The Woke Mind Virus
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 11 minute read The chapter ‘The Woke Mind Virus’ commences with this excerpt. Woke: an update Since I first published this material in late 2022, there has been a significant shift in the political landscape. While the influence of Woke ideology continues to permeate culture, there are indications that its extremes are reaching a peak. Fueled by the confinement of the pandemic and the collective hypnosis observed in mass formation, various commentators have pinpointed this phenomenon, with Elon Musk notably among them. Employing a technological metaphor, Musk has referred to it as ‘the woke mind-virus,’ a precise characterization. This virus attaches itself to and proliferates within the ‘compassion centre’ of the mind, as previously mentioned by James Lindsay in Chapter 4. ‘[Marxism has] evolved into different species to attack the West at its weakest points, through our tolerance, through our acceptance, through our openness, through our generosity, through our best traits, actually the things that we should be proud of, being the things that we are proud of being.’ Previously, I titled this chapter ‘Woke as Old Testament Religion’ because the virus also targets and proliferates within another core aspect of the psyche: the ‘fear centre.’ This region corresponds to the reptilian part of the brain, which oversees fundamental instincts related to self-preservation.[1] Asked by Bill Maher[2] why he talks of the ‘woke mind virus’ as pushing civilization towards suicide, Musk says, ‘I think we need to be very cautious about anything that is anti-meritocratic and anything that results in the suppression of free speech. Those are the two aspects of the woke mind virus that I think are very dangerous … you can’t question things … even the questioning is bad.’[3] Approaching Musk’s political beliefs, Maher suggests he doesn’t think of Musk as a conservative, Musk says, ‘I at least think of myself as a moderate … I’ve spent a massive amount of my life building sustainable energy: electric vehicles and batteries and solar and stuff, to help save the environment. … That’s not exactly far right.’[4] Maher refers to a stick-man diagram Musk shared on X / Twitter in 2023, showing how the world had changed: in 2008 Musk saw himself as ‘Left of Centre;’ but then in 2012, Musk’s fellow liberal begins running in a Left-ward direction. In comparison Musk’s position appears closer to the Centre; by the time we reach 2021, Musk’s fellow liberal is now a Far Left woke progressive and, the Centre point having moved further Left with him, Musk now finds himself on...
Dysfunctional Imagination
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 5 minute read This excerpt is taken from the chapter on ‘The Evidence Bases in Religion, Science and Politics.’ It follows on from the section on ‘Poetic Logic.’ Dysfunctional Imagination The second sequence—called ‘Dysfunctional Imagination’—illustrates how a person engages reactively with symbols in a way that deepens their delusion. By taking symbols literally; by engaging with ones of low intrinsic value; by being skeptical about them (when acting ‘as if’ they are true would be helpful); and by approaching reality with fear and superstition, the person will be negatively transformed by the experience, moving further away from reality and deeper into fantasy. Take literally I explored earlier how literalism comes about through focusing on the details of the symbol and questioning their veracity, rather than letting the symbol be a conduit through which a message from the Universe can come through; this is an example of unwise attention, and often of laziness. Of low intrinsic value The second way that we can fall prey to dysfunction when we are dealing with symbols and myths is when we do not engage with symbols of high enough value. Concerned to remain loyal to the group, we settle for folk art or ethnic religion, rather than approach more transcendent values. Or, if we engage with such values, we fail to refine our awareness so that we can truly appreciate them. In short, we veer towards philistinism: philistine: ‘a person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts.’ The romantic intrigue and dramatic action of a Hollywood blockbuster may be emotionally stimulating, but may not say much about how we should live our lives; we need to really ask: ‘Does this story make me want to be a better person or deal with my life in a better way?’ Treat with skepticism The third thing that we can fall prey to when we are dealing with symbols and myths is being skeptical about the value of imagination per se: we treat all imagination as fantasy, placing our faith instead in dry reason, as does British-American essayist and avowed atheist Christopher Hitchens: ‘Faith is the surrender of the mind; it’s the surrender of reason, it’s the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from other mammals. It’s our need to believe, and to surrender our skepticism and our reason, our yearning to discard that and put all our trust or faith in someone or something, that is the sinister thing to me.’[1] But...
Poetic Logic
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 12 minute read This excerpt is taken from the chapter on ‘The Evidence Bases in Religion, Science and Politics.’ It follows on from the section on ‘Tantric Deities’ and explores ‘Functional Imagination.’ The five wisdoms (jnanas) The Mandala of the Five Buddhas expresses the fact that a whole range of often complementary qualities are present in the Enlightenment experience. Whatever is at the centre of a mandala orders the mandala: as the king his kingdom. Each Buddha has a specific wisdom: Vairocana’s Supreme Wisdom could be said to be the combined effect of the other four: Aksobhya: Mirror-like Wisdom Ratnasambhava: Wisdom of Equality Amitabha: Discriminating Wisdom Amoghasiddhi: Action-Accomplishing Wisdom We will see how these wisdoms can be brought to bear on current world problems at the ends of Chapters 2 to 6. Poetic logic In Tibetan ritual practice one enters the mandala from the east; then proceeds to the south, the west, the north and finally moves into the centre. This sequence, combined with the symbolism and associations of the Five Buddhas, illustrates the process in operation when we are dealing with the field of Imagination: which includes symbolism, myth; and therefore religion. Imagination and symbolism may be the only way we have to engage our emotions with those patterns in the universe that we wish to respect and remember. And like concepts, they have an inner logic, which I choose to call ‘poetic logic.’ There are five elements to poetic logic: The way that we view imagination, poetry and symbolism The quality of the symbol in representing Right View The degree to which we believe in / dwell upon the symbol The actions we take in relation to it The degree to which we are transformed by it, and into what Or, in one word; 1) Reason, 2) Beauty (the object itself), 3) Emotion, 4) Action (the action in relation to it), 5) The Change brought about; Imagination engages all of our faculties in order to bring about change. However, it cuts both ways; Imagination can lead to growth, but it can equally lead to delusion. The former I call Functional Imagination, the latter Dysfunctional Imagination. Functional Imagination The first sequence—called ‘Functional Imagination’—illustrates how a person engages creatively with symbols to bring about personal growth and transformation. By taking symbols poetically; by engaging with ones of high intrinsic value; by repeatedly dwelling on them with confidence (perhaps acting ‘as if’ they are true: suspending disbelief and stepping into them as if they are the reality); and by...
Ethical feeling
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 2 minute read This excerpt is taken from the chapter on ‘Buddhist Practice’ and follows on from ‘The Metta Bhavana.’ Recognizing worldly and spiritual feeling Worldly feeling It might be helpful, when we are practising the metta bhavana, to bear in mind the meanings of worldly and spiritual feeling. When we are in the unskilful mental state of hatred and see our enemy and the experience is painful to us, this is worldly feeling. Likewise, when we are in the unskilful mental state of craving and get what we want and the experience is pleasant, this too is worldly feeling. Imagine you are walking down the street, and you see your enemy coming towards you: as a result, you experience a painful worldly feeling. You then have a choice: you can either act on the feeling and turn down a side street and avoid the person. Or, you can recognize the feeling as a worldly feeling and decide to not act on it. By not acting on it you will continue to experience it, that is, until you address the underlying cause: the unskilful mental state of aversion. By practicing the metta bhavana you can work on this mental state and come to see your former enemy as a human being, rather than as an ‘object in your way,’ and it is at this point that the painful worldly feeling will go away. Similarly, imagine seeing something you desire in a shop window: the newest iPhone or Android: as a result, this time you find yourself experiencing pleasurable worldly feeling. Again, you have a choice: you can either act on the feeling and go into the shop and buy the phone. Or, you can recognize the feeling as a worldly feeling, and not act on it. By not acting on the feeling you will be forced to address the underlying cause: the unskilful mental state of craving. By cultivating contentment, through practising being happy with what you have got, you will avoid the mire of compulsion and addiction, and the painful worldly feelings of unsatisfied avarice that comes with it. Spiritual feeling On the other hand, when we are in the skilful mental state of sympathetic joy and see our friend doing well and the experience is pleasurable to us, this is spiritual feeling. Likewise, when we are in the skilful mental state of compassion and we see somebody suffering and the experience is painful to us, this too is spiritual feeling. Imagine encountering a beggar in the street, who looks in...
Imagination
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 4 minute read This excerpt is taken from the chapter on ‘Buddhist Practice’ and follows on from the section on ‘Insight.’ Imagination Conditionality has a constructive aspect—when conditions come together to produce something new, just as much as it has the destructive one—when conditions fall apart, as we rehearsed in the latter meditations. In order to build something new—as it were from the ashes—we need to engage what Sangharakshita calls our Imaginal faculty. Just as we used constructive imagination in the metta bhavana, we need to use it to chart the path to Nirvana; ‘lmagination is a power or capacity or even faculty of the individual.… Everyone has that faculty of imagination as a potentiality and it is the essential vehicle of a genuine moral, aesthetic, and spiritual life.… As a potentiality it is intrinsic to the human mind. It does not however actively function in everyone, or at least it does not function as a dominant or controlling force and is not at all conscious. It must be recognized, educated, and cultivated if it is to come into decisive play. The metaphor of faculty teaches us the attitude we need if that cultivation and education are to take place. It is not a matter of constructing something or bringing something into being, but of discovering a capacity we already have, identifying it and giving it importance—just as athletes might develop bodily skills they were born with once they recognize their capacity. We each need to feed the imaginal faculty we already have so it grows in range and vitality and plays an increasingly significant part in our lives.’[1] The way imagination works is the mind selects an image which it assigns significance to, and then ‘follows’; for example, if we wanted to encourage ourselves to be more courageous, we might identify with a superhero on TV, using their qualities as a blueprint or lead. The challenge then becomes whether or not our life lives up to that vision; if we never actually are heroic in real life, then our imagination in this case is fantasy. But if our contemplation of that person does result in our being more heroic, then we might call that imagination proper. But without imagination in the first place, there would be nothing for us to live up to. Right View is that view which is in line with Reality—the way that things are, which leads to Nirvana. Man cannot take too much reality, which is why we need poetry, myth and symbol as intermediaries to help us approach it. Symbols...
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