this is precisely the thing. To transcend self -- to repudiate and deny self, even -- is to achieve liberation.
Yes. The modern concept of the self is based on 'know thyself', that freedom and enlightenment are found in understanding what makes us tick. The mystical alternative is to believe that we are fluid souls who find fulfillment in denying and bypassing the self - or discovering that there is in fact no 'self' to find.
In yoga terms - the physical world is the illusion, Maya, that really doesn't exist. In most modern scientific paradigms of the universe, the physical reality is what does exist, the mystical is the illusion.
In terms of what happened to Jack: it's interesting to think that sense deprivation and solitary confinement are destructive tortures to the one kind of thought, and tools for liberation and enlightenment for the other. So Jack took the tools Grey was using to torture him, and made it his own conceptual path to survival through surrender.
I find it just incredible that this should be used as a plot point in a 2008 TV show. With an action hero. And it's... it's totally credible because Torchwood doesn't have a closed world view. It's wide open.
<>Jack was never stronger than when he was lying helpless in that open grave, refusing to give into anger and hatred.
Absolutely. Though I think he was pretty strong when he tossed the gun aside and said to the Dalek, "I kinda figured that." Again, he was operating totally without thought of his own ego.
he bullshits about his great looks, etc., but underneath the preening bluster is another Jack: the Jack who doesn't think of himself as a hero and who would die laughing if somebody called him a saint.
Yes, he is only too aware of his own limitations - and not really aware of his own strengths, though he uses them instinctually. (E.g., moments of forgiveness and love, or understanding.)
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-04-07 08:22 pm (UTC)Yes. The modern concept of the self is based on 'know thyself', that freedom and enlightenment are found in understanding what makes us tick. The mystical alternative is to believe that we are fluid souls who find fulfillment in denying and bypassing the self - or discovering that there is in fact no 'self' to find.
In yoga terms - the physical world is the illusion, Maya, that really doesn't exist. In most modern scientific paradigms of the universe, the physical reality is what does exist, the mystical is the illusion.
In terms of what happened to Jack: it's interesting to think that sense deprivation and solitary confinement are destructive tortures to the one kind of thought, and tools for liberation and enlightenment for the other. So Jack took the tools Grey was using to torture him, and made it his own conceptual path to survival through surrender.
I find it just incredible that this should be used as a plot point in a 2008 TV show. With an action hero. And it's... it's totally credible because Torchwood doesn't have a closed world view. It's wide open.
<>Jack was never stronger than when he was lying helpless in that open grave, refusing to give into anger and hatred.
Absolutely. Though I think he was pretty strong when he tossed the gun aside and said to the Dalek, "I kinda figured that." Again, he was operating totally without thought of his own ego.
he bullshits about his great looks, etc., but underneath the preening bluster is another Jack: the Jack who doesn't think of himself as a hero and who would die laughing if somebody called him a saint.
Yes, he is only too aware of his own limitations - and not really aware of his own strengths, though he uses them instinctually. (E.g., moments of forgiveness and love, or understanding.)