Some
thoughts on the biography of the author of Ishmael, one of my
top ten most philosophically influential books--mainly centered upon
the concept fact that humans in recent history have been
enacting a "Taker" story in which they take from the world
and attempt to subdue the world, rather than the "Leaver"
story of the majority of human (pre)history and the rest of living
history, in which all organisms live in interconnectivity and are of
the world, rather than over it. This wasn't my favorite of his
books--dwelled overly much, I thought, on mistakes from his
childhood--but the last third had some gems:
"The presence of the divine in the universe doesn't necessarily depend on or argue for the presence of gods." (139)
"As I say, the religion of the Leavers if "pre" because it doesn't involve the worship of anthropomorphic gods like these. you'll find plenty of gods in their mythologies, of course, but these are only local deities, not objects of universal worship or even of local worship, as we use the term. For example, the Amazulu of Africa say that Unkulukulu made all things, but they don't worship this creator the way Jews worship yahweh or the way Christians worship Jesus. And if the Amazulu were to run across a band of Ashanti, they wouldn't expect them to acknowledge the primacy of Unkulunkulu over their Onyankopon. you see what I mean; this is a sign of their religious backwardness. If the Amazulu were instead to fall upon the Ashanti and slaughter them for refusing to acknowledge the primacy of Unkulunkulu, this would represent a clear step forward on the path of spiritual development, and we'd be forced to acknowledge that the Amazulu now had a true religion." (157)
"Every life in the community is owed to the community--and is paid back to the community in death. The community is a web of life, and every strand of the web is a path to all the other strands. Nothing is exempt. Nothing is special. Nothing lives on a strand by itself, unconnected to the rest." (1six4)
On consuming an animal (or any food): "They know very well that, in consuming the deer, they're taking the life of the deer into themselves. In fact, in a very real sense, the deer hasn't died at all; the deer has simply become them, and in the same sense they have become the deer. Long before we did, the ancient hunters knew that you are what you eat." (1six5) Interesting connections to the idea of eating whole foods, holistic health, and the idea of "prana"--every living thing has this energy from the sun. The fewer steps removed from this sun-derived energy, the more powerful it is--another argument for a vegan lifestyle.
"I think maybe needy people are just people who don't feel needed. Well, I say to you: Feel needed. Feel needed, because you are." (175) One of the most powerful things about Ishmael was its proposal to humans--after spending the large part of the book talking about how humans are decidedly un-special, how humans do not have any sort of unique claim to the earth or control of it, how humans are in great part only contributing to its untimely destruction, the book proposed that humans did have one unique possible contribution--with our powers of critical and creative thinking, we could be the ones to set the example for the rest of the species of life--the ones to set the example of what to do with that power of reasoning, how to use it to better the world. Another treatise on the importance of education, and inspirational indeed.
And lastly, a sort of paean on the importance of place, and the alive-ness of the natural world, the fundamental sameness and uniqueness of all living things:
"Kindler and Rekindler of universes, the fire of life burns forever. It is the flame of life that courses through all generations from first to last, that burns without consuming, that is itself consumed and renewed inexhaustibly, life after life, generation after generation, species after species, galaxy after galaxy, universe after universe, each sharing in the blaze for its season and going down to death while the fire burns on undiminished. The fire is life itself, the life of the universe, of this galaxy, of this planet, of this place and every place; the place by the rock and the place under the hill and the place by the river and the place in the forest, no two alike anywhere. And in the life of every place if god, who is the fire: the life of the pond, god; the life of the tundra, god; the life of the sea, god; the life of the land, god; the life of the earth, god; the life of the universe, god: in every place unique, as the life of every place is unique, and in every place the same, as the fire that burns is everywhere the fire of life."
"The presence of the divine in the universe doesn't necessarily depend on or argue for the presence of gods." (139)
"As I say, the religion of the Leavers if "pre" because it doesn't involve the worship of anthropomorphic gods like these. you'll find plenty of gods in their mythologies, of course, but these are only local deities, not objects of universal worship or even of local worship, as we use the term. For example, the Amazulu of Africa say that Unkulukulu made all things, but they don't worship this creator the way Jews worship yahweh or the way Christians worship Jesus. And if the Amazulu were to run across a band of Ashanti, they wouldn't expect them to acknowledge the primacy of Unkulunkulu over their Onyankopon. you see what I mean; this is a sign of their religious backwardness. If the Amazulu were instead to fall upon the Ashanti and slaughter them for refusing to acknowledge the primacy of Unkulunkulu, this would represent a clear step forward on the path of spiritual development, and we'd be forced to acknowledge that the Amazulu now had a true religion." (157)
"Every life in the community is owed to the community--and is paid back to the community in death. The community is a web of life, and every strand of the web is a path to all the other strands. Nothing is exempt. Nothing is special. Nothing lives on a strand by itself, unconnected to the rest." (1six4)
On consuming an animal (or any food): "They know very well that, in consuming the deer, they're taking the life of the deer into themselves. In fact, in a very real sense, the deer hasn't died at all; the deer has simply become them, and in the same sense they have become the deer. Long before we did, the ancient hunters knew that you are what you eat." (1six5) Interesting connections to the idea of eating whole foods, holistic health, and the idea of "prana"--every living thing has this energy from the sun. The fewer steps removed from this sun-derived energy, the more powerful it is--another argument for a vegan lifestyle.
"I think maybe needy people are just people who don't feel needed. Well, I say to you: Feel needed. Feel needed, because you are." (175) One of the most powerful things about Ishmael was its proposal to humans--after spending the large part of the book talking about how humans are decidedly un-special, how humans do not have any sort of unique claim to the earth or control of it, how humans are in great part only contributing to its untimely destruction, the book proposed that humans did have one unique possible contribution--with our powers of critical and creative thinking, we could be the ones to set the example for the rest of the species of life--the ones to set the example of what to do with that power of reasoning, how to use it to better the world. Another treatise on the importance of education, and inspirational indeed.
And lastly, a sort of paean on the importance of place, and the alive-ness of the natural world, the fundamental sameness and uniqueness of all living things:
"Kindler and Rekindler of universes, the fire of life burns forever. It is the flame of life that courses through all generations from first to last, that burns without consuming, that is itself consumed and renewed inexhaustibly, life after life, generation after generation, species after species, galaxy after galaxy, universe after universe, each sharing in the blaze for its season and going down to death while the fire burns on undiminished. The fire is life itself, the life of the universe, of this galaxy, of this planet, of this place and every place; the place by the rock and the place under the hill and the place by the river and the place in the forest, no two alike anywhere. And in the life of every place if god, who is the fire: the life of the pond, god; the life of the tundra, god; the life of the sea, god; the life of the land, god; the life of the earth, god; the life of the universe, god: in every place unique, as the life of every place is unique, and in every place the same, as the fire that burns is everywhere the fire of life."
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