Bokononism: a religion completely fabricated by Kurt Vonnegut in his book Cat's Cradle. To my knowledge there are no actual practicers of this religion; and yet it has some great ideas. The best works of fiction are the ones that leave a lasting impression, that inspire you to think differently about life. And Bokononism did this for me, so I'd like to share some of its principles; this will be a rare blog post in which most of what I write is not my own idea.
The central premise of the religion is the idea that God is working in each of us in ways that we will never understand. Nonetheless each of us has an important role to play. And none of is is alone; we are all part of a karass, which is a team of people working unknowingly together to achieve God's purposes. A karass ignores the typical boundaries of nation, institution, organization, family, and class. So if you find your life tangled up with somebody else's for no logical reason, that person might be a member of your karass.
"Oh a sleeping drunkard
Up in Central Park,
And a lion-hunter
In the jungle dark,
And a Chinese dentist,
And a British queen--
All fit together in the same machine.
Nice, nice, very nice;
Nice, nice, very nice;
Nice, nice, very nice;
So many different people
In the same device."
There are other people, ones not in your karass, whose purpose in your life is to steer you away from a given course of action. For instance, there is a nihilist in the story who completely destroys the narrator's apartment and kills his cat. It was this man's purpose to forever disenchant the narrator with notions of nihilism.
A key ritual of Bokononism is called Boko-maru, or the intermingling of souls. It is achieved when two people place the soles of their bare feet against each other's and share an intimate, peaceful moment in this position. It is not sexual in any way, yet creates a similar emotional intimacy through physical connection. People form bonds simply by sharing a quiet moment together, embracing in a unique way.
The last rites of the religion talk in large part about God's creation of man from mud, speaking of God's great power and man's comparative lowliness in beautifully humble terms. My favorite part: "The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that didn't even get to sit up and look around. I got so much, and most mud got so little."
It should be noted that several of the tenets of Bokononism are not included here because many are cynical, and therefore not particularly useful in my mind. Most of these deal with larger matters such as affairs of state. Seeing as the nation-state that practices the religion in the story is a complete failure, these tenets strike me as rather bad ideas.
Yet there are enough good ideas to merit me wanting to share them with those who would rather not read a whole book but don't mind reading my occasional 1-page posts. So here are a few more quotes and ideas that derive from Bokononism:
"She was a fool and so am I and so is anyone who thinks he sees what God is doing."
"Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."
How to answer yes to an inquiry about yourself: "That happiness is mine."
Example: Q: "Are you Zach Peters?!"
A: "That happiness is mine."
To want all of somebody's love is bad. Love is meant to be shared and spread.
"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
"Think of what a paradise this world would be if men were kind and wise."
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