Arne Naess: Self-Realization

In Thinking Like a Mountain, Arne Naess writes:

If "self-realization" today is associated with life-long narrow ego gratification, isn't it inaccurate to use this term for self-realization in the widely different sense of Gandhi or less religiously loaded, as a term for the widening and deepening of the self so it embraces all life forms? Perhaps it is. But I think the very popularity of the term makes people listen for a moment and feel safe. In that moment the notion of a greater Self can be introduced, contending that if people equate self-realization with narrow ego fulfillment, they seriously underestimate themselves. We are much greater, deeper, more generous and capable of dignity and joy than we think! A wealth of non-competitive joys is open to us!

Comments

[David M Boie (somewhat humbled by my own aggression)]

Upon reading the original submission, it was determined that the language was too combative. I continue to struggle with narcissism, and expect that this will not fully resolve until humanity has collectively realized our Oneness with the Divine. That said, I ask that my Brothers bare with me, and that the web-master consider deleting other copies of this submission.

Blessings to All,
David

A Retrospective Look at Ecopsychological Fixation

Is self-realization really about a sense of self that merely embraces the physical earth, the stars, the galaxies, the Universe, along with all the creatures that live therein? Infants have a sense of self like this - they are not aware of an "outside" or an "other" and yet they find themselves trapped in the most atavistic and narcissistic realm of perception one typically experiences.

It has been said that it is a good thing infants are relatively helpless, otherwise their fantasies of destruction would manifest unchecked. It is a sort of cultural/spiritual evolution that accounted for the development of the mammalian brain and the human neo-cortex - both of which have capacity to respond to Spirit such that the young may be nurtured and taught about the nature of Love.

If self-realization simply means regression to infantile fantasies of omnipotence, then be assured that regression can be spurred below the level of the cradled infant into realms of terror so consuming that one returns marked by the process of descent. Out of such experiences comes the phrase, "There but for the Grace of God go I..."

The consciousness of the Komoto Dragon is extremely uncomfortable to consciousness that has evolved to the point of being fortunate enough to have received the love of a human mother. This may be non-negotiable to the scientific mentality, but consciousness can reportedly even descend into self-manufactured hells, which Dante in fact describes quite accurately in The Inferno.

Personally, in college, I was informed that taking large quantities of cough syrup containing (DXM) would cause one to "trip." Afraid of acid and shrooms, I figured the over the counter product must be relatively non-toxic, and curiosity got the better of me. Dextromythorphan-Hydrobromide targets the coughing reflex housed near the reptilian brain-stem, typically suppressing this area. Large doses, especially combined with alcohol, appear to have a paradoxical effect, however.

The experience terrified me, and scarred my psyche, prompting the onset of an anxiety disorder that only eventually responded to spiritual cultivation and psychotherapy.

Coming out of this college drug trip and a subsequent series of anxiety attacks in 1992 (I was intellectually clever, but extremely immature) - I found myself on the prowl for a model of mental illness that provided two shields of denial with which my narcissism could be protected. Ecopsychology provided what was needed quite admirably.

1) First, the model had to provide assurance that it wasn't “me” who was sick, it was “the World,” and I was simply a sensitive canary in the coal mine, getting dizzy from the noxious fumes.

2) Second, to avoid despair and keep my aggression focused on the outside world, villains had to be provided, on whom I could vent my ecological spleen. It didn't matter if they were consciously evil or not... in fact it was better if they weren't, for then I could pretend that my frustration was simply due to their ignorance, and all I had to do was demonstrate my superior understanding of social/economic/ecological relationships and they would cower before the power of my truth.

Perhaps it was important that Ecopsychology emerged, for it has provided a perfect screen upon which the Unconscious dynamics of do-gooding that is laced with denial and passive-aggressive tendancies (like mine) can be projected and seen, with the sometime extreme misanthropic attitudes of Ecoterrorism, Ecofeminism, and Deep Ecology (that many find repugnant) clarifying the tendency toward victimology that taints significant portions of the movement.

Theodore Roszak is certainly brilliant, and this post has been written in large part to push those sensitive buttons in my Brothers in order to reveal to us the nature of what "A Course in Miracles" defines as our collective authority problem. (...the same authority problem that 'inspired' me to quit taking meds for so many years and subsequently landed me in mental hospitals from coast to coast... and the same authority problem that led to the drinking of a whole bottle of Robbitussin DM, despite the warning label plastered right on the jar.)

Those of us who wish to devote significant time to enhancing "The Dream of the Earth" might do well to practice introspection and perhaps choose an integrous spiritual path via which we can cultivate the inner peace that truly liberates the hearts and minds of everyone: psychoanalysts, college professors, industrialists, loggers, farmers, and whiny-cat twenty-two year olds looking for someone to blame for their own narcissistic anxiety.

Far enough along the path, what Thomas Berry rightly called "The Dream of the Earth" might come up for critical consideration itself, and we might wonder: "How would it be to wake up from dreaming altogether?"

In Voice of the Earth, Roszak quotes a rather pessimistic professional saying something to the effect of "Awash in the blood and suffering of countless generations of beasts, the Earth is a nightmare spectacular, with creatures of all kinds tearing one another apart, grinding flesh, bone, and plant-stalks under teeth and molars, greedily swallowing the product down the gullet, and then expelling the excrement with foul stench and gases." Roszak cautions, wisely I suspect, against heaping the terror of "creation" on the anxiety ridden client.

Although this characterization of life on earth ignores spiritual evolution, mammalian bonding, etc., honest consideration of the germ of truth behind its exaggerations gives one pause to wonder: perhaps we might want to wake up from this dream/nightmare after all, romantic perceptions of nature aside...

For those who choose to continue working at the (admittedly productive) level of ensuring the protection of wilderness and the integrity of the ecosystem (as I intend to), more power to us.

Some of the same folks may also be interested in supporting their Brothers in collectively waking up from the Nightmare. To those so inclined, the works of Gary Renard and David R Hawkins, MD, Ph.D. are recommended - as well as “A Course in Miracles,” itself.