The New Testaments

Although the Savior Self has avowed to remain “apolitical” in our discussions, politics are an inescapable part of life. We are currently watching numerous atrocities unfold around the world, from ongoing genocides to bloody wars, to the de facto rise of overt fascism in the United States. Of course, the United States has played a role in these other worldwide atrocities for countless years, long before the current regime. We have inflicted immeasurable pain, suffering, and devastation across foreign lands […]Read more »

Buddhism’s ultimate goal is the dissolution of self; enlightenment is achieved when we realize that we are nothing and everything at the same time, a fragment of the infinite that is temporarily having a subjective experience in linear time before shedding our flawed meat husks and returning to the æther. In practice, this means devoting our full attention to the present moment rather than reminiscing or dwelling on the past or planning for the future. Meditation is the purest expression […]Read more »

Let us re-focus on our core values. I recently had some personal exposure to the modern healthcare system, and as I witnessed the system in action I reflected on the sixth tenant of the Church: human life is not inherently sacred or special. I still feel uncomfortable discussing this tenet because it is so “taboo” and “radical” in modern society that it certainly makes the Church a monster in the eyes of most people. And yet… As I observed these […]Read more »

There is an anger within me. It’s an anger that seems like it can never be abated. It is an anger that is not only directed at the injustice of the current system, or even to the human condition, but at the sheer absurdity of existence itself. It is beyond dukkha, the fundamental suffering of existence; rather, it is an anger at dukkha, at the fundamental construct that this existence is suffering. It is an anger that I do not […]Read more »

NOTE: Except in rare circumstances, the Church will not discuss or comment on current affairs or politics. The Savior Self is committed to personal evolution and spiritual revolution. For more topical discussions, please check out Slay Your Masters or Tyrants Tremble. This essay sheds the pretense of the Church and speaks directly to the people of the United States, and anywhere else that far-right populism is rising. But mostly the United States. Watching in bemused disbelief is not enough. Name-calling […]Read more »

In its most simplified version, the one-dimensional political spectrum spans from individualism on the right to collectivism on the left. For now, let’s ignore the and various two- and three-dimensional models that add much-needed nuance to real-world ideologies. Let us also certainly ignore party labels, because those are largely irrelevant to the current discussion; we will, however, refer to right-wing ideology as conservative and left-wing ideology as progressive, and the reasons for maintaining this distinction will hopefully become clear. Right-wing […]Read more »

The Savior Self was born of a time when the tide of fascism appeared to be ebbing and liberal democracy was once again the order of the day. Thus, the Church adopted a stance of passive exclusion against the current order; that is, rejecting or ignoring the current system as much as possible and focusing energy on building parallel structures of governance. But the ebb did not last long, and once again the global threat of fascism is fast on […]Read more »

We here in the United States find ourselves once more in the throes of overt fascism. Right-wing extremists, led by a textbook strongman persona, have won a decisive victory in our federal elections. Their explicit agenda is to dismantle the federal government, place plutocratic lackeys in the highest position of power, deregulate private industry, suppress our bodily autonomy, abolish freedom of the press, further destroy our education system, isolate the country from the global community, institute a police state with […]Read more »

So you’ve decided to seek the path to liberation and enlightenment with the collective strength of a community rather than all alone against the forces of the entire world. Great choice! But building an intentional community is, in itself, nearly as difficult as escaping the subjugation of a sleepwalking society. As with the tenets themselves, the Church of the Savior Self condones all prescriptive teachings; we must each walk our own path, replete with pathfinding and obstacle avoidance. More plainly, […]Read more »

Now that the Church has defined its core tenets (See the On Utopia series), let’s consider what these ideas would mean in practice. The tenets are intentionally simple and designed to allow interpretation and adaptation as each person sees fit; thus, there is no prescriptive (or proscriptive) “Right Way” to adhere to the tenets. One can attempt to adhere to the tenets while continuing to live in the modern world. Although strict adherence to principals of non-harm are virtually impossible […]Read more »