free for they have missed. But in all honesty, that doesn’t seem like it is going to happen any time soon. Perhaps it may never happen at all. Perhaps the West has steered itself into a collective dead end where the only possible outcome is continued stagnation leading ultimately to destruction and collapse. Does this signify that there is no hope for anyone in the West? William Wildblood writes:

Does this mean the experiment has failed? Not necessarily. It may be that it was never intended to be universal. Many individual souls have responded in a positive fashion. Many more (as is shown by the state of the world today) have not but if we think of comparisons in nature, this may be regarded as acceptable. For instance, how many seeds sprout and then grow to maturity? A fraction of those that are produced by the parent plants. This doesn't mean that souls that have not reacted properly, i.e. spiritually, are rejected and die but they may be replanted in other environments more suitable to their state of evolution. That is what I think is happening now. I have often written that it is a time of decision. It is a winnowing of souls, a real sheep and goats moment in the history of human evolution on this planet.

I am sympathetic to this notion. Our civilization has obviously failed to grasp the significance of free for, but this failure does not render the concept of free for meaningless. On the contrary, it makes the very reality of free for all the more crucial at the level of the individual. It offers hope. As William notes:

So now we are living at a time when the results of the experiment are being revealed. The stimulated individual consciousness of man is making its choice. A choice of God or self. The experiment is coming to an end.

There’s probably not much we can do about the teenage wasteland surrounding us, but there is a great deal we can do ourselves to escape the teenage wasteland, at least at the spiritual level. It all comes down to the choice William Wildblood mentions in his post – the choice of God or self. The first represents the free for, while the second represents free from. The first choice represents a step toward spiritual adulthood; the second keeps you firmly locked in the teenage wasteland.

Make your choice, because the experiment truly does seem to be coming to an end.  

Why Niceness is Usually Insufferable

Adding to a post I wrote yesterday regarding insufferable people, I would just like to clarify that by insufferable I do not mean "people who are not nice." On the contrary, most "nice" people I have known in my life have been excruciatingly insufferable, just as I myself have been excruciatingly insufferable during times in my life when I aimed to be "nice." This topic has essentially been beaten to death, but I feel it is imperative to keep harping on about it because "niceness" still seems to cause a great deal of confusion for most people. 

So, "nice" people are insufferable. This immediately begs the question - how could a "nice" person possibly be insufferable? The answer? For the simple reason that "nice" people strive to be bearable, pleasing, likable, and sociable. That is, "nice" people place too much emphasis on feelings, both their own and the feelings of others. They want to feel good about themselves and they want others to feel good. To borrow a contemporary pejorative term, nice people are all about "feelz".

Since nice people prioritize feelings above all else, they are most often not all that concerned about Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, especially if Truth, Beauty, and Goodness run the risk of making someone feel bad. Thus, nice people will go to great lengths to distort Truth, Beauty, and Goodness in the interest of establishing or maintaining harmonious relationships based on little more than "feel-goodery."

Reality is another anxiety point for nice people, especially when reality interferes with their obsessive drive to please. Let's face it, reality is often unpleasant, and nothing bothers nice people more than potential unpleasantness. Hence, they will eagerly sacrifice reality at the altar of pleasure to bring about an atmosphere of pleasantness, both within in themselves and in others. Pleasure is essentially what niceness is at its very core; hence, the drive to be nice likely stems from a hedonistic impulse to derive pleasure from a situation. 

Conversely, in their determined efforts to be pleased and pleasing, "nice" people will rarely demonstrate any resistance to badness or bad ideas, especially if bad ideas contain the seeds of establishing potential harmony and cooperativeness. "Nice" people will also, without any hesitation whatsoever, reject goodness or good ideas if these contain any possibility of offending, alienating, or excluding anyone. Put another way, "nice" people will willingly embrace evil if it contains the promise or possibility of making them seem agreeable or establishing a sense of agreeableness within a group. They will also be quick to reject or condemn the Good if this threatens to make them or anyone else they are trying to please feel bad. 

In my estimation, most "nice" people are, at best, scheming diplomats, and, at worst, moral cowards. No wonder our contemporary world lays such emphasis on niceness as a virtue!

The problem is niceness is not a virtue at all. More often than not, it is merely a mask or a smokescreen or the white flag of pacifism or surrender. Many consider niceness to be a declaration of unselfishness, but this is a trick. I would hazard to guess that most "nice" people feel inspired by selfish rather than unselfish reasons.

Above all else, niceness must never be equated with goodness. You don't have to be good to be nice; on the contrary, it is much easier to be nice when you are not good because it is much easier to be dishonest, servile, and accommodating than it is to be honest, steadfast, and unaccommodating.

There's much more I could add to the above, but what I have written thus far concerning "niceness" should more than adequately explain why I consider the vast majority of "nice" people to be insufferable. Nice people are not necessarily good people, in any sense of the word. I have far more sympathy for good people, because in my experience, good people tend to be "not nice."

​To tie in with yesterday's post, I have to deal with far fewer "nice" people today than I have had to do in the past. Luckily, the number of good people with whom I have established relations has increased. Oddly enough, most of these good people are anything but "nice." 

More People Need to Roll the Dice

I harbor a somewhat guilt-inducing admiration for the American poet and writer, Charles Bukowski.

On the one hand, I don't think Bukowski was much of a poet, at least not in a strict sense of the word. I would consider him more of a 'basher', someone who simply bashed lines onto paper via a typewriter without much consideration or feel for the conventions of poetry.

One the other hand, I consider Bukowski to be a great writer. What he lacked in poetic finesse, he more than made up through the keen and memorable observations he bashed out of his typer in the evenings. He also managed to compose many memorable lines and phrases.  In terms of his attitude and approach to writing, he is unsurpassed. Old Buke may have lacked certain technical and stylistic talents, but when it came to the act of writing itself, he showed absolutely no lack of discipline, dedication, or delight for his craft. 

Bukowksi's passion for writing was, I believe, religious in nature. I don't mean that he explored religious themes or subjects, but rather that he approached the art of putting words to paper with a religious-like zeal and commitment. Simply put, Old Buke was a creator and there was nothing he enjoyed more, that fulfilled him more than creating.

Yes, many could argue his love of the drink or of horse races also fulfilled him, but those who have studied his work understand that these passions never eclipsed his primary passion - writing. He once quipped that he would happily pay for the privilege of being able to write. If that doesn't demonstrate a superior level of commitment, then I don't know what does. 

Now don't get me wrong, I do not admire Charles Bukowski's sordid and often sleazy life. Nor do I approve of his rampant alcoholism. It bothers me that he did not really take religion or religious questions all that seriously - that his work often tinkers with the edges of nihilism. Nevertheless, I have nothing but reverence for his intensity and his devotion to writing. I also respect his allegiance to what he perceived to be his purpose in life.

Bukowski was extremely stubborn when it came to prioritizing and made very few compromises in his life - and that is something I not only applaud, but fiercely believe we need more of in this world, especially in those who have rejected or have been sidelined by the mainstream. 

As I mentioned above, Bukowski was not religious in any conventional sense of the word, but he approached his writing with a fervor one could only describe as religious. - (Yes, Buddhist monks presided over his funeral, but this in no way supports any claim that the poet had become a practicing Buddhist toward the end of his life.)

We need more of this fervor today, both in the arts and in Christianity. More dedication; fewer compromises. More bold thought and action; fewer rationalizations and procrastination. More people who are willing to roll the dice and go all the way, as it were. 

Roll the Dice is one of Bukowski's most famous and most oft-quoted poems. The subject is obviously writing, but what I like about this particularly vigorous piece of 'bashing' is that the subject can easily be substituted with almost anything else. Imagine if the thing we are "going to try" is spiritual development or theosis. Imagine if we approached that with the same vigor, certainty, fearlessness, and intensity with which Bukowski approached his pursuit of writing.

Yeah, just imagine. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

roll the dice 
Charles Bukowski

if you're going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don't even start.

if you're going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.

go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you'll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.

if you're going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with
fire.

do it, do it, do it.
do it.

all the way
all the way.

you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, its
the only good fight
there is.

- Charles Bukowski

Fewer Insufferable People

I have had to deal with far fewer insufferable people in the past four or five years than I have had to at any other time in my past. This revelation came rather suddenly and quite unexpectedly and, to in all honesty, I don’t really know what to make of it – but there it is. It’s true; fewer irritating, annoying, idiotic, vitriolic, tiresome, or malevolent individuals play an active role on the stage of my life now than during earlier periods of my time in this world.

I generally take this as a good sign – a solid indicator that my life is moving in the proper direction. At the same time, I am utterly amazed by the small number of jerks and douchebags I have had to deal with in the past half-decade or so. Of the few I do have to contend with, none play a major role, nor exert any significant influence on my day-to-day existence. It really is remarkable. I mean, I can remember times when my waking days were reduced to the level of an extended coping exercise; when all I seemed to do was find ways to maneuver my way through a veritable minefield of obnoxious, reprehensible, and dislikable people.

Now, this change was gradual and extended over time, sort of like the trend line of stock. And like a stock trend line, the movement of the line was jagged, with many ups and downs, but over the past decade or so, a clear trend has established itself, with the biggest gains (or losses, I suppose) happening in the past five years.

Many obvious factors account for the diminishing frequency and impact of nefarious individuals during this time. I live in a small rural village with fewer than 700 residents and work in small urban centers with populations of less than 80,000. I am far more independent and autonomous in my current employment situations than I ever was in my previous jobs. In fact, since I complete nearly all my tasks alone, I don’t really have co-workers in the strict sense of the word. I have learned to avoid events and places that attract the sorts of people I do not like coming into contact with. And so on.

Though important, the obvious factors interest me far less than the more subtle factors that are likely at play here. I consider learning to be the primary goal of our mortal lives in this world. Not learning in the conventional, materialist, educational sense, but spiritual learning. We choose to materialize in this world for spiritual development, and the world is arranged to provide the best possible combination and array of learning experiences that can serve to benefit each individual best. A big part of this learning process entails the ridding of false selves – the stripping away of erroneous beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions and the concurrent unveiling of an individual’s true self.

As I look back upon it, I come to the rather startling conclusion that those periods of my life that were plagued by pestiferous people probably had to do with the plain fact that I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time engaged in the wrong thing.

The strained relations I had to endure for much of my adult life appear to have been part of that learning process. You can learn much from loathsome individuals, especially those who harbor the expressed intent to harm you, but dealing with antagonistic people all the time can also hinder spiritual development by draining away energy, energy that could be better spent on reflection, prayer, and nurturing of positive relationships.

And that’s the place I find myself now. I am certain I will encounter some insufferable individuals in the future. And I also know that I have undoubtedly played the role of the insufferable individual in other people’s lives (and perhaps still do today). Having said that, I am happy for the extended reprieve I have carved out/been granted in my own life, and I sincerely hope it extends well into the future. Not because it's more pleasant or comfortable, but because the learning I am engaged in now demands relative tranquility and the smallest number of distractions possible. 

An Exquisite Quality of Light

We have been blessed with extraordinary stretches of sunny and partly sunny skies in northwestern Hungary this winter, which has created an exquisite quality of light, particularly in the late afternoon, just before and shortly after sunset, when the horizon glows in captivating bars of deep orange or rich amber occasionally flecked by spots of pink and yellow that illuminate nearby clouds. It is a quality of light the Hungarian painter László Mednyánszky was so adept at capturing in his landscapes. The recent stretches of sunny skies in this part of the world ensures a real life Mednyánaszky painting every afternoon at sunset. Needless to say, I have been going out of my way to ensure I am outside for a walk as dusk approaches. The other day, a ridge of clouds provided a parallel border with the horizon, which created a particularly breathtaking effect best illustrated by the György Lantos landscape below.  But the light at dusk in this part of the world this winter also emits a wonderfully warm glow that embraces everything it touches, as demonstrated by the photograph below, taken while I was exploring southern Hungary with my family during Christmas. I love the way the light here practically lights the leaves on the trees in the background on fire.  I am doing my best to make the most of this rather unexpected gift we have been given in this part of the world this year, knowing full well that dreary, gray days filled with fog obscuring and diffusing all sense of light are likely just around the corner.  

Baptism of the Lord - The Significance of John's Baptism of Jesus

Today's Mass was a liturgical commemoration of The Baptism of Christ, which marks John the Baptist's baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. I have come to the conclusion that this event - Jesus' baptism by John - is one of immeasurable significance, meaning, and beauty within the Christian faith. Essentially, Jesus' baptism not only marks a profound transformation that took place on that day, but it also signals the beginning of Jesus' ministry and the unveiling of His divinity to the world.

So what makes the baptism of Jesus so meaningful and significant? The answer can be found in the Gospels, particularly in the Gospel of John: 

[29] The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
[30] This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
[31] And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
[32] And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
[33] And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
[34] And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

In his homily today, my parish priest emphasized the pivotal nature of the John's baptism of Jesus by stating that it signaled a divine transformation, the significance of which should not be underestimated or undervalued. The transformation Jesus undergoes during baptism is an event Bruce Charlton has also written extensively about on his Notions Blog over the years. He encapsulated the significance of the baptism very effectively in a recent post from which the excerpts below have been drawn: 

John (the Baptist) seems to have baptised hundreds of people before Jesus; and he had the ability to call down the spirit of God so that it would 'touch' each person for a moment. But when he baptised Jesus, the spirit remained - and that was when Jesus underwent the 'extraordinary transformation' and became fully divine as a mortal man.

This shows the uniqueness of Jesus; that there was something about him which none of the other hundreds who were baptised had - and which John himself lacked. It shows that if we have sin (that is, if we are not fully aligned with God's motivations and purposes) the spirit of God can do no more than touch us; and this state of sin is universal - except for Jesus.
​
Seen in this light, John's baptism of Jesus is far more than a prelude, or an introduction, or a minor subplot. It is a key event - not only within the biblical narrative, but also in the history of the world.  The Baptism of Christ - Trinity Statue, Pécs, Hungary

A Deep Sense of Gratitude

It has always been there. Even during the darkest periods of my life. A sense of gratitude. A silent, but constant thankfulness. An acknowledgement that it means something; that it all means something. A feeling of indebtedness, even when confronted by throes, pain, and suffering. Fortunately, my mortal life thus far has not been plagued by torment. In fact, I am bold enough to admit that I have been blessed in nearly all aspects of my life.

But this sense of gratitude does not rely on shifting scales of pleasure and pain for its existence. It's deeper than that - and over the past month or so I have heard its echoes resonate from places I least expected.

Perhaps it is nothing more than an expanded and enhanced recognition of Creation. But this in itself can hardly be a 'nothing more than' because it is essentially the core of everything. An understanding that it is indeed Creation. A realization that I am a part of it, and that it is a part of me.

How could I feel anything but intense appreciation for the chance to be a part of this? To learn from this?

​To love this.

Fourteen Minutes of Pure Propaganda For Your Viewing Pleasure

This post deals with current news items. Readers who are averse to news should probably skip this post altogether.

It seems the mere mention of Viktor Orbán is enough to get the UK elite's knickers in a twist these days.

I moved back to my ancestral homeland of Hungary nearly five years ago, and in those five years I have been endlessly amused by the way Western media depicts the Hungarian government and Hungary in general. One of the best sources of misinformation is the BBC. Regular readers of this blog know what a huge fan I am of the BBC. In light of this, I present a fourteen-minute Newsnight report about Hungary featured on the venerable media outlet nearly two years ago.

Dishonesty, disinformation, inaccuracy, misrepresentation, hyperbole, vilification, yes, this fourteen-minute report has it all. It's by far the best piece of soft propaganda against Hungary I have had the pleasure of encountering since moving to this country - from the UK oddly enough - in 2015.

The comments section for this video, coupled with the two-to-one ratio of dislikes to likes, informs me that I am not the only individual in the world who considers these fourteen minutes of  Establishment catch phrases marinating small morsels of truth utterly laughable and contemptible.

​The only redeemable things in the report are the rather lovely shots of Hungarian landmarks interspersed between the snippets of globalists ringing the alarm bells over Orbán's attacks on democracy, the rule of law, the EU, the media, migrants, George Soros, George Soros-funded NGOs, and so forth. Enjoy!

Scheidt: Battle Suite - Budapest Brass Quintet

I became aware of the German composer Samuel Scheidt through Bruce Charlton's blog - more specifically, this recent post titled More Scheidt for Christmas. Before then, I was completely unfamiliar with the man and his music. I must say, I am rather thrilled to have stumbled upon Scheidt, for two very important reasons:

1. He composed some charming and moving organ and brass pieces.
2. The unfortunate English connotation of his Germanic surname makes me feel a heck of a lot better about the snicker-inducing English connotation of my own Germanic surname.* 

The link below offers a spirited recording of Scheidt's Battle Suite played by the Budapest Brass Quintet. * Fellow blogger William James Tychonievich was quick to offer a consolatory response to my complaint about my surname by pointing out that the record for worst Germanic surname would have to go to the American actor Richard Cox, who was born Richard Zuckerman. Put the two names together, and you get Richard Cox Zuckerman. 

I would have to agree - that is far more disastrous a connotation than Berger, or even Scheidt, could ever be. 

New Cover for The City of Earthly Desire

As I was completing the revisions for The City of Earthly Desire, I became inspired to make a new cover for the book as well. I never really liked the previous cover all that much and feel this new design better reflects the primary setting as well as some of the 'darker' aspects of the narrative.