If we do want to do that [ colonise space to survive, ], then vacuous materialism is not going to be enough for us. Quentin S. Crisp More Quotes by Quentin S. Crisp More Quotes From Quentin S. Crisp I seemed to recall some words from an old Zen master, something like, "My Zen cuts down mountains." My rejection of Buddhism was a cutting down of mountains; that is precisely how it felt to me. Quentin S. Crisp buddhismrejectioncutting You might call this innocence. I had a sense of another world that had not been spoken of to me. Quentin S. Crisp innocencemightworld If you look at the ox-herding pictures - specifically the newer set of ten pictures rather than the older set of eight - you see that after the blank circle of the void, the cycle comes back to a river flowing by the roots of a tree (both strong symbols of nature, the life-force, the unconscious) and to the wanderer returning to the market place, which is the realm of human society and activity. Quentin S. Crisp circlesstrongroots I'm not an expert here. I'm talking about an experience I had rather than something I intellectually worked out. From what I can gather, the original mystery religions are still, largely, as the name suggests, mysterious. But they are associated with intoxication, fertility and resurrection. Quentin S. Crisp expertsnamestalking Another part of the rejection I mention was the realisation that Buddhism quite simply ignores or dismisses a whole hemisphere of human experience that finds expression in and is enshrined by the mystery religions. Quentin S. Crisp buddhismrejectionexpression I did not understand the differences between Catholic and Protestant until I was an adult. Quentin S. Crisp adultscatholicdifferences I never went to church as a child. I did not . Quentin S. Crisp churchchildren I'm not claiming anything like sainthood - merely a native perception. Quentin S. Crisp nativesainthoodperception I suppose what I can say is that I do feel I have a natural spiritual sensibility. Quentin S. Crisp spiritualnaturalfeels Some Buddhists, however, never seem to get past the void, and I suppose I view this as a kind of Buddhist 'Old Testament' that I don't especially like. Quentin S. Crisp buddhistviewspast If we do overcome linear time, I would hope this means dwelling more directly in the fertility of the imagination rather than denying it, as some aspects of Buddhism seem to. Quentin S. Crisp buddhismdwellingmean If future history is not to be just one damned thing after another in space, then what we really have to do is in some way overcome this linear experience of time that makes all existence a quest for something that will never be found.And philosophies such as Zen seem to hint that this is possible. Quentin S. Crisp spacephilosophyway I think there's a good case for antinatalism. Stephen Hawking has told us recently that we must colonise space to survive, not long after telling us to beware of aliens because they'll probably just do to us as the conquistadors did to the native peoples of the Americas. So . . . exactly why do we want to go on and on, to go forth and multiply in a hostile final frontier? Why? Quentin S. Crisp spacelongthinking I do not think that my spiritual apprehensions are as dogmatically cultural as those of many people who have been brought up strictly in a particular tradition. Quentin S. Crisp spiritualpeoplethinking There's a strong aspect of Buddhism which is geared towards ending all fertility. Quentin S. Crisp fertilitybuddhismstrong I understand that words can mean different things to different people, and, further, that people can have different relationships with complex abstract entities such as Buddhism. To me, anyway, the entity in my life that conflicts with my creativity is Buddhism. Quentin S. Crisp buddhismcreativitymean People may wish to say that the thing that is in conflict with my creativity is not Buddhism - that's fine. Quentin S. Crisp buddhismcreativitypeople I feel a little as if the Buddhism is creeping back, but I mention all this simply in order to illustrate that there is, in my life, a fundamental sense of conflict between something that I am calling 'Buddhism' and my creative impulse. Quentin S. Crisp buddhismcreativeorder The imagination is fertile. From seeds of the imagination, much is made manifest. Quentin S. Crisp manifestimaginationmade I went on a meditation retreat. In 10 or so days, I spent about a hundred hours meditating, observing 'noble silence' the whole time, and so on. This was an interesting experience, which has had some beneficial effects for me. Quentin S. Crisp silencemeditationinteresting
