I might be seeking egoic attention. I’m a meditator, and meditation usually makes me feel better. I'm also a Chomskyist and intend to seek out and read this book. Still, the thought arises: Why are so many experienced meditators with platforms and audiences either indifferent (John Vervaeke, Shinzen Young, most of the IMS teachers, Jay Garfield, Roger Thurman) or both-siding (Robert Wright, the Zen Peacemakers) the extermination project in occupied Palestine? Or even worse, there’s Sam Harris with his app, whom Norman Finkelstein accurately described as a moral imbecile, who has been on a mission to promote and justify the extermination and ridicule those who oppose it. Is it that “they're not doing it right?” Or is meditation not enough? Does meditation reduce egoism? Does meditation increase solidarity? Where’s the evidence for that? Where I live, there is a Zen center with a sensei who wears his medieval Japanese outfit and seems unbearably patronizing. “I’m so happy and enlightened and can see what’s real, but you can't, so listen to me.” I’m aware of some research that shows that meditators often have an inflated sense of ego. They’re special, they've had insight or kensho. And some of the most generous and selfless people I’ve met have never sat on a cushion. If we want to save what’s good about meditation — Zen, Vedanta, Tibetan, Vipassana, prayer, or whatever form it takes- I think the problem I’m describing — the moral imbicility that often accompanies meditation- must be taken seriously.
Thanks, Timmy, good points. You say meditation ‘usually makes me feel better’. Are you getting moments of love and bliss? It doesn’t sound as overwhelming as it should be. What kind of meditation do you do and for how long? You could try the meditation I discuss in the book focused on watching feelings. Works well.
Chomsky would chuckle at the idea that you’re a ‘Chomskyist’. One of his key messages is: ‘I don’t want followers; you shouldn’t be following anyone.’ But if you’re into his kind of analysis, it adds a lot of high-intensity intellectual activity, which makes it tough to experience the bliss of meditation, as I know only too well. I talk a lot about ‘head-trapped intellectuals’ in the book.
Like scientific specialists, spiritual specialists are often unable to see the wood for the propaganda trees. If people don’t look deeply into Chomsky, Herman, Zinn, et al and the propaganda model, they’ll likely end up victims of the propaganda system, no matter how meditative they are.
It’s good to be cautious about judging the behaviour of spiritual teachers from foreign cultures - they may have ways of confronting and tackling the ego that look absolutely outrageous to our eyes (and egos). On the other hand, I’m wary of all organised religions; they tend to be rife with politics, hierarchy, compromise and abuse. I prefer to focus on very astute, rational individuals who have clearly experienced something. Slavishly following some tradition, copying other people, doesn’t help us become more aware - we have to work things out for ourselves. All best, David E
Okay, you're not addressing the points I'm raising. I was tongue-in-cheek about referring to myself as a Chomskyist—a tankie union organizer friend once referred to me as such. I focus on breathing and body sensations. Sometimes, if they're nearby, I like to ground in ambient sounds, like birds and frogs. I also like alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodhana pranayama). I find Vedanta convincing as metaphysics. I do mindful body practices. I've been to Soto Zen retreats, loads of 10-14 day silent retreats at Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts, and a Vedanta retreat.
The spiritual Zen teacher I referred to was a white American man from the Midwest who gave a talk to a group of II students. Why did you suppose he was from a foreign culture?
But back to the point. The owners of the state and corporate media meditate. CEOs and billionaires train in meditation and send their children to meditate in Thailand during their gap years. Special forces and Marines meditate. Zionists meditate. What happened to their egos? Suppose you want to make the case that meditation in the Buddhist tradition will help humans avoid an extinction event (something Chomsky didn't think likely). In that case, you can’t ignore the failure of Western Buddhism to address front and center the extermination project that Israel, with the essential help of the collective West, has carried out.
Thank you for always insightful posts. It is hard to understand how anyone can ever think that bombing a perceived enemy, among the worst kind of insults to a national ego, will ever help them think well of you. As a practitioner of meditation, I look forward to reading your book.
"The same demonisation, the same reflexive warmongering, the same yearning for ‘regime change’ – Groundhog Day without the spiritual awakening."
“Without exaggeration, this is not even a systemic, but a doctrinal crisis of the neoliberal US-style model of international order. They have no ideas for progress and positive development. They simply have nothing to offer the world, except perpetuating their dominance.” — Putin
Been following you ML for almost all of those 25 years (You're probably the only people outside of the spooks on substack who knows who I am IRL!), and it is not hard to guess that your meditational practices have enabled you not only to keep going for that stretch of time, but also kept you uncorrupted. And unbowed (To 'power').
I recall saying (It feels like only a couple of years ago, but it probably closer to at least a decade); that yours was the only excellent Politics book with an even more excellent chapter on meditation attached that I'd encountered.
This will be purchased, and read, just like your other books sitting on the shelves. I can see one from here, right next to 'Manufacturing Consent'.
Keep up the Good Work for another 1/4 of a century, oh 'Two Brains', and if you change your minds on having an 'useless office boy to test your patience' lol, you still have my email somewhere. :)
'for almost all of those 25 years'. You deserve a big, shiny gong for that, Gnuneo! Yes, I'd certainly be battier than I am without meditation. The problem with bowing down is it's so boring to write what you don't really believe, and you quickly dry up (I tried it!). You've got to dig into the bottom of the well to get the water; when you dig in some other direction you just get dry earth and stones. We always like to have a more meditative chapter at the end of the Media Lens books. Quite a few people said: 'Great media analysis, but what was that rubbish at the end?' :o) If we get an office in the next 25 years, we'll certainly keep you in mind. :o) Hope you like the book. Best, DE
Thanks for this. Confirmed my own thoughts about a Nation being the collective expression of the individual psyche.
I might be seeking egoic attention. I’m a meditator, and meditation usually makes me feel better. I'm also a Chomskyist and intend to seek out and read this book. Still, the thought arises: Why are so many experienced meditators with platforms and audiences either indifferent (John Vervaeke, Shinzen Young, most of the IMS teachers, Jay Garfield, Roger Thurman) or both-siding (Robert Wright, the Zen Peacemakers) the extermination project in occupied Palestine? Or even worse, there’s Sam Harris with his app, whom Norman Finkelstein accurately described as a moral imbecile, who has been on a mission to promote and justify the extermination and ridicule those who oppose it. Is it that “they're not doing it right?” Or is meditation not enough? Does meditation reduce egoism? Does meditation increase solidarity? Where’s the evidence for that? Where I live, there is a Zen center with a sensei who wears his medieval Japanese outfit and seems unbearably patronizing. “I’m so happy and enlightened and can see what’s real, but you can't, so listen to me.” I’m aware of some research that shows that meditators often have an inflated sense of ego. They’re special, they've had insight or kensho. And some of the most generous and selfless people I’ve met have never sat on a cushion. If we want to save what’s good about meditation — Zen, Vedanta, Tibetan, Vipassana, prayer, or whatever form it takes- I think the problem I’m describing — the moral imbicility that often accompanies meditation- must be taken seriously.
Thanks, Timmy, good points. You say meditation ‘usually makes me feel better’. Are you getting moments of love and bliss? It doesn’t sound as overwhelming as it should be. What kind of meditation do you do and for how long? You could try the meditation I discuss in the book focused on watching feelings. Works well.
Chomsky would chuckle at the idea that you’re a ‘Chomskyist’. One of his key messages is: ‘I don’t want followers; you shouldn’t be following anyone.’ But if you’re into his kind of analysis, it adds a lot of high-intensity intellectual activity, which makes it tough to experience the bliss of meditation, as I know only too well. I talk a lot about ‘head-trapped intellectuals’ in the book.
Like scientific specialists, spiritual specialists are often unable to see the wood for the propaganda trees. If people don’t look deeply into Chomsky, Herman, Zinn, et al and the propaganda model, they’ll likely end up victims of the propaganda system, no matter how meditative they are.
It’s good to be cautious about judging the behaviour of spiritual teachers from foreign cultures - they may have ways of confronting and tackling the ego that look absolutely outrageous to our eyes (and egos). On the other hand, I’m wary of all organised religions; they tend to be rife with politics, hierarchy, compromise and abuse. I prefer to focus on very astute, rational individuals who have clearly experienced something. Slavishly following some tradition, copying other people, doesn’t help us become more aware - we have to work things out for ourselves. All best, David E
Okay, you're not addressing the points I'm raising. I was tongue-in-cheek about referring to myself as a Chomskyist—a tankie union organizer friend once referred to me as such. I focus on breathing and body sensations. Sometimes, if they're nearby, I like to ground in ambient sounds, like birds and frogs. I also like alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodhana pranayama). I find Vedanta convincing as metaphysics. I do mindful body practices. I've been to Soto Zen retreats, loads of 10-14 day silent retreats at Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts, and a Vedanta retreat.
The spiritual Zen teacher I referred to was a white American man from the Midwest who gave a talk to a group of II students. Why did you suppose he was from a foreign culture?
But back to the point. The owners of the state and corporate media meditate. CEOs and billionaires train in meditation and send their children to meditate in Thailand during their gap years. Special forces and Marines meditate. Zionists meditate. What happened to their egos? Suppose you want to make the case that meditation in the Buddhist tradition will help humans avoid an extinction event (something Chomsky didn't think likely). In that case, you can’t ignore the failure of Western Buddhism to address front and center the extermination project that Israel, with the essential help of the collective West, has carried out.
Thank you for always insightful posts. It is hard to understand how anyone can ever think that bombing a perceived enemy, among the worst kind of insults to a national ego, will ever help them think well of you. As a practitioner of meditation, I look forward to reading your book.
Thanks, Oliver.
"The same demonisation, the same reflexive warmongering, the same yearning for ‘regime change’ – Groundhog Day without the spiritual awakening."
“Without exaggeration, this is not even a systemic, but a doctrinal crisis of the neoliberal US-style model of international order. They have no ideas for progress and positive development. They simply have nothing to offer the world, except perpetuating their dominance.” — Putin
Been following you ML for almost all of those 25 years (You're probably the only people outside of the spooks on substack who knows who I am IRL!), and it is not hard to guess that your meditational practices have enabled you not only to keep going for that stretch of time, but also kept you uncorrupted. And unbowed (To 'power').
I recall saying (It feels like only a couple of years ago, but it probably closer to at least a decade); that yours was the only excellent Politics book with an even more excellent chapter on meditation attached that I'd encountered.
This will be purchased, and read, just like your other books sitting on the shelves. I can see one from here, right next to 'Manufacturing Consent'.
Keep up the Good Work for another 1/4 of a century, oh 'Two Brains', and if you change your minds on having an 'useless office boy to test your patience' lol, you still have my email somewhere. :)
'for almost all of those 25 years'. You deserve a big, shiny gong for that, Gnuneo! Yes, I'd certainly be battier than I am without meditation. The problem with bowing down is it's so boring to write what you don't really believe, and you quickly dry up (I tried it!). You've got to dig into the bottom of the well to get the water; when you dig in some other direction you just get dry earth and stones. We always like to have a more meditative chapter at the end of the Media Lens books. Quite a few people said: 'Great media analysis, but what was that rubbish at the end?' :o) If we get an office in the next 25 years, we'll certainly keep you in mind. :o) Hope you like the book. Best, DE