Life Secrets
When it comes to the big questions, what life is all about and what's really going on here, everyone else is exactly as clueless as you are. The only difference is that some people are better at feigning confidence than others.
~
Anyone who thinks they've got life all figured out is suffering from a psychedelic drug deficiency.~
The three most overlooked and under-appreciated things in human experience are (1) consciousness itself, (2) the extent to which compulsive thinking habits dominate our lives, and (3) the extent to which mass media propaganda influences the way we think.~
There is a deep, abiding peace just beneath the shifting sensory input and flailing, babbling mental chatter. It isn't something lofty or distant that you need to strive for to obtain; it is here presently, and you can recognize it right now. Inner turmoil is the result of our falling all over ourselves trying to obtain something we already have, but are overlooking. Sensory impressions, thoughts and feelings all appear upon the canvas of emptiness, and that emptiness is peace.~
Society is made entirely of narrative. By that I don't mean there are no humans and no solid objects; I mean all the rules, laws, expectations, beliefs and protocols we have in place for how human beings are supposed to act are made entirely of mental constructs. The most powerful people in the world are the ones who understand that since society is made of narrative, then whoever controls the narratives controls society. The way to democratize power is for society to awaken to the fact that this is all made of stories, and we can change those stories whenever we want.~
Most of our experience is dictated by habits of thought and perception, most of which we formed in early childhood. How our attention moves, how we interpret events and the way we respond to them, the kinds of decisions we'll make day to day, the kinds of thoughts we think from moment to moment and the way they translate to behavior, all arise from internal habits we set in motion long ago and then kind of forgot about and made subconscious. You can bring consciousness to all of these habits and un-do them, thus allowing you to live a life that isn't dictated by ingrained unconscious patterns.~
We make vastly better and wiser choices when we can find a way of circumventing our habitual thought patterns and letting the decision arise from the emptiness.~
It is possible to be truly present in your life at all times instead of living with your mental energy and attention wrapped up in compulsive mental chatter. When you are present in this way, life becomes joyful and indescribably beautiful. Life delights in itself. You don't have to do anything to enjoy this natural state, but there is a lot that you have to stop doing.~
We all have people in our lives who try to manipulate us in various ways, who habitually attempt to control the ways we think and act and how we see ourselves. Life gets much better when you spot those manipulation attempts and extract them from your life, either by insisting that these people honor your mental sovereignty, or by ceasing to involve yourself with those people. Anyone who keeps trying to tell you what you are is trying to cage you.~
You are far more powerful than you've ever imagined. I'm not blowing smoke up your ass, it's just a fact.~
Since society is made of narrative, it is far more malleable than it appears at first glance. You can become an artist just by making that the narrative about you, and if you move in that direction in a confident and assertive way you will see doors begin to open up as people say "Oh it's okay, he's an artist, let him in." You can escape from seemingly inescapable living situations and free yourself from seemingly insurmountable obstacles just by pushing in whatever direction you desire with full, confident intention. Since nobody really knows what's going on and everyone's making it up as they go along, we tend to take our cues from the most confident-looking people in the room, so people will say "Oh, she seems like she knows where she's going. I'd better get out of her way." Just hold the positive intention and move toward it like you've already gotten where you want to be.~
The self is an illusion; it's a mental construct and linguistic convention with no solid object in the center. What most people think of as "me" is a bunch of habitual mental "I" noises swirling around in consciousness, with no hard, solid object that could be called a self anywhere to be found. Thoughts and feelings are happening and a body is moving around in the world, but no one's doing any of it. Look within for the self and the search will turn up nothing but motes of stardust. Mental habits are much easier to undo when this is deeply grokked.~
You if you search for truth you won't find any. If you search for lies you'll find more than you can shake a stick at, just within your own operating system. Those lies can be excavated and discarded. All it's really about is letting life be as it is, without all the lies you've innocently and unconsciously stacked on top of it throughout your lifetime. What remains is life as it is. And it's really bloody gorgeous.Thanks for reading! The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for my website, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following my antics on Twitter, checking out my podcast, throwing some money into my hat on Patreon or Paypal,buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.
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You know so much Caitlin. Your insights enlighten me often, but on this subject you are wrong.
"Anyone who thinks they've got life all figured out is suffering from a psychedelic drug deficiency."
A few people actually have life figured out. Who? The prophets of course. If and when one has had an encounter with the almighty creator of the universe, then the major questions in life are no longer a concern. Once you have met God, you no longer wonder where we came from or how we got here. It becomes perfectly clear. God answers all these questions and many more.
I understand, you might object. You might point out all the terrible ways men have used religion for evil. But I will point out that this is just another example of sociopaths usurping a genuinely good thing for their own ends. The same way any other genuinely good human movement has been hijacked for evil purposes, religions get hijacked too. You brought up the feminist movement as an example of this phenomenon just the other day.
Because of this, the ability for psychopaths to hijack religion, the message of God gets muddied, and it is pretty poorly understood these days. Most people seem to think it mostly has to do with regulating our sex lives and how much fun we can have at parties. This is a lie.
There's a reason the government killed Jesus Christ, and it isn't because he was teaching people to have less sex. It's because he was teaching people to take care of each other. It's because he was preaching truth against hate and violence and cruelty. It's because he was teaching people to turn away from the capitalist system and the love of money, and I to take care of others first. He was teaching that if everyone gives all they have, if everyone dedicates their lives to the welfare of everyone else, then there will be enough for everyone to be taken care of.
The truth is, what you preach most days in your blog is closer to the message of God than what you will likely find in a church on Sunday, because you preach the truth, and the truth is the light, and when the light shines on the darkness, the darkness cannot survive. But don't take it from me, here it is from the book of John and the lips of Jesus Christ himself:
Keep speaking your truth Cait. You are a light in the darkness, and the darkness cannot survive the light. You are a bright light, one of the brightest, but you're not alone in the world. I know you've seen Lee Camp's new comedy special. He's a light too, and a bright one. There are other bright lights popping up every day as well, and as more and more of us shine the light of truth into the world, the darkness will be burned up before us.
God bless you Caitlin Johnstone. Have faith that Good will triumph. And please, if you have some time, read an open letter I wrote to you. I know, it's kind of long, and I don't write as well as you do, but I sure wish you would read it.
-Chris C. (Eddison Flame)
This makes sense to me Chris. The prophets had doubts about themselves and the prophets had access to psychedelics too! I'm not saying they took them, I don't know, but it's possible and likely. I'm not saying psychedelics are the only way, but they inevitably expand horizons and challenge the notion that things are fixed, set, ordered and controllable.
I read your open letter to CJ a while back...you report a similar experience with mushrooms yourself, going from a 'staunch atheist' to an experience of Divinity and essentially your own divine nature, starting you off on your current journey....isn't it?
I'd love to see an experiment whereby they put MDMA in a city's water system and check out the effect on crime, on human interactions - it would be a revolution/revelation!
Touché. You make a good point. Please allow my to clarify.
The idea I am objecting to in this piece is that there is no actual real truth in this world. Caitlin is walking a dangerous path that essentially leads to a nihilistic way of thinking. Later on in the article Caitlin says,
and,
But there really is truth! And there is a self! And there is a real difference between good and evil! Some things are actually good, and some things are actually bad, and we can tell the difference between them. We can tell when something bad is being done to another person, and it isn't hard either. When we see the pictures of children starving in Yemen, and when we hear the explanation of what is being done to them, we know whether to call this good or bad. We understand the truth of this situation.
This is what I object to about Caitlin's analysis in this piece. It is unequivocally untrue to say there is no such thing as truth.
(As a side note, I didn't identify myself as a "staunch atheist" but a "staunch agnostic", and I absolutely reject the idea that my experience had anything to do with my "own divine nature". The experience I had was with the divine, and the divine was absolutely distinct and separate from myself.)
Is she saying that? Neither of the quoted statements imply that there is no such thing as Truth, and I can't find such a thought in the context. You seem to have read a lot of her stuff, would you really say this is a representative statement that she does not hold that there is such a thing as 'Truth'? I'm not speaking for her, but posts by CJ such as this or even this suggest to me that it so. But 'Truth' is also a bugger to define in words and concepts, I think that she also conveys this ineffable 'aspect' of Truth in her writings, many of which I personally find to contain a deep spirituality that resonates well!
Apologies the mixing up of agnostic/aethiest - these are indeed very distinct, I wasn't paying attention. Unconditional acceptance of your experience as you say it and your position as you state it. I guess I was projecting my own view, for this is what seems to have been the case :).
"I'd love to see an experiment whereby they put MDMA in a city's water system [...]"
Did you consider to take a minute think about what you said? Or just blurt it out. What a stupid thought!
I have thought about this considerably, in other words, I have given it considerable thought.
Does that thought scare you? Does thought itself scare you?
No thought doesn't scare me it the idea, that a braindead fuck like yourself, hasn't taken into consideration, that babies and toddlers, drink city water, old people and the aflicted drink city water, dogs and cats drink city water. In general society's zoos and ainimal compounds use city water.
Educated dumbasses like yourself can become tedious...
"When doe the cull start!"
Hmm, yes, fair point about babies and toddlers. Accepted! As for the other groups, well plenty of oldies would benefit, it is an experiment, and there is bottled water and blah blah blah, but you ain't really listening are you :)
Looks like you might have injested some toxic juice as a toddler yourself!
Why are you scared of braindead fucks ? Seems strange that such a label should intimidate you.
What you say is true. It has always been true and will always be true in every language and every art form. The artist's challenge is to rediscover and re-express it. Go, Cait!
This is the key IMO....... identify what is NOT, and this reveals a truer picture of what IS by discarding the false. A very powerful way of going about things, and one which Jiddu Krishnamurti banged on about for decades :)
Resteemed to share the bounty 🔆