Seekers in the 21st century

A long, winding text, about the prelude to the war in the former Yugoslavia, the state of psychoanalysis, how this too has been contaminated by the process he describes (Zizek is an analyst himself), to finally land in this with "Western Buddhism".

Does he have a point? I personally feel that he has it.

"Although 'Western Buddhism' presents itself as the remedy against the stressful tension of the capitalist dynamics, allowing us to uncouple and retain the inner peace and Gelassenheit, it actually functions as its perfect ideological supplement.

One should mention here the well-known topic 'future shock,' ie of how, today, people are no longer psychologically able to cope with the dazzling rhythm of the technological development and the social changes that accompany it – things simply move too fast, before one can accustom oneself to an invention, this invention is already supplanted by a new one, so that one more and more lacks the most elementary 'cognitive mapping.'

The recourse to Taoism or Buddhism offers a way out of this predicament which definitely works better than the desperate escape into old traditions: instead of trying to cope with the accelerating rhythm of the technological progress and social changes, one should rather renounce the very endeavor to retain control over what goes on, rejecting it as the expression of the modern logic of domination – one should, instead, 'let oneself go,' drift along, while retaining an inner distance and indifference towards the mad dance of the accelerated process, a distance based on the insight that all this social and technological upheaval is ultimately just a non-substantial proliferation of semblances which do not really concern the innermost kernel of our being.

'Western Buddhism' thus perfectly fits the fetishist mode of ideology in our allegedly 'post-ideological' era. 'Western Buddhism' is such a fetish: it enables you to fully participate in the frantic pace of the capitalist game, while sustaining the perception that you are not really in it, that you are well aware how worthless this spectacle is – what really matters to you is the peace of the inner Self to which you know you can always withdraw.

One is almost tempted to resuscitate here the old infamous Marxist cliche of religion as the 'opium of the people,' as the imaginary supplement of the terrestrial misery: the 'Western Buddhist' meditative stance is arguably the most efficient way, for us, to fully participate in the capitalist dynamics, while retaining the appearance of mental sanity.

If Max Weber were to live today, he would definitely write a second, supplementary, volume to his 'Protestant Ethic', entitled 'The Taoist Ethic and the Spirit of the Global Capitalism'."

This is an excerpt from an essay that is both content- and typographically "dense" that you can access via this link:

https://www.lacan.com/zizek-self.htm

I remember reading somewhere, a reconnaissance, that in the beginning the alternative spirituality was involved in society, wanted to change, upset the old order. But over time, there has been more focus on the individual himself, personal optimization, "find your inner peace", etc.

You can't drag everything over the famous crest. There is a genuine search for the authentic as well. But, I think he has a point and describes the driving force behind a lot of the big mindfulness/yoga/find yourself boom.