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| Gary Lachman: rocker turned serious author |
I
enjoy reading Gary Lachman. There are several reasons that I think explain
this. First, were born only a few years apart so we grew up in the same general
cultural milieu of the United States in the 60’s and 70’s, although he grew up
in New Jersey as opposed my more culturally conservative small-town Iowa. He was
brought up as a Catholic, although he walked away from the Church as a teenager. Finally,
despite a very successful career as a Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame
member of the band Blondie, he became interested in spiritual, esoteric,
and metaphysical writings. Finally, after a lucky browse at a used bookstore in
Berkley when I had some extra time there after a deposition, I, too, discovered
Colin Wilson (Religion & the Rebel), whom Lachman admires.
Since developing his interest in these topics, Lachman has transformed himself
from a rocker into a formidable author on the subject of human consciousness
and culture. I believe that he wears the mantel of successor to Colin Wilson, with
whom he developed a friendship and from whom he received a forward to his book,
A Secret History of Consciousness.
In
this work, Lachman details the history of mystical, esoteric, and occult
thought from the beginning of the 20th-century up to the near present. Not all
of it the figures he discusses are by any means fringe. Early in the book, he
addresses the works of Henri Bergson and William James, to name the most
prominent philosophers in France and the US respectively at the beginning of
the 20th century. In addition, Alfred North Whitehead, although not receiving a
full separate treatment, receives consideration.
But
he mostly addresses those persons who remain on the fringe of accepted
intellectual discourse and that provide the most interesting and perplexing
examples. Among these characters are Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Rudolf Steiner, Owen Barfield, and Jean
Gebser, to name the most prominent. In addition, Lachman examines the work of
various psychologists and lesser-known philosophers who delve into the farther
reaches of the human mind and the more speculative aspects of reality. The
common thread running through Lachman's work is his concern with consciousness.
What is it? And how does it relate to matter? Perhaps the biggest distinction
between those thinkers that Lachman discusses and those who are considered more
mainstream is that Lachman's group maintains that consciousness receives
primacy over matter.
One
of the challenges in addressing a topic of this sort is to distinguish what
appears to be delusional, fantastic, or absurd and what is deeply insightful.
For instance, Gurdjieff (whom I've read a bit of and about) can at times seem
deeply insightful. On the other hand, he has a theory of planetary influences
that leaves me and many others baffled, if not disdainful. Similarly, Rudolf
Steiner was, among other things, a Goethe scholar and a scientist, but he, too,
promoted a theory of planetary influences and the existence of spiritual beings
and records. Whether to consider these reports as the rantings of a madman or
the symbols of the deeply creative artist, is hard to discern. But throughout
the book, Lachman displays a wonderfully practical common sense and
open-mindedness. In this work, Lachman serves as an accurate guide and
reporter, and he sets aside some of these perplexing issues to report on what
is most vital in these thinkers.
In
addition to those I've already mentioned, Lachman reports at length on the work
of Owen Barfield and Jean Gebser. I'm currently reading and thinking a lot
about Barfield's work in and how it relates to (somewhat) more mainstream
thinkers like philosopher R.G. Colllingwood and historian John Lukacs. I
therefore appreciate Lachman’s concise and lucid exposition of Barfield’s main
ideas. Gebser is a future project, but I know already that he has received
accolades from the likes of William Irwin Thompson and Ken Wilber (as Lachman
mentions). Both of these thinkers have
incorporated Gebser’s insights into their groundbreaking works. Again, Lachman serves
as a reliable reporter on what is to be mined and valued in these works.
Lachman
explores these thinkers as a man on a mission, attempting to develop his
intuition that human consciousness is of the greatest importance in the
universe and that we need to better understand it and use it for the benefit of
all creation. Again, I keep coming back how impressed I am with his
down-to-earth attitude in addressing these often ethereal topics. He doesn't go
easily of for trendiness. For instance, I found myself in a complete agreement in
his rather dim view of much of contemporary visual art. He also recognizes
where people are likely to get hung up when delving into these thinkers.
I
mentioned earlier, he is probably the rightful successor to the late Colin
Wilson. Lachman devotes a couple of chapters in his book to Wilson's intellectual
projects. Wilson was a chronicler of the fringe of acceptable thought and of
bizarre (and often evil) human behavior, but he also formed theories and a
philosophy that gave shape to these fringe ideas and events, which Lachman
appreciates. In many ways, Lachman's works
further that enterprise.
