Same Song, Prettier Arrangement

The Subtle Trap of the Messianic Meme
~ from the EnlightenNext Editors' Blog
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This short post from EnlightenNext Editor Carter Phipps introduces a series of thoughtful, provocative articles on the insidious seductions of both apocalyptic and messianic beliefs, exploring why and how this way of thinking endures even in modern progressive cultures. 

Here's his take on the hype around 2012:

2012 is the progressive version of traditional eschatological thinking. It’s the idea that an event is going to occur that is dramatically outside the normal processes of history and change everything, lifting the majority of humanity to a higher level of consciousness and creating a more enlightened future. There are darker versions as well, where a sort of mini-apocalypse has to occur before we get to the better side of the future, but generally 2012 represents a positive version of eschatological thinking. It’s a more benign strain, we might say, but it’s still the same basic song, just a prettier arrangement.

"When our eyes open up to the reality of evolution in human nature and culture and we can look back and see not five thousand years of stasis but centuries and centuries of difficult and hard-won evolution in the interior of human lives and in the exterior of human society, we will stop hoping for messiahs. We will embrace a different vision of the future, one that requires the challenging but ultimately much more rewarding work of contributing to a process that transcends our own lives and that, miraculously, we can impact with our own actions."

Please check out the full article with links HERE. 

~ End Times thinking is one of those mind viruses that simply won't bow to the reality of failure. ~  C.P.


I also highly recommend reading Elizabeth Debold's companion piece entitled  In Search of True Scenius*: 5. Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris.  Here's a clip from that post:

Why is it ... that we so often romanticize the past, believing that there was a time when human life was so much better than now? Why do we create these ideas of a Golden Age where everything was more and better than the present?

Find that article, with more links, HERE.

*Scenius ... is the collective form of genius.  Coined by musical savant Brian Eno, it refers to his discovery that genius doesn’t simply arise in extraordinary individuals but geniuses emerge out of vibrant, cutting edge scenes or cultural niches where a group of people, often crossing disciplines and areas of expertise, are pushing into something new and rewarding each other for taking risks and challenging the status quo."

~ Scenius is the Golden Age of the evolutionary who wants to take responsibility for and create that which has not yet happened. ~ E.D.

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Thanks again to the folks at EnlightenNext for calling us to think beyond the concerns of our individual existence to the future of the very cosmos that created us and that is continuing to evolve.  For not only do we have a personal stake in what unfolds, every single thing we do or don't do affects the totality of that unfolding.  It's at once an awesome responsibility and a miraculous opportunity.  Bring it.
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Only The Beginning

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A Quote of the Week from Andrew Cohen:
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In traditional mystical teachings, enlightenment means it's all over.  You have reached the end of becoming.  But in an evolutionary teaching, enlightenment is where it all begins.  Everything begins when you become enlightened.  That's when you become available - free from narcissism and self-concern and available for the noble endeavor of creating the future.  That's when a new life opens up before you.  That's when the work of evolutionary becoming starts. 

So you want to get to that point quickly, because there is so much you want to do once you get there.  There is so much you want to take responsibility for.  There is so much you want to create.
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It's Better to Burn Out ...

... than to fade away.

Who could forget those famous lyrics from Neil Young, who has, over his amazingly long and varied career, managed to do neither.  This quote from his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame bio tells it all:

Young has consistently demonstrated the unbridled passion of an artist who understands that self-renewal is the only way to avoid burning out.  For this reason he has remained one of the most significant artists of the rock and roll era.

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Just in from Lateral Action:  How Neil Young Became the First Artist to Get Sued For Not Being Himself.  The author, Susan Alexander, begins with a quote from Rolling Stone:

Neil Young is the only artist in the history of modern recording to be sued for refusing to be himself.  The suit, filed by Geffen Records, Young's label for much of the 80s, charged that he was violating his contract by recording 'unrepresentative' albums.  In other words, Neil Young wasn't making Neil Young music.

This fascinating and delightful article explores how Young has managed to "...maintain an ongoing state of creative flow throughout his career - even when he was creating to order for a record company, and even during the litigation that ensued - ... by mastering the art of self-renewal, which is something we can all learn to do."

Susan looks at what Young does (and doesn't do) to maintain this state of self-renewal and the creative flow it brings, and what this has to do with you and me.  Here are the highlights:

        ~ He doesn't use the F word
        ~ He knows why he's doing it
        ~ He gets himself
        ~ He creates his own groove

Here's that link again.

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You learn that no matter how hard you try to please, some people in this world are not going to love you, a lesson that is at first troubling and then really quite relaxing.
~ John W. Gardner:  Self-Renewal
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