On Christian Asceticism

But the description I have given above of the denial of the will to live, of the conduct of a beautiful soul, of a resigned and voluntarily expiating saint, is merely abstract and general, and therefore cold. As the knowledge from which the denial of the will proceeds is intuitive and not abstract, it finds its most perfect expression, not in abstract [pg 496]conceptions, but in deeds and conduct. Therefore, in order to understand fully what we philosophically express as denial of the will to live, one must come to know examples of it in experience and actual life. Certainly they are not to be met with in daily experience: Nam omnia præclara tam difficilia quam rara sunt, Spinoza admirably says. Therefore, unless by a specially happy fate we are made eye-witnesses, we have to content ourselves with descriptions of the lives of such men. Indian literature, as we see from the little that we as yet know through translations, is very rich in descriptions of the lives of saints, penitents, Samanas or ascetics, Sannyâsis or mendicants, and whatever else they may be called. Even the well-known “Mythologie des Indous, par Mad. de Polier,” though by no means to be commended in every respect, contains many excellent examples of this kind (especially in ch. 13, vol. ii.) Among Christians also there is no lack of examples which afford us the illustrations we desire. See the biographies, for the most part badly written, of those persons who are sometimes called saintly souls, sometimes pietists, quietists, devout enthusiasts, and so forth. Collections of such biographies have been made at various times, such as Tersteegen's “Leben heiliger Seelen,” Reiz's “Geschichte der Wiedergeborennen,” in our own day, a collection by Kanne, which, with much that is bad, yet contains some good, and especially the “Leben der Beata Sturmin.” To this category very properly belongs the life of St. Francis of Assisi, that true personification of the ascetic, and prototype of all mendicant friars. His life, described by his younger contemporary, St. Bonaventura, also famous as a scholastic, has recently been republished. “Vita S. Francisci a S. Bonaventura concinnata” (Soest, 1847), though shortly before a painstaking and detailed biography, making use of all sources of information, appeared in France, “Histoire de S. François d'Assise, par Chavin de Mallan” (1845). As an Oriental parallel of these [pg 497]monastic writings we have the very valuable work of Spence Hardy, “Eastern Monachism; an Account of the Order of Mendicants founded by Gotama Budha” (1850). It shows us the same thing in another dress. We also see what a matter of indifference it is whether it proceeds from a theistical or an atheistical religion. But as a special and exceedingly full example and practical illustration of the conceptions I have established, I can thoroughly recommend the “Autobiography of Madame de Guion.” To become acquainted with this great and beautiful soul, the very thought of whom always fills me with reverence, and to do justice to the excellence of her disposition while making allowance for the superstition of her reason, must be just as delightful to every man of the better sort as with vulgar thinkers, i.e., the majority, that book will always stand in bad repute. For it is the case with regard to everything, that each man can only prize that which to a certain extent is analogous to him and for which he has at least a slight inclination. This holds good of ethical concerns as well as of intellectual. We might to a certain extent regard the well-known French biography of Spinoza as a case in point, if we used as a key to it that noble introduction to his very insufficient essay, “De Emendatione Intellectus,” a passage which I can also recommend as the most effectual means I know of stilling the storm of the passions. Finally, even the great Goethe, Greek as he is, did not think it below his dignity to show us this most beautiful side of humanity in the magic mirror of poetic art, for he represented the life of Fräulein Klettenberg in an idealised form in his “Confessions of a Beautiful Soul,” and later, in his own biography, gave us also an historical account of it. Besides this, he twice told the story of the life of St. Philippo Neri. The history of the world, will, and indeed must, keep silence about the men whose conduct is the best and only adequate illustration of this important point of our investigation, [pg 498]for the material of the history of the world is quite different, and indeed opposed to this. It is not the denial of the will to live, but its assertion and its manifestation in innumerable individuals in which its conflict with itself at the highest grade of its objectification appears with perfect distinctness, and brings before our eyes, now the ascendancy of the individual through prudence, now the might of the many through their mass, now the might of chance personified as fate, always the vanity and emptiness of the whole effort. We, however, do not follow here the course of phenomena in time, but, as philosophers, we seek to investigate the ethical significance of action, and take this as the only criterion of what for us is significant and important. Thus we will not be withheld by any fear of the constant numerical superiority of vulgarity and dulness from acknowledging that the greatest, most important, and most significant phenomenon that the world can show is not the conqueror of the world, but the subduer of it; is nothing but the quiet, unobserved life of a man who has attained to the knowledge in consequence of which he surrenders and denies that will to live which fills everything and strives and strains in all, and which first gains freedom here in him alone, so that his conduct becomes the exact opposite of that of other men. In this respect, therefore, for the philosopher, these accounts of the lives of holy, self-denying men, badly as they are generally written, and mixed as they are with superstition and nonsense, are, because of the significance of the material, immeasurably more instructive and important than even Plutarch and Livy.=================================================It will further assist us much in obtaining a more definite and full knowledge of what we have expressed abstractly and generally, according to our method of exposition, as the denial of the will to live, if we consider the moral teaching that has been imparted with this intention, and by men who were full of this spirit; [pg 499]and this will also show how old our view is, though the pure philosophical expression of it may be quite new. The teaching of this kind which lies nearest to hand is Christianity, the ethics of which are entirely in the spirit indicated, and lead not only to the highest degrees of human love, but also to renunciation. The germ of this last side of it is certainly distinctly present in the writings of the Apostles, but it was only fully developed and expressed later. We find the Apostles enjoining the love of our neighbour as ourselves, benevolence, the requital of hatred with love and well-doing, patience, meekness, the endurance of all possible injuries without resistance, abstemiousness in nourishment to keep down lust, resistance to sensual desire, if possible, altogether. We already see here the first degrees of asceticism, or denial of the will proper. This last expression denotes that which in the Gospels is called denying ourselves and taking up the cross (Matt. xvi. 24, 25; Mark viii. 34, 35; Luke ix. 23, 24, xiv. 26, 27, 33). This tendency soon developed itself more and more, and was the origin of hermits, anchorites, and monasticism—an origin which in itself was pure and holy, but for that very reason unsuitable for the great majority of men; therefore what developed out of it could only be hypocrisy and wickedness, for abusus optimi pessimus. In more developed Christianity, we see that seed of asceticism unfold into the full flower in the writings of the Christian saints and mystics. These preach, besides the purest love, complete resignation, voluntary and absolute poverty, genuine calmness, perfect indifference to all worldly things, dying to our own will and being born again in God, entire forgetting of our own person, and sinking ourselves in the contemplation of God. A full exposition of this will be found in Fénélon's “Explication des Maximes des Saints sur la Vie Interieure.” But the spirit of this development of Christianity is certainly nowhere so fully and powerfully [pg 500]expressed as in the writings of the German mystics, in the works of Meister Eckhard, and in that justly famous book “Die Deutsche Theologie,” of which Luther says in the introduction to it which he wrote, that with the exception of the Bible and St. Augustine, he had learnt more from it of what God, Christ, and man are than from any other book. Yet we only got the genuine and correct text of it in the year 1851, in the Stuttgart edition by Pfeiffer. The precepts and doctrines which are laid down there are the most perfect exposition, sprung from deep inward conviction of what I have presented as the denial of the will. It should therefore be studied more closely in that form before it is dogmatised about with Jewish-Protestant assurance. Tauler's “Nachfolgung des armen Leben Christi,” and also his “Medulla Animæ,” are written in the same admirable spirit, though not quite equal in value to that work. In my opinion the teaching of these genuine Christian mystics, when compared with the teaching of the New Testament, is as alcohol to wine, or what becomes visible in the New Testament as through a veil and mist appears to us in the works of the mystics without cloak or disguise, in full clearness and distinctness. Finally, the New Testament might be regarded as the first initiation, the mystics as the second,—σμικρα και μεγαλα μυστηρια. -- Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Idea, Book Four

On the politics of "the Redeemer"

do you have TV yet ? Jacob Goldfarb: not yet Andrew are u gonna get it ? Jacob Goldfarb: Eventually Andrew the yankees are beating the mets 3-0 it's the 1st inning i was hoping the mets could get at least 1 out of the 4 games they played this week Jacob Goldfarb: Not a surprise Andrew the red sox won a thrilling game last night ! my parents went to provincetown on wednesday and i stayed at their house and took care of their dog Jacob Goldfarb: Wow, we just went there last week Andrew provincetown's gay pride parade was today -- my mother thought it was going to be on wednesday -- but it was still pretty gay, even though Jacob Goldfarb: We thought there were too many straight people 😉 Andrew lol my parents took the ferry - it leaves from the plymouth waterfront and it takes 90 minutes to get to p-town Jacob Goldfarb: yeah, Anthony took the ferry from Boston Andrew and what did you take or did you drive ? Jacob Goldfarb: I drove. I had to go to a family funeral in Syracuse, and then drive back. Andrew wow, that s a lot of driving my parents went to the Squealing Pig in Provincetown whose funeral ? Jacob Goldfarb: My cousin Rosemary's husband. Andrew oh im sorry - what age was he ? Jacob Goldfarb: Thanks... In his 80s Andrew oh so he was no kid ! im surprised you have cousins so old two of my cousins died recently Jacob Goldfarb: My dad's first cousin Andrew now that i think about it Jacob Goldfarb: I'm sorry to hear that Andrew Greg and Ryan Greene they are my mother's cousins, so second cousins of mine ? Jacob Goldfarb: I think? never could get that right. Andrew second cousin, once removed i think? greg had a criminal record, he also had diabetes and got an infection in his foot my mother is unsure how ryan greene died, complications from surgery i think Jacob Goldfarb: Oy Were you close to them? Andrew no, i hadn't seen them since before high school time keep on slippin' into the future ! Jacob Goldfarb: yup yup Andrew now im reading a book by william dean howells called the rise of silas lapham - i am reading that online and i am re-reading 'on the genealogy of moral' by friedrich nietzsche i made a note of several passages i wanted to send to you for your reaction Jacob Goldfarb: I reserve the right to ignore them Andrew why would you ? Jacob Goldfarb: Lots of asshole Nazis are running around quoting Nietzsche lately. No interest in that shit. Andrew the term anti-semitism first appeared in germany in 1873 nietzsche is not an anti-semite, at least he has no problem with modern jews nor does he have a problem with the jews of the old testament Jacob Goldfarb: What's an "old testament"? Andrew as opposed to the new testament Jacob Goldfarb: You mean the Christian Bible? Andrew yes Jacob Goldfarb: OK then call it that. Andrew ok Jacob Goldfarb: My Bible isn't a testament, and it's certainly not old. Andrew you call it the jewish bible, i assume ? Jacob Goldfarb: Well among Jews I call it the Tanakh. Andrew but i think on wikipedia it is called the old testament Jacob Goldfarb: The term "Jewish Bible" or "Hebrew Bible" is fine. Andrew and i think among biblical scholars it is called the old testament Jacob Goldfarb: Scholars know better. Unless they're assholes. Andrew you're quite the cynic tonight ! ahem.... Jacob Goldfarb: Nah dude. I'm seeing the truth about a lot of "nice" people who don't give a shit about Jews. I have no patience for it. Andrew such as which people ? Jacob Goldfarb: Such as the "well there are bad people on both sides" crowd. The "what about Black Lives Matter" crowd. The "Obama started it crowd." Andrew there is some footage of assemblages of people attacking each other ? i'm not so up to speed about what happened, to be honest it looked like a free for all but then james alex field drove his car into a group of protesters and he was a nazi-synmpathizer Jacob Goldfarb: I thought you said you watched the Vice video Andrew i only saw a clip on charlie rose i find it hard to get you interested in me so i said about vice Jacob Goldfarb: I'M ALWAYS INTERESTED IN YOU HONEY Andrew ok lol - but i saw msnbc on Sunday and it was showing footage on a near riot 2 sides attacking each other, who were they ? and a group called antifa who my parents said had clubs Jacob Goldfarb: Nazis marched on an American town, threatened a synagogue, waved swastikas, and killed someone. There's no confusion in mind. Andrew did you see the footage of two mobs attacking each other ? it was insane ! Jacob Goldfarb: I saw Nazis. Some people protested them. I thank God for those people. Andrew you didnt see two sides attacking each other with weapons b/c you dont have TV Jacob Goldfarb: I have a computer. Nazis, man. There's no two sides. Andrew on sunday i saw a general melee Jacob Goldfarb: Whatever Andrew yesterday i saw nazis marching with tiki torches Jacob Goldfarb: That was Friday night Andrew i didnt see that until yesterdsay so i say you go down to charlottesville and clean up ! and ill straight out their incomplete interpretatiom of nietzsche Jacob Goldfarb: ok Andrew ok good now you're talking Jacob Goldfarb: Hey man I've had about 8 congregants come to me with teary eyed because they're terrified and furious. This is not funny to us. Andrew what can you do ? trump's daiughter is Jewish Jacob Goldfarb: Calm and comfort them. Accompany them to the rally in Boston. Andrew ok, i think that's a good start i was just re-reading Nietzsche and it appears he comes across as an anti-semite Jacob Goldfarb: mmmm hmmm Andrew his problem is not so much with the ancient jews of the "old testament" or with modern jews but with the priestly-prophetic period of jewish history that he believed forms a continuity with the beginning of christianity it says Andrew i believe nietzsche is wrong in seeing the jews as having effected a reversal of values thru a cunning revenge; nietzsche didn't have the psychological insight to see the jews were key in the development of a religious system that entailed a less degree of projection than was held in the european systems Andrew nietzsche's real problem was that he saw himself as an aristocrat and he saw the judeo-christian morality which came into being, one that said that salvation was for those who were lowly in political-economic stature, as anathema what do you think of that ? Jacob Goldfarb: My God and my Torah tell me that all people are created in God's image. Nietzsche think that makes me weak. But Nietzsche is dead and the Jews are alive. So Nietzsche and his ugly Nazi stepchildren can fuck all the way off. Andrew he's a powerful polemicist, but i agree he's wrong Jacob Goldfarb: he's a putz Andrew if you read totem and taboo by freud you might have more of a critical insight into the nature of religion If you read Screw magazine, you might get a hard-on. Andrew Freud said we were once in clans rules by a father who possessed all the women and foodstuffs and we eventually banded together and killed him and these feelings of honoring the dethroned and sacrificed father have passed down to us in thre form of religious systems Jacob Goldfarb: Cool story bro Andrew you have to read it ! i am a freud-nietzsche-marx man, myself..... Jacob Goldfarb: Andrew it's very enlightening to me because i also have had the direct experience of knowing God, which i'm not aware that anyone else has had... Jacob Goldfarb: oh yes Andrew i told me story to some researchers from california and they took my blood and paid me $100 and they went to my parents house and took their blood and paid them $100 each Jacob Goldfarb: Your blood is worth more than $100! Andrew yes but what do you think of that ? Jacob Goldfarb: Which part? Andrew what i just said about the researchers from CA isnt that interesting ? Jacob Goldfarb: Your connection to God is more interesting Andrew thank you, goodnight Jacob Goldfarb: Love you brother

The Situation of My Life

You are now connected on Messenger. Andrew Hi, Jason ! Do you remember me ? Justin Gross, who I had lunch with a year or two ago, told me you went to Cornell. How did you enjoy going there ? Best wishes, Andrew B. Noselli Jason Szporn Hey Andrew! Of course I remember you. Here are my two strongest memories: 1. You patiently explaining D&D to me in your living room; and 2. You, I, and Michael Goldfarb attempting to create a a whirlpool in your above ground backyard swimming pool by continuing to move around the edge counter-clockwise. Did those happen, or did I make up those memories? You're literally the only person on Earth that can tell me... Andrew i think those are real memories ! his name is Michael Goldfarb and he lives now in Massachusetts, in Concord, having just arrived from Oakland, California with his HUSBAND, Anthony Russell i see you live in Minnesota now, looking forward to the Vikings this season ? right now I am listening to Neil Young's "Prairie Wind" CD and reading Thomas Hardy's "Wessex Tales" i had a brain injury from an auto accident in 1991 i also have schizophrenia and double-vision, causing me to be disabled i live in senior housing in Plymouth, Massachusetts - a very nice setting i have a blog i update sometimes http://www.andrewbnoselliwriting.blogspot.com The Catholic Life of the Heart andrewbnoselliwriting.blogspot.com Jason Szporn What I remember about Michael is that he liked Ford cars and the Beatles. Actually come to think of it he was pretty prescient about the Beatles. I didn't like them till much later. I'm a Neil Young fan too. Best concert I ever saw. I think my mom had run into yours a while back and might have told me something about your car accident. Sorry to hear that. But I am looking forward to catching up with what's been going on with you on that blog! Andrew i have a lot of free time and can as much as you like i saw neil young with sonic youth at the NJ Meadowlands Arena in 1991, about six months before my accident (now I'm listening to Steely Dan, they went to Bard College, like me!) my sister's boyfriend bought me several beatles albums when i got my first stereo at age 15, revolver, the white album and rubber soul - so i've been listeningto the beatles my whole life my personal favorites, besides the beatles are bob dylan, the grateful dead, the rolling stones, chet baker, van morrison, miles davis and john coltrane i never had a Ford car but I did have a Saturn coupe, which was a GM car the best concert i ever saw was david crosby at b.b. king's in new york on 42nd street i used to live in rutherford NJ and take the bus into manhattan every day - i was working as a stockbroker at w.j. nolan & co. on september 11, 2001 i had a girlfreind named mary ruggerio who was in a film with john tuturro and olympia dukakis at the time and she looked just like marilynj monroe and behaved like her, too ! then afer 9/11 i joined new york life insurance company at central park south and, later, at 120 broadway - across the street from "ground zero" during the period of time i had a girlfriend named annie armstrong who lived 440 W. 34th st. she was a famous editor, we used to go dancing at tavern on the green in central park Andrew i loved her to the point of obsession and was forced to check into a psychiatric hospital in washington township NJ - my file was stamped "Psychotic Reaction" i didn't really make much $ on wall street, as i put all of my clients into global crossing, which went bankrupt, i had 2 choices, global crossing or charter communications and i picked the wrong one Andrew i then opened my own insurance/investment business as an independent broker selling policies and securities thru AIG - i was very conservative and i sold government securities, annuities and bonds - but AIG, too, went bankrupt and i developed mental problems at about the same time Andrew after i got out of the mental hospital i had a romance with a Jewish woman who sang opera and owned an oil well in North Dakota i don't wish to "possess" women anymore because i now take 20 mg of celexa every night - apparently i was depressed, too, in addition to my cognitive disorder JUL 18TH, 6:30PM Jason Szporn It sounds like we have pretty similar musical tastes. It also looks like you've wanted down a pretty difficult road. I commend you for keeping your head up! Ok, I'm off to go camping for a few days. In the meantime, put on some Dylan for me and I'll check out that blog! walked* not wanted Andrew thanks for your response, jason. enjoy camping with your family. i look forward to chatting with you in the future ! best, abn JUL 19TH, 12:24AM 7:38AM Andrew Hi, Ari ! Ari Mendelson Hello. Andrew you're up early ! Ari Mendelson I've been up for 3 hours. Andrew i've been up since 5 am too ! because i slept yesterday during the day normally im not up this early do you miss new york ? Ari Mendelson I get up 4:30 every weekday morning I do not miss New York one bit. Andrew that's very early ! i miss the pizza ! Ari Mendelson I don't eat pizza. no wheat at all. Andrew do you eat eggs ? Ari Mendelson four of 'em a day. Andrew im listening to andres segovia on pandira ! Ari Mendelson he was great. Andrew im listening to "Estudio" you said yesterday that mick jones looks like him ! i guess paul rodgers lost his voice ? the pre-market open shows the dow futures up 63 points ! this is really incredible ! Ari Mendelson I don't know about Paul Rodgers. But Foreigner's new lead singer was excellent. I also don't know much about the markets. Andrew do you have any $ in the market ? Ari Mendelson Only a few hundred million. Andrew lol did you make all that loot at the car ? bar Ari Mendelson Mostly bank robbery. ANd random street hold-ups Andrew i see -- and much from laundering ? lol i put all my client's money in global crossing, when i should have chosen to put it in Charter Communications -- thats my main regret ! i have read 41 books this year ! henry miller says the jews, like the Chinese, pay an undue respect to the written word you should read him sometime -- i'd be curious to know what you think Ari Mendelson How much respect is due? And if there is more respect paid than due, what is the bad result? Andrew i wrote about the pitfalls of such type of thinking, commonly dubbed "logocentrism", in grad school - but i forget the specific antonomies it generates Ari Mendelson I'm sure there are pitfalls. But there are pitfalls to all kinds of thinking. There are advantages to logocentrism as well. Andrew it's all about western thinking since the dawn of civilization being founded on oppositional structures and all the philosophers and thinkers up to marx being interpretive sketches at diagnosing the human state of affairs in the metaphysical world, which they saw as fundamentally oppositional the logocentric ideology is at the root of a political system of oppression and domination and, as such, it thrives on a hierarchical system of judgment deconstruction is an attempt to extirpate the type of logocentric thinking that has been the model for western culture since the time of the ancient greeks unlike derrida and habermas, i showed in my graduate thesis how these oppositions can be overcome have you made coffee yet ? 3:06PM Andrew logocentrism is part of the illusion that is the foundation of phonocentrism, which supposes the existence of perfect self-presence and of the immediate possession of meaning. the history of western culture which carries within it this phonocentric need led to the development of a systematic logocentric metaphysics. the bottom line is that line of relating to the world engendered the form of subjectivity ruled by the economic spirit of capitalism, including the urges to expand, dominate and colonize. Andrew i believe the advance of feminism is our civilization is a crucial element in our lives which, in my opinion, has its critical purpose in the broadening of our minds, the extension of our sensibilities and in addressing the binary laws of our logic by transitioning from masculine time to feminine space; this is of prime importance because modernity's overpowering concern with temporality ends the solipsistic corruption of the self, whereas a postmodern approach which elevates space over time (in theory) leads to an expansion of consciousness and to the overcoming of death as a negation of the self and the limit to one's existence. Andrew I'm cribbing from my master's thesis but that, essentially, is why logocentrism must be overcome.... FRI 3:58PM Andrew hi jason ! how was camping with your family ? do you like my blog ? FRI 6:51PM Jason Szporn Camping was great! Thanks for asking. I checked out your blog and it was fascinating. How long have you been writing it? Andrew i have 2 blogs, one is private where i just post news stories that blow my mind the public blog is more of a literary blog i have been working on these blogs for about the last ten years or so i can let you into my private blog, if you give me your email address, AND if it's a gmail address (eblogger, the weblogger site i use, seems to prefer gmail addresses, for some reason....) 8:29AM Jason Szporn I use my work email to email, and unfortunately it's not a Gmail address... So I'm curious and I can't remember - were you a practicing Catholic as a child? Your parents? If not, when did you become serious about it? 9:45AM Andrew i was baptized as an infant and raised in the Catholic church. i gave my life to Jesus Christ about six months before my car accident in 1991. 11:58AM Jason Szporn I see. Was there anything specific that happened that led you to give your life to Jesus Christ, or did it just kind of happen? Seen by Jason Szporn at 11:58am 1:53PM Andrew i think my sister's marriage in 1990 was kind of traumatic for me. also graduating from high school, i didn't know what i wanted to do. i had literary and artistic ambitions all thru school, yet the idea going to 'art school' both attracted and repelled me. Andrew the traumatic brain injury from a car accident in 1991, which changed the course of my life permanently, gave me time to think of a path for myself, it gave me time to mature, too. some time after my car accident, my mother went to a spiritualist and asked her about what happened to me. she was shocked when the spirit-woman said to her, "oh no, he asked for this to happen." my mother was stunned, completely flabbergasted -- but it was true. i had gone up to the Don Bosco Marion Shrine, which was a Catholic retreat and worship center behind my home when in lived on Woodlake Drive in Thiells, New York prior to my accident and i literally spoke to God in my head, saying, "I'm ready. Let it happen" and six months later, I very nearly lost my life.