CC41: It Takes a Village -- A Non-HDM Village, That Is

What does HDM mean? It's short for Hierarchy-Dualism-Monism (hence the need for a simpler moniker that people can actually remember and pronounce). But I'll come back to that in a minute.  

2017 marks the 150th anniversary of Canada’s founding as a nation. I found this Canadian maple leaf, a “mosaic” created from waxy leaf begonias, at one of Toronto’s soul-healing public gardens. It reminds me of what Canada is all about. Photo credit JAT 2017.

First I want to say thank you to the people of my village -- Canada. I want to say how grateful I am to the people here. I'm totally aware that I wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of being a practising ethical mystic if I didn't live in a community of people who just blow me away with their compassion, common sense, and high ethical standards. 

 It's been common for the mystics of history to thank God for the blessings of their journey, and sometimes there's also been praise for specific religious mentors or spiritual teachers who have guided the initiate along the way.  

But I think it's bigger than that. A mystic doesn't sprout up from nowhere. I think it's important to look at the whole context of a person's upbringing before you can understand his or her spiritual context. If each person is, metaphorically speaking, a plant growing within a much larger garden, you need to know what kind of garden that person grew up in. Not just the immediate family environment (although that's very important, of course), but the wider community environment. You need to know about the village which raised the child. What lessons did the village teach the child as he or she was growing up?  

The village I grew up in -- Canada, and more specifically the province of Ontario -- was a place where people didn't always agree, where political arguments were fought on major issues, where the painful lessons of recent history were still being processed and incorporated into both the law books and the daily lives of Canadians (lessons that stemmed from two World Wars and the Great Depression). The tension between French Canadian and English Canadian interests created several political and cultural firestorms as I was growing up. More recently, First Nations interests have reminded us that we all have to try harder to be a more inclusive, respectful society. 

But we've got a few things right here. We have a pretty workable balance between the rights of the individual and the rights of the community, the responsibilities of the individual and the responsibilities of the community. We make mistakes, to be sure, but we're open to the idea that we've made mistakes, and we're open to the idea that mistakes can be fixed. So together we try to fix them.  

We have publicly funded education and publicly funded health care that's accessible to most Canadians. (I'm not going to say "accessible to all Canadians" because the truth is that some people are slipping through the cracks. But slow progress is being made.)  

As a woman, I can attest to the fact that I've had the kind of opportunities that few women have had throughout the course of history or culture. Like many Canadian women, I've had two major blessings: the blessing of choice and the blessing of safety. Because my village was saying it was okay for me to choose, I was able to choose my own life path -- my own education, my own husband, my own family size, my own career. Because my village was saying it was NOT okay for me, as a woman, to be abused, I was able to feel safe (most of the time) as I walked (literally and figuratively) down the streets of my community.  

I didn't create these blessings for myself. My village (including my family of origin) created the environment that allowed these blessings to flourish for me and for others. My role, as an individual, is to appreciate these blessings, to give back to others what I myself have received, and to teach those who follow (i.e. the younger generation) how to live with compassion, common sense, and high ethical standards.  

Only after I began to explore philosophy -- a necessary part of being a true mystic -- did I come to understand that Canada is one of a small number of countries in the world whose culture is not bound together by one of the HDM myths that have plagued civilization since the get-go.  

You can have a reasonable, balanced dialogue with a typical Canadian on just about any inflammatory topic such as homosexuality, refugee rights, gay marriage, gun registration, and access to health care, and you won't come away from the discussion in fear of your life (not usually, anyway). You don't have to worry that a religious or military death squad will show up in the middle of the night and take you away. (Unfortunately, advocates for social justice in other parts of the world still face these profoundly inhumane threats on an ongoing basis, as a perusal of any Amnesty International newsletter will quickly reveal.)  

There are several reasons why Canada is a safer place, on the whole, in comparison to many other countries. One important reason is that most Canadians don't get up each day and volunteer to put their brains through a meat grinder.  

Yes, a meat grinder. HDM myths act like a meat grinder on your biological brain. You put a perfectly good holistically balanced brain/body/heart/soul into one end of the grinder, and out comes status-addicted mincemeat at the other end.  

Ooo, yummy.  

Sure, this kind of damage doesn't happen overnight. It takes years, years of being told that you and your village are "better" than other people and other villages, and have therefore been chosen by God to save everybody else (i.e. Hierarchy). Or years of being told you and your village are "good/right," whereas all other people and all other villages are "evil/wrong" (i.e. Dualism). Or years of being told that there's actually only one village in the entire world, and all people are required to belong to it (i.e. Monism). These myths are abusive -- spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically abusive. Eventually, they also become physically abusive.  

Where's my proof?  

Here's my proof. 

In the early to mid-20th century, a group of Germans got it into their heads that they ("Aryans") were "better" than other people and other villages, and they also got into their heads that they were God's chosen people who deserved to rule. This myth of Hierarchy led to the European Holocaust.  

In 1994, a group of Hutus in Rwanda got it into their heads that Hutus were "good/right" and Tutsis, along with peaceful Hutus, were "evil/wrong" people who deserved to die. This myth of Dualism led to the Rwandan Genocide. 

In the 1970's, a group of Cambodians in the Khmer Rouge Communist Party got it into their heads that it was okay to execute, starve, and more or less enslave anyone who was unsympathetic to the new ideals of "radical equality." This myth of Monism led to the Cambodian Holocaust.  

These examples are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Unfortunately, our history books contain all too many examples of mass suffering and oppression created by human leaders whose brains were/are totally addicted to the status that comes from these myths. It explains why these leaders seem to us to be psychopaths. They are psychopaths. They're psychopaths because they've stopped listening to their own inner wisdom -- their own soul -- and instead have started listening to the "voice" of status addiction. 

For status addicts, the very idea of balance in a political system is anathema. 

In contrast, there's no hierarchy to be "proven" in a social democracy where people willingly pay taxes (within reason, of course) to cover the cost of roads, schools, and hospitals. There's no dualism to be "justified" in a social democracy that embraces a multi-party system of government held to account through transparency, checks and balances, ethics commissioners, and law courts. There's no room for monism to even be considered in a social democracy that builds its laws and conventions on that sturdiest of all foundations: human rights legislation that respects and values the differences among people of different ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc. 

It's true that within Canada there are some smaller HDM villages, some places and some groups and even some religious communities that have fallen prey to the HDM myths. But, as a whole, we seem to want to work together as a team to build a non-hierarchical, non-dualistic, non-monistic society. And that's a good thing. 

See you at Tim's!

CC26: The Corruption of Free Will Through Addiction

Let's imagine, for the sake of argument, what would happen if the Church were to put crack cocaine in your communion bread every week.

From a practical standpoint, if you had a genetic or psychological vulnerability to addiction, you'd fairly soon become addicted to crack cocaine. Then what would happen? You'd begin to suffer from the desperate cravings of addiction. You'd become a prisoner of your own "selfish brain." You'd find yourself behaving in ways you're not proud of. You'd try to stop, and you'd try to control your brain's cravings, but sometimes you'd give in to the need, break your promises, and end up hurting the people you love. You'd feel as if you'd lost your free will.

Addiction is like that. It makes you feel as if you don't have free will. Addiction to alcohol, addiction to cocaine, addiction to sex. All share a common feature: a frightening sense that you're not in control of your own brain and your own free will. Rare is the person who can free herself from addiction through will power alone. Most addicts need help on the long journey of healing. This is because their biological brains have been physically damaged by toxic, addictive substances. While the brain is slowly healing from the damage caused by addiction, it needs external supports. Appropriate supports might include Twelve Step meetings, in-patient medical treatment, out-patient treatment, or professional counselling (or a combination of these).

People who seek such help are not weak. They are injured, and they deserve to be cared for during the healing process in the same way that stroke victims deserve to be cared for. For people in recovery, part of the healing process is the gradual restoration of a sense of trust in their own free will. This part isn't easy, because they remember the way their brains once hijacked their choices, and made them frightened of themselves. But if they're lucky enough to connect with a firm yet compassionate mentor, they can reconstruct their lives and relationships a bit at a time. Some even find true redemption.

We're deeply aware in our society of the dangers of addictive substances such as narcotics, alcohol, and so on. We read about the dangers of them in newspapers and magazines. We see reality shows on TV that feature the struggles of addicts and their families. We listen to our doctors preach about the perils of excessive alcohol. We tell our children to beware of drug dealers. We try to empower ourselves so we won't be vulnerable to addiction.

Why do we do all these things? We do all these things because we understand that addiction is a bad thing. It's bad for a person's mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Addiction ruins lives. Addiction can be treated, because it's a medical disorder, but before an addicted person can be successfully treated, she has to accept she has a problem. She has to let go of her denial. She must want to recover her own free will. Only then can she work with her treatment team as a willing participant in the healing process. If she isn't willing, she won't be able to heal.

Paradoxically, of course, she must have some remnant of free will remaining so she can make the choice to heal. Chances of this are much better if she's dealing with only one addiction. If she has multiple addictions -- such as alcohol, tobacco, and narcotics -- or if she exhibits co-morbidity -- a DSM-IV diagnosis of major depression, bipolar disorder, Axis II personality disorder, or other major mental illness in addition to a diagnosis of substance use disorder -- then the situation is even more complex. She may not be able to form the intent to heal until she's received intensive care in a psychiatric facility on an involuntary basis (i.e. a committal). This is the painful but necessary reality when she's no longer able to make caring choices for herself. When she's no longer mentally competent -- no longer able to form responsible choices, as determined by a professional review board -- the community must step in and make choices on her behalf until she is healed. This is much better than forcing her to live on the street.

Okay. Back to the Church. What does any of this have to do with the Church? Well, here's the thing. It's hard enough to recover your free will when you've been dealing with only one addiction. It's a lot harder to even understand what free will means when you're struggling with another addiction -- a hidden addiction, a secret addiction, an addiction you don't even know you're dealing with, because our society doesn't treat it as an addictive disorder.

This is the famous Rosetta Stone which is on display in the British Museum, London, UK. The stone, which features one decree written in three different ancient languages, has become a symbol for deep mysteries that can be untangled if you have the right translation tools. To understand your own free will, it often feels as if you need your very own Rosetta Stone. Photo credit JAT 2024.

 
I'm talking about an addiction to status. I'm talking about status anxiety run amok. I'm talking about an addiction disorder where dopamine is not generated in the brain by ingesting addictive substances, but instead is generated through a constant process of acquiring "status points." These "status points" cause the brain to release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that's definitively linked to addiction. Dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the brain can generate a brief "high," a feeling of pleasure. It's the feeling of pleasure that people get addicted to, but it's a temporary pleasure, a short-term high, and it can't replace the long-term experience of trust, safety, love, devotion, and peace that human beings are capable of when they open their hearts and minds to their full potential as children of God.

Our society doesn't believe an addiction to status is a bad thing that undermines your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health. Instead, our society treats this addiction as a good thing, a positive thing, a necessary thing. We deny the addiction, we minimize it, by labelling status-driven behaviour as simply "Type A" or "Boardroom Material." We encourage our children to be competitive and aggressive, to be "the best," "the fastest," "the strongest," "the smartest," "the richest." Our societal norms and values -- including those that stem from the Church's "most saved" department -- have become so interwoven and intertwined with this particular addiction that it's hardly visible to us now. But that doesn't mean it's not there.

The Church isn't alone in promoting these status-soaked values. (American pop culture rivals the Church in its ability to satisfy the constant cravings of a status addict.) Neither did the Church invent these values, as a quick review of ancient civilizations will reveal. But since the time of Paul the Apostle, the orthodox Western Church has worked very hard to ensure that Christians will fall prey to this particular addiction.

Why would Church leaders do such a dreadful thing? Well, I suppose that early Church Fathers believed they were helping to forge a more solid, more obedient, more orderly society. Maybe it seemed like a good idea at the time. But the cost has been enormous. The cost of this addiction over the centuries has been the loss of free will in the brains of individual Christians. The cost has been fear -- the fear of the self that accompanies addiction and its inexplicable urges. The cost has been the sheer inability of regular Christians to believe they're worthy of God's love and forgiveness.

That's a pretty big cost if you ask me.

Augustine's teachings on original sin and concupiscence actually make sense when you're struggling against the cravings of addiction, because his theories offer you a sound explanation for your behaviour! It all makes sense . . . until you learn that at least one of your addictions has been caused -- not cured -- by the Church's own teachings on sin, salvation, sacraments, and separation from God.

This is why orthodox Western Christians have long felt they're trapped in a life-long hamster wheel of pain and suffering, sin and absolution.

I don't see how a good pious Christian could feel any other way, given the circumstances.

That's why I follow the teachings of Jesus instead.