Stranger Sutra

Stranger Sutra

Preamble  

The stranger proclaims: To you, World, I refuse.

The stranger identifies, the stranger resists, alienating representations.

The stranger proclaims: To you, World, I give.

By means of interminable negation, 

the stranger reinvigorates being and thought 

in the face of radical immanence

in the face of empty reality

in the face of the axiomatic

in the face of the void

the quasi

the apophatic

the desert

the dark night

the mystofictional
Real.

The stranger transfuses the symptom—exposed in the yearning embrace of the curative fantasy that is ideological self-sufficiency—into a sovereign discernment for going forward.

Transfusion occurs in subjective submersion. 

We are speaking here of the decomposition that precedes bioremediation.

We are speaking here of the inalienable poverty that begets the stranger.

Postulate 

Sunk in inalienable poverty, the stranger emerges fit for the clash with Hell.

Practice: Decomposition with Breathing 

Now, assume a relaxed yet alert bodily position (sitting, standing). Establish awareness right there. Like this: breathe in, attending to the felt sensations of the breath touching your nose and upper lip; breathe out, simply attending to the sensory breath. That’s all.

Our buddhomystical contemplation consists in three basic postures, in the first instance:

Stillness. Breath. Awareness.

Warnings

Decomposition with breathing is rich in results for the person and is of benefit to society. 

But only if it remains an insufficient practice. When taken as sufficient, it conspires with the New Age Apocalypse. This is your first warning.

Decomposition with breathing is rich in results for the person and is of benefit to society. But only if it remains on the side of the living. When applied as a pharmakon for the imaginary plenitude of calm contemplation, it conspires with the Spiritual Death Drive.  This is your second warning.

Autocommentary

Decomposition with breathing is rich in results for the person and is of benefit to society. It places the practitioner in the teeming ruin where person and World intersect and transfuse. The soil of this ruin is flush with fungal mycelia generating the energetic flows—biological, psychological, mythological, narratological, ideological—that we call existence.

We vigorously apply a fiction: In the ruin of our practice unfolds a process of bioremediation. Through decomposition, contaminants are purged from the soil. Be clear! Remediation is not purification. Think, rather, quickening and augmentation of earth-incrusted organic matter.

Close

That’s it.

And then, the stranger leaves the ruin.

Toward what end?

To struggle against the powers of the World.

To clash with Hell. 

10 responses to “Stranger Sutra”

  1. Shaun Bartone Avatar

    Way to go, Wallis. I’d love to see more of this. Is this what you mean by Buddho-fiction?

  2. Glenn Wallis Avatar

    Thank you, Shaun. Yes, it’s an example of buddhofiction. That means, too, that’s it’s a serious practice, or, a practice intended seriously.

  3. geovock Avatar
    geovock

    “Decomposition with breathing is rich in results for the person and is of benefit to society. But only if it remains an insufficient practice… To struggle against the powers of the World. To clash with Hell.” Oh my goodness; sign me up!

  4. Glenn Wallis Avatar

    Signed up. To the ruins…

  5. geovock Avatar
    geovock

    But of course.

  6. Pasquale Avatar

    Glenn Wallis, I think.you have a good sense of breath practice. You could save some distress if you realized Bhavana is not one size fits all or a one awareness silver bullet.
    I like you critique of the people that usurp the breath practice. If you think Nirvana is not just cessation.vut also reuniting with the beyond like a flame going out, fire returns to it’s original nature. So sati and then developing similtainiously Shampajaman. Or discernment ,the faculty that develops the 4 right efforts into the 7 enlightenment factors. And yes, Kensho includes the First fruit of Arhantship ,Shrotapana.

  7. nickwalser Avatar

    Jeez this is the first thing you’ve written that’s ever made sense to me. Thanks!

  8. Glenn Wallis Avatar

    Pasquale, Re: “save some stress,” did you read the warning? This text/practice has nothing whatsoever to do with “nirvana,” “kensho,” and all the rest.

  9. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    The other day I was strolling through town and thinking about pleasures of the sense and joy in the Spinozist sense. It was almost noon and a bit hot. Thus, cool and clear water seemed really appealing. Then I was suddenly reminded of this Buddha dude and I thought: “Wait a minute. Damn, this is starting to sound like what Glenn Wallis calls buddhofiction.”

    So, I thought, why not – as the “Before You Comment” page here used to say – fling what I have against the wall? Here goes.

    Is It Hot in Here?

    Pleasures, in my experience, are always unsatisfying and disappointing in the end. Even when I eat my favorite food for the first time in a long time, have been looking forward to it for an hour and really enjoy the first couple bites… I barely notice that I’m eating it before I’m even halfway through. I think some Indian guy once called such an experience dukkha. From what I’ve heard, back in the day, that’s what one said when the wheel on a wagon wasn’t quite round and the wagon didn’t run smoothly. Can you imagine sitting in such a wagon with no way of getting off?

    But the joy that comes with improving one’s understanding of the world is inexhaustible. It isn’t effortless bliss like a river of milk and honey. But drink enough milk and honey and you’ll just get sick, not to mention the damage to your health in the long run. No, improving one’s understanding requires effort, like taking water from a deep well. But this water is the most amazing refreshment: Cool and pure, it can help you stay alive in the scorching heat of the passions.

    I’m not saying that we should renounce all pleasures. We cannot live on water alone. Let’s not look for an oasis where we can just remain and be happy with our clear water. Let’s stay in the desert and dig wells in the blazing sun. Let’s turn this desert lush green.

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