by Travis Mateer

First, let me say I have a very low opinion of ANY religion that organizes itself beyond a personal relationship with the divine, so this post about SOME of the purveyors of eastern traditions shouldn’t be seen as a xenophobic attack on ALL adherents to eastern religious faiths, just the potentially sexually perverted and violently deranged ones, like Justin Sledge.

What, you thought this post was about the Dali Lama telling a young boy to suck his tongue? Sure, it’s what lots of people on social media are talking about right now, but the outrage against this MAN will eventually dissipate, while the supposed religious ideals he espouses lives on.

For context, here’s the type of Buddhism elevating this pervert, pictured above, to his semi-divine status:

Dalai Lama is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.[3] The 14th and current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso, who lives in exile as a refugee in India. The Dalai Lama is also considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed[2] to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara,[1] the Bodhisattva of Compassion.[4][5]

Another creep who uses an eastern philosophical approach to life is David Lynch, the Hollywood filmmaker who used his own daughter to write incest-porn. Lynch’s promotion of Transcendental Meditation includes his own organization, where TM is claimed to help everything from PTSD to nurses in hospitals dealing with Covid. Isn’t that cute?

Lest you think this is all just MALE exploration of perversion springing from the fantasies of the male mind, here’s two women discussing how much they LOVE the Secret Diary of Laura Palmer and all the fucked up stuff Lynch’s daughter, Jennifer, wrote.

If any of this bothers you, clearly you have too much attachment to the material world and could benefit from meditation. For those of you courageous enough to consider incest art, here’s an excerpt of these ladies discussing Lynch’s daughter’s book:

MEGAN: What was your favorite part? How many times do you think you’ve read it?

COURTNEY: I think I’ve read it five times. There’s that whole section of initials of all the people she fucked. Some of them you can guess—like the first, maybe 10? I could pick out from the list: obviously BOB. Bobby Briggs, the second one. Leo Johnson—

MEGAN: Ugh, which is so gross.

COURTNEY: So gross! That ponytail is disgusting!

MEGAN: And it’s low, and looks like he doesn’t wash it that often.

COURTNEY: And crusty. He’s probably doing sexy acts with it that aren’t sexy. That’s so disgusting.

MEGAN: And he’s a domestic abuser.

COURTNEY: Yeah, a real bad one. Jacques Renault’s gotta be on there somewhere.

MEGAN: Now he’s really gross.

COURTNEY: Super gross. At least I can see where he might be a little sexier. I don’t know why I think that. Something about how he talks is a little sexier—although it’s disgusting.

MEGAN: I guess at least he’s an entrepreneur? He has a business.

Was a high school relationship between a young man and his ex-girlfriend the impetus for a school shooting in Pearl, Mississippi? I ran across a fascinating Twitter thread from Bran (@leatherzaddy) going into some details about this old case. Here are the first three tweets:

This thread goes on to describe the group of friends Luke Woodham had before taking a rifle to school and opening fire, a group that included Justin Sledge. They even had a name for their group, “The Kroth”, and several members were arrested after the shooting.

I’ll get to why I find all this relevant in a moment, but first let’s take a look at what Justin Sledge is up to now, since ultimately his role in what happened on October 1st, 1997, in Pearl, Mississippi, didn’t result in any serious consequences.

What does this guy believe? Well, let’s consult his Theory of Pedagogy and glean what we can glean, shall we? From the link (emphasis mine):

Philosophy is a project of human liberation.  We stand as the solitary hitherto known  consciousness amongst a vast starry void and this rock is, for the time being, our only sanctuary in the mocking nuclear chaos.  Our foundational tool for beating back the cold vacuum is the quest for wisdom, begotten by awe.  Philosophy is a core tool for that ultimate liberation.  Yet, philosophers neither can nor should liberate others.  We must inculcate awe, forge relationships of investigation, and include others in this bewildering conversation started long before us.  The task of the philosopher is to grasp that my chains are only released by another with the questions we ask together.   

Philosophy is no amateur hobby nor should it be performed by academics alone.  The philosopher has the dual responsibility to acquire wisdom no matter how arcane and do the difficult work to make that vitally important wisdom accessible to all who seek it.  The philosopher cannot dwell in a remote forest, comfortable tenure, or moldering library forever.  I strive to take the works of titanic genius and share them in the classroom, in the study group, and at the pub.  I strive for that genius myself, no matter how short I may fall.

Philosophy must be inclusive, diverse, and violent.  It is a human project and that so many have been excluded from it is a scar of shame.  The philosopher must struggle against the petty, decadent, and temporal forces which render it the boring and irrelevant purview of the privileged elite.  Philosophy must not only change the world rather than interpret it, it must also change itself.  Philosophers who do not struggle against the oppressions of our epoch are complicit in them.  These diabolic vampires must be shown the light. 

On the surface, the points of emphasis don’t necessarily seem nefarious, but to my ears they are major red flags of an intelligence capable of dangerously dehumanizing other humans in the pursuit of knowledge, an intelligence that could justify any manner of depravity if it offers the possibility of leading to some greater understanding of the universe.

With this in mind, here are a few more tweets:

Let’s now move on from the rabbit hole where Sledge searches for arcane knowledge to the Garden of 1,000 Buddahs in Arlee, Montana, where a lot more is brewing than just a battle over a gravel pit.

For some context on the founder of this buddha garden, the Missoulian article pictured below is good place to start, if you like meaningless fluff.

From the link (emphasis mine):

A basic principle of Buddhist meditation holds that good things rise out of confusion, if you give yourself the freedom not to force them forward.

As Linda Pritzker pursued her interest in Buddhism, that idea propelled her much further than she expected. It transformed her from someone who couldn’t talk about the time of day with her Tibetan teachers to someone who’s authored a book on meditation with a forward written by the Dalai Lama.

This is a great philosophy for someone who derived money from the Pritzker family business ethic, or lack thereof. From the link (emphasis mine):

The Pritzkers have a long history of business malfeasance at the expense of people of modest means. In one notable case, Congress passed legislation in 2003 to address issues raised by widespread charges that the Pritzker’s credit rating agency, TransUnion, had made serious flaws in its credit reports on individuals — and then failed to correct them upon discovery.

But perhaps the most infamous and pernicious Pritzker abuse of power was the Superior Bank scandal, a predatory subprime mortgage securitization racket that led to the failure of Superior Bank in 2001 and prefigured the 2008 crash.

Penny Pritzker played a leading, decision-making role in the lead-up to the failure, which ultimately lost 1,400 depositors an estimated $10 million and cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation approximately half a billion dollars. After the Pritzkers and a family friend took over a failed suburban Chicago bank on very favorable terms in 1988, they began aggressively pursuing high-interest, high-risk subprime loans. They were able to repackage the loans in securities given an investment grade, Anderson says, because they promised to replace any failed mortgage with a good one. But as they pumped out profits for themselves, they eventually failed to live up to their promises, including a pledge to invest more capital.

Bert Ely, a prominent bank consultant, says that Superior Bank ​“was a really sleazy operation” and ​“pretty gross.” The bank essentially told others in the business to ​“bring us your crappiest loans you’ve got and we’ll securitize them.”

Again, if this bothers you, try non-attachment to the material world through mediation. Or, if that doesn’t work, try this:

If you appreciate my work, Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) continues seeking donations, and recently received a timely $500 donation. Thank you! There’s also the donation button at my about page.

Thank you for reading!