Journeys in Space: Branson, Bezos, and Musk - Revolutionaries or Blind Mice?
Yoga Connections
It's the question on my lips when I watch Branson, Bezos, and Musk compete for Space Tourism or the Amusement Park for the 1%. Branson's tickets go for over $250,000, and so far has collected over $80 million.
I can't help but imagine what that money could do towards positive social change, but that's my trip. Bezos and Musk made major public contributions in 2020 and 2021 to climate change, feeding the hungry, and education. With the proper media support, they became renowned philanthropists almost overnight. Post-launch, Bezos made public his next philanthropic donation with more media support. It came off as an intentional strategy and tactic to placate the public. At least he's conscious of who feeds his coffers and how quickly those people could pull their spending and ground his dreams.
My American Dream tape got disrupted with the study and practice of Iyengar Yoga, and now I’m trying to rewrite it in profound places. In a recent article in The Week, author Damon Linker wrote:
One way to understand the growing popularity of Yoga and other Eastern forms of spirituality in our time is as a reaction to the unhappiness of living in a constant state of agitation, always moving forward, seeking a state of solace or sense of accomplishment that never seems to arrive. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk reach for the stars for that reason as much as any other.
Damon brings up the idea of Bezos and Musk's "Promethean impulse" as well as our own. He begs the question, should we keep striving farther outward or move inward? Iyengar Yoga teaches from the periphery to the core and vice versa. I've seen enough science videos to know the awe of outer space or inner space is not that different. The Hermetics seem to agree. Revolutionary events can happen either way. The difference is that a personal inward journey doesn't make the papers. No one knows you are doing it. The good thing is going inward, you don't care who knows, and you can experience a lot more peace.
The Promethean strivers can never rest. They have to keep striving towards the stars to avoid the Existential void and make themselves feel something. The inward movers learn they don't need to go for sensation, so emptiness becomes welcomed. It creates room to be filled with grace and gratitude, which brings light on the simple things: nature, humanity, the breath, and the trillions of cells working diligently to create the body's well-being.
Inward movers awaken parts of themselves and help others see through the illusions that keep Promethean strivers like Branson, Bezos, and Musk tethered to the wheel and blind to what's below, beside, or within them. What they seek is fulfillment through desires beyond them, which by definition will, time and time again, remain just out of reach.