In one of my earlier posts I examined the idea of
eternal return, the idea we keep coming back life after life. As part of this
post I mentioned the Lethe, a river from Greek mythology that Socrates
describes one drinks from in the afterlife. This river represents the
experience of forgetting that happens with each rebirth.
There are a couple considerations we might touch on
here. If you are familiar with the work of Ian Stevenson, you may know there
are rare cases where young children claim to retain memories of their former
lives. Spiritual masters have a siddhi by which they can remember past lives,
and one is able to see all one's incarnations simultaneously from the
perspective of the Source.
Those experiencing NDEs or OOBEs are able to see the
nonphysical world, then return and have memory of their experiences. Each of us
experiences a version of the nonphysical world each night when we dream, but we
tend to forget what we dreamed about unless we are in the process of
journaling. Journaling is a very important practice here, as it helps connect
the nonphysical consciousness with the physical waking consciousness. So, these
phenomena seem a manifestation of the same principle, that there is a
"remembering/forgetting" barrier between the physical and nonphysical
states.
A final thought I had on this was that of elderly
people who lose their memories or identity as they age. Perhaps this is not a
connected phenomenon, but it seems a strange coincidence how dementia occurs
towards the end of life. Perhaps this is a manifestation of the same principle.
The Lethe
Last time, I mentioned how the Lethe is in a sense
self-defeating. Yes, we get to experience innocence and novelty over and over
again, but if we are here to learn and evolve, then the Lethe represents a
major obstacle. One has to relearn over and over again, and because one forgets
the choices one made in prior lives, one is unable to comprehend the
consequences of one's actions in the next.
Here we come to the pretty well agreed upon
realities of the human experience. These are, first, the usual Jobean concerns
- that bad things happen to good people and that good things happen to bad
people. For example, a child dies in the womb; a young person gets a terminal
illness or dies in a car crash; a murderer lives into peaceful old age; and so
on. It seems in many cases there is no reward for virtue or no punishment for
vice.
The Lethe would offer some explanation of this phenomenon.
Action in one life (positive) -> Returns (forgets) -> Enjoys merit even if undeserving in new life
Action in one life (negative) -> Returns (forgets) -> Experiences suffering even if undeserving in new life
We see other expressions of the idea of the Lethe.
For instance, a first generation starts from humble origins and works their way
up to wealth; then the second generation is spoiled and selfish, and dissolutely
wastes the family's fortune. Here I can't help but think of some of the
unremarkable kings of history who began their lives as spoiled princes; or,
perhaps a better example, of the Roman emperors. The adopted emperors from
simple backgrounds ended up being the greatest rulers; while those born into
privilege are remembered as being some of the worst.
So, it is like a vicious circle.
Simple birth (experiences misfortune) -> Develops
empathy and wisdom -> Results in fortune
(Next birth)
Privileged birth (experiences no misfortune) ->
Does not develop empathy or wisdom -> Results in ruin
Karma
On the one hand, it seems like it is all accident
(the murderer who lives a long life, the young person who dies, the spoiled
prince). However, experience also seems
to teach that there is a principle of
karma in the world. While it often takes a long time to see results,
consequences tend to follow from actions.
For instance, if one joins the mafia, this life nearly
always results with one either going to jail or being killed oneself. If we
think of a serial murderer, they generally are
apprehended even if this process takes a long time. Often they will escape
punishment for decades, then suddenly a
witness comes forward or some new evidence comes to the detective and that is
the end of it.
Having spent time in the inner city (which is not a
fun place to be), it seems there is a
bringing together of those with a similar mental state. While there are of
course exceptions, those who are inclined toward violence, who try to take
advantage of others through cons, and who disparage learning seem to gravitate together. I often find
it strange how one part of a city has an extremely high rate of crime, but one
can cross a street not far away and experience relatively little crime.
Another phenomenon I have felt is strange over the years is people's acceptance of the extreme inequality of human life. If one looks at all of human history there is almost no progress on this metric even though we are supposed to be "advancing." In Jesus' day there was a large proportion of people with little wealth and a small number of people with much wealth. Especially in today's world, I am always incredulous that people accept such a situation, but I can think of no other rationale than that on some bizarre level they are all accepting the current conditions as "just."
Guilt and Shame
The other day I was thinking over the concepts of
guilt and shame. I have had very different opinions of these forces over the
years. In the past I have thought of them, for example, as social impositions
or as mechanisms for control. Today, while I certainly think these emotions can be manipulated and turned into tools
of control (over things that are completely non-moral), I am becoming more
inclined towards the idea that these emotions are expressions of forces that
are deeply a part of us.
One example of this is on the show The Sopranos. I realize that this show
is fiction, and Anthony Soprano is portrayed to be a sociopath, but the show is
commendable for the extreme psychological complexity with which it examines his
character.
Tony is a
psychopath, however he cannot escape
feelings of guilt, shame, remorse, and self-hatred. The show does an excellent
job showing how these emotions manifest: either in his dreams or physically
(whether that be in panic attacks or in other consequences of his actions).
With this perspective on these emotions, guilt and
shame are intuitions from our true
nature. Even in our current state detached from the Source, on some level we
still feel the unity and
interconnectedness of everything; one cannot come to peace without a sense of
moral rectitude. It also follows that if unity and interconnectedness are the realities
of the cosmos, then destructive acts towards others are by nature self-destructive. This would be the basis of karma.
Destiny
As a final thought I wanted to look at karma for a
moment. I wanted to look at how accepting the idea of karma leads to a sense of destiny.
1. Let us say for the sake of argument that today I,
who has never really done anything too bad in this lifetime, decide to go out
and murder someone. Now obviously I am not going to do this, it is just for the
sake of argument.
2. As a part of this process, I choose someone at
random to be my victim. There is no motivation or design in this, it is just
someone completely at random.
3. If this is a
world in which there is karma, this random choice is actually not random at
all. The person who is killed is in fact reaping the results of former actions.
4. Now - and this is a part of what makes the world
so complex - let us say the person is innocent in this lifetime. In accord with all the person's self-knowledge
and experience, they have done nothing to merit being killed. Everyone who knows
this person thinks the same and this leads to the level of complexity to the
world ("bad things happening to good people").
5. Now at the same time by committing this act, I am
also creating a karmic cause for
myself which I will reap later on - either as violence experienced myself or as
general misery.
6. Now this also creates a paradox. As if there is
karma, is it actually my own choice to commit the murder? Or is it destiny? If
I choose not to commit this act (and there clearly is a choice here where I
have personal accountability), will the consequences still be experienced by
that person? How, then, is the torch passed on to another to carry out those
consequences?
Here we begin to see the complex way these forces overlap
with and interact with each other. I mentioned in the other post how I
"saw the wisdom in different perspectives" and here I have to say it
is the same. Many of us intuitively feel there is a force of karma in the world - even though it is delayed or
imperfect - but how all this functions in unity is deeply hard to comprehend.
