A deep dive into mysticism, atheism, and psychedelic experiences, exploring the intersection with Marxism. Topics include suffering, ego dissolution, love as a unifying force, and the transformative power of compassion. Personal journeys, philosophical discussions, and the role of mysticism in political struggle are explored in this thought-provoking episode.
Marxism and mysticism can coexist separately, exploring objective and subjective realities.
Suffering and desire can lead to growth if embraced wisely and understood deeply.
Dialectics in mysticism and Marxism emphasize change and relativity for personal and collective growth.
Monism reconciles materialism and spirituality, allowing for individual and collective progress.
Love is a unifying force in mysticism that overcomes alienation and fosters a better world.
Deep dives
Engaging with Mysticism and being a Marxist
Engaging with mysticism and being a Marxist does not necessarily create a contradiction. While Marxism focuses on the objective side of reality and understanding social structures, mysticism explores the subjective side, such as consciousness and spirituality. These are two different categories that can be explored individually without the need to merge or reconcile them. As a Marxist, the objective analysis of society and political structures remains important, while engaging in mystical practices allows for personal exploration and growth. By understanding oneself at deeper levels, empathy and respect for others can be fostered, enhancing collective struggles. The compatibility between materialism and mysticism can be found in philosophical monism, which recognizes that the subjective and objective sides of reality are interconnected. Ultimately, engaging with mysticism and being a Marxist involves acknowledging and balancing these different dimensions of human existence.
Subjective and Objective Sides of Reality
The subjective side of reality, including consciousness and spirituality, can be seen as the subjective experience of the objective world. This understanding does not contradict the materialist analysis of society and social structures in Marxism. While Marxism focuses on the objective side, mysticism explores the subjective dimension and reveals insights about oneself and the interconnectedness of all beings. The two sides of reality can coexist without creating inherent contradictions, as each domain serves a different purpose and offers unique perspectives on the human experience.
Dialectical Perspective
Dialectics play a significant role in mysticism and Marxism. The interplay between opposing forces, change, and relativity are fundamental aspects in both spiritual and materialistic frameworks. Mysticism often emphasizes the primacy of change and the need to let go of attachments, while Marxism recognizes the dialectical nature of social structures and strives for the transformation of oppressive systems. The spiritual practices of engaging with change and recognizing its inevitability can contribute to personal growth and facilitate understanding of collective struggles.
Philosophical Monism and Materialism
Monism offers a perspective that reconciles materialism and mystical traditions. It acknowledges the potential compatibility between these frameworks, emphasizing that consciousness may emerge from material processes without negating the value of subjective experiences. Monism allows for the exploration of spirituality and consciousness while recognizing the objective materialist analysis of society and social structures. Embracing both materialism and spiritual practices as individual pursuits can lead to personal growth and enhance collective struggles.
The Paradox of Suffering and Desire
Suffering is a catalyst for inner growth, pushing us to face our mortality, pain, and suffering. It allows us to grow, expand, and become more authentic. While desire is often seen as the root of suffering, it is not inherently bad. It is the unnecessary suffering that arises from clinging to desires that causes pain. Necessary suffering, such as loss and contemplating death, can be generative if we embrace it and set our ego aside. Rather than rejecting desire, we should explore and understand it, becoming aware of its underlying mechanisms. Over time, investigating desire reduces constant desiring and helps us find contentment with less. It is the mindless pursuit of fulfilling every desire that leads to more suffering, while embracing the paradoxes and contradictions allows for growth and authenticity.
The Cyclical Nature of Spiritual Growth
Spiritual growth often manifests in cyclical patterns, moving between phases of suffering and expansion. These cycles can last for years and are marked by periods of deep suffering, followed by spiritual experiences and expanded capacities. The suffering leads to introspection and spiritual practices, while the expanded capacities allow exploration of different aspects of oneself. This cyclical journey is characterized by continuous growth, gaining wisdom, deepening compassion, and loving others better. While the cycles may continue, each round brings new insights and the ability to navigate the dark winters with greater compassion and love for oneself and others.
Embracing Change and Letting Go
In the philosophical and spiritual traditions, embracing change and letting go of control are fundamental for personal growth and authenticity. Recognizing that we are not in control and surrendering to the natural flow of life allows a deeper level of authenticity to emerge. By relinquishing the need to control, we become like a force of nature, expressing ourselves naturally without forcing anything. This freedom from control, paradoxically, brings out our true uniqueness and allows a more authentic version of ourselves to blossom freely. Additionally, the paradox of suffering suggests that necessary suffering, such as loss, allows for growth, while unnecessary suffering arises from unfulfilled desires. Investigating desire and understanding its mechanisms can reduce constant desiring and lead to contentment with less.
The Importance of Letting Go and Embracing Love
The podcast discusses the importance of letting go of the ego and embracing love as a unifying force. It emphasizes that mysticism involves overcoming alienation and separation, and love plays a crucial role in this process. Love is seen as a fundamental aspect of spirituality and religion, serving as a gravitational force that brings people together and motivates them to create a better world.
The Paradox of Suffering and the Role of Compassion
The podcast explores the paradox of suffering and how compassion can help alleviate it. It discusses the idea that obliterating all suffering would result in its own form of suffering, as contrast is needed to understand concepts like good and light. It highlights the role of compassion in engaging with the world and driving meaningful change. The concept of ego and desire is also touched upon, with the idea that relinquishing ego and desire can facilitate transformation and an acceptance of inevitable suffering.
On this episode of Red Menace, Alyson and Breht had some things come up such that they couldn't record their planned episode on Marx's 18th Brumaire (coming soon!), so instead they have a deep, organic and wide-ranging conversation on mysticism; together they explore humanities religious and spiritual traditions and the mystical strain within them, discuss atheism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Sufism, mystical experiences, the role of suffering, holy union and oneness, the dissolution of subject/object duality, the role of psychedelics historically and experientially, dialectics, and whether or not any of this has any relevance for political struggle.
