Quiet Horizon
Releasing Ideology and Embracing Self-Knowledge
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Quiet Horizon: Releasing Ideology and Embracing Self-knowledge The pursuit of self-knowledge is fast becoming a lost art, overrun by the speed, anxiety and distractions of contemporary life. This has allowed ideologies, religious and secular, to dominate the landscape of human consciousness. But what if the way out of the problems we have created is through a bolder, more independent approach to the age-old philosophical question “Who am I?” Reclaiming this question and pursuing it outside of paint-by-number ideologies is one of the biggest challenges contemporary society faces. It strikes at the core of our intentions, our ethics, and our willingness to recognize ourself in others. It means running against 4 trends that currently dominate the way most people live: 1)The tendency to consume identity rather than discover it, 2)The acceptance of narcissistic behavior as normal, 3)The substitution of networks for genuine relationships, and 4)The confusion of emotional intensity with genuine transformation. Each time a person looks to an ideological system rather than to his own awareness, he begins a steady process of giving up authority over his life to someone else. The slow, gradual, and unconscious way this happens has become the norm in contemporary times. Reversing it demands heightened awareness and a willingness to foster bolder, more authentic, and more compassionate ways of pursuing self-knowledge. With ideological solutions failing in every sphere of human activity, there is precious little time to waste. What are we waiting for? The author of Quiet Horizon, Greg Jemsek, has been interested in the pursuit of self-knowledge ever since his own mystical experience at age 10. After his immersion in an international socio-spiritual organization in the 70s, he obtained his MA in Consciousness Studies in 1984. He continues to this day exploring non-ideological thresholds of awareness in the context of his daily life.
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About the Book
Society’s trust in its institutions - governments, churches, and corporations in particular - has never been lower. At the same time, terrorism is rising faster than the ability of state police forces, intelligence agencies, and militaries to combat it. What do these two phenomena have in common? Ideological thinking. The fabric of societies world-wide is being torn apart by the dogmatic, sabotaging impact of entrenched and extremist beliefs protected by psychologically damaged power brokers. The flawed and prescriptive organizations these power brokers create have a singular intention: to replace the possibility of an innovative, collaborative and free society with a compliant, fearful citizenry unwittingly sacrificing their sovereignty to false, utopian promises. This book was written to help people understand how this process works. Only then can action be taken to move society in a more constructive direction. Its author, Greg Jemsek, worked at world headquarters of an international socio-spiritual organization during the 1970s gold rush of new religious movements into the U.S. His involvement led him, in short order, to being recruited to train with a select group of others in the terrorist tactics “necessary” to bring about a new world order. Those trainings served as the impetus to escape the organization, believing that doing so would put the “cultic thinking” embedded in its machinery into his past. To his surprise - and distress - he discovered an alarming reality over the next 35 years: ideological thinking is as integral to the success of mainstream organizations as it is to extremist groups. “Success” in today’s world is based on 4 trends which, left unchecked, will undermine a society’s capacity to build a constructive world: 1). The normalization of narcissism, 2) The erosion of authentic relationships through surrogacy, 3) The continued commitment to outmoded meta-narratives based on puritanical self-loathing and frontier era delusions about limitless growth, and 4) The continuous confusion between transcendence and transformation: a confusion prompting people to substitute emotional excitation for the hard work necessary to advance self-knowledge. The alternative to ideological living is not easy, but is essential if we are to face the complexity characterizing our times. As Quiet Horizon points out, this requires all of us to find ways to expand personal awareness, act in ethically braver ways, forge genuine relationships, and move beyond our fears individually and collectively. Doing so non-dogmatically allows all of us to contribute to the creation of an honorable, compassionate and just society. .
About the Author
Greg Jemsek has been interested in the pursuit of self-knowledge ever since his own mystical experience at age 10. After his immersion in an international socio-spiritual organization in the 70s, he obtained his MA in Consciousness Studies in 1984. He continues to this day exploring non-ideoogical thresholds of awareness in the context of his daily life.