Yesterday was a rather funky day. It wasn’t because anything bad happened or I was purposefully lazy and couldn’t accomplish anything. I’d say it was a situation where my soul hungered for substantial experiences.
I’ve written before about how I feel about media, and how it subliminally affects us in my post How We Become: For Levels of Personal Evaluation. I explored four levels we can use to understand the value of what we participate in and learn from. Originally, it was based only on music, however, I thought it could be applied to ANYTHING we can learn from.
In the long run, what really matters isn’t how good or bad I “think” these things are, but how I changed because of them. . .
Basically, these levels were to help us as students understand the value of the music we listened to based on what manner it encouraged us to change. In my mind this method did not only apply to music but also to books, movies, theater and art. I believe it is up to us individually to evaluate what we surround ourselves with and to consciously decide what we allow to influence and change us.
How We Become: For Levels of Personal Evaluation
The Levels are as follows:
- Level 1: The carnal, or that which steals away our souls into dark, forbidden paths.
- Level 2: The fun, or that which steals our time.
- Level 3: The intellectual, or that which enlightens our minds
- Level 4: The divine, or that which enlightens the soul.
Subpar entertainment is, as Eknath Easwaren said, “An expense of the mind” (Strength in the Storm, 2005). It can stupefy and even damage us in almost unidentifiable ways. Easwaren used sexual scenes in movies, shows, and books as an example.
Besides violence, of course, the other staple of the media is sex. In the movies, whenever the plot begins to wear thin, people start taking off their clothes.
At such times it is a study to watch the audience. Everybody- old, young, male, female- immediately gets absorbed. Even the popcorn is forgotten. That is not free concentration. It is compulsive, which is just as oppressive as compulsive eating.
Sooner or later, one way or another, what we assimilate this way begins to show in our behavior. I don’t mean that we literally go out and imitate what we see on the screen, the way children often do. The real effects go deeper: we become more and more like the examples we choose to see.
Quote by Eknath Easwaren Strength in the Storm, 2005
I would add that the more we assimilate damaging entertainment into our lives the less and less we realize how toxic and harmful it is. Eventually, we fail to see, except from a distance, how deeply we’ve unconsciously wounded ourselves. It is like being slowly mollified into staying in a tar pit.
It’s important to take a step back and evaluate what we allow into our minds. I can definitely say I need to do this today. Yesterday taught me I can never grow too old or experienced to be caught by subpar entertainment.
Thank you so much for reading! Have a wonderful day!
From the Perspective of an Old Soul 