01-16-2011, 12:00 AM
Interesting article, Hawkeye, thanks for posting. I'd heard some scuttlebutt about Loughner being into Dreaming and lucid dreaming, and when combined with this article, it really seems like this is the kind of thing that can happen when someone with natural ability tries to become a "master" without the benefit of a mentor. Unfortunately, the story told here isn't uncommon. There are far too many Don Juannabes out there - people trying to be Carlos without a don Juan to guide them, trying to be Luke Skywalker without a Yoda, trying to be Neo without a Morpheus. Sure, there are those who would argue vehemently against any sort of 'teacher' but that's usually because they are the very ones who could most benefit from a mentor/benefactor, at least until such time as they become proficient as sorcerers, and then somewhat automatically (whether one likes it or not) becomes the mentor/benefactor for another sorcerer who crosses his path... and so begins or continues another form of linege.
The thing is... the information is "out there". Any human being with sufficient intent can get the information of sorcery (or anything else) through silent knowing - but processing that information into Knowledge is where it gets tricky, and probably where people like Loughner run afoul. They mistake the voice of the foreign installation for the voice of their own inner teacher (call it whatever you like: the double, the higher self, the infinite One), and end up doing all sorts of crazy stuff believing it to be from divine/higher guidance, when the reality is that it is the foreign installation all along.
Here's how I see it. Dreaming is truly a phenomenal gift/ability - yet because of Loughner's actions and words, Dreaming itself will now be considered weird or scary by the public at large, and will even escalate into things like "He was into all that weird stuff like Castaneda used to write about back in the 60s." Think about it. That's exactly how the FI works - by scaring people away from the knowledge that might actually help them find their way out of the illusion which the FI is so adept at creating. It's a flawless system because it works on every manner of human weakness - and it knows our weaknesses better than we know them ourselves (thus the need for stalking). So while Loughner may have believed he was acting from a "higher realm", he was actually playing directly into the hands of the consensus (he was playing the role of "madman" in a world that needs to be able to explain things by such pat statements as, "He was just crazy"), so in that way, the guy who wanted to be a rebel sorcerer has become the poster child of The Foreign Installation's Citizen of the Month.
How would things have been different if he had managed to connect with a mentor? Maybe that's the wrong question, but it's what came to me as I read the article. Many of the things he allegedly said aren't "wrong" - but the conclusions he drew and the actions he took as a result of those erroneous conclusions clearly illustrate (to me anyway) how anyone on a path of sorcery really does need some manner of guidance - if for no other reason than to teach one how to know the difference between **** and shinola.
My guess is that Loughner probably had plenty of opportunity to connect with a mentor, but chose not to do so, for whaever reason. It's been my experience that the old saying is true: "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." Of course, that should probably be followed with, "And if the student turns his back, the teacher will again disappear." Somewhere along the line, I'm guessing Jared Loughner turned his back and chose his own path. Dark as that may seem, we create our own reality. The real tragedy is that Loughner seemed to know that, yet chose it anyway.
The thing is... the information is "out there". Any human being with sufficient intent can get the information of sorcery (or anything else) through silent knowing - but processing that information into Knowledge is where it gets tricky, and probably where people like Loughner run afoul. They mistake the voice of the foreign installation for the voice of their own inner teacher (call it whatever you like: the double, the higher self, the infinite One), and end up doing all sorts of crazy stuff believing it to be from divine/higher guidance, when the reality is that it is the foreign installation all along.
Here's how I see it. Dreaming is truly a phenomenal gift/ability - yet because of Loughner's actions and words, Dreaming itself will now be considered weird or scary by the public at large, and will even escalate into things like "He was into all that weird stuff like Castaneda used to write about back in the 60s." Think about it. That's exactly how the FI works - by scaring people away from the knowledge that might actually help them find their way out of the illusion which the FI is so adept at creating. It's a flawless system because it works on every manner of human weakness - and it knows our weaknesses better than we know them ourselves (thus the need for stalking). So while Loughner may have believed he was acting from a "higher realm", he was actually playing directly into the hands of the consensus (he was playing the role of "madman" in a world that needs to be able to explain things by such pat statements as, "He was just crazy"), so in that way, the guy who wanted to be a rebel sorcerer has become the poster child of The Foreign Installation's Citizen of the Month.
How would things have been different if he had managed to connect with a mentor? Maybe that's the wrong question, but it's what came to me as I read the article. Many of the things he allegedly said aren't "wrong" - but the conclusions he drew and the actions he took as a result of those erroneous conclusions clearly illustrate (to me anyway) how anyone on a path of sorcery really does need some manner of guidance - if for no other reason than to teach one how to know the difference between **** and shinola.
My guess is that Loughner probably had plenty of opportunity to connect with a mentor, but chose not to do so, for whaever reason. It's been my experience that the old saying is true: "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." Of course, that should probably be followed with, "And if the student turns his back, the teacher will again disappear." Somewhere along the line, I'm guessing Jared Loughner turned his back and chose his own path. Dark as that may seem, we create our own reality. The real tragedy is that Loughner seemed to know that, yet chose it anyway.