Smokey the Bear Sutra

 Originally posted May 5th, 2010, but reposted now because the work is far from done.

Please join me in chanting the Smokey the Bear Sutra for all those working for a green earth! Use any tune you like, or none at all. Sing in the shower, on the street, in a coffee house, or in your room. In my own practice, I visualize Mary, Star of the Sea, standing at Smokey's side, offering guidance and protection. This is not obligatory. But it is obligatory that you find your own way to join this work.

By reciting this sutra (and matching my actions with its words), its merit:

It will help save the planet Earth from a total oil slick.

Will enter the age of harmony between man and nature.
Will win the tender love and caresses of men, women,
and beasts.
Will always have ripened blackberries to eat and a
sunny spot under a pine tree to sit at.

After we chat and pray, let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that we have fulfilled our obligation. Take Action!

SMOKEY THE BEAR SUTRA

by Gary Snyder

A handsome, smoky-colored brown bear standing on his hind legs, showing that he is aroused and watchful.

Bearing in his right paw the Shovel that digs to the truth beneath appearances; cuts the roots of useless attachments, and flings damp sand on the fires of greed and war;

His left paw in the mudra of Comradely Display--indicating that all creatures have the full right to live to their limits and that of deer, rabbits, chipmunks, snakes, dandelions, and lizards all grow in the realm of the Dharma;

Wearing the blue work overalls symbolic of slaves and laborers, the countless men oppressed by a civilization that claims to save but often destroys;

Wearing the broad-brimmed hat of the west, symbolic of the forces that guard the wilderness, which is the Natural State of the Dharma and the true path of man on Earth:

all true paths lead through mountains--

With a halo of smoke and flame behind, the forest fires of the kali-yuga, fires caused by the stupidity of those who think things can be gained and lost whereas in truth all is contained vast and free in the Blue Sky and Green Earth of One Mind;

Round-bellied to show his kind nature and that the great earth has food enough for everyone who loves her and trusts her;

Trampling underfoot wasteful freeways and needless suburbs, smashing the worms of capitalism and totalitarianism;

Indicating the task: his followers, becoming free of cars, houses, canned foods, universities, and shoes, master the Three Mysteries of their own Body, Speech, and Mind; and fearlessly chop down the rotten trees and prune out the sick limbs of this country America and then burn the leftover trash.

Wrathful but Calm. Austere but Comic. Smokey the Bear will Illuminate those who would help him; but for those who would hinder or slander him...

HE WILL PUT THEM OUT.

Thus his great Mantra:

Namah samanta vajranam chanda maharoshana Sphataya hum traka ham mam

"I DEDICATE MYSELF TO THE UNIVERSAL DIAMOND MAY THIS RAGING FURY BE DESTROYED"

And he will protect those who love the woods and rivers, Gods and animals, hobos and madmen, prisoners and sick people, musicians, playful women, and hopeful children:

And if anyone is threatened by advertising, air pollution, television, or the police, they should chant SMOKEY THE BEAR'S WAR SPELL:

DROWN THEIR BUTTS

CRUSH THEIR BUTTS

DROWN THEIR BUTTS

CRUSH THEIR BUTTS

And SMOKEY THE BEAR will surely appear to put the enemy out with his vajra-shovel.

Now those who recite this Sutra and then try to put it in practice will accumulate merit as countless as the sands of Arizona and Nevada.

Will help save the planet Earth from total oil slick.

Will enter the age of harmony of man and nature.

Will win the tender love and caresses of men, women, and beasts.

Will always have ripened blackberries to eat and a sunny spot under a pine tree to sit at.

AND IN THE END WILL WIN HIGHEST PERFECT ENLIGHTENMENT

...thus we have heard...

(*may be reproduced free forever)

*And this have I done!

L'incendie de la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris : un retour à la foi

Il y a sept ans cette semaine, un moment que je n'oublierai jamais. Le lundi 15 avril 2019 à 18h18, des flammes ont jailli de la toiture de la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris et, au cours des heures suivantes, la forêt datant des XIIe et XIIIe siècles a été ravagée.

J'ai suivi avec une grande minutie la reconstruction de ce lieu sacré. Cela a changé ma vie.

Plaidoyer pour un christianisme spirituel

J'ai écrit ceci le 25 décembre 2022.

Je cherchais une réponse à ma question: rester chrétien, ou peut-être simplement m’identifier à l’Église de mes parents, sans pour autant accepter tous les excès doctrinaux et l’insistance sur l’adhésion. Je me disais que si je prenais du recul par rapport à mon esprit hypercritique, si je me détendais et observais simplement la situation, un argument convaincant pourrait se présenter. J’aime la musique et l’art de l’Église. Ils sont une véritable source de nourriture spirituelle. Peut-être pourrais-je pleinement embrasser une forme d’agnosticisme spirituel.

Le 15 avril 2019, alors que je regardais en direct les images de l'incendie catastrophique qui a failli détruire la magnifique cathédrale Notre-Dame, j'avoue avoir pleuré. Je suis francophile; j'aime Paris; quand j'étais étudiante dans le nord de la France, j'ai visité la cathédrale à de nombreuses reprises. Voir le feu embraser tout le transept m'a anéantie. Cela m'a profondément touchée, au-delà du chagrin et du choc.

Puis, je me suis souvenu d'une autre catastrophe. Voir les tours jumelles de Manhattan brûler et s'effondrer, les pertes humaines et cette destruction gratuite et extrême étaient horribles. J'étais moi aussi dévasté, mais différemment. C'était un attentat terroriste. J'éprouvais un mélange d'horreur et de peur.

Les tours jumelles et Notre-Dame étaient des symboles emblématiques des grandes villes. La construction des tours jumelles a débuté le 6 août 1966 et elles se sont effondrées lors des attentats terroristes du 11 septembre 2001. Le pape Alexandre III a posé la première pierre de la cathédrale Notre-Dame en 1163. Sa construction a duré des siècles; la dernière grande restauration a été entreprise par Viollet-le-Duc au milieu du XIXe siècle.

J'ai suivi les travaux de remplacement et de rénovation des tours jumelles et de Notre-Dame. Le processus de conception de la reconstruction à New York a, comme on pouvait s'y attendre, suscité de vives controverses. Experts et promoteurs immobiliers ont été sollicités. Des débats ont eu lieu sur la conception, la reconfiguration du site, l'intégration d'activités commerciales, les liaisons de transport et le souvenir des victimes. Bien qu'il s'agisse toujours du World Trade Center, il serait différent. Le processus était typiquement américain et, du moins en apparence, se voulait démocratique. En France, le débat portait sur l'opportunité d'autoriser des modifications lors de la rénovation. Au départ, certains ont suggéré un nouveau design pour la flèche, une innovation moderne lors de sa reconstruction au milieu du XIXe siècle. Rapidement, le Sénat français a adopté une loi exigeant que la reconstruction soit fidèle à son "dernier état visuel connu ". Ils reconstruiraient la flèche exactement comme elle était, au millimètre près, en utilisant les matériaux et les techniques de construction spécifiés par Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, les seuls aménagements étant des améliorations pour la technologie moderne, l'électricité et la sécurité du bâtiment, ainsi que de nouveaux plans pour la place devant la cathédrale, le parking souterrain et les bâtiments adjacents sur l'Île de France.

Les Tours Jumelles et Notre-Dame ont toutes deux pris feu et se sont effondrées en l'espace de quelques heures, l'une entièrement détruite et une grande partie de l'autre. C'est là leur seule véritable similitude. À New York, un nombre considérable de personnes ont péri. À Paris, il n'y a eu aucune mort. L'une a été causée par un attentat terroriste, l'autre par un accident ou par négligence. L'une était un bâtiment commercial, l'autre un lieu sacré. J'ai été profondément bouleversé par ces deux tragédies. Je les ai vues se dérouler en direct à la télévision. Bien que j'hésite à interpréter mes réactions émotionnelles face à une catastrophe comme un chemin vers la foi, l'analyse de celles-ci s'est révélée instructive.

Pour prolonger ma métaphore théologique, la reconstruction du World Center était comparable au concile de Trente, en réponse au bouleversement culturel, politique et intellectuel massif de la Réforme, et la rénovation de Notre-Dame s'apparente à une méditation attentive, à une prière sur la source de notre foi.

J’ai suivi la rénovation de Notre-Dame, épluchant internet à la recherche du moindre article, du moindre débat et de la moindre découverte au fur et à mesure de l’avancement des travaux du chantier du siècle. Lorsque les plans de réaménagement de l’espace intérieur pour l’adapter aux pratiques liturgiques actuelles ont été dévoilés, Alexandre Gady, historien de l’art, a déclaré: "Curieusement, ce n’était pas le clergé qui parlait du sacré ce matin; c’étaient des historiens comme moi qui défendaient les monuments historiques. Notre-Dame est sacrée, non seulement au sens catholique, mais aussi parce qu’elle nous unit, qu’elle nous parle et qu’elle raconte notre histoire."

D'autres critiques affirmaient que le clergé parisien, trop zélé, était déterminé à transformer son attrait touristique en un Disneyland spirituel.

Si tous ceux qui aiment Notre-Dame, qu’ils soient catholiques pratiquants ou non, qu’ils appartiennent à d’autres religions ou à aucune, qu’ils aient contribué financièrement, en temps ou en talent à la préservation de ce précieux artefact de notre patrimoine spirituel, ou qu’ils aient simplement envoyé leur amour, si le résultat est un remake lisse et astucieux de Disney du roman de Victor Hugo…Notre-Dame de Paris. Je saurai alors que nous sommes véritablement au crépuscule de la civilisation occidentale.

Qu'est-ce que j'en sais ?

La veille de Noël, j'ai commencé à regarder une petite vidéo sans prétention," Au cœur du Vatican, épisode 1," sur YouTube. Soudain, un homme très beau, doté d'une voix magnifique, s'est mis à chanter. Mark Spyropoulos est un baryton britannique d'origine grecque qui a intégré la plus ancienne chorale du monde, la chorale personnelle du pape, la Cappella Musicale Pontificia.

Mark a commencé à parler de chanter le Credo de Nicée en solo pendant la messe télévisée suivie par des millions de personnes. Un jour, il a réalisé combien de personnes l'avaient entendu faire cette profession de foi. Il l'avait chantée à chaque messe papale pendant trois ans.

Il a cité le Credo in Unum Deum en latin."Je crois en un seul Dieu."Il a poursuivi:" Je n’ai pas chanté: "Nous croyons en un seul Dieu”."C'est lui, Marc, qui a fait une profession de foi très personnelle. Il s'est demandé: croyait-il vraiment en un seul Dieu? Et qu'est-ce que cela signifiait au juste? "Je ne sais même pas. Parfois, j'ai l'impression d'être un imposteur. Je viens de réciter le début du Credo de Nicée devant le Pape et le monde entier; je devrais pourtant être sûr de ce que je dis. Parfois, je sais ce que je chante, et parfois non."

"Si vous me demandez si je crois en Dieu, je réponds que je ne comprends pas la question. Qu’entendez-vous par Dieu? (J’entendais son interlocuteur lui souffler: Dieu tel que défini par l’Église catholique) Ce sont des questions fondamentales."

"Je suis baryton. Qu’est-ce que j’en sais?"

Et cela s'est transformé en une sorte de crise de foi personnelle. Mis à part la plaisanterie entre initiés, il n'en savait vraiment rien. Puis il a raconté une histoire de révélation personnelle assez touchante; je crois que c'était en chantant un morceau de Bach, la version de 1747 par opposition à celle de 1745, celle que Francis préférait. Apparemment, Francis est un patron très impliqué dans les moindres détails.

"Eh bien, qu'est-ce que j'en sais? Je vais vous dire ce que je sais. Je peux vous dire que lorsque je suis plongé dans cette musique, je me sens en contact avec quelque chose."

En chantant, il réalisa qu'il croyait véritablement en une force supérieure à lui-même. Il était en réalité bien plus éloquent que mon argumentaire jésuite.

Projet d'archives Medici, Programme musical. Vox Medicea (dirigé par Mark Spyropoulos).

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris Fire, a return to Faith

Seven years ago this week, a moment I will never forget. At 6:18 pm on Monday, April 15, 2019, flames erupted in the roof of the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris, and over the following hours, the 12th- and 13th-century forest would be destroyed.

I followed the rebuilding of this sacred building meticulously. It changed my life.

The Case for a Spiritual Christianity

I wrote this on December 25, 2022.

I was searching for an answer to my question about remaining Christian, or perhaps just identifying with the church of our mothers and fathers, without accepting all the doctrinal overreach and the insistence on adherence. I thought that perhaps if I took a step back from my hypercritical mindset, relaxed and simply observed the landscape, a convincing argument might present itself. I love the church's music and art. They are a real source of spiritual nourishment. Perhaps I could fully embrace a kind of spiritual agnosticism.

(Thibault Camus/AP)

On April 15th, 2019, as I watched the live coverage of the catastrophic fire that almost destroyed the magnificent Cathedral of Notre Dame, I confess, I was in tears. I am a francophile; I love Paris; when I was a student in northern France, I visited the cathedral many times. Watching the fire engulf the whole transept, I was devastated. It touched me on a very deep level, beyond grief and shock.

Then I remembered another catastrophic disaster. Watching Manhattan’s Twin Towers burn and collapse, the loss of life, and the extreme wanton destruction was horrific. I was also devastated, but in a different way. It was a terrorist attack. My feelings were mixed with horror and fear.

Both the Twin Towers and Notre Dame were iconic markers on the skyline of major cities. Construction on the Twin Towers began on August 6th, 1966, and they fell after a terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001. Pope Alexander III laid the cornerstone for Notre Dame Cathedral in 1163. It took hundreds of years to build--the last major restoration was by Viollet-le-Duc in the mid-19th century.

I followed the work on replacing and renovating both the Twin Towers and Notre Dame. The design process of rebuilding in New York was predictably contentious. Experts and property developers were called in. There were debates about the design, reconfiguring the site, accommodating commercial uses, providing transportation links, and remembering the victims. Though still the World Trade Center, it would be something different. The process was very American and, at least in form, attempted to look democratic. In France, the debate was about whether to allow any changes during the renovation. Initially, some suggested a new design for the spire that was a modern innovation when it was rebuilt in the mid-19th century. In short order, the French Senate passed a bill requiring that the reconstruction be faithful to its “last known visual state.” They would rebuild the spire exactly as it was, to the millimeter, using the materials and construction techniques specified by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, the only accommodation being improvements for modern technology, electricity, and building safety, plus new designs for the square in front of the cathedral, underground parking, and adjacent buildings on the Ile de France.

Both the Twin Towers and Notre Dame caught fire and fell within several hours, one completely and large portions of the other. That is really the only similarity. In New York, a huge number of people perished. In Paris, no one died. One was caused by a terrorist attack and the other by accident or negligence. One was a commercial property and the other a sacred space. I was shaken deeply by both tragedies. I watched them both unfold live on TV. Though I hesitate to trace my emotional reactions to a disaster as a path to religious belief, examining my responses has been revealing.

To extend my theological metaphor, rebuilding the World Center was like the Council of Trent in response to the massive cultural, political, and intellectual shift of the Reformation, and renovating Notre Dame is like a careful meditation, a prayer on the source of our faith.

I’ve watched the renovation of Notre Dame, searching the internet for every report, argument, and discovery as the work progressed on Le chantier du siècle. When plans were revealed for redesigning the interior space to accommodate current liturgical practice, Alexandre Gady, art historian, said, “Curiously, it wasn’t the clergy talking about the sacred this morning; it was historians like me who defend historical monuments. Notre Dame is sacred, not just in the Catholic sense but also sacred in the way it unites us, that it speaks to us, and that it tells our history.”

Other critics said that the overzealous clergy of Paris was set on turning their tourist attraction into a spiritual Disneyland.

If all the people who love Notre Dame, whether or not they are committed Catholics or not, whether they belong to other religions or none, whether they’ve have contributed money, time or talent to preserve this valuable artifact of our spiritual heritage, or simply sent their love, if the result is a slick Disney remake of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame I’ll know that we are really in the twilight of Western civilization.

What do I know?

On Christmas Eve, I started watching this bit of fluff, “Inside the Vatican, episode 1” on YouTube. Suddenly, a very handsome man with a magnificent voice began singing to the world. Mark Spyropoulos is a British baritone with Greek roots who found himself in the oldest church choir in the world, the personal choir of the pope, Cappella Musicale Pontificia.

Mark started talking about singing the Nicaean Creed solo during the televised mass that goes out to millions upon millions. One day, he realized how many people had heard him make this profession of faith. He’d sung it at every papal mass for 3 years.

He quoted the Latin: Credo in Unum Deum. “I believe in One God.” He went on, “I didn’t sing, ‘We believe in One God.’” It was he, Mark, who made a very personal profession of faith. He asked himself: Did he really believe in the One God? And what did that even mean? “I don’t even know. Sometimes I feel like a fraud. I’ve just declared the beginning of the Nicaean Creed in front of the Pope and the world; surely I should be sure of what I’m saying. Sometimes I know what I'm singing, and sometimes I don’t.”

“If you ask me if I believe in God, my reply is that I don’t understand the question. What do you mean by God? (I could hear his interviewer prompt him: God as defined by the Catholic Church) These are massive questions.”

“I’m a baritone. What do I know?”

And it became a kind of personal crisis of faith. Aside from the musical insider joke, he really didn’t know. Then he told a story of a rather beautiful personal revelation; I think it was while singing a Bach piece, the 1747 version as opposed to the earlier 1745, the one that Francis preferred. Apparently, Francis is a hands-on boss when it comes to certain details.

“Well, what do I know? I'll tell you what I know. I can tell you that when I am immersed in this music, I feel in touch with something.”

Singing, he realized he truly believed in a power greater than himself. He was actually far more eloquent than my Jesuitical argument.

Medici Archive Project, Music Program. Vox Medicea (directed by Mark Spyropoulos).

The Enneagram — “Histoire de Jour”

"What's your soup du jour today?" "Cream of tomato, just like every other day."

Originally published Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Yuval Harari says it would be nearly impossible to get 20 baboons to organize a coordinated effort that would produce a widespread effect. But homo sapiens has created narratives that allowed our species to organize large-scale efforts to subdue and exploit every inch of the universe we can reach. This is our propaganda for the superiority of the human race. If 20 baboons had been able to organize themselves and create a convincing narrative, we’d be living in ”The Planet of the Apes.''

In the history of religions, the creation of a supernatural narrative spearheaded the invincible superiority of monotheism. Modern scholarship has shown that the story of the Exodus was fabricated by the rabbinic and prophetic leadership after the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE. The Narrative of the Good News was created and propagated by mostly Gentile Jews after the death of Jesus. About 600 years after Jesus, the Prophet was visited by the Archangel Gabriel and set the world on course for a more militant form of monotheism. In another part of the world, stories about the Buddha's enlightenment touch on another side of the human psyche that propelled meditation into legitimacy. The Bhagavad Gita played a pivotal role in the 19th and 20th-century Hindu revival by modernizing its teachings into a practical, accessible philosophy for social action and national identity.

The Origin of the Enneagram

As one of Claudio Naranjo’s first students when he introduced the Enneagram, the nine-pointed diagram that he’d learned from Oscar Ichazo, I’ve become very interested in what’s become known as the Western transmission of the Enneagram. I’m fascinated by competing narratives about its esoteric roots. (I’ve written about it before). This is the exact phenomenon that Harari describes: proponents of particular Enneagram styles have crafted creation narratives to bring their products to market. One universal side effect of enlightening mankind through the Enneagram is that it separates you from your money.

This brand of histoire de jour is, at best, self-serving, pieced together from bits and pieces of hearsay evidence, and in some cases, outright fraud.

Here is a preposterous statement on the first page of Helen Palmer’s website for her Narrative Tradition: With a history of centuries, the Enneagram is arguably the oldest human development system on the planet. During the past decade, the system has undergone a renewal of scholarly attention within the context of current personality typologies.

In the interest of the scholarly attention that Ms. Palmer lauds, here’s a clear, distinct, verifiable historical record of the beginning of the Narrative Tradition of the Enneagram.

In the late Spring of 1975, in a large living room of a nondescript house on Berkeley’s Arlington, Kathy Speeth organized a series of nine evening presentations about the Enneagram for the “therapeutic” community. In attendance were approximately 15 therapists interested in the Enneagram who were not members of Naranjo’s SAT group. Among them was Helen Palmer. She’d heard about the Enneagram from Naranjo’s students in her own practice of psychic readings.

I remember these presentations very clearly. They were a departure from the usual work of Naranjo's SAT group. Speeth and Bob Ochs had asked me to be on a ‘panel’ of Seven’s, ego ‘Plan’ as both Ichazo and Naranjo referred to the point “Gluttony.” This was the first time several people with the same fixation spoke in front of a group and answered questions (the identical format of the Narrative Tradition). There was one evening for each of the 9 major fixations.

Naranjo began the sessions with psychological descriptions of the 9 points. In itself, this was not unusual, but his comments were definitely tailored to an audience of trained professionals rather than the conversational tone he normally used when directing a student’s personal work in SAT. The authentic tone of self-observation may have been present, but I felt that the professional/technical language distorted the feeling of each point.

There’s the Narrative Tradition's “history of centuries” condensed to about two weeks of evening presentations, and I was present! Voila

Other enneagram enthusiasts have fabricated other stories and sources. 

The source of the Enneagram, or Enneagon, is Egyptian Gnosis. In Heliopolis, the center of worship of the Ennead, there were nine deities of ancient Egyptian Mythology about which we know next to nothing, and we haven’t yet deciphered the hieroglyphics for fixation.

Other proponents of the system trace the variations of the Enneagram symbol to the sacred geometry of Pythagorean mathematicians and mystical mathematics, but Pythagoras left no clear teachings, though he apparently once went to Heliopolis, with its nine gods, or something.

Plotinus’s Enneads. There, at last, a use of the Greek word for 9. However, we have to credit a dude named Porphyry for the somewhat artificial division of Plotinus’s writings into six groups of nine. Connecting the Enneagram with Neoplatonic thought is perhaps a stretch too far, but fear not, there are other choices.

We can cite Adam and the Kabbalistic Trees — leave no stone unturned and rope in Jewish seekers.

The Secret Teachings of Jesus (via the Desert Fathers) — sure, why not? But in my view, far more persuasive is the Jesuit connection: the frontispiece of the "Arithmologia" by the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher (1601–1680), published in 1665, depicts a figure not identical to, but somewhat similar to, the Enneagram. Jesuits mucking around with esoteric religious writing lends credibility.

Many purveyors of various Enneagram systems say it was originally created by the esotericist George Ivanovich Gurdjieff via the Naqshbandi Sufi order about 100 years ago. However, there is absolutely no evidence in Gurdjieff's voluminous writings that he ever used the Enneagram as Naranjo, Ichazo, et al. do. Zero. I repeat ZERO Evidence.

Dr. Naranjo claims his source of the teaching was his mystical experiences in the Arican desert. He claims the Enneagram's historical origins are in esoteric gnosticism and occultism, based on channeled material from automatic writing, which was then verified through observation. I am particularly fond of the story that a book fell from a shelf in the esoteric library of Ocsar Ichazo’s uncle in Bolivia and opened to a page with the 9-pointed diagram. Let's just skip the verification bit altogether.

Professor Harari points to storytelling as a means of coordinating mass human efforts, but I am suspicious of lesser enterprises employing the same methodology. These people are selling snake oil. They use the “histoire de jour” like a struggling restaurant, using yesterday’s leftovers to increase the bottom line.

“Something is missing” is a constant complaint running through all these narratives. We lose our connection with the divine, have to reconnect, and, in most cases, are unable to complete the circuit without some assistance that costs money. It is one answer to a felt experience of the human condition, and one of the most accepted. There are others, but their popularizers were not as adept as those who captured humankind’s attention.

At best, these histories are "Cream of tomato, just like every day." But probably they’re closer to yesterday’s leftovers.