“Although the social structures in the contemporary world are less rigid than in ancient cultures, there are still many pre-established functions or roles that people readily identify with and which thus become part of the ego. This causes human interactions to become inauthentic, dehumanized, alienating. Those pre-established roles may give you a somewhat comforting sense of identity, but ultimately, you lose yourself in them. The functions people have in hierarchical organizations, such as the military, the church, a government institution, or large corporation, easily lend themselves to becoming role identities. Authentic human interactions become impossible when you lose yourself in a role.” –Eckart Tolle, A New Earth, pg. 91

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“The people recognize themselves in their commodities; they find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment. The very mechanism which ties the individual to her society has changed, and social control is anchored in the new needs which it has produced.” –Herbert Marcuse, One Dimensional Man, pg. 11

The first quote above comes from Eckart Tolle’s book, A New Earth  (which one of my book groups is currently reading) and the second quote comes from Herbert Marcuse’s classic, One-Dimensional Man (pdf here). I thought the two quotes paired nicely and might allow for a fun starting place in a creative exploration of some slightly different perspectives on notions surrounding identity, role playing, and alienation.

Our book group is about 100 pages into the 300 page Tolle book and so far I will agree with the praise it has received for being a fairly accessible introduction to a mixture of Eastern spiritual ideas surrounding the broad themes of awakening, ego dissolution, and present-moment awareness. Tolle does not cite many sources but, aside from some esoteric Jesus stuff sprinkled in, I definitely have been picking up on the main Buddhist (perhaps Zen) and Advaita Vedanta influences in his teachings, which have been most recognizable in his critiques of the ego and emphasis on the importance of living in the “Now,” detached from both past and future; both common and often therapeutic teachings found in various flavors of both Buddhism and Hinduism.

As usual, however, when I encounter thought systems that give off an air of reductive monism my radical theological, process-relational, confucian and systems thinking filters force me to pay closer attention. As in various versions of monotheism, Tolle speaks much of “oneness” but his approach seems largely individualistic so far, focusing on personal enlightenment rather than the interdependent web of existence of which we are all a part. I’m sure Tolle wouldn’t deny the existence of such a web, in fact he writes about it on page 210 of the Kindle edition saying, “…the universe is an indivisible whole in which all things are interconnected.” Fantastic! The next step one must take then, in my mind, is to a) confess and proclaim, as eco-theologians Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow used to do, that all theology is now ecology, AND b) incorporate the process-relational claim that “awakening” must involve not just inner peace but the recognition that we are actively participating in the co-creation of reality with other life forms, both human and non-human.

Speaking of co-creation, and turning now to reflect briefly on ‘identity,’ perhaps the strongest contrasts I can think of to Tolle’s notion that ‘identity,’ or the worldly roles we play, are illusions of the ego which should be dissolved into pure awareness in pursuit of the True self which is formless Consciousness beyond social roles, are Confucian virtue ethics and process philosophy. In Rosemontian-style Confucian thought (which comes across as very ecologically aware to me), ‘identity’ is simply understood as being constituted by relationships and ethical roles. Period. There is no “true self” outside of these types of interactions (again, keep in mind we’re talking about organisms of all kinds here, big and small). Virtues, in Rosemont’s work (much like in the Christian contemplative tradition), are not uncovered by removing illusions and do not arise spontaneously when the ego is silenced, but must be cultivated through deliberate practice (xiushen 修身), ritual, and duties (yi 義). I would venture to say that, aside from the obvious process-relational observation that ‘losing oneself’ presumes a false substantialism, it also begins with the wrong Western premise of an atomic self. I do think we are, in large part, our relational and reciprocal roles at any given time; there is nothing more authentic or fulfilling than being a good parent, teacher, friend, care taker or citizen, for instance, especially in those times when you are needed most. Rosemont and the Confucians would suggest that the problem isn’t roles per se but failing to cultivate them adequately with ren (仁) and li (禮).

Additionally, to continue reflecting on ‘identity,’ I honestly don’t know how any discussion on the topic can be had without highlighting the importance of place and lineage, two topics that seem to me to be non-existent in Tolle’s very spiritualized understanding of the subject. In Abraham Joshua Heschel’s famous book, God in Search of Man, Heschel makes the point that ‘identity’ to folks like the apostle Paul, for instance, was not some sort of abstract “awareness” but actually a thick narrative of tribal lineage that included religious practice and communal belonging; this is demonstrated in Paul’s famous pedigree rant in Philippians 3:5. The historical identity that is associated with “ego” for Tolle is thought of by Jews (and many other indigenous traditions) to actually be a form of sacred memory.

The role that place has in shaping identity should also not be understated. In the quote above Tolle uses the term ‘alienation’ to help describe how inauthentic, ego-driven interactions can become dehumanizing. While I don’t necessarily disagree with Tolle that pretending to be a “boss” all day at one’s hierarchical workplace, for example, can lead to inauthentic interactions with subordinates, my inclination is not to blame the “ego” but to take the systems approach and assume the issue is more complex than we think. Once again, while urging someone to overcome the false narratives they’re telling themselves admittedly has lots of psychological merit, a systems approach, like that of Donella Meadows, would argue that identity is not merely an illusion to transcend but a self-organizing process shaped by feedback loops (e.g., social conditioning, memory, biological drives), and any sort of “awakening” must involve recognizing one’s embeddedness in larger systems: familial, cultural, and ecological.

Speaking of being embedded in larger systems, this brings us back to the term ‘alienation.’ Quite fitting, because I’m sure Tolle, being German and somewhat familiar with philosophy, must know how the term ‘alienation’ has been applied in German philosophy throughout the years. Most notably in my mind is Karl Marx and his analysis regarding four types of alienation: alienation from product, alienation from productive activity, alienation from species essence, and alienation from each other. The last one, alienation from each other, is the type of alienation Tolle is discussing but economist, Richard Wolff, offers us a slightly different diagnosis:

“Here the essential point is simply that we do not appreciate our ‘species-life’ for what it is. Rather than conceiving of ourselves as members of the vast scheme of co-operation just described, we think of ourselves as people who go to work to earn money, and then go to shops to spend it. We are people with tunnel vision. As Marx somewhat obscurely puts it: we use our species-life as a means to individual life. In other words the way in which we pursue our self-interest would not even be possible if we did not have a communal species-essence. Yet we utterly disregard this communal aspect of our lives. We barely give a thought to the question of who will use the things we make, and even less to how the objects we purchase came into existence. We screen everything off except our immediate consumption decision”

From this perspective we can see that alienation is not necessarily the result of identifying with social roles, but results from a mode of production (a capitalist, profit-driven mode of production!) that turns all human relations (human and non-human) into commodity relations. This is also Marcuse’s point in the quote above; in fact we can say that what Tolle calls ‘losing oneself in a role’ is actually the necessary type of false consciousness that maintains class domination.

Although I’m all about holding the tension of the many and the One together as best I can, the notion of detaching from or dissolving the identities forged through history, context, place, and culture flies way too close to evacuation theology and risks ecological amnesia, in my opinion. I think it may be a better idea to stay rooted, to deepen relations to land, ancestors, and community through ritual practice, and to learn our reciprocal roles well (which, remember, are never static but are always changing and in process) because, as Rosemont suggests, this may ultimately assist us in our attempt to deal with our terrifying ecological catastrophe:

Tags:alienationBuddhismconfucianismDonella MeadowsEckart Tolleeco-theologyhenry rosemont jrHerbert MarcuseHinduismIdentityJohn CaputoJudaismmarxismprocess philosophyreligionRolesspiritualitysystems theory