The Church of Skeptical Mysticism and Compassionate Nihilism
Mystical Gatherings Some readers have been so taken with The Book of Daily Afflictions, that they have begun to create their own spiritual circles, centered around the book’s message and teachings. In living rooms and rented halls across America, like-minded folks have been coming together in self-organized gatherings under various names, among them: the Church...
Hopelessness can change the world
Hopelessness can change the world We are all incurables. —Archbishop Oscar Romero (when asked why he was attending to the sick at a hospital for incurables) When you look around you, it is easy to feel hopeless. Things always seem to be getting worse, not better. Even those of us still working for a better tomorrow...
Being in it for yourself
Being in it for yourself I don’t do this work to change the world, I do it so the world doesn’t change me. —A. J. Muste Sometimes when you’re involved in an idealistic crusade, you get wrapped up in your cause and lose perspective. If this happens, it’s important to step back to better understand...
The Inner Bigot
The inner bigot We contain the other, hopelessly and forever. —James Baldwin We live in a society scarred by hatred and misunderstanding. You look out at this world and figure that because you’re not a church-burner, gay-basher, or with the LAPD, you’re not a bigot. But inside each of us is an inner bigot waiting...
Sermon: “Can hopelessness change the world?”
[Sermon delivered by Brother Void during convenings of the Church of Skeptical Mysticism and Compassionate Nihilism, national tour, 2002-3] [SPEAK, DON’T READ] Tonight my sermon is on politics, specifically the dark inner world of the political activist, the poisoned thoughts and feelings seething in the hearts of those working to make the world a better...
Daily Afflictions: Index
abyss 91 diving into 78 gazing into xix acid bad tabs of 100 affliction xiii, xix, 91, 95 sufficiently severe xv the right one xv agony xix, 37, 89, 100 anguish 13, 42 annihilation xxiv, 82, 89 anxiety essential condition of 14 apathy 91 apocalypse xxvii, 57 bad trip 65 bitch drunken, moody son-of-a 9...
The agony of being connected to everything in the Universe
Many of us have set out on the path of enlightenment. We long for a release of selfhood in some kind of mystical union with all things.
Embracing your inner corpse
Embracing your inner corpse This thing called corpse we dread so much is living with us here and now. —Milarepa In each of us is an inner corpse struggling to be exhumed. Unlike the corpse you will one day become, this shadow corpse is alive. It is the living presence of Death that you carry...
Skeptical mysticism
Skeptical mysticism It takes faith to believe, and it takes courage not to, and who is to say which is the deeper and more truthful. —Herbert Weisinger You often hear about believers who have a crisis of faith, but what of the skeptics among us who have a crisis of doubt? For years we skeptics...
One step from oblivion
One step from oblivion Things are entirely what they appear to be and behind them…there is nothing. —Jean-Paul Sartre Commercial air travel is a regular part of our lives, yet many of us still feel an eerie disquiet when we fly. You browse the in-flight magazines while a 37,000 foot chasm of emptiness lurks just...
The inner bigot
The inner bigot We contain the other, hopelessly and forever. —James Baldwin We live in a society scarred by hatred and misunder-standing. You look out at this world and figure that because you’re not a church-burner, gay-basher, or with the LAPD, you’re not a bigot. But inside each of us is an inner bigot waiting...
The tragedy of commitment
The tragedy of commitment Whoever wants something great must be able to limit himself. –Wolfgang Von Goethe Sometimes you are paralyzed with indecision. You can’t bring yourself to choose any one future because to choose one is to forsake the promise of all others. Yet not choosing is making you crazy. In such a state,...
