[My muse] is, in fact, a woman of the world, and precisely because of this, hopes that a diversity of cultures will endure, and that one bland monoculture does not swamp everything. Quentin S. Crisp More Quotes by Quentin S. Crisp More Quotes From Quentin S. Crisp You might call this innocence. I had a sense of another world that had not been spoken of to me. Quentin S. Crisp innocence might world 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 circles strong roots 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 experts names talking 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 buddhism rejection expression I did not understand the differences between Catholic and Protestant until I was an adult. Quentin S. Crisp adults catholic differences I never went to church as a child. I did not . Quentin S. Crisp church children I'm not claiming anything like sainthood - merely a native perception. Quentin S. Crisp native sainthood perception I suppose what I can say is that I do feel I have a natural spiritual sensibility. Quentin S. Crisp spiritual natural feels 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 buddhist views past 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 buddhism dwelling mean 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 space philosophy way 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 materialism space want 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 space long thinking 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 spiritual people thinking There's a strong aspect of Buddhism which is geared towards ending all fertility. Quentin S. Crisp fertility buddhism strong 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 buddhism creativity mean People may wish to say that the thing that is in conflict with my creativity is not Buddhism - that's fine. Quentin S. Crisp buddhism creativity people 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 buddhism creative order The imagination is fertile. From seeds of the imagination, much is made manifest. Quentin S. Crisp manifest imagination made 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 silence meditation interesting
