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Heroism, Humility, Camels, Lions, Children, and Louis C.K. (Part I)

I was talking with a new friend last night about blogging and how he started blogging by just writing whatever came to mind when he sat down at the computer, and making a discipline of it.  In that spirit, I'm writing here, without need for making it pretty or perfect.  This is just what's coming out, based on what's been moving through my mind.

Last night, also, I re-watched this touching and insightful speech Louis C.K. made in tribute to George Carlin, after Carlin's death.  To my ears and heart, it's one of the most inspiring stories I've ever heard of an artist finding their voice and overcoming fear.  It's also interesting, to me, to witness the transmission of knowledge from one master to the next generation, watching the new generation pick up where the last left off.

I also happened to watch the film “Ip Man” last night, which was equally inspiring; the story of a reluctant hero, a man of character and virtue who only did what was necessary in response to what reality presented in front of him; a character who did not seek the spotlight, but despite (and largely due to) his great humility and dedication to his art, was immortalized through his unadorned spontaneous actions.  His virtue was only revealed by necessity, having been called to act by his conscience.  Never his pride or the esteem of others.  Truly inspiring and a good reminder for all who seek esteem and prestige.

I think our modern mythos of heroism–celebrity worship–distorts our expectations of reality, and our expectations of ourselves.   We see beautiful, charming people on the screen as Gods.  They are larger than life, and they make it all seem so effortless.  We are taught that they have what we want.  Even if we don't want the fame, we want the money, the respect, the toys, the access, etc.  We are rarely shown how hard celebrities worked and what they were asked to sacrifice to get where they are, and how much pressure they are under in the spotlight.  They become products, molded by an entertainment factory, and we buy them, because they make us feel things, and they distract us, and they keep us entrained to the status quo.  Rarely do they make us think, or challenge the status quo.  That would be a drag, and they'd generally lose their position.  Theirs are the happy and dramatic faces that feed us our illusions, and make the distaste of social indoctrination palatable.  Naturally, we idolize celebrities, as they rescue us from the drudgery of our lives, for a few minutes at a time.  But they become part of our own personal mythology, and we think about them and predict what will happen in their personal lives, and secretly hate them, or masturbate to them.  We forget they are human, and often so do they.  Their role in society is more symbolic than human.  We may say that symbolism is a uniquely human thing, but what I mean is that there is a difference between a mask (a persona) and a living human being.  Most artist have to make great sacrifices to achieve fame, often sacrificing first their personal and artistic integrity, then often their dignity.  The old “sold my soul to the devil” tale is perhaps a metaphor worth considering.  Fame isn’t all it is cracked up to be.

It is my suggestion here that the path of the hero is not something that needs, necessarily, to be acted out in the world, in a way that we make ourselves known, and that any true hero is not actually aiming to be known.  They are just aiming to be themselves and to do the right thing, to act as conscience and circumstance calls them to act, like Ip Man did, in the film.  I will also point out that, along a different personal trajectory, having a different calling, Louis C.K. is also acting from circumstance and conscience.  By nature of who he is, if he is true to himself, and humbly serves people with his natural gifts, he is necessarily in the spotlight.  He's a fucking stand-up comedian, by nature.  And he is so successful at his craft due to a combination of dedication (effort), courage, humility, and I will submit, also his conscience.  (If you haven't watched the speech I linked to above, you really should.)

True heroism, in my view, is a product of courage, but also of humility and conscience.  Heroism is first and foremost an act of overcoming ‘oneself,’ facing one’s fears of alienation, persecution, and failure, making an effort to rise above whatever lower impulses inhibit us from fulfilling our highest expression.  

Where it can get really tricky, I think, is that, depending upon our level of awareness and the nature of our ambitions, in facing our fears, we may find we are facing down the entirety of culture, as our personal fears and culture are inextricably related.  Our culture is "fear-based."  We are controlled, kept in line, and molded by fear.  If you really look at it, I think you’ll find that most of your fears are based around some cultural standard, something you think you’re supposed to be that you’re not.  Of course, fear is not the enemy, and neither is shame, but it is useful for us to discover the roles fear and shame play in our lives, as they tend to sabotage our best efforts toward full expression.

For some of us, full expression means growing beans and raising children, and discovering ourselves through our relationships, and following whatever interests we have.  Nothing more is required of us, and to attempt more might only distract us from developing our truest offering, which could be as modest as growing beans.  If you were in Los Angeles and somebody asked you what you do, and you said, “I grow beans,” most people would dismiss you as a basically insignificant human being, and perhaps chuckle at your quaintness.  After all, our culture says that you should... Be a Disney princess!  Be a super-star! Be a business mogul. Be anything but what you are!  Some of us are called to activities that require we are in the spotlight, and it’s actually kind of a burden, but a sacrifice we make for doing our art.  We feel like, “shit, I kind of have to do this art, cause I would feel like I was wasting my life if I didn’t, and I’m kind of doing it for other people, so I kinda have to deal with being in the spotlight for a while.”  In other words, being in front of people is just part of the gig, cause the art is for an audience.  

We're trained, through the mythology of celebrity, that we each should be an extraordinary personality, somebody that matters, or makes a huge contribution.  And this is confusing, as we're simply not all destined to be "somebody," in the way "somebody" is culturally defined.  But as far as I'm concerned, we ARE each somebody, and we each have the opportunity to be who we truly are, which is a heroic act in itself.  

"It takes courage to grow up and be who you really are." - E. E. Cummings (supposedly.  Quotation not verified.)

Being overly concerned with how esteemed we are (with celebrity being the highest standard) is only a distraction from doing our work and discovering ourselves in each moment.  It is my view that we each have something to bring to the table, however small, however common or unrefined it may feel, if only we discover it, and nurture it, and liberate it from our fearful possession.  This is our sacrifice, our “sacred doing,” our offering to...everything...what we pay for learning what we want to learn.  Everybody has to pay.  Then the question becomes “who are we paying?”  But that’s another topic. :)

I think that what often gets in our way of developing and delivering our unique sacred offerings (the products of our highest callings) is simply fear that what we have to give is not enough, which is ridiculous.  Any sincere offering is enough.  It may not be great, it may not be fancy, people may laugh at us but, if one is sincere, one keeps working on their offering and making it better, and really this is more about purifying than adorning oneself, IMO.  

There is a great metaphor in YiJing (I Ching), about sacrifices to the Gods.  The Western neighbor has little to give.  They can only sacrifice a pig, but their sacrifice is sincere.  The Eastern neighbor sacrifices an ox, but they do so ostentatiously, expecting greater favors, impressed with their own ability to create a spectacle.  The Western neighbor, though having less to offer materially, receives greater blessings, because they are more sincere.

You may not view your own work or calling as being “spiritual,” or warranting discussion of “sacrifice” or “divine worship,” but I think you may still be able to apply the metaphor.  If you just consider other people or “everything” to be God, or everything “good” in the world, that’s basically who and what you’re offering your work to, right?  To the world?  Right, so...some would call the world divine.  Whatever.

I think the Wilhelm-Baynes text of the I Ching points well to the difference between putting on a show, as we've been trained to in modern times, and being sincere in our work and offering:

“In divine worship the simple old forms are replaced by an ever more elaborate ritual and an ever greater outward display. But inner seriousness is lacking in this show of magnificence; human caprice takes the place of conscientious obedience to the divine will. However, while man sees what is before his eyes, God looks into the heart. Therefore a simple sacrifice offered with real piety holds a greater blessing than an impressive service without warmth.”  -WB, I Ching; 63, line 5

Heroism is about service, in my view, and as far as I can tell, there is basically one kind of service, with many expressions.  The service we all do for each other is “liberation.”  You go to a mechanic to liberate you from your car breaking down on the road.  So few mechanics are honest that an honest mechanic becomes a people’s hero.  Many mechanics simply put on a good face and further entrap you in auto troubles, and are the opposite of heros.  When we buy good food from somebody, that person may offers us liberation from hunger and ill health.  A person who produces really good, healthy food and offers it at a fair price is a hero, in my view.  It’s not easy to do that, and it helps a lot of people.  

A hero is always one who liberates, in my view.  Liberates from bondage, liberates from suffering, liberates from ignorance.  However, the truth is that, just like a teacher can only open the door and you have to walk through it, just like you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink, a hero can’t save anybody who isn’t willing to make an effort to save themselves.  More often, a hero only sets an example, shares knowledge, paves the way.  Truly, only we can save ourselves.  

Bob Marley sung, “emancipate yourself from mental slavery.  None but ourselves can free our minds.”  To emancipate is to liberate.  Interestingly, the word “liberate” is rooted in the Latin “liber,” which means “book.”  So to be liberated is, in a sense, to be educated, to come into relationship with knowledge.  Knowledge is said to be power.  I would say it is also a key to freedom, liberating us from ignorance.

One of my all-time favorite "preachers" is Sizzla Kalonji, whose oft stated aim is liberation, of himself and others.  He sings:

“Children, read and educate yourself.  Learn to behave yourself, famous for your character and intelligence.”  

Famous for your character and intelligence.  This draws beautifully back to what I was trying to say about fame and celebrity.  Heroes of past times were great people of character, who had enough insight and virtue to positively affect the lives of a great number of people.  These days, all that is required to be a celebrity, to gain fame and get rich doing it is being attractive and ambitious enough, and having little enough self-worth to basically do whatever disgusting little dance the people signing the checks want you to do.  Many people's striving for and even attainment of fame are essentially just desperate pleas for attention, coming from a need to prove their worth to themselves, and to the world.  So be it.  But, sadly for them, they are often so desperate that they allow themselves to be used and manipulated to the point they disassociate from reality and act against their own self-interest, and everybody else’s.  

While I can't speak for his own personal desires, this newly famous artist, A$AP Rocky seems to be a perfect illustration of somebody who is reasonably attractive, minimally talented, yet ambitious, and who throws out any semblance of conscience to propagate cultural programming among the masses.  Musically, substantially, the product, IMO, is pure garbage.  But he is still put out there to be idolized, as he serves the status quo and looks good doing it.  While I doubt any of us want to sell out like he did, to become another soulless product, the temptation is always there.  Fame, wealth, esteem, luxury...

All this selling out business gets really complicated when we consider that there may be a middle path, that sometimes "playing the game" sharpens us and refines our offering into something actually digestible to a larger audience.  These are interesting tales of "selling out," that leave for me more questions than answers: "5 Artistic Geniuses Who Only Became Great After Selling Out"  I won't get into those questions here.  It gets too far off topic.

Most artists don't ever make it big enough in the industry to gain full creative control, to influence as they wish.  And once they do, they are usually already stark raving mad from the influence Hollywood has had on them.  They lose touch with reality.  A few artists create positions of full creative influence, and we get to witness their true character in that place.  We get to see what they do with their power.  Are they really heros or have they frittered their talent away on vanity and conceit.  Do they deliver nourishment from their place of power, or continue to lead people astray?

"Great power, when it befalls a man, is a true test of his character.  All of his actions have significant influence upon others.  What he says is heard, what he thinks is felt.  He has the wherewithal to bring enlightenment and progress to his world or to lead it into chaos and evil.  He can greatly further his inner development or completely exhaust himself.  Therefore, the man possessing great power is mostly concerned with correctness."  - R.L. Wing, "I Ching Workbook;" 34

An interesting example, to my mind, is Kanye West.  Personally, I think you’d have to be blindly prejudiced against hip-hop music and the lyrical art of rap and rhyming to not recognize Kanye West’s immense musical and poetic talent.  He innately has power in his ability.  As a wordsmith, he is practically unparalleled.  His rhymes are adroit, insightful, and occasionally socially critical.  Not only is he talented, but it is evident that he rose to the top of his field through both his diligence as an artist and his networking ability.  When he started playing with the big cats, he was a nobody, and his role required humility.  (He tells you the whole story here.  The story itself starts around 3:45.  That's Jay-Z at the beginning.) But once Kanye's own fame came, all humility flew out the window and he started acting like an arrogant, occasionally belligerent asshole, a narcissistic nightmare.  Not only does his conceit and vanity sabotage his ability to be good influence, but he also doesn't get nearly as much recognition for his talent as he could, because he's so easy to dismiss as an arrogant douche-bag.  He's somebody about whom we can all say “he’s so talented, but what a jack-off."  It’s kind of sad.  He is crippled, as a human being, by his narcissism, and his great opportunity to use his talent for good seems mostly to be wasted.  But isn't it interesting how he is rewarded for his narcissism and belligerence by Hollywood?  

On the flip-side, meanwhile we have somebody like KRS-One who is not nearly as talented, IMO, nowhere near as commercially successful, whose ‘offering is smaller,’ but who is widely regarded as a hero, and seems to have quite a positive influence.  KRS-One may or may not be as ambitious or industrious as Kanye West, but he is widely respected as a legend, because he speaks his conscience and doesn't trade his integrity for fame or wealth.

There have been many, many such heroes throughout time and I, for one, bow to them all.  Some we've never heard of, as they were only their own heroes, and heroes for those around them.  Some were called by their conscience to act in ways that by necessarily drew attention, and they became not only heroes, but in many cases martyrs.  Each followed that inner voice that said, "no" and "yes."  "Right and wrong."

I'm going to continue this entry in a second part, where I'll get into this question of "yes" and "no," of consciousness and conscience, by bringing in the famous Nietzsche metaphor of the Camel, the Lion, and the Child.  I find it to be a helpful and scalable representation of progression through stages of human awareness and expression.  I'm also going to bring Louis C.K. back in, and look at specific examples from his life, in relation to the Nietzsche metaphor, and in relation to everything else I've already written, about heroism and humility, and service, and liberation, etc.  It's all going to tie together!  :)

To be continued...!