Vol 9: Slow train to Oneness: twig hats, vajazzled dogs & the emergency on planet earth.
These are unsettling times. As I write this Russia is posturing along the Ukrainian border. The cost of living is rocketing. We’re still in the throes of a global pandemic. Much of the planet is on course to be uninhabitable for humans by the end of the century. And the behaviour of our UK Prime Minister is calling into question the very integrity of our democracy. I could go on.
Toon Town
Now I know I’m a bit more sensitive to these things than others. I enjoy politics and staying abreast of current affairs. And I spend a lot of time on Twitter, getting angry. These days, going onto Facebook or Instagram makes me feel like Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? driving into Toon Town. Switching from the current affairs of Twitter, to Winnie the Pooh memes, and dogs having their scrotum covered in glitter (yes, it’s a thing) on Facebook is increasingly jarring. It seems a bit like watching the band play on the deck of the sinking Titanic.
If my echo chamber on Twitter is woke leftie politics, then my years as a yoga teacher have left me in an altogether different milieu on Facebook. Most friend requests come from people trying to sell me something, spiritual space cadets, and fraudsters who, for some reason, think that all yoga teachers are so hellbent on being cosmically kind as to be gullible. And there is some truth in that – even I feel guilty if I don’t accept a friend request from someone who is clearly not remotely going to be my friend.
Throwing a Twig Hat in the Ring
And it was in these circumstances that I recently became Facebook friends with a fellow gong player who looked harmless enough. Admittedly he had changed his surname to something cosmically aligned, and his profile picture showed him wearing a hat of twigs, emerging from a yurt. But I like old hippies, they’re often kindred spirits, his profile said he likes animals and nature. I thought “what the heck”.
It was innocuous enough until he posted a poem he’d written, about the negativity of the news in which he called anyone with an interest in current affairs Moaning Minnies. These Moaning Minnies, he continued, were driven by anger that would never change anything. Far better he suggested to turn off the news and fill your head with goodness. And to chant to Shiva because we’re all One and that will save us. Find happiness amongst real life, he said. Find happiness amongst real life.
This approach to current affairs is endemic amongst healers and yoga teachers whose mantra is to always be ultra-positive. Just before writing this, I scrolled my Facebook feed for 20 minutes and came across three similar posts; stay away from negativity, positive vibes only, surround yourself with only positive people, turn off the news. Even Winnie the Pooh has turned on Eeyore. This aversion to anything perceived as negative is strong; to the point where even I feel embarrassed sometimes to be interested in what’s happening in the World.
Fact Shaming
And that’s the big kicker in Yurt Man’s post – shaming people who care. Clearly his post was in reaction to the outcry over Party-Gate that was littering his feed with bad vibes. Now, my interest in politics is about creating somewhere nice to live where people are looked after, and things run along the tracks of commonly agreed ethics. When I speak about politics it isn’t to drain the energy of empaths, it’s to inform, maybe vent my frustration, and motivate others to act. People like me want justice and fairness, not misery and despair. But in the current climate people like me are toxic – Moaning Minnies, Remoaners, Energy Vampires. Never mind the people out there committing atrocities, crimes against humanity, fraud, abuses of power. No, it’s the people who call it out who are the problem.
What is most surprising to me, is that a lot of this type of shaming comes from the so-called tree-huggers, devotees of Mother Earth and Gaia. The people you might have expected to care more than most and be angry at what’s going on. During COP26, there were a plethora of gong baths and meditation events to send healing to the planet & world leaders, someone even tried to resurrect Robin of Loxley, but there were no boots on the ground. People seem to put more faith in angels, Indian gods, or energy portals to solve humanity’s problems than emails to MPs or joining a protest group?
Uber-positivity feeds populism. We have a positive thinking Prime Minister in the UK. Trump was also someone who thought that if you just think positive everything will work out. You can see the appeal – life is tough now and it’s far more reassuring to hear someone shout happy words and false promises, than to be told we’re all going to die unless we make sacrifices fast. And in the populist sphere it’s very easy to turn people who question the wisdom and veracity of what is being said, into bummers, downers and the enemy of positivity & hope.
Oblivious to Oblivion
I read somewhere that the Tories like Boris Johnson as their leader because he appeals to casual voters. In other words, people who have no interest in politics and vote purely on personality once every few years. I can’t help thinking that our man in the yurt is creating exactly that sort of electorate with his advice to turn off the news and seek good vibes only. What chance any sensible, pragmatic politician? During my yoga teacher training the Jimmy Savile scandal broke, but few on the course knew about it and this became a source of pride. That so how their ignorance to World events made them more spiritual. When I was at university, I once partied so hard I didn’t realise the Berlin Wall had come down until two weeks later. I’m not sure this is something to be proud of; it seems like a bit of a low point to be honest.
Of course, politics, big business, government are not the same as objects like trees and horses. They are narratives, sort of mass hallucinations we all buy in to – in yoga referred to as Maya. But they still have the potential to destroy stuff, so I reckon we can call them real. So, let’s take Yurt Man’s advice for a moment – tell everyone to turn off the news, chant to Shiva & find happiness amongst “real life”. I can’t help thinking that not everyone is going to do this. In fact, I’d wager quite a high percentage of the population will give that a wide berth and maybe drive to Barnard Castle or similar. And when eventually the flaps on the cosmic yurt are pulled back, it might well be that the folks who stayed in the mass hallucination, have destroyed most of the trees, horses, and other things that make us feel warm-hearted and connected to nature.
Punching the Prime Minister
I think this might all come down to a perception of what it is to be spiritual. Being overly positive about everything. Believing that an external source will save us. The notion that ignorance is bliss. Proponents of this style of spirituality often quote Buddhism to justify their stance. Buddhism does state that anger is the greatest evil so perhaps it stands to reason that we should avoid anything that makes us feel this way? However, Buddhism also says that suffering comes from attachment and aversion – in other words, clinging to the things that make us feel good, and avoiding anything negative. And the main poison that drives this duality? Ignorant confusion.
If you don’t know the story of the Buddha, he was born into great luxury as a prince. His father kept him away from the world outside, so he knew nothing of suffering and imperfection. We can assume this was the palatial equivalent of a yurt. But the Buddha felt he had no meaning and ventured out into the World where he witnessed suffering. And that became the fuel for his quest to understand the root of suffering & provide solutions. He rejected the “yurt” and chose to live amongst the buzz kills like aging, hatred, and death, so he could understand and make a difference.
It’s not anger per se that’s the issue, but what we do with it. If I get so enraged that I go and punch Boris Johnson, I’ll end up in prison and lose everything, and substantially nothing else will change. But anger can be a strong motivating force for good. It can help is perceive what is wrong in situations, including injustice and unfairness, and generate constructive responses & solutions. Buddhism also says that suppression of anger is violence against our self, for anger is part of our nature. Suppression or avoidance is not equanimity or calm. It’s what Robert Masters calls being in Spiritual Drag.
Brotherhood of Clans
Buddhism calls for us to work internally, being mindful of emotions such as anger, understanding their cause and processing them rather than reacting blindly. It also calls for us to work externally – “The gift of justice surpasses all gifts”, says Lord Buddha in the Dhammapada. Even the Dalai Lama admits being angry, (he has a lot to be angry about), but rather than avoiding negativity, he turns his anger into pacifist leadership calling for peace, reconciliation, and global healing. In 2020 he called on people to take urgent action on climate change, declaring that the Buddha would be green. This was on Channel 4 news. Not in a tent whilst he banged a singing bowl.
There is no one more than me who would like us to live in utopia, where we see unity rather than difference, where everyone meditates and has first rate self-awareness. But come on? Most of the British can’t even get on with the French. We are so far from Oneness it’s laughable. Even a global pandemic failed to spark a Brotherhood of Man. And the film Don’t Look Up paints an all too realistic picture of how humanity would react even if threatened by imminent mass extinction. As healers and spiritual teachers, advising people to chant their way out of this mess is irresponsible. We don’t have the time to wait for enough people to become enlightened. We need action and we need people to wake up to what is going on now.
Talking Through Your Twig Hat
I see that Yurt Man is now advertising a gong bath aligned with the portal to Sirius. Perhaps a bit like a spiritual Jeff Bezos, he’s decided that leaving the planet is better than trying to fix it. Well, I wish him well in his quest to find happiness amongst real life and hope he has strong tent pegs for his yurt. So, for almost all of February, readers, there is a doorway to the Dog Star open to us all. It’s all over my Facebook feed – promises of rapid manifestation of desires, synchronicity when you see the number 2, unexpected positive news, emotional healing, and an energetic shift. Get ready for miracles, they say. Yet again, we wait for something otherworldly to save us. We really are in big trouble.