On spiritual capitalism, collective bypassing, and facing the hidden politics of spirituality, as seen on season 3 of The White Lotus (includes spoilers).
I love what you write and also really enjoyed this season ! I thought the same about Laurie’s ‘epiphany’ - it felt like she was more ‘humbled’ after her experience the night before but there was no real questioning of herself, no real honesty. And her friends didn’t need to question themselves either which I would have enjoyed seeing!
Thank you Hiba! Yes, neither of them questioned their actions, did they. And Laurie’s speech felt so charged but it was actually full of sadness, comparison, and a sense of giving up, rather than insight.
Well played Hiba. You covered a lot of ground here. What really stands out to me, to also reference the late Chogyam Trungpa, is the need to "Abandon All Hope Of Fruition". In this bardo we find ourselves in, traversing through this awkward in-between space where we can't seem to find our ancestral, geographical and/or mythological bearings so we cling to whatever exotic cherry we can get our hands on, whether it be yoga or yage, if we are ever going to truly mature spiritually as a society than we will need to get rid of the idea that we are going to gain anything from these efforts at all! The goal is not so much to "advance" as it is to remember again how to see. And hopefully see clearly enough that we stop spending so much time seeking in the first place and just get to work feeding the hungry, planting some trees and making beauty for a time beyond now.... Of coarse, a core question here is, what is "spirituality" in the first place? It seems to me it's simply the quest to learn how to feed. That's it. To keep alive that which feeds. In other words: To learn how to know how to ask the right questions and and how to fall in love with what She Who Gives Us Life loves. Because it isn't about our own personal liberation and certainly not about us "finding ourselves", unless finding ourselves means becoming, as my mentor, Martin Prechtel says, "an elder worthy of descending from". The White Lotus went about as far as any modern weekend plant medicine journey could. It was what it was, which wasn't much. The hardest pill to swallow I think, for our hyper-individualistic world of impatient consumers of "experience" is that this work is intergenerational. i.e. we likely won't live to see the fruit of what we plant here now. And that's ok. Thanks for this, Hiba. I really enjoy your work. Gods willing I'll get some paid subscribers of my own eventually so I can pay you what you deserve! :) Oh, and enjoy Simons book! It's fantastic!
Thank you for the comment, Gregory! (it's Maria, hello :) )
I like what you said about the goal not being to advance, but rather to learn to see more clearly. It reminds me of how James Hillman criticises our obsession with growth and reminds us that growths are usually bad (cancerous!) and perhaps we'd better grown "down" rather than up. To me that means being able to bear truth and reality, but also to become more humble in the face of archetypes. I also loved the idea of focusing on becoming an elder worthy of descending from, that's one of my personal ambitions.
Loved this piece. I was fascinated with this season of White Lotus because of the threads of Buddhism and spirituality. As a dreamer, I especially enjoyed episode three and the breakfast table discussion around the meaning of dreams, which felt like a perfect microcosm of the big hurdle to overcome in valuing the dream experience within a materialist culture. I'm also reflecting on Piper's "failure" and what that may look like in my own life and finding some interesting material to contemplate. Appreciate your work and the opportunity for reflection!
Yes, the “meaning of dreams” episode got me excited too! They brought in some great themes in quite subtle ways, which I really appreciated. Thank you for reading, Eric, and for the comment.
Great article Maria! Do you have any recommendations for social involvment as you mentioned? I find doing the inner work rewarding, but I still sense that I am missing the depth that comes from communal spaces.
I love what you write and also really enjoyed this season ! I thought the same about Laurie’s ‘epiphany’ - it felt like she was more ‘humbled’ after her experience the night before but there was no real questioning of herself, no real honesty. And her friends didn’t need to question themselves either which I would have enjoyed seeing!
Thank you Hiba! Yes, neither of them questioned their actions, did they. And Laurie’s speech felt so charged but it was actually full of sadness, comparison, and a sense of giving up, rather than insight.
Well played Hiba. You covered a lot of ground here. What really stands out to me, to also reference the late Chogyam Trungpa, is the need to "Abandon All Hope Of Fruition". In this bardo we find ourselves in, traversing through this awkward in-between space where we can't seem to find our ancestral, geographical and/or mythological bearings so we cling to whatever exotic cherry we can get our hands on, whether it be yoga or yage, if we are ever going to truly mature spiritually as a society than we will need to get rid of the idea that we are going to gain anything from these efforts at all! The goal is not so much to "advance" as it is to remember again how to see. And hopefully see clearly enough that we stop spending so much time seeking in the first place and just get to work feeding the hungry, planting some trees and making beauty for a time beyond now.... Of coarse, a core question here is, what is "spirituality" in the first place? It seems to me it's simply the quest to learn how to feed. That's it. To keep alive that which feeds. In other words: To learn how to know how to ask the right questions and and how to fall in love with what She Who Gives Us Life loves. Because it isn't about our own personal liberation and certainly not about us "finding ourselves", unless finding ourselves means becoming, as my mentor, Martin Prechtel says, "an elder worthy of descending from". The White Lotus went about as far as any modern weekend plant medicine journey could. It was what it was, which wasn't much. The hardest pill to swallow I think, for our hyper-individualistic world of impatient consumers of "experience" is that this work is intergenerational. i.e. we likely won't live to see the fruit of what we plant here now. And that's ok. Thanks for this, Hiba. I really enjoy your work. Gods willing I'll get some paid subscribers of my own eventually so I can pay you what you deserve! :) Oh, and enjoy Simons book! It's fantastic!
Thank you for the comment, Gregory! (it's Maria, hello :) )
I like what you said about the goal not being to advance, but rather to learn to see more clearly. It reminds me of how James Hillman criticises our obsession with growth and reminds us that growths are usually bad (cancerous!) and perhaps we'd better grown "down" rather than up. To me that means being able to bear truth and reality, but also to become more humble in the face of archetypes. I also loved the idea of focusing on becoming an elder worthy of descending from, that's one of my personal ambitions.
Best of luck with your writing too!
Loved this piece. I was fascinated with this season of White Lotus because of the threads of Buddhism and spirituality. As a dreamer, I especially enjoyed episode three and the breakfast table discussion around the meaning of dreams, which felt like a perfect microcosm of the big hurdle to overcome in valuing the dream experience within a materialist culture. I'm also reflecting on Piper's "failure" and what that may look like in my own life and finding some interesting material to contemplate. Appreciate your work and the opportunity for reflection!
Yes, the “meaning of dreams” episode got me excited too! They brought in some great themes in quite subtle ways, which I really appreciated. Thank you for reading, Eric, and for the comment.
Great article Maria! Do you have any recommendations for social involvment as you mentioned? I find doing the inner work rewarding, but I still sense that I am missing the depth that comes from communal spaces.
This was so good!! Thank you so much. Really loved it.
Come back and report your thoughts! It’s a great season although it builds slower than the others, so worth sticking with.