Christopher Calder at age 61 in 2011
Christopher Calder is just an ordinary guy trying to be a good neighbor. Calder believes
meditation should be considered a healthy recreation like swimming,
hiking, or jogging, not turned into a supernatural religion. When
you make anything into a religion, be it meditation, energy policy, or
political partisanship, that is when things tend to go wrong. The
Catholic Church tortured and killed people for Jesus; Rajneeshees
poisoned hundreds for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (alias Osho); George W.
Bush tortured and bombed for "freedom," and Mao and Stalin killed
millions for communism. What's the difference?
Calder believes that J. Krishnamurti, Siddhartha Gautama, and a host of
lesser gurus were wrong when they talked about gaining complete freedom
through meditation. That is a false promise and hope that no guru
can fulfill. He says that you can only get so spaced out that you
don't care what happens, but that is not freedom. Meditation is a
way we can feel more free, but we should not delude ourselves into
thinking that we actually are free, literally. In this universe
there is no such thing.
We
have no souls to save, but we have cells that will die. We have
to accept that fact and try not to take life seriously 100% of the
time. Our lives are all in the brain, and the brain is physical,
not supernatural or "spiritual." Gurus and religious
organizations have invented myths of the supernatural out of ignorance
and in order to gain money and power. Calder says, "We have been
fooled long enough."
