Interest in Reality
I have broaden the notion of interest seeing it as the quiet, serene energy of sentient intelligence, the intelligence of the creative freedom of reality embodied in all forms of life, from the simplest such as bacteria to the very complex such as cultural human life where I focus my attention. There are many forms of interest, as seen hereafter. However, I will emphasize the primordial interest in reality itself, the unwavering foundation of all interest proper of a mature and healthy, free and creative intelligence, hence the name a give it. The strong symbiotic and cultural constitution of human species makes of interest much more than mere animal intentionality, even join or collective intentionality where the individual is primordial rather than the collective, the true primordial unity of life in its pluralism of forms. The ethology of interest already indicates the primacy of the collective: from Latin interesse (important) from inter- ‘between’ + esse ‘be’. Human interest is constituted in symbiosis, in intra-dependence with the rest of creative powers becoming thus cooperative common interest, which is communicative, inquisitive and above all, its full realisation is free interest in reality, in the whole, that is, loving interest.
Introduction
The full development of interest into love by all humanity is still a pending matter that in the current complex and uncertain world has become an urgent need. Only it can face and eradicate the so many forms of destructive interest. However, this primordial interest not relative to our material needs,, so pointing to reality itself, a free and creative interest in the truth and beauty of everything, from a mountain, a tree, a bird to a human, is commonly forgotten in the studies on interest. Usually they are focalised on the many particular interests to achieve goals and by feelings about what we want, our changing desires. These desires fruit of self- centred thought are very powerful and one of the sources of fear, the enemy of interest.
This primordial deep interest in reality, as happens with intelligence as agency of the creative freedom of reality, has no definition. Words can only try to awake this deep feeling Essay Article and help to realise and live it. Especially by making clear to us its contraries, the false and destructive forms of self- interests such as the common desires of possession and domination, to be rich, to become preeminent, and all kinds of imaginative possibilities that take us away from reality where our true power lies.
General Characterisation
Animal instincts, corporal interest and intentionality are basic degrees of interest. However, unlike those of other animals, human instincts such as that of survival do not bring with them the way or how satisfying them. That how is offered by a transformation of instincts into a new interest inexistent in the rest of animal species. The individual intentionality of some animals such as great apes becomes interest in humans, in which constitution and development concur the rest of CCP, especially communication and above all a strongly cooperative symbiosis.
To observe, inquire, understand, take care and be involved in common interest is basic for a good human life. Common interest is the foundation of work in teams, which are where intelligence can develop its maximum creativity. However, clearly understanding and developing the interests moving us, individually and socially, is a difficult matter in a so complex dynamic world. It requires much self and social observation and research to unfold the implicit assumptions that condition our interests causing conflicts of interest. Common interest cannot exist when each of us is concerned with himself. It cannot be based on anything involving self- centred thought, the ego identifying with ideas, programs, policies, and with others in search of security, all of them being origin of division. Common interest can only be interest in reality, the actually common disclosed by freedom. In particular, the new leaders should be the boosters and keepers of common interest rather than the commanders of the past asking for obedience.
I represent interest with the index finger of the creative hand since we use this finger to point to what is important for us. And for humans the most important is human intra- actions, how they have constituted and are constituting us as humans ensuring our survival even pre-eminence in life. Hence. interest and cooperative symbiosis constitute the core of axiological intelligence, the sensitive intelligence of needs creating the common values to face them. For instance, in pre-industrial societies the main interest was to repeat the secure ways of doing of the past and so the supreme value was obedience even submission to established norms and domination powers ensuring them. Intolerance was a praised value and also avoiding all kinds of risks. Today interest lies in creativity and so in freedom and we have to break with any submission, even to existing knowledge. Tolerance and taking risks proper of creativity have become now important values.
The relation between values and interest is bidirectional. However, usually only one direction is emphasized: the role of existent values in promoting interest. It is the view that task values play an important role in the development of interest. It proposes to develop interest by highlighting the utility value of topics. However, from the perspective of interest as a primordial creative power of intelligence, its main future is the power to create new values. In concurrence with the other CCPs, especially symbiosis, interest creates collective values according to new needs and move us towards their fulfilment. For instance, the increasing interest in information networks such as Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp obliges the creation of new values by a systematic study of the counter-values such as over-excitement this networks provoke now, and other counter -values to appear in the future. As extensively discussed in the chapter on axiological intelligence in the third future book, ‘The social flourishing of creative intelligence’, this axiological creativity centred on the powers of interest and symbiosis, is most needed to end with the hegemony of functional intelligence at the service of capitalism and imperialism, promoting thus the rise of creative democracies.
Let me advance a bit of what I will develop in the chapter on functional intelligence in the mentioned third book on the general subject of Creative Democracies. Intellectual interest prompts us to understanding and the most succesful field has been that of technosciences. As already mentioned, in functional intelligence, interest becomes intellectual curiosity the engine of techno-sciences. In particular, techno- scientific cognitive curiosity focuses on establishing and expanding humans’ control of the environment through instrumental actions. Human health and prosperity are two of its fruits. In general, curiosity is a limited form of interest, even dangerous when not integrated with axiological and liberating interest in reality. Curiosity allowed the atomic bomb (Einstein lamented deeply its contribution to the creation of the atomic bomb) unthinkable if scientist were moved by love. Now curiosity is moving us to search life in Mart, instead of seeking how to eradicate suffering and preserve, care and enjoy life on Earth.
Actual interest, the quiet energy of mind, the sense of reality (the real is the immediate timeless freedom, truth and beauty, most near to us, so near that we do not pay attention to it, distracted as we are by thoughts on goals to achieve), meaning and common good go together. Interest is also a motor for learning. Interest is what drives us to learn and investigate everything in a creative way. Educating is above all the awakening and promotion of this power of interest: it is the calling of every individual and group, as discussed hereafter. Given the fact that students interest declines over time, student interest should be a major issue in educational policy. Making students aware of the great variety of interests in society to face needs is a powerful means to awake their own interests.
Interest is a source of patience, perseverance and tenacity, all conditions of creativity. Without interest, there is no worthwhile talent. Interest also manages to find time, and when it does not, it means there is no real interest. In fact, actual interest energizes the rest of CCP now; it brings spontaneous understanding and action without the interference of the ego, and so the fulfilment of intelligence.
In particular, a warning is needed in order to break away from current so attractive consumerism (a serious illness of interest) and its destructive character such as the overexploitation of natural resources (i.e. the scandalous waste of food in rich countries). So far, everything we wanted (i.e. luxuries like private pool) was important, but that is over. The technological patches to the disruptions caused by consumerism such as recycling or water purifiers are necessary but powerless to uproot consumerism, an unsustainable way of life. A healthy austerity is a needed value. In a sustainable economy what will be important will be just what is strictly needed to live free and creatively in an integral subsidiary symbiosis between humans and with the Earth.
Importance
The importance of interest lies in its great power to change human life, not only of individuals and collectives but also of the whole humanity. It can be summarised by two considerations. Firstly, the change of direction of interest from pointing to past in order to repeat it to point to future in order to create it. This change marked the radical mutation of humanity as a cultural species. Initiated in the European Renaissance, nowadays has arrived to a typing point where the future of humanity is decided. This new interest in the future went in conflict with old dominant religious interest. And lacking new appropriate values was directed mainly to a permanent economic growth depredating without mercy the Earth. We have believed that self-interest impelling this growth is the unavoidable condition for human wellbeing, until it has become nowadays that it is a menace to life on the planet.
Secondly, the crisis of values in today’s society reveals the deficiencies, malformations and superficiality of the power of interest unleashed from the other capacities and diluted by a multitude of consumerist stimuli — today’s form of depredation — and all kinds of distraction. Rather than interest in reality, society obeys to the rule of pain and pleasure. When interest instead of pointing to reality, to truth, beauty and the common good points to the ego, individual or collective, it pervert the rest of CCP bringing the societies of domination and exploitation we still suffer.
Interest duly affects the perception of reality. It strongly drives perception, what it selects and therefore affects the intelligence of realities. The hiker, the botanist and the lumberjack do not see the same forest. Each looks at it from their respective interest. This applies even stronger to how we see each other according to our interest, or how society sees its members. Changing the dominant interest in a unsustainable permanent economic growth, into interest in the full development of humankind, of its intelligence, the base of economic sustainability, is a great challenge before current societies.
Hence, interest plays an important role in determining how fulfilled we are with our lives. Interest in a topic or activity can have a powerful influence on people’s wellbeing, avoiding the feelings of unease and discontent resulting from lack or unawareness of their interest. When there is something of great importance bringing pleasure, then all other pleasure becomes secondary. Contrarily, when there is not a major interest in life, then we become dispersed and contradictory pulled by different pleasures and objects. Hence, the research, alert watching and quiet awareness on oneself and society leads to the discovery of the deep interest in reality, of each individual and collective. Then all activities and relationship with each other accord to that interest. That is one of the greatest discovery for a happy life.
Interest in reality, makes the models of reality created by intelligence of need realistic models, of higher quality as higher is our freedom. More important, interest characterises the three forms of intelligence. Curiosity about how things work is the hallmark of functional intelligence,. The sensitive interest that creates and instantiates in each situation the values to face needs and achieve common good, distinguishes axiological intelligence. And interest in reality itself, the immediate contact with reality’s truth and beauty, the insight on reality without any intermediary is the main future of liberating intelligence. The silent inquisitive interest in reality proper of liberating intelligence characterises meditation. This intelligence allows observation without thoughts, feelings and words of the observer, moved by the pure energy of love, the highest interest.
Two Main Dimensions of Interest
True interest when fully developed is interest in reality itself, in what is, in the freedom, truth and beauty of reality (the free interest of liberating intelligence or love). This full interest should be the foundation of our interest in models of reality needed for survival and prosperity (the interest of need proper of the intelligence of need). This interest of need is an energy which has a certain direction: this interest is always directed towards an activity, object or issue. Each individual, group and especially the today most necessary than ever teams in all activities, have to investigate their own direction and conditionings or assumptions, understanding what really interests them, to keep cohesion and avoid dispersion in the multitude of existing knowledge which might suffocate creativity. Moreover, we should investigate whether we are prepared to dedicate to that particular interest with full hart rather than play with it according to circumstances. Contrastingly, interest in reality is a deep interest in whatever we do, understood as the continuous creation of our lives. When I realised it, I suffered no more of boring activities, even sweep the floor I did with joy.
This interest, although the most powerful and creative, is somehow subtle as is deep freedom in which it is based. Hence, the infinite creative interest of liberating intelligence has been shadowed along history by the urging interest of the intelligence of need. Hence, the interest in reality, its mystery or freedom and creativity, either went to sleep covered by interest in needs or was just used through myths to secure a fixed, static and repetitive way of living. Now, for the first time in human history we are obliged to live from creativity., the best and now necessary way to satisfy the new needs, challenges and terrible dangers. This implies to reverse the previously described historical situation of interest. Interest in satisfying needs, although as necessary as ever has now to be put at the service of the interest in reality, the interest of liberating intelligence which is the foundation and inexhaustible energy of true beneficial creativity, the creativity of a healthy, peaceful and happy human life. The task of education should be to awaken this deep, free and creative interest in reality making it the solid foundation of the interest in needs. Only this can bring a healthy and happy creative culture, creative democracies.
From interest in reality, the interest in needs is realised efficiently and for the benefit of all, avoiding its usual perversions such as consumerism and greediness. In other words, the curiosity proper of techno-sciences, of functional intelligence, the currently dominant dimension of the intelligence of need, is mainly a goal achieving interest, either at the service of good or bad, of peace of war. It becomes healthy and greatly beneficial when guided by axiological intelligence’s interest creating meaning and values, and at the same time founded on the interest in reality proper of liberating intelligence. Only the liberating power of this last interest can make the other two creative and avoid their perversion at the service of domination and exploitation, still so frequent. Otherwise the interest in results seizes our psyche and becomes an egotistic interest that ruins life. Continuous ecological crisis, technological disasters and life diversity has greatly diminished under human depredation. This is well documented such a and urges for an actual mutation of humanity to avoid its proper end. There is an urgent need to develop axiological interest, which firstly is interest in putting an end to the suffering brought by the current society of domination and exploitation without future. But to be effective axiological interest should be founded on liberating interest. In the next two subsections I advance few aspects of the interest proper of liberating intelligence, to be developed in the corresponding chapter of the mentioned third book.
True interest is in what is real and it brings with it a profound evaluation of the facts. Interest is the power, the energy, the intensity, the passion with which one looks at what is real, the facts, not to passing thoughts and fantasies always attached to the past and so shadowing the present where life is. Interest acts in the present, which means acceptance of the present situation. An immediate interest in the present to be able to change it when necessary and if possible, but never to reject it as this makes us suffer and reduces the power of interest and so our energy to live. It is what orients and engages us in every activity or issue. Interest makes us more realistic in everything that we feel, think and do. Those who are highly interested are well aware of what to inquiry for further knowledge. And more importantly interest in reality, in its agency or intelligence, makes us permanent learners and so we can discover our own identity, what is truly ours, creative freedom and the happiness that it brings.
Beyond Goals
Interest in reality is not a matter of will. The attempt to become interested, is not interest. Moreover, interest in reality is more and other than mere motivation to get something or achieve some goal, the excitement expecting a result and the ambition of fame, a social phenomenon proper of modern individualism. Interest in reality is the living interest in our activities by themselves. Furthermore, to compare and compete, to have goals, to do better than others and to achieve is the established pattern at all levels of current societies we should break with. All this goal directed forms of interest raise great energy. For instance, curiosity entails the anticipation of reward, which in the brain comes in the form of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. However, these forms of interest let alone easily become problematic and even dangerous. For instance, to get a position is difficult, but once you have got it, you stagnate. Moreover, interest in goals is accompanied with disappointments, frustrations and despair destroying interest and so the energy of intelligence. For instance, measuring success by achievement, when it does not achieve, frustration is generated. Becoming fully aware of these destructive forms of self- interest is the best way to realise the true interest in reality rather than by conceptualisations on it. We are not only responsible of our actions but also and even more we must be aware and also responsible of the consequences of our forms of interest or disinterest. Beneficial interest in reality, is a power of intelligence and like intelligence does not depend on results, is free and creative, without causes, as is reality itself.
The interest proper of creativity cannot be based in external causes such as money, expectancy of success, rewards and fame. These are stimulus for a programmed intelligence, attached to results, but not for a truly creative one. On the contrary, attachment to knowledge and success brings the fear of losing them and so destroys creativity always risky. How many artists have fallen in this trap and became more technicians than creators! Hence, interest in reality has its deep foundation in the direct access to reality, that is, in the awakening of liberating intelligence. Otherwise, under the dominion of thought, interest reduces itself to mere pursuing of goals with all its pleasures and pains, conflicts, contradictions, fears and anxieties which ruin good life. When founded on liberating intelligence, interest in what is being done is whole-hearted and total, bringing joy independently of results.
Hence, all that that helps awakening liberating intelligence such as meditation or contemplation, especially the silent observation of nature but also the observation of the flow of thought’s illusions, they awaken deep quiet interest bringing immense energy to intelligence. It has been proved that the contact with nature improves interest and attention, and so intelligence. Hence, interest in reality can look at events without any escape, without any ideals, without suppressing or escaping from facts. As I explained in chapter one of the previous book, I discovered very earlier my interest and it never abandoned me. Firstly, my interest was on conceptual models of reality, but from my discovery of the freedom of reality onwards, it became interest in reality itself, in its freedom, truth and beauty.
In my youth, society was experimenting a great economic growth, which brought an expansion of its institutions of education and research and I benefit from it. My interest was allowed to be fully developed. Now we need a new economy that does not depend on its growth to offer opportunities for permanent learning, research and creativity in all activities and for everybody. These are the three main conditions to keep interest, the energy of intelligence alive, and the other way around, only this free interest can ensure our creativity. That has become a need for survival and so a fundamental aim of creative democracies.
Love
Love, as we know it now, is pleasure, sexual, the love of a country, the love of an idea, and so on - all derived from pleasure. And when that pleasure is denied there is either hatred, antagonism, or violence. Can there be love, not just something personal between you and me or somebody else, but the enormous feeling of compassion - passion for everything, for everybody.
Love is the highest inexhaustible energy of intelligence, the supreme interest in reality, love of r the reality of everything, especially between humans. Compassion is the best engine of human unity. Unconditional love of reality and compassion bring with them an all-comprehending intelligence. In love, daily life attains its full meaning and beauty. This love is made possible by liberation, not only from external domination but also from submission to the ego, the most deeply rooted desires (the interests of the ego) and search for pleasure. We want everlasting pleasure in different ways but the thought seeking of pleasure brings the fear of losing it, and fear is the enemy of interest in reality, of love. Liberation from all kinds of defences, securities that one has built up rationally, individually, deeply and superficially. Free in order to become defenceless allowing all energy going into creativity. Hence, love has not to be confused with sentimentality and emotionalism. Love free us from duty, we are not compelled, obliged anymore in what we are doing; by love we do it in freedom.
In the chapter on liberating intelligence in the next book, I will extend these short considerations on love. In love there is no valuation or judgment, no duty or sacrifice; then one lives fully in non-duality and so without conflict and so full of energy, and the fear of death, which is the fear of losing everything disappears. Joy and beauty are the hallmarks of love ending the search for pleasure. Love brings an extraordinary energy which has no cause, which is utterly quiet, and this very quietness makes its great quality and creativity. When interest becomes love, we do not need a motivation to act. Love puts us in a constant state of learning and creativity in front of what we do not know.
Love makes of intelligence something more than reason, that is, a sensitive intelligence of the marvels of reality which allows a true insight on reality itself. Let me insist, it is precisely in love that the greatest sense of reality is produced. Hence, love is the interest working in liberating intelligence. If for Aristotle curiosity and admiration were the principles of philosophy, for Raimon Panikkar (my teacher on who I commented in previous book) the origin of philosophy was love.
Only love can really put an end to division and sorrow. Educating to transform into love our powerful animal and predatory instincts through the cultivation of CCPs is the great task of culture to avoid the now evident risk of total destruction.
The Power of Interest
Interest Lies in Human Intra-Actions
Interest is a relational or intra-active power as intelligence itself. Interest sustains individual autonomy but in interaction with the rest of autonomies in a subsidiary symbiosis. That is, as a power of intelligence, interest operates in the physical, social and cultural interactions and with the environment. In this interactivity is where it has to be observed and investigated. In particular, each of us should investigate whether its own interest is isolated or that interest is related and can be integrated in society. Only knowing each other interest we can establish solid relationships. Moreover, a purely individual interest has no sense if not inserted in the common interest. And the common interest proposed in this book is the interest in the CCP themselves, that is, interest in understanding developing our collective intelligence, bringing an attitude of permanent learning and creativity.
As seen hereafter, self-interest is a great obstacle to common interest. Interest in reality unites people; self- interest divides and so brings conflict and violence. To get away from self-interest I need to ask the question “What can I do for society?” instead of asking, “What can society do for me?” Only the first question orients you to a good life. Free common interest is the creator of groups and creative teams, the most needed good in current societies, impossible when self-interest dominates or interest is externally imposed by hierarchical domination power.
Attention
Interest is a deep permanent attitude of free creative intelligence keeping attention awake. When you have a strong interest in reality, then you pay attention and see extraordinarily clearly, without the myopia and division created by self-centred interest. In complete attention there is no observer, no centre from which we attend, no ego driving attention and so no conflict. This attention brings silence to the mind, awakes liberating intelligence, which opens the door to creation. The word ‘attention’ means to stretch yourself towards something. This does not mean concentration on something excluding the rest. Attention or total awareness excludes nothing. The total attention or total energy fruit of the interaction between love the highest interest, research and freedom brings truth, goodness and beauty to life.
Interest in reality leads to the attention and observation without division, without an ‘I’, which attends. When one is completely attentive there is no ego, there is no separation or limitation. In full attention, there is no divisive ego. Hence, it leads to an inquiring state of mind ever learning without a centre or ego attached to accumulating experience and knowledge. Rather, a fresh free learning brings insight and right action immediately, a truly creative action not projecting the past.
The Intra-Dependence of Interest with the other CCP
Here I insist on what has been insinuated before on the intra-dependence of interest with the rest of CCP. This intra-dependence reflects the fact that human intelligence developed in intra-action not only with the environment but more importantly between humans. The intra-dependent evolutionary creation of the CCP is the creation of humanity as cultural species .The way we develop the CCP from birth shows this importance of human intra-actions in human constitution.
As already said, interest distinguished from animal instincts because within it operate the other CCP, in fact all of them developed together. To turn the individualistic instincts and intentions of our primal ancestors into interest and shared interest is not just another animal ability, but represents a cognitive mutation, which is in the long evolutionary creation of all CCP. Shared interest came together with joint attention, sharing goals and mutually beneficial ends and so the creation of a strong symbiosis and so the development of semiotic communication. That is the creation of a new collective or mainly cultural intelligence and so the constitution of a new cultural species with social conventions, norms, and institutions.
Too frequently, we delude ourselves about our interest. A clear awareness of interest only comes in human relations, in communication and cooperative symbiosis and through research, and most important, through the liberation from attachments to the past. When the intra-dependence between interest and the rest of the CCCs is weak or unbalanced, it becomes an egotistical, short-sighted and degraded interest contrary to both individual and collective wellbeing. For instance, the current domination of short-term economic benefit over political and social interests is the proof of a deficient, unbalanced and perverse cultivation of the CCP dominated by self-interest with very negative consequences for society.
Human Relations
As already mentioned, in the constitution of interest operate the rest of CCP. Interest develops in intra-action with the environment and most importantly trough human relations, which at the same time depend on the development of common interests. In particular, interest is the pretext of any text, any discourse; it is the underlying motivation of any serious communication process. The worth that interest generates is expressed in language, in discourse and is the basis of symbiosis, which at the same time is in the origin of semiotic communication as seen in next chapter.
Language is the deposit and transmission of interest and of its worth, which therefore is mainly collective. In particular, interest and even more shared interest makes possible the mutual actual listening and so a deep communication leading to communion. And vice versa, true listening brings the possibility of sharing interest and so of a cooperative symbiosis, that is, symbiosis depends strongly on the process of confluence or divergence of interests. Peace depends on this vital intra-dependence.
The strengthening of human relations by collective interests creates groups or teams, which it motivates, guides and keeps together. In general, human relationships require the awareness of mutual interests, which at the same time allow human relations.
Research
Interest leads to research, and thanks to it interest is clarified and strengthens. Interests set the a priori frames of reference for basic processes of inquiry. Understanding and developing our power of interest in things, including the most basic such as the instinct for survival, currently demands research into the interest itself and into our true motivations in relation to society.
Therefore, interest is what drives us to learn and investigate everything in a creative way. Interest when strong makes intelligence passionate and so inquiring, searching, looking, asking, demanding, breaking through, and not submitting to any authority. Then, intelligence is not an old programmed one that has arrived, but it is a young intelligence ever arriving.
The discovery of our primary interest, deep abiding intention requires research and the relating this interest with all activities of our life, especially our relationship with each other according to that interest. Moreover, when intelligence really inquires deeply on what is interest, in what is its higher degree or love and mainly finds what is not, to completely drop it, then interest becomes interest in reality, that is, liberating intelligence awakes and finds the real, the truth, the beauty of everything.
Freedom
Without freedom, it is difficult to recognize and place an objective value on our true situation, falling instead into the suffering that is brought by rejecting it. Not only is this sterile but it also weakens attention and prevents the recognition and development of the interest necessary to progress towards greater wellbeing.
Depending on the development of the power of liberation, we will see reality as the domain of necessity or as the possibility of freedom. And so will be our interest: interest in the power of domination or in creative power.
Interest without freedom is conservative; safe practice imposes itself on other interests that are creative but risky. The tension between creative and conservative interest should give way to the first, which nowadays is the paradigm of a new way of living.
Freedom is necessary in order not to confuse interest with simple desires, and also to discover and maintain a true interest in reality, to be able to guide it towards love – a more effective and happier interest. The development of interest until its mutation into love demands freedom, which does not mean the denial of the burdening individual and collective created interests of the past, but it means not becoming trapped, prisoners of them, particularly in the golden prison of money in detriment to the true happiness of creative freedom. Love can only come into being when there is real freedom from the past as knowledge.
Interest in reality and freedom go together. Interest is the energy that makes intelligence, the brain, the body, quiet. When selfless interest and attention grow, intelligence becomes quiet, free of accumulated knowledge to observe reality without intermediaries such as words or thoughts. It is the awakening of liberating intelligence.
Needs and instincts, desires, pleasures, sorrows, etc. all mechanisms of the brain, when liberation acts they become interest passion and enthusiasm, then in silence comes serene and open attention and finally compassion and love. And this attention and love are not of the ego, of the individual as intelligence is not.
The intra-dependence of the CCPs reminds us that there cannot be true love without the communication involved, mutual service, passionate investigation of reality and the liberation of the ego, while at the same time these are not possible without an unconditional interest for reality or love.
The deepest and most genuine interest seeks to participate in the creative freedom of reality, without duality, full of love, peace and happiness. Interest in reality, love, frees us from the self and in its turn selfless interest brings unconditional love, the supreme attention without expectations and memories, human unity in reality. In other words, when interest becomes thanks to freedom unconditional love, the rest of CCP show its full power and human intelligence reflects without divisions and distortions the universal intelligence.
Hindrances
Obstacles to the development of intelligence appear scattered along these pages. Here, I present a few hindrances affecting interest in reality. In general, being interest the energy of intelligence, all that weakens and hinders energy are obstacles to interest and the other way around. For instance, there is a waste of energy in the attempts to separate facts from ideas, and so postpone action. Disinterest shows itself in indolence, negligence, self-concern and self- contradiction.
Moreover, by conforming to the expectations of domination power, the automatic compulsive conformism, not being different of the majority, we silence our freedom and interests proper of our identity in order to gain a certain degree of security. We are afraid of taking risks, assuming responsibilities, of forging our own ends. This attitude is against interest, research and freedom. As example, I already mentioned the credulity generated by the uncritical acceptance of knowledge when labelled scientific. The sane happens when appreciating works of art. When hearing music a frequent attitude is that if the name of the musician is well known, whatever he composes is excellent. However, if the musician’s name is not known, not only less attention is paid to it but also it is found inferior. This is a common attitude proper of programmed intelligences, play the role that has been assigned by others. To impose interests making us believe are ours, ( the task of propaganda) is the current subtle way to exert dominion over us.
Dispersion is a major impediment to the cultivation of interest. Currently, the disproportionate attachment to information technologies, either passive such as television or active with mobile phones, tablets, etc., has become an obstacle to developing attention and interest to the point where it has created an addiction like drugs with all the terrible effects this has on health, especially mental health.
Conflict is the main waste of energy. We are used to live in conflict. When our psyche becomes trapped in goals and so loses freedom, then the attempts to become something, to possess more money, a better position, more safety and security and so on, we generate constant conflict. The root is the division brought by the ego, the feeling we are a separated entity come to this world rather than feeling we are the world. The division inside between contradictory interests or better said desires and outside between me and the others, between observer and observed, a fragmentation full of contradictions, conflicts and waste of energy. Then we have a world in constant battle, with few winners and most losers, feeling disinterested, and even worse, lonely, depressed and anxious. Understanding this fully through attentive and constant self-observation especially in our relationships, will free us from contradiction, bringing inward peace, contact with reality itself and understanding of each other.
Self-interest is not love to oneself but on the contrary, it is an interest where the human constitution itself is unknown, an ignorance that leads to perverting the interest and with it the rest of CCP. Self-interest is a generator of conflict and so is the great adversary of interest in reality. The self-interest of an ego constituted by desire, fear and expectations in close intra-dependency are main hindrances to interest and its energy. Interest can easily be confused with the desire exclusively aimed at oneself. It is the difference between using a finger to point to something important or to point to oneself, settling to use it just for eating and even sucking/ licking.
Self-interest nurtures thoughts, illusions (illusion comes with desire, when I want something), search for pleasure that dissipate our energy and take us away from reality, there is no energy to look. They are so deeply rooted that a large number of people refuse to let them go. Moreover, competitive and imitative people dominated by ambitious self-interest aggressively wanting to become powerful, cannot possibly understand what love and so cannot love. The other CCPs, the full force of intelligence, must come to the rescue of the interest, of this so common perversion that is self-interest. As summary, self-interest is the origin of corruption and destruction. Self-interest dominates the world and, therefore, there is conflict and violence.
A Briefing on Desire and Fear
Desires and fears are two main constitutive of the ego, the first bringing the second. I consider briefly one after the other here, and extend on them in the third book when talking about the ego as a function of the intelligence of need becoming a model of reality.
The basic meaning of the word desire is yearning, longing, craving and hankering. I see a new iPhone and I associate it with pleasure, so i want to own it. Desire for power and position gives us a tremendous pleasure. This meaning is also connected with the meanings of believe (what you believe is what you desire to be so), and hope, (the expectation that the desire will be realized) on which I cannot enter here.
Publicity bombards us continuously to incite new desires. There is no reason for longing for what you cannot get. However, whether one can get it or not, it is still desired. It is very important to observe and understand desire because is a very powerful force all over the world. However, it is very difficult to understand desire. Something which contradicts itself pulling in different directions, but at the same time something which is always there pushing, and so vital, so demanding, so urgent, generating passion with all its pleasures and pains. Like the ego desire should not be destroyed or negated but be well understood, situating it rightly as a necessary function of the intelligence of need the interest proper of thought, avoiding its tendency to becomes a tyrant. Hence, to deal well with desire we must be first of all free, that is, strongly interested in what is, in reality itself. Usually we are caught in a kind of desire for that which is imagined. Imagination of not merely a pleasure, but of beauty, or even of what is good. In general one longs for something abstract generated by thought. Desire is one of the powers moving thought a vice versa thought producing the feelings of desire. I desire to reach an important position, which means the longing for something thought has created. I want the pleasurable image which thought has created. Desire and thought produce an interest, an energy which is divisive, waving and contradictory and so conflictive ruining true interest. Desire makes for division between the experiencer and the experience. Awareness of the ways of desire is self-knowledge.
Desire is a movement in the field of the intelligence of need, of thought, of the models of reality, and, without realising it, we search in them what is outside them such as actual security, entering so in contradiction. Even when we achieve what is wanted, we feel this is not all we wanted. In the model we have achieved a goal but something is still sensed as missing.
If interest in reality is the creative energy of intelligence, fear is the destructive energy. If interest is one of the greatest powers of intelligence, fear is one of its greatest problems. In general, fear is a usually unconscious phenomenon proper of the intelligence of need looking at the past or to what may happen in the future such as losing all we have accumulated. Is the thought demanding for material security and permanency. However, thought cannot give us actual security and so fear must be. The needed actual security and end of fear, needed for a good working of the brain, can only be brought by awakening liberating intelligence through contemplation and meditation, freeing us from the past and the enslaving thought around it. In fact, meditation is the awakening of liberating intelligence, as explained in the next book. When thoughts dominate the psyche they breed fear, in particular the fear of death. Fear is generated mainly by the desire to be certain and approved, recognised, protected, enclosed in all aspects of life, economically, morally, etc. avoiding confrontation, trouble and suffering. This makes us programmed intelligences dominated by the past, trapped in patterns of thinking, and obeying leaders, social, religious or political. and so prey of fear.
Thinking about what we should be comparing us with others brings fear. It is the divisive thought of the ego that breeds competition, ambition, fear. Fear leaves to scape from reality, to not accepting what is. Hence, observing what life is, without judgements and comparisons, without an observer and in full communion with facts, leads to the interest in reality, its unity, freedom, truth and beauty, the end of fear. It is taking the ego as an entity apart to be fulfilled what brings fear.
Getting out of the dominion of desire and fears, of the ego, and returning to interest in reality cannot be done in small doses as some self-help or guru promises, it must be an awakening to total interest in reality, the awakening of liberating intelligence.
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- Phantasia and Perceptual Realism in Aristotle
- The Pleasures of Solitude
- Super Science