Antero Alli is a visionary playwright, actor, author and cultural and media trance breaker. His new Eight-Circuit Brain model and book empower individuals to diagnose the internal and external conditions of their lives and through a commitment to their own growth and the tools presented in the book, become conscious of, and resolve, what isn’t working for them. This interview represents one of the most profound and thought provoking I’ve had the privilege of conducting since this blog began.
NPD: Thank you Antero for taking the time to do this interview. I have spent days reading your book and have been inspired by the depth of your writing. I wonder if we might set the context for the interview with two questions: With most of my interviews I ask about the path to my subject’s present work. In your case, I encourage readers to purchase a copy of your book and read it for themselves because it i s so interesting and unusual but I wonder if there is one of your many life “shocks” you might care to share that was a standout or simply one example of a catalyst to your Eight-Circuit brain model and Paratheatre?
Thanks Jeff. I’m happy to respond to your questions. First I must explain what I mean by “shock”, as this term is commonly misunderstood and even associated with dread, fear, and pain. Shock, as I see it, refers to any exposure of our naiveté to the actual existing conditions of our lives that may be obscured by the buffers of our assumptions, beliefs, concepts, dogmas, and moralities. Sometimes, these exposures can be sudden and sometimes, they are gradual; shocks can be violent and they can be gentle. The types of shocks addressed in my book, THE EIGHT-CIRCUIT BRAIN, address the exposure of ego-naivete to the objective truths of Ecstasy, Uncertainty, Indivisibility and Impermanence through whatever forms and circumstances they might manifest. I view these four types of shocks as evolutionary triggers capable of awakening the sleeping or naive ego to more truth about ourselves, each other, and the world we live in.
Real life shocks arrive all the time and in a variety of forms and velocities. From falling in love to sudden evictions to financial windfalls to the loss of loved ones, real life shocks often manifest through circumstances well beyond our control and comprehension. I must say that I don’t see shocks as a negative or positive event. If shocks are viewed as negative then we take on a paranoid assumption that the cosmos is out to get or burn us. If shocks are viewed as only positive then we take on a narcissistic bias assuming the cosmos is out to bless or praise us. I see shocks ultimately as neutral in nature. I think how we respond to our shocks is what generates positive or negative energy. I also think that how we respond to the various shocks in our lives may be more important and self-defining than any given shock itself.
My first catalyst with the circuit model came in 1979 while reading Robert Anton Wilson’s groundbreaking book, “COSMIC TRIGGER”, and then soon afterward, in Timothy Leary’s opus, “EXO-PSYCHOLOGY” (later updated to “INFO-PSYCHOLOGY”). Though I was inspired by the brilliant theories of both authors, I felt something important was missing in the application of their ideas. As an instinctual type of person with a deep background in theatre and ritual, I took it upon myself to revision the 8-circuit model by devising ways to access and experience the realities and states of consciousness that the circuits merely symbolized. I also wanted to find ways of doing this without the intake of any drugs. Between 1980 and 1985, I got busy with creating and testing a series of rituals, exercises, meditations, and tasks to realize this purpose.
After five years of active research I wrote my first book, ANGEL TECH, which was published by The Original Falcon Press in 1986 (the book is currently in its ninth printing). This research produced its own hard-earned catalysts that led me to eventually share them with the world. Curious readers can read more on my personal shocks, including my initiation into Paratheatre, in Section Four of THE EIGHT-CIRCUIT BRAIN, entitled, “How I Got This Way”, in the chapter called “A Neurological Autobiography: A Personal Chronology of Outside Shocks and Hedonic Upgrades”.
NPD: Would you share your sense of this moment in history and how your work fits into the transformation and evolution of the individual and by extension the culture?
My sense of this moment in history is one of suspense and accelerating uncertainty, and since these comprise two primary catalysts for any truly creative state, I sense this moment in history carrying great potential for optimal creativity. Admittedly, this perception is biased by a deep optimism informed by decades of writing and producing original work for theatre and film. My optimism for modern culture at large and for society, however, has vanquished into a misanthropic horror.
As I see it, society as an entity has gone stark raving mad. The lowest common denominator of society — the consumerist culture — has succumbed to a mass hallucination of entitlement, fed and maintained by excessive materialism and soul-deadening greed, archaic religious beliefs and toxic guilt, government deceptions and immobilizing fear. I see modern culture as a cul-de-sac, a dead end. The problems of society cannot be solved by the same mindset that created them in the first place. I see a sick society in desperate need of healing yet I do not see how society is set up to heal itself. To begin this healing, a radical transformation of the mind — at the level of the individual — must occur.
I admit to having zero ambitions to change or save the world. I am also not here to contribute to society. In fact, I no longer care what happens to society. However, I do care deeply about the individual. I am here to support the individual in restoring the lost capacity for direct firsthand experience as a primary source of integrity, autonomy, and authority. I view anything less as walking backwards into the nightmare of history from which we all struggle to awaken. If there is to be any real transformation, I think it must happen within the individual first and then, through clusters of such self-governing entities — evolutionary agents — discovering and designing new models of intimacy, collaboration, and collective life that honors the integrity of the individual. Since I have no political agendas, beyond the body politic of each person to define themselves, I suppose I am suggesting a kind of spiritual anarchy. Define yourself or be defined, I say.
They say there is a war in heaven. My overall sense of this historical moment is that everything is simultaneously rising and falling, going down the toilet and ascending into higher consciousness, being destroyed by war and being redeemed by cultivating peace within. Everything is happening at the same time, isn’t it? The highest degree of consciousness is accessible within the individual, just as the lowest degree of consciousness avails itself in the herd. How we, as individuals, can wake up and learn to live with more truth about ourselves, amidst a society gone mad, may depend on how much compassion we can show our selves and each other. Truth alone will not set us free. Truth without compassion, looks and feels like cruelty to me. True transformation begins with vanquishing self-denial while embracing total self-acceptance. This kind of total radical action cannot occur without courage and a whole lot of heart. Continue Reading »
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