Waiting for the UFOs
On awe, awfulness, and Elon
“The idea that our seemingly barren Universe might contain an abundance of living creatures fills me with a sense of awe… and ‘awe and self-transcendence are among the deepest and most powerful aspects of the human experience.”
— Astrobiologist Graham Lau, “The ‘panzoic effect’: the benefits of thinking about alien life,” Aeon.)
People are not worth their life now, they are obsolete
We're dying to be invaded and put the blame on something concreteThis new obsession is turning us alien too
Much more resounding my heart just stopped pounding for you— Graham Parker, “Waiting For The UFOs” (for real fans, check out the 40th anniversary acoustic version!)
“Wander into the center of the circle of wonder.”
— Zen Master Hongzhi
Happy Friday, everyone, and welcome to new subscribers.
Over the last month, I’ve been very active with my consulting and coaching clients, and with my Zen students. We held a two-day retreat outside Boulder last weekend with a great group of participants. (Photos below.)
Meditating and practicing at Willow Farm — beneath the vast sky, amidst the critters and creatures of sky and soil — the internal and external cosmos merged and illuminated each other. I was often touched with awe.
I love life and practice. And I can honestly say that I love all my clients and students. I learn a lot from them, and they help me bring alive whatever insight or wisdom I might have gleaned over the years.
As I shared in a post a few weeks ago, I have also been managing a family medical crisis, that I am happy to report is going really well. Treatment is on track and we are very close to our funding target. We put out an update last week, and welcome any financial support to help get us over the top.
This morning I want to comment on an interesting paradox I am experiencing, that maybe isn’t a paradox at all.
The paradox I’m referring to is how the vast, mysterious reality of our cosmos can be met with awe and wonderment, while also fueling our paranoia and disconnection.
This is such a deep koan for our world right now. I feel that how we negotiate it may well determine where we go as a species. (If the Disclosure-ists are right, we may be forced to reckon with this in a big way very soon!)
Albert Einstein referred to awe as “the source of all true art and science.” In the last few years, there have been a number of books and studies documenting the “power of wonder and awe.” (Which I discovered after writing most of this piece. You can Google them.)
So, for those who need it …. Science!
As I have experienced it, the feeling of awe is at the heart of my inspirations and sense of aliveness. The feelings of vastness, reverence, wonder, fear, the feeling of immersion in an extraordinary, un-fully-graspable, mysterious immensity, is absolutely key to realizing and living our true self.
We have a great Zen practice called “aimless wandering” that is designed to elicit this quality of wonder. Zen Master Hongzhi instructed us to “wander into the center of the circle of wonder.” He went on to say “leaving discriminating conditioning, enter clean clear wisdom and romp and play in samadhi.” Samadhi is the energy of concentration that brings a unification of consciousness with reality.
Our discriminating conditioning are those habits of mind that put ourselves into boxes, that separate us from others, that hold to firm definitions.
Our egoic identifications are committed to defining ourselves in limited and understandable ways. (“I was fine until I de-fined myself” …. heh heh!)
Feelings of awe and wonder can be threatening to our discriminating minds. They make us feel we don’t understand (we don’t) or that we are not in control (we aren’t.) We can shrink in the face of sublimity, terrified by the diminishment of our own importance.
One way my sense of wonder was kindled in my early teens was through science fiction (Asimov, Heinlein, Star Trek, Star Wars), magic/mystery/high strangeness (Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Twilight Zone) and pop culture Eastern mysticism (Kung Fu).
These created in me a feeling for the vast dimensions of outer and inner space. And that feeling of awe still inspires me.
Our species felt this on a global scale with the famous “overview effect,” the cognitive shift experienced by astronauts when they see Earth from space. It names a profound sense of awe, connection, and responsibility for Earth, leading to a change in perspective and identity.
The term was coined by author Frank White, who actually likened it a Zen enlightenment experience. (My good friend and fellow Zen teacher, Josh Dainin White, is the son of Frank White.)
Another way the actual outer cosmos can generate this sense of awe is to contemplate alien life forms. In a recent piece for the online magazine Aeon, Astrobiologist Graham Lau coined the term “panzoic effect” to describe this:
“What if there are myriad worlds afar where life has happened, perhaps even with some similarities to our own? There may even be other civilisations out there that have developed their own art, philosophy and science. Convergent evolution suggests that some alien forms may resemble Earth life in some ways while others could be utterly unrecognisable.
It’s by reflecting on these ideas that you can take the first steps to experiencing what I call the panzoic effect. Like the overview effect, thinking about a possible abundance of life in the Universe can lead you to look with fresh eyes at humanity and life on Earth.” (The ‘panzoic effect’: the benefits of thinking about alien life)
I definitely feel this.
(Although I doubt the term “panzoic effect” is going to have the same legs as “overview effect.”)
Speculating about alien life however can also bring about that adverse fear-based reaction. We feel threatened and our fear is used to justify our power grabs. Our immigration policies are shot through with this fear of the Other, hyperbolically defending our nation from “illegal aliens”.
Graham Parker’s lyrics dramatize the dark side of focusing on Others as “aliens.”
People are not worth their life now, they are obsolete
We're dying to be invaded and put the blame on something concreteThis new obsession is turning us alien too
Much more resounding my heart just stopped pounding for you
Parker called “Waiting for the UFO’s” the “worst song on Squeezing Out Sparks,” (which means little considering the album is a masterpiece…. but I digress.) Even so, its throwaway humor is almost too on-the-nose with respect to our tendency to demonize those who are not like us.
Fear of the unknown is the shadow side of awe.
At the moment, Elon Musk crystallizes the fear/awe nexus, for me at least. (I don’t know Elon Musk personally, so I will caveat my comments and say they really apply to “Elon Musk,” the semi-mythical construct inhabiting the collective mindspace, with an unknown amount of correspondence to the actual human being.
Musk’s boyish sense of possibility and boundless energy with world-changing ventures like SpaceX, Tesla, Starlink, Boring, xAI and Neuralink are to be commended, even emulated, I believe. His original motivations must have been steeped in awe and wonder.
But his more recent incarnation, as a technocratic avenging angel come to save American society from the perils of the Other (DEI advocates, Deep State gollums, entitled and self-serving interest groups of all stripes) is driven entirely by the fear-side of awe.
Of course, he would never say he is driven by fear, while his boss does nothing but stoke fears. Instead he will speak of innovation and “efficiency.”
To which I say: beware the once-bold innovator who now speaks only of “efficiency.” Lurking behind his technocratic mask lies a disowned sense of awe, turned to fear, blame, and the desperate need to control.
Awe turned to awfulness.
This seems an important koan for us as a collective and as individuals. How to meet the immensity, the complexity, the vast and unknowable aliveness of this human dimension with a proper sense of humility, reverence and awe.
And how to face the annihilatory potential of this vastness with courage and compassion.
Instead of repressing our own feelings of insecurity by assigning blame, “turning us alien too,” can we keep our hearts pounding for each other?
I hope so.
Love and peace to all,
- Paul
