Welcome to the Star Aldebaran
Whether they are about permaculture, evolution, or bicycle repair, narrow topic blogs, newsletters tend to be the trend. Everyone can easily place the subject, and the author’s mastery (or lack of it) is also quite apparent. If you want to go hiking in the Pyrenees it makes sense to read from a tour guide who spent his life in those mountains.
When someone is investigating seemingly different things it is often assumed that he has but a superficial knowledge of them. Yet if you get too close to a single tree the forest disappears. It can be quite fruitful to look at things from a distance to be able to see the connections. You may also want to wear unusual glasses to be able to —at least to some extent— penetrate below the surface.
Kids’ sandbox molds cast the same shape whatever the material: red clay, yellow sand, or black humus. Our minds similarly mold the phenomena of the universe into similar shapes. Whether they are about personal development, changes in society or philosophical questions, our ideas tend to assume the same structures. Some new thought forms could come in handy, ones that assist us in actually fulfilling our desires.
But people are already thinking too much! – you might protest. The most profound human experiences: falling in love, healing, being in flow consist of sensations and emotions. Rather than more, shouldn’t we think less?
Indeed. Most spiritual traditions aim at achieving inner silence. When the flow of incessant inner words and images finally pauses, one can experience more profound ways of being, oneness with the universe. I do encourage you to meditate, spend time in nature, and achieve quiet mind. At the same time we humans can hardly eliminate thinking. We seem to need structures that endow us with the ability to understand the world. Ideas steer our behavior, and they can literally become reality. The great pyramid of Khufu or the Panama canal were ideas before they were physical structures. The crusades or community financing have likewise sprung out of a human head.
It is therefore essential to think in refined ways, so that our minds can create pleasant and viable realities. One of the attractive features of Indian philosophy is that its practitioners actually apply their conclusions in their lives. Thinking and action are two interwoven aspects of the same whole.
The present crisis of human civilization is not caused by external factors. It’s our own systems that are clogging the drains. Our institutions are not solving our problems, they are perpetuating, even producing them. If we want to survive, we need to create new structures with a different idea foundation. Fortunately, we are highly creative beings, so this is possible.
Contemplative people usually spend a long time in the labyrinth of educational institutions. This does not stimulate independent thinking in every way. If they stuff your head full of the past, how much space will remain for the future? Desertion from the army barracks is usually perceived as lack of discipline. Yet the perspective of fugitives might come in handy. The more kinds of living creatures in an ecosystem, the more resilient it becomes. The intellectual environment of modern society is reminiscent of a monoculture, with millions of wheat ears pointing to the sky, each trying to surpass the others by a quarter of an inch. Not a poppy or a crow’s foot in sight.
When you open the envelope of this newsletter, wild flower seeds will roll out. Unusual perspectives will flash. There will be no sacred cows, nor ta’arof[1] – polite lies. Phenomena will be called by their real names, and many less than useful presuppositions will hopefully be questioned. After that you will be on your own. My thoughts are but feathers that tickle your cerebral cortex.
Aldebaran is a giant reddish orange star near the constellation Orion. You can find it on the opposite side of Sirius by following the belt of Orion. One of its Hungarian names is Bujdosók lámpása – the beacon of those hiding from repressive authority. Perhaps it can shed some light on where the real problems are in modern society. In the process it may also point to certain solutions, pathways to an interesting, inspiring future. I think that the power of imagination is a primary mover for humanity. Once we had dared to think something with sufficient detail and consideration, we may start to realize it.
Most films are made of 24 slides per second, which is enough for our brains to organize the visual input into a moving picture. In a somewhat similar fashion, every topic investigated here will be just a small piece of a hologram. As you read about the variety of subjects covered in this newsletter, allow yourself to gradually assemble the whole. This will definitely not be “the” truth, but it may be more interesting than what you find in mainstream writing.
I believe that intriquing, forward-moving questions are more valuable than assembly-line answers, or the well-known theses of our echo chambers. Trust is also important, the certainty that we can influence not only our individual fate but also that of our communities. Welcome, oh, Reader, to the star Aldebaran!
A note to the English version:
Most articles will be written in Hungarian, and then translated, or let’s settle on the word recreated in English. As you’ll notice, Shakespeare is not my uncle. Many of the points, puns etc. won’t come across owing to my creaking language skills. My hope is that the different slant will still be worth it.
Hungarian is what anthropologists call a high context culture. Meaning that we assume our communication partners to know considerably more about the background of our topic than in low context cultures such as English. Many of the apparent non-sequiturs you’ll encounter have a cultural context in which they make sense. I’ll often be too lazy to explain the wider situation or choose not to in order to keep the train of thought relatively clear. Take this as a compliment to your mental capacity.
[1] Persian تعارف – a convoluted code of conduct