Logismoi and the Borg
“We won’t go back. You don’t know what it’s like in our universe. The Federation’s gone, the Borg is everywhere! We’re one of the last ships left. Please, you’ve got to help us!”
– William T. Riker, 2370
Star Trek was/is science fiction, an allegory of one possible future for humankind. In my view today there are two groups who want it to become true – one I’ll call “harmless”, the other, well, are the opposite. The “others” seek to champion not the good guys, but rather the bad guys, namely in the fashion of the Borg, Starfleet’s greatest adversary. And they seek to add you to their collective through the capture of your mind, body, AND soul.
The Borg sought to consume humanity’s personhood into a collective hive mind. They are alive today and are succeeding in this plan. Their food and strength is fear. Fear is a by-product of one’s inability to control one’s thoughts and where the Borg begins its assault. These thoughts, which are not your own thoughts, are called logismoi (“lo-giss-mee”). Logismoi thrive on your fears and insecurities. To repeat, it is important to understand that such thoughts are not your own. Any thought that inspires, motivates, or forces you to pursue a desire that detracts from your spiritual growth is logosmi. Any action resulting from logismoi is what we call ‘sin’. Such actions can be acts of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride, acedia (neglect to take care of something that one should do) or vainglory (narcissistic boasting) i.e. the seven ‘deadly’ sins. They are ‘deadly’ because they destroy one’s spiritual advancement and make you a slave to material existence. They are, of course, in contrast to those qualities that (generally) reflect spiritual advancement: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, gratitude, and especially, humility.
Logismoi manifests as a process, or progression, of thoughts which, if one exerts control over such thoughts, can be overcome and ultimately defeated – both in the moment and in the future if one is consistent enough waging this battle. Spiritual progress is hard work, as logismoi is something that “comes with the package” of being human. Some might argue that such are “natural” therefore justifying obedience to wherever such logosmi and the resulting succumbing to passion leads oneself. This is a lie – it is itself logismoi.
Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica Monastery said, your thoughts determine your life. If you entertain destructive thoughts, you will bring hardship upon yourself. If you exercise positive thoughts, you add love and well being to humanity. It’s that simple. Your ability to fight logismoi is weakened through fear.
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought:it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him,as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him,like a shadow that never leaves him.”The Dhammapada
An Orthodox Priest of Mount Athos, Greece, Fr. Maximos, is quoted extensively on the subject of logismoi in Kyriakos Markides’ book, Mountain of Silence. Fr. Maximos describes five stages of logismoi as detailed in the teachings of the Fathers of the Church. Understanding how logismoi works upon your mind provides you the tools necessary to overcome. These stages are:
–[ 1 ]–
Assault – the logismoi first attacks a person’s mind
–[ 2 ]–
Interaction – a person opens up a dialogue with the logismoi
–[ 3 ]–
Consent – a person consents to do what the logismoi urges him to do
–[ 5 ]–
Defeat – a person becomes hostage to the logismoi and finds it more difficult to resist
–[ 6 ]–
Passion or Obsession – the logismoi becomes an entrenched reality within the nous of a person
Fr. Maximos explains that no sin is committed until the stage of Consent. However he warns that if a person is of weak temperament, they are unlikely to be able to resist the logismoi at the Interaction stage.
Fr. Maximos teaches that the best way to combat logismoi is to be indifferent, to ignore them. Prayer, such as a mantram, can be used to combat logismoi, but only when not overcome by fear.
On the subject of fear, I want to share what Rudolf Steiner has to say:
“There are beings in the spiritual realms for whom anxiety and fear emanating from human beings offer welcome food. When humans have no anxiety and fear, then these creatures starve. People not yet sufficiently convinced of this statement could understand it to be meant comparatively only. But for those who are familiar with this phenomenon, it is a reality. If fear and anxiety radiates from people and they break out in panic, then these creatures find welcome nutrition and they become more and more powerful. These beings are hostile towards humanity.
Everything that feeds on negative feelings, on anxiety, fear and superstition, despair or doubt, are in reality hostile forces in supersensible worlds, launching cruel attacks on human beings, while they are being fed. Therefore, it is above all necessary to begin with that the person who enters the spiritual world overcomes fear, feelings of helplessness, despair and anxiety. But these are exactly the feelings that belong to contemporary culture and materialism; because it estranges people from the spiritual world, it is especially suited to evoke hopelessness and fear of the unknown in people, thereby calling up the above mentioned hostile forces against them.”
~Rudolf Steiner
