The Monk and the Missionary
Underthrow requires more than zeal. It requires spirituality. (Yes, spirituality.) But this is neither New Age nonsense nor do-what-feels-good self-help. It requires discipline.
The term spirituality has been ruined, mostly by people who parrot, “I’m spiritual, but not religious.” While this is a perfectly valid position, it doesn’t stand up very well against the backdrop of New Age nonsense and the errant cliches of the “consciousness community.”
We can draw a rough analogy:
Freedom : Responsibility :: Spirituality : Religion.
In other words, freedom without responsibility is license, and spirituality without religion is almost always rudderless, structureless, feel-good-ism.
Those willing to structure their spirituality—whether through rituals, commitments, or devotion to teachers—are being religious, even unwittingly. And spirituality doesn’t mean one must believe in the supernatural. It is rather:
Allowing oneself to stay humble before the mysteries of life and the universe while preparing to discern what is knowledge and what is wisdom.
Committing oneself to daily practices that allow one to achieve equipoise and radiative self-sovereignty, starting with self and moving outward.
Searching for answers to fundamental questions, such as Why are we here? and How are we to live? even if those questions only generate more questions.
Opening oneself to practices that allow one to think, feel, and receive novel insights or experiences—even if these cannot be put into words.
Working on something far greater than personal gratification, accepting both the burdens and the bliss of a journey you may never finish.
In the video below, I join my friends and mentors, Andrew Sweeny and Alexander Bard, on a podcast episode dedicated to “Spirituality in the Digital Age.” I argue that to underthrow power and fully engage Decentralism, we must animate our movement with spirituality.
That doesn’t mean we must pray over our Bitcoin wallets with woo-woo crystals or give up on any preexisting faith tradition that nourishes us. Instead, it means our actions must be trained on the Mission of decentralization. With our Mission in mind, we must be prepared to be both monks and missionaries in a manner that makes for a holistic worldview—though one of passion and purpose. We can even draw aspects from our own traditions in a manner that works toward something more ecumenical, even syncretist. As we engage the Enemy together, the Jew can bring wisdom from the Torah and Talmud, the Hindu might share Krishna’s lessons from the Bhagavad Gita, and the Taoist can offer us the wisdom of Wu Wei. Tolerant Christians will share Jesus’s teachings while locking arms with people of other faiths because we all believe in peace, prosperity, and pluralism.
If the minds of the builders and technologists have no spiritual mooring, they will be absorbed in the matrix of Central Authority. They will submit to big sticks or follow carrots on strings. They will be captured and turned by an enemy with an invisible prison planned for us—with surveillance, manipulation, and control.
Are you a monk or a missionary? The truth is, we need both.
More good stuff. I absolutely see a need to redefine or reestablish spirituality in any new doctrine. I see spirit as what animates us, so for example if Underthrow values decentralization then it should demonstrate and elucidate that in it's actions and therefore will show it in it's comportment. What I see in traditional religion is that there is a huge disconnect between spirit and actions which ends up looking like hypocrisy.
The good old days of rough and tough spiritual discipline, a true act of being religious. There are times in my life when I abstained from some significant things. It served its purpose 😌🤩