Books Far Beyond

Updated: 8 April 2017 Contents Intro The Odyssey – The Base of the Western Civilisation Approaching Understanding Is Right - Deschooling Society – Ivan Illich The North-American Tradition of Approaching The Western Rejections of Understanding Is Right - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila – Robert Pirsig - A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole Intro Books Far Beyond are books that takes the reader far above the established ideals, rules, values and norms of the static Western tradition in order to grasp what actually can be imagined and made into reality. The theme of Books Far Beyond is that these books are not considered to be according to what is called science in the West; as the messages are about to underline that the Western perspective of life and the world is based on restrictions of what is possible to understand. Or like this. I unfortunately know a lot of people that happily consider themselves to be connoisseurs of science - as they routinely reject any evidence - of that they are prisoners in the Western illusion. Regarding Art in general as a way to approach the Western restrictions I recommend the site Väggen försvinner/ The Wall Disappears, walldis.co.nr, that I produce together with Johanna Ovelius Gustavsson, The Wall Disappears is dedicated to films and songs that exposes the otherwise hidden Wall or the Hypertaboo that is raised to eliminate concrete understanding of dynamic relations. The Odyssey – The Base of the Western Civilisation The ancient Athenians considered The Odyssey by Homer to be fundamental to wisdom. So, from this book it is in fact possible to derive whatever the ancient Athenians wrote about. The Odyssey was and must even today be regarded to be the mother of all books that is not openly religious in the static fashion. The title means “the journey” and this journey is of course a metaphor for any process like to live a life; where you will only get to the next phase if you solve the problems or the obstacles that arises: by thinking. Or like this Homer wrote the original concept to all road movies and adventure stories like for example your life. The first time you read The Odyssey you may struggle to grasp it all. But the eleventh time or so, you will begin to appreciate the structure and the personalities. And then you will feel empty and lost when you have not read at least some passages of the Odyssey for a month. This addiction depends of course, of that the Odyssey is the master-key to absolutely everything in our civilisation and the only ones that deny this simple fact are them that will force you to be a zombie slave or like the Cyclop Polyphemus in Homers story. The Odyssey Online, Project Gutenberg Approaching Understanding Is Right Deschooling Society – Ivan Illich Deschooling Society (1971) by Ivan Illich (1926–2002) is not only full of perfect observations of the usually hidden restrictions of the Western terror. This book is also full of ideas to get out of the restrictions. Or to be more precise. Illich gives advice on how to get out of the usually hidden restrictions – in a mystical manner – as he is bogged down in the Western confusion he tries to escape. However Illich´s observations are still valid even from the perspective of Understanding is right and when it comes to his advice just add concrete insights of dynamic relations. But be aware. From the perspective of the Western confusion, it is very easy to get stuck in the same mystical mud as Illich; even if he at least tried to get out of it. As Deschooling Society was a very popular book in the seventies, it is probably so that Pink Floyd was inspired by this book when they wrote The Wall (1979) Especially the song Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) has the same message “We don't need no education, We don't need no thought control.” as Illich writes about. More about Pink Floyd's The Wall on Väggen försvinner/ The Wall Disappears. Here is the beginning of the first chapter: Why We Must Disestablish School. Many students, especially those who are poor, intuitively know what the schools do for them. They school them to confuse process and substance. Once these become blurred, a new logic is assumed: the more treatment there is, the better are the results; or, escalation leads to success. The pupil is thereby "schooled" to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new. His imagination is "schooled" to accept service in place of value. Medical treatment is mistaken for health care, social work for the improvement of community life, police protection for safety, military poise for national security, the rat race for productive work. … These first sentences are also an example of  Illich´s confusion: he says Logic when he actually means Reason and therefore he not able to sort it all out. So when you know something about the Western confusion Illich is the perfect guide to the next step even if he is somewhat feeble-minded here and there. Deschooling Society Online, Preservenet The North-American Tradition of Approaching The Western Rejections of Understanding Is Right Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila – Robert Pirsig Robert Pirsig (1928) makes a fascinating and solid exploration of the Western restrictions to think and understand. The only problem is that  Pirsig is not fully aware of what he explore. But this unawareness is actually the point for the reader today as most Westerners are trained to have this handicap. Consequently to read  Pirsig is a very good, if not the best, approach to step by step become aware of the Western brainwashing. So, the reader needs to know that Pirsig is in search of to find the missing possibilities to grasp dynamic relations. And as this option is missing Pirsig tries to use the established concepts, like values and morals or metaphysics, that deny dynamic relations. Nevertheless, Pirsig makes the reader realise that something vital is not there; and that has to do with our culture. In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974) Pirsig begins his explorations. Just remember to read the introduction fast and then when his journey begins you have page after page of examples of simple dynamic relations that we just almost are able to grasp before we fall into the abyss of total mystery. Then please remember to skip the final part where  Pirsig tries to make some sense out of his explorations, with the unfriendly help of Plato; these pages will just make it harder, if you try to understand the author, to enjoy his next book. In Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991) tries Pirsig to grasp the Western confusion from a slightly different angle to sort out in a systematic fashion what he was not able to grasp in his earlier explorations. Therefore are Lila full of perfect realizations as good as they can be within the Western restrictions. Here is a splendid example of such highlights. From Lila page 53. … What it always means is that you have hit an invisible wall of prejudice. Nobody on the inside of that wall is ever going to listen to you; not because what you say isn´t true, but solely because you have been identified as outside that wall. Later, as his Metaphysics of Quality maturated, he developed a name for the wall to give it a more structured, integrated meaning. He called it a “cultural immune system.” ... The concept the cultural immune system becomes even better when it is combined with: The interview: Robert Pirsig, Tim Adams, The Observer, 19 November 2006. … Midwestern American society of 1960 took the psychiatrist's view. Pirsig was treated at a mental institution, the first of many visits. Looking back, he suggests he was just a man outside his time. 'It was a contest, I believe, between these ideas I had and what I see as the cultural immune system. When somebody goes outside the cultural norms, the culture has to protect itself.' ... There are a lot of sources that explores Pirsigs findings like for example this Wikipedia page Pirsig's metaphysics of Quality, a Wikiquote page and An interview with Robert Pirsig, that is an email exchange between Julian Baggini and Pirsig. A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole To not have the posthumously published A Confederacy of Dunces (1980) by John Kennedy Toole (1937–1969) in the shortest list of good books about the Western terror would be the same as to declare myself as a complete failure. A Confederacy of Dunces is a magnificent mixture of Nietzsche, Kierkegaard and total slapstick. And of course, the author committed suicide to underline his art, to live, in a society restricted by Might is right. The title originates probably from Jonathan Swift (1667–1745). Swift says: When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign; that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. From Thoughts On Various Subjects that is in The Battle Of The Books And Other Short Pieces, Online, Project Gutenberg. And, Scenicruisers, that is some kind of theme in the novel, are real.