The Underground Man

“It is no use protesting: it is a case of twice makes four! Nature does not ask your permission, she has nothing to do with your wishes, and whether you like her laws or dislikes them, you are bound to accept her as she is, and consequently all her conclusions” Dostoevsky

The Underground ManResentment is the number one offender that destroys more alcoholics than anything else.

When a noble man feels resentment, Nietzsche says, “he acts and does not brood upon it, hence it does not poison him. But the man who is in bondage lets resentment fester inside until he has the smell of failure, of a soul that has gone stale”.

Both the addict ruled by his substance and the co-addict ruled by the need to project the shadow onto others to control and judge them are bound in resentment.

Case of James - Epitomizing the Underground Man

Qualities of the underground man

Feelings of inadequacy–set apart from–social awkwardness

Feelings of terminal uniqueness

Sour feelings about the world

Victim mentality/drinking one’s sorrows away

Double consciousness–a brilliant perceptive critic/cynical drunkard

The drunkard or underground man is split and caught in denial

Psychology of Undergroundarian Suffering

Suffering the conflict of opposites inside

Feel the split of wanting to be part of / not wanting to be

Thus we are all experiencing the human condition, “but will I allow others to truly understand me”

Drop the gig of no one understands me

I can embrace the world and allow my self to be successful in the world

Integrating spite - pull from the divine - embody ego and spirit

Need to let go of my enjoyment of pain

We Must Remind Ourselves that...

We appear to have the strange paradox to choose destruction and resentment

Can you recall at time when you revelled in your resentment, felt its sting, knew it was bad or harmful to you, but you acted ignorantly anyway ---

What the hell is that?

The Addictive Paradox

Rebellion against control, but we lose control and our rebellion to our addiction

However, the normal man is just as deluded and lives inauthentically because is not aware of these dark raging forces, or denies them in himself, thinking they can control them through reason and sheer willpower

The addict who removes denial, lives in the tension of opposites, knows they cannot control their addiction alone - and thus,

Lives the paradox of temptation, learns to trust existence, living each moment of paradox by paradox

Summing up the Underground Man

The Underground Man can kill creativity and keep us from embracing life and bringing our creative acts into the world

It stops us from seeking support, love, and guidance

Essentially, its the rejecting figure in our psyche

However, we must remember the that Underground Man has an energy that can be positive, creative, allowing ourselves to break out of normalcy / conformity

Summing Up ContinuedIt is a burning fire that spawns revolutions, new era’s, and discoveries

Spiritually this process cannot or should not be bypassed

A Kabirian Ending