In times of crisis like ours, it is good to call on ancient wisdom to give us perspective about what matters and why, and where we come from and where we are going. I have always found such wisdom in indigenous practices and teachings, and one indigenous wisdom keeper who has touched me deeply is José Argüelles, Ph.D.
His book on The Transformative Vision: The Nature and History of Human Expression has been for me a Bible of art as meditation (alongside M. C. Richard’s iconic book, Centering). There, he underscores the meaning and power of art as a spiritual practice.
One insight Argüelles offers is this: “When a man is deprived of the power of expression, he will express himself in a drive for power.” This underscores how important being in touch with our creativity can be in preventing evil.
His critique of boredom and how the mass media feeds on it is even more relevant in today’s world of social media than it was when he wrote his book over 50 years ago (1975): Deprived of their own creative initiative, the masses gladly turn to whatever entertainment may be offered. It is not too far-fetched to say that this boredom makes mass media indispensable, for both boredom and mass media thrive on a thirst for excitement that can never be gratified.
Has this need not increased in our times? How much of political news today as the media portrays it and certain politicians exploit it thrives on a thirst for excitement?
Argüelles continues: Boredom and entertainment perpetuate each other in a vicious circle: because the bored person is creatively impotent, the entertainment he craves is always vicarious; being vicarious, it cannot satisfy; being dissatisfied and remaining creatively impotent, the bored person can only seek more entertainment.* And the entertainment industry is eager to up the ante on intensity and addiction in pursuit of its own agenda of a quest for endless profits.
Argüelles’ book, The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology, reveals the Mayan view of the world and of time and seasons. Late in his life, José and I dialogued publicly at the University of Creation Spirituality, and a principal theme for him at that time concerned the calendar.
He severely criticizes Western thinking built around the Gregorian Calendar, which Pope Gregory institutionalized in 1582. Argüelles felt it fed on the “Doctrine of Discovery” of the 15th century in its arrogance and destructiveness toward indigenous cultures. (The Doctrine of Discovery document was formally repudiated by Pope Francis, but the horse was already out of the barn after the 500 years of colonialism it buttressed.)
In his final book, Manifesto for the Noosphere: The Next Stage in the Evolution of Human Consciousness, Argüelles writes about how humanity is moving from biosphere to the Noosphere and, in doing so, is “literally passing from one time to another.” The “old mechanistic time” will give way to “the Galactic Maya” time, which he characterizes as “the natural time of universal synchronization.”
He warns that it is essential to grasp this point unequivocally: As long as we continue to use the Gregorian calendar, there will never be a new time.
He sees the Gregorian/mechanistic time as “artificial.” I would call it deeply anthropocentric—it begins with the human. Before this time was invented, humanity and all of nature lived unconsciously in the medium of natural time. The Gregorian solar time is also highly masculine in contrast to lunar time, which is deeply feminine.
Indigenous time is cosmic and not anthropocentric. Key to Mayan time, indigenous time, and Noospheric time is the vast interlocking patterns, rhythms, and cycles of the whole of nature as a unitary phenomenon.**
To be continued.
*José Argüelles, The Transformative Vision: The Nature and History of Human Expression , pp. 65f.
**José Argüelles, Manifesto for the Noosphere: The Next Stage in the Evolution of Human Consciousness, pp.55f.
Banner Image: Detail of a Mayan ceremonial Tzolk’in almanac, starting with day 1 Manik’. From the Dresden Codex. Wikimedia Commons
Queries for Contemplation
Do you agree that boredom and excessive entertainment and greed make a dangerous combination? And that awakening to a Time system that is not mechanical and anthropocentric but based on the cosmos might liberate humanity and the West in particular?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet
The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
Sins of the Spirit, Blessing of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society
Trump & the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake, Natural Grace: dialogues on creation, darkness, and the soul in spirituality and science
Charles Burack, ed., Matthew Fox: Essential Writings in Creation Spirituality
1 thought on “Wisdom From José Argüelles and the Mayan Mind”
Yes! Yes! Looking forward to reading Jose Arguelles’ book, “Manifesto for the Noosphere: The Next Stage in the Evolution of Human Consciousness.”