Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: 1984 mysticism

  1. #1
    Gordon
    Guest

    1984 mysticism

    Just finished reading 1984 again. On each reading new perspectives on Orwells ‘predictions’ and ‘observations’ on past present and possible future societies can be interpreted (e.g. Russian, Nazis, Chinese, Korean, Pal Pot, Globalisation, Corporate Capitalism etc). On this last reading, in Part 2, Ch 2,3,4 it occurred to me, that the ‘Why’ of the ‘Party’ and its ‘Power’ could also be perceived as an observation of the possible affects of ‘new age’ spiritual/mystic teachings.<br><br>I.e., when reading the following extracts, interpret the ‘Party’ as being the ‘Universal Cosmic Force’ that encompasses all human consciousness and the ‘Power’ as being the Spirit forces that permeates within the Cosmic. ‘Doublespeek’ resolves the conflict of duality, that many ‘new age’ teaching strive to eliminate.<br><br>Any thoughts and comments on this perspective would be appreciated.<br><br>Extacts:<br><br>'On the contrary,' he said, 'you have not controlled it. That is what has brought you here. You are here because you have failed in humility, in self-discipline. You would not make the act of submission which is the price of sanity. You preferred to be a lunatic, a minority of one. Only the disciplined mind can see reality, Winston. You believe that reality is something objective, external, existing in its own right. You also believe that the nature of reality is self-evident. When you delude yourself into thinking that you see something, you assume that everyone else sees the same thing as you. But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party. That is the fact that you have got to relearn, Winston. It needs an act of self-destruction, an effort of the will. You must humble yourself before you can become sane.'<br>Part 3 chapter 2<br><br>'We are the priests of power,' he said. 'God is power. But at present power is only a word so far as you are concerned. It is time for you to gather some idea of what power means. The first thing you must realize is that power is collective. The individual only has power in so far as he ceases to be an individual. You know the Party slogan: "Freedom is Slavery". Has it ever occurred to you that it is reversible? Slavery is freedom. Alone -- free -- the human being is always defeated. It must be so, because every human being is doomed to die, which is the greatest of all failures. But if he can make complete, utter submission, if he can escape from his identity, if he can merge himself in the Party so that he is the Party, then he is all-powerful and immortal. The second thing for you to realize is that power is power over human beings. Over the body but, above all, over the mind. Power over matter -- external reality, as you would call it -- is not important. Already our control over matter is absolute.'<br>Part 3 chapter 3<br><br>O'Brien silenced him by a movement of his hand. 'We control matter because we control the mind. Reality is inside the skull. You will learn by degrees, Winston. There is nothing that we could not do. Invisibility, levitation -- anything. I could float off this floor like a soap bubble if I wish to. I do not wish to, because the Party does not wish it. You must get rid of those nineteenth-century ideas about the laws of Nature. We make the laws of Nature.'<br> Part 3 chapter 3<br><br>'But the world itself is only a speck of dust. And man is tiny helpless! How long has he been in existence? For millions of years the earth was uninhabited.' <br><br>'Nonsense. The earth is as old as we are, no older. How could it be older? Nothing exists except through human consciousness.' <br><br>'But the rocks are full of the bones of extinct animals -- mammoths and mastodons and enormous reptiles which lived here long before man was ever heard of.' <br><br>'Have you ever seen those bones, Winston? Of course not. Nineteenth-century biologists invented them. Before man there was nothing. After man, if he could come to an end, there would be nothing. Outside man there is nothing.' <br><br>'But the whole universe is outside us. Look at the stars! Some of them are a million light-years away. They are out of our reach for ever.' <br><br>'What are the stars?' said O'Brien indifferently. 'They are bits of fire a few kilometres away. We could reach them if we wanted to. Or we could blot them out. The earth is the centre of the universe. The sun and the stars go round it.'<br> Part 3 chapter 3<br><br>'I told you, Winston,' he said, 'that metaphysics is not your strong point. The word you are trying to think of is solipsism. But you are mistaken. This is not solipsism. Collective solipsism, if you like. But that is a different thing: in fact, the opposite thing. All this is a digression,' he added in a different tone. 'The real power, the power we have to fight for night and day, is not power over things, but over men.' He paused, and for a moment assumed again his air of a schoolmaster questioning a promising pupil: 'How does one man assert his power over another, Winston?' <br><br>Winston thought. 'By making him suffer,' he said. <br><br>'Exactly. By making him suffer. Obedience is not enough. Unless he is suffering, how can you be sure that he is obeying your will and not his own? Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing. Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery is torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world will be progress towards more pain. The old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. Everything else we shall destroy everything. Already we are breaking down the habits of thought which have survived from before the Revolution. We have cut the links between child and parent, and between man and man, and between man and woman. No one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend any longer. But in the future there will be no wives and no friends. Children will be taken from their mothers at birth, as one takes eggs from a hen. The sex instinct will be eradicated. Procreation will be an annual formality like the renewal of a ration card. We shall abolish the orgasm. Our neurologists are at work upon it now. There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science. When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always -- do not forget this, Winston -- always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face -- for ever.'<br>Part 3 chapter 3<br><br><br>

  2. #2
    On the brink of... Starving Buddha's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    58
    What I found about 1984, is that Orwell, through Winston Smith is explaining the trials and tribulations of enlightenment. The torture that one must submit one's self to, in order to become enlightened. Room 101, the facing of one's worst fear... The letting go (denying) what one holds most dear and loves... The shedding of one's self. In order to become enlightened (fully) one must destroy the ego. One's identity must be destroyed so that nothing remains but "the love of Big Brother..."

Similar Threads

  1. 1984? They wish
    By Darren in forum 1984
    Replies: 28
    Last Post: 11-14-2012, 07:51 PM
  2. thoughts on 1984
    By Sean in forum 1984
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 05-13-2008, 03:57 PM
  3. 1984 or 2002??
    By Pablo in forum 1984
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 12-06-2005, 07:49 PM
  4. 1984 / We
    By Jim in forum 1984
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 05-24-2005, 06:07 PM
  5. 1984 and the defense of socialism
    By earth in forum 1984
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 07-25-2004, 09:45 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •