Narcissus rising
What does it mean to be a modern monk in a house of mirrors?As reality coalesces from the luminiforous aether and the solidity of consensus is established we find ourselves trapped in corporeal space. We are jailed in a bardo of illusion where satisfaction is dangled in front of us like a carrot on a stick. Not even the guardians of fabled Shambala can escape the temptation of convenience that Maya presents us with.
The fruit of the garden has been repackaged in Newtonian myth and everyone has eaten of it. The promise of knowledge is extended to anyone with an internet connection. We have largely achieved the goal of the alchemist by building artifice upon artifice. For many people the pursuit of technology has become an obsession, the next iPhone release is their attempt at obtaining the philosophers stone. The promise of freedom emanates from the luminous bringer of knowledge we keep in our pocket, but we find ourselves increasingly to be slaves to our desires. The mercury which reflects upon its own essence has trapped us in the image we see of ourselves on its mirror surface.
The Painful Truth
When I first showed this drawing to a close family member his reaction was obvious and predictable. He asked me, “Why do they have phones, aren’t they supposed to be Luddites like the Amish?” I had been considering the same thing while drawing and decided that they must use them for utilitarian purposes so I told him, “No monks are just like any other person. We just have this idea because of the Benedictines.” Over time, however I found that he was right and I had been thoughtless.
Owning a cell phone is a contradiction in what it means to be a monk. Monastery comes from the Greek monos meaning alone and terion meaning a place for doing something. A phone shatters physical barriers which cultivate monastic life. A phone alters the cognitive geography of the mind and transforms the social behaviors of anyone who uses one because it creates the potential for socialization at any moment from anywhere. Truly if you have a phone you are never completely alone. One might never experience the spiritual terror that comes from being secluded and left with nothing but your own thoughts and no one but yourself to be accountable for them if you are chained to a digital speculum from literacy.
This brings me to a conundrum, if I’m not doing the work of deep introspection, and the monastic orders of the world are letting the line gain slack who is reeling in the insights the human race needs to move forward. Is all the wisdom in the world evaporating into the digital nuosphere. Will humanity continue to enslave itself until monks are wearing box logo supreme robes and ricing out their Honda Civics?