Books You Should Read: Pronoia Is The Antidote For Paranoia
[ 17 March 2010 ]
Books you should read: Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
Why?
Other than the fact that this is one of very few books I have bought twice (my other copy is in New Zealand & I needed to get my fingers all over it again!), this is the opener.
The Experiment
OBJECTIVE: To explore the secrets of becoming a wildly disciplined, fiercely tender, ironically sincere, scrupulously curious, aggressively sensitive, blasphemously reverent, lyrically logical, lustfully compassionate Master of Rowdy Bliss.
DEFINITION: Pronoia is the antidote for paranoia. It’s the understanding that the universe is fundamentally friendly. It’s a mode of training your senses & intellect so you’re able to perceive the fact that life always gives you exactly what you need, exactly when you need it.
HYPOTHESES: Evil is boring. Cynicism is idiotic. Fear is a bad habit. Despair is lazy. Joy is fascinating. Love is an act of heroic genius. Pleasure is your birthright. Receptivity is a superpower.
PROCEDURE: Act as if the universe is a prodigious miracle created for your amusement & illumination. Assume that secret helpers are working behind the scenes to assist you in turning into the gorgeous masterpiece you were born to be. Join the conspiracy to shower all of creation with blessings.
GUIDING QUESTION: “The secret of life,” said sculptor Henry Moore to poet Donald Hall, “is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for your whole life. & the most important thing is — it must be something you cannot possibly do.” What is that task for you?
UNDIGNIFIED MEDITATIONS TO KEEP YOU HONEST: Brag about what you can’t do & don’t have. Confess profound secrets to people who aren’t particularly interested. Pray for the success of your enemies while you’re making love. Change your name every day for a thousand days.
MYTHIC ROLE MODELS: Prometheus & Pronoia. In Greek mythology, Pronoia was the consort of Prometheus, the divine rebel who pilfered a glowing coal from his fellow gods so that he could slip the gift of fire to humans.
TOP-SECRET ALLIES: Sacred janitors, benevolent pranksters, apathy debunkers, lyrical logicians, ethical outlaws, aspiring masters of curiosity, homeless millionaires, humble megalomaniacs, hedonistic midwives, lunatic saints, sly optimists, mystical scientists, dissident bodhisattvas, macho feminists, & socialist libertarians who possess inside information about the big bang.
DAILY PRACTICE: Push hard to get better, become smarter, grow your devotion to the truth, fuel your commitment to beauty, refine your emotional intelligence, hone your dreams, negotiate with your shadow, cure your ignorance, shed your pettiness, heighten your drive to look for the best in people, & soften your heart — even as you always accept yourself for exactly who you are with all of your so-called imperfections.
POSSIBLE REWARDS: You will be able to claim the rewards promised you at the beginning of time — not just any old beauty, wisdom, goodness, love, freedom, & justice, but rather: exhilarating beauty that incites you to be true to yourself; crazy wisdom that immunizes you against the temptation to believe your ideals are ultimate truths; outrageous goodness that inspires you to experiment with irrepressible empathy; generous freedom that keeps you alert for opportunities to share your wealth; insurrectionary love that endlessly transforms you; & a lust for justice that’s leavened with a knack for comedy, keeping you honest as you work humbly to liberate everyone in the world from ignorance & suffering.
USAGE NOTE: We employ the adjectival form “pronoiac” rather than “pronoid”. That way, it rhymes with “aphrodisiac” & resonates with “paradisiacal” instead of being conditioned by “paranoid”.
DISCLAIMER: Material in this book may be too intense & controversial for some readers. It contains graphic scenes of peace, love, joy, passion, reverence, splendor, & understanding. You will not find any references to harsh, buzzing fluorescent lights in a cheap hotel room where a heroin dealer plots to get revenge against the authorities at his old high school by releasing sarin gas into the teachers’ lounge.
There are no reports of Nazi skinheads obsessed with re-creating the 14th-century Tartars’ war strategy of catapulting plague-ridden corpses into an enemy’s citadel. Completely absent from these pages are any stories about a psychotic CEO of a Fortune 500 company who has intentionally disfigured his face to elude the CIA, which wants to arrest him for the treasonous sale of his company’s nanotech weapons technology to the Chinese.
You should therefore proceed with caution if you are a jaded hipster who is suspicious of feeling healthy & happy. Ask yourself: “Am I ready to stop equating cynicism with insight? Do I dare take the risk that exposing myself to uplifting entertainment might dull my intelligence?” If you doubt your ability to handle relaxing breakthroughs, you should close the book now.
This book needs to be on your bookshelf, beside your bed, on your coffee table & slid under couch cushions for safe-keeping. Other than Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia, you can read (much) more of Rob Brezny’s work at Free Will Astrology.
(I am thinking of doing more regular book recommendations & reviews — let me know if you’re into it!)
Love & love & love,
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What a happy book. Cheers, Gala. I think we could all do with transforming into a ‘compassionate Master of Rowdy Bliss’!
I’m into it! I remember a while ago you reccomended a series of novels (or something? It’s been a few years…) that you really loved, & while I didn’t actually remember to go out & read it, it did get me excited about books, which is always a good thing. Sometimes, in my busy life, I forget about books, & it’s so nice to have a reminder & an excuse to go visit my beautiful library.
Wow, I felt a quick tinge of…fear maybe? as I was reading, quickly followed by an intense urge to want to know everything I could about this new way of thinking….whew! I can’t wait to get this book :)
As usual, you NEVER disappoint…thank you!!!
I have this book. It’s amazing. Very helpful. He made an expanded one and I may have to buy it even though my copy is only 1 year old.
It’s excellent advice and helpful in feeling good just being yourself.
Def into the Book reviews. Ordering this one ASAP!
Wow, I’ll try to check out that book then! Thanks for the recommendation, Darling! :)
Oh, Gala, have you by any chance read Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? I am amazed by that book… One of the best things I’ve ever read and discovered in my life since Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and Influence People. My whole life is definitely benefiting from it. I feel it’s so worth reading. I prefer that book over Dale Carnegie’s book, oh my goodness…!
Right now, I’m planning to read Eckhart Tolle’s books…
I also have lots of other books I’d like to recommend, especially self-improvement ones! :D I am so into book recommendations too! Let me know if you’re interested in hearing my recommendations!
Yes to book reviews! I’m always looking for something to read (or listen to, in audiobook form) lately, being tv-less (and technically internet-less, but bless whichever neighbor has the unsecure connection), plus days at my job are kind of slow, so it gives me something to do!!
Sounds good! DEFINITELY into you doing more book recommendations!
Book reviews every now and then would be rad. Especially considering the fact that facebook, twitter, and the internet are taking over our lives. It’s always good to OG things like reading.
In love & sequins 1, you suggest/advise spending time alone with yourself (no music, no internet, etc.) and I fee like reading a book is a perfect way to practice this meditation cause it’s just you and your thoughts.
j’ai peur de devenir un adulte sans reves
M
I’ve wanted to read this book for a while now. Glad you think it’s worth the read!
this is definitely a great idea. please keep giving book reviews!!!
Love book reviews, do lots of them!
It’s cool to see book reviews but the point of this book was 100% lost on me by the end of the intro. Is this like The Secret or more like a self-help psych book or does it have to do with astrology? I’m so confused. :\
On the other hand, I would totally read about anyone, skinheads or no, launching plague-ridden corpses at citadels. Sounds like a Renn Faire on steroids!
It sounds very interesting! I’m tragically paranoid not so much “the world is out to get me” sense but more “i’m absolutely convinced i’m in the men’s room” way. Do more book reviews please. i really value your opinion on spiritual things such as this.
-Vee
this book sounds quite amazing, and YES YES YES to more book reviews ;-}
Another resounding YES! for more book reviews, Gala! And a big THANK YOU for spreading the happy & positive.. it seems like you always post what I need to hear when I’m having a bad day. You snap me right out of it! :)
I’m definitely lusting for more book reviews & suggestions! xx
i’ve just been reading this too! it’s synchronicity! i also love getting his free will astrology newsletters! positivity in my inbox!
Sounds interesting.
I’d really like more book reviews as I’m always looking for new things to read!
I think it’d be nice if you included lots of different genres tho rather than just spirituality :)
Whoa, definitely have to pick this up.
Yay! I love Rob… and I’m also dying to know who won the polyvore contest? I have a pronoiac feeling about it .. oh please the suspense is killing me. Have you announced it elsewhere and I just did not see?
It sounds like a super uplifting read. I may just have to seek this puppy out.
Just a random thought: the cover shown above, (I don’t know if there are other covers floating about the world) does not, at all, reflect the tone of the work inside. If I hadn’t seen a review of this book, I wouldn’t even pick it up to read the blurb. The writing style is fun, funny and joyful but the cover makes it appear like its about cults or ancient religions or something. It’s just interesting what choices publishers make.
What do you guys think?
Pretty please keep doing book recommendations :)
All I can say is that this changed my life.
I bought that for my sister over Christmas, then stole it back and read the whole thing in a few hours. :)
I would like to point out though, this wasn’t exactly a review, it was just an excerpt from the book. However I would really like some good book reviews!!!
this one sounds a bit kooky for me. I’ll still give it a read though.
oh and a definite YES to the book recommendations. keep’em coming.
much love,
vanilla
Gala. I haven’t gotten ANYTHING from you in over a week! I decided to get on your site and check it out and you have indeed been posting stuff…HELP! I think the newsletter may have messed up and is no longer sending everything out.
My e-mail is frodoismycat@hotmail.com hope the problem is fixed soon.
Looks like a good book i think “Nonviolent communication a language of life” by Marshall Rosenberg would be a cool one to have on the coffee table along with this one
re more book reviews – I’m into it. Thank you :)
This is my favorite book! I didn’t know there was a new edition… off to Amazon to get a second copy!
“Completely absent from these pages are any stories about a psychotic CEO of a Fortune 500 company who has intentionally disfigured his face to elude the CIA, which wants to arrest him for the treasonous sale of his company’s nanotech weapons technology to the Chinese.”
lol
i love books, and would love to know more about some good ones about psychology, fanstasy, meditation, comedy, joy, ones that will inspire and make me think etc…
Book recommendations would be cool. You can tell a lot about a person by what’s on their bookshelf, and it’d be cool to learn what’s in yours (physically or metaphorically, if you haven’t got an actual bookshelf).
I would love to see book recommendations. Writers are always avid readers, so I’d love to see what inspires and intrigues you.
Book reviews would be lovely, if they spanned the genres a little … there is only so much reading about internal well-being that one can take! This particular book is not something I would generally pick up for myself (the self-conscious and contrived lists of objectives and allies etc. had me yawning) but it definitely fascinating to see what other folk are into and what they line their bookshelves with!
“You should therefore proceed with caution if you are a jaded hipster who is suspicious of feeling healthy & happy. Ask yourself: ‘Am I ready to stop equating cynicism with insight? Do I dare take the risk that exposing myself to uplifting entertainment might dull my intelligence?’”
SOLD!
I’m diggin’ the idea of more book reviews, I say go for it! :) And I’ll definitely have to try and get my hands on this one, it totally sounds like my kind of book. xx
You should do a review on Tennessee William’s play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. I’d love to hear what you say about it :D
i’m definitely getting a copy!
Definately into it! Sounds Stellar :)
I LOVE book recommendations! Please Gala Darling, please make them a regular part of your blog! Perhaps monthly? It would be the greatest thing ever! :)
Yes, definately into the book reviews! Some fiction books woulde be great, too.
“Evil is boring. Cynicism is idiotic. Fear is a bad habit. Despair is lazy. Joy is fascinating. Love is an act of heroic genius. Pleasure is your birthright. Receptivity is a superpower.”
That made me not want to read the book. Cynicism dismissed as idiotic? Cynicism encourages greater transparency & researched opinion. Despair is lazy? Really?
To dismiss any emotion that is not positive is to not expose oneself to the full human experience. Highs are exemplified and we gain greater appreciation when we have the rest of the spectrum of human emotion to compare and acknowledge. Awareness and conscious living is far great than false happiness. Just my 2 cents.
@ Kate: I completely agree. We need skepticism and cynicism in order to prevent ourselves falling for every new-age woo out there. These things help to keep us in touch with reality.
I also worry about the idea that the universe is ‘a prodigious miracle created for your amusement & illumination’. This might encourage a very self-centred egotistical view of life. if we believe that the universe is FOR us, is always going to help us out, then we are ill-equipped to deal with any negative life events, as they simply do not fit into this schema. Yet negative things do happen.
Try telling the victims of the Haiti quake that the universe is friendly and created for our amusement.
This ‘thinking’ is merely religion-lite, and we could do with a lot less of it.
into it! more please!
Books are my life, so, you know, I can dig it.
This is EXACTLY what I need in my life right now.
I have this book and I ADORE it!!! I am gonna move back to Germany in June and though my luggage allowance is pretty darn meager, I will surely carry it with me. Looking forward to your book recommendations!!
wow, i’m actually going to go get this book. can’t believe i’ve missed it this long! thank you!
xoxo
wonderfully written!
i’ll definately be reading that book!
& YES to more book reviews :D
Oh please yes! i’d love more reviews!
I don’t know if you are looking for suggestions on books, but one of my favorite books in the whole world is Ram Dass’s Remember, Be Here Now www.amazon.com/Remember
oh my god i want this book!!
“Evil is boring. Cynicism is idiotic. Fear is a bad habit. Despair is lazy. Joy is fascinating. Love is an act of heroic genius. Pleasure is your birthright. Receptivity is a superpower.”
I have to say that I also have some major issues with these rather glib statements. For one thing, cynicism might not always be terribly productive, but isn’t it really just another form of idealism? Aren’t cynics simply idealists who are disappointed that the world is not always as ideal as it could be? That isn’t idiocy, really. And being too consumed with fear to fully experience your life is not a good thing, but fear also keeps us safe sometimes. There is a reason for it. As for despair being lazy…I suspect there are innumerable people struggling with serious depression and related issues who might take issue with that. My own depressive issues are not debilitating, and even I take issue with that.
I’m sure he has some very great things to say, but frankly the glibness and triteness of that intro makes me almost not care if he does.
I think im gonna read this…
I’ve recently started having to deal with panic attacks and am slowly accepting that my issues with depression arent over as i thought. And the fact i thought i was magically fine is probably just because i was in the upper part of a mild bipolar. So.
I also have to say that i have to agree with the above comment from Miss B…but I’d still like to read this book :)
And for more regular books suggestions, personally i would love it! :)
Book reviews are a great idea. I am always looking for something other than novels to read. and i never know where to look or who to ask for suggestions. i love the idea of you doing book reviews. please do. ;D
i love books too and 100% dig the idea of a recurring book review post xx
yes please!!!
I’ve been meaning to read this for awhile but its been on the back burner…this post reminded me that I should get on it!
As for the “Evil is boring. Cynicism is idiotic. Fear is a bad habit. Despair is lazy.” line, I can see where people are coming from. They’re all important qualities and ones that we can’t live without, but a lot of people take it too far. They act cynically when there is no reason to, assume the worst in people, harbor negative feelings, and feel unnecessary fearfulness. (Such as one Vee’s unfounded “Men’s Bathroom” fear.) I think that the line is not meant to inspire a life free of all negative emotions, but to limit the unessential ones.
Sounds like a book I need to read. I’m going to request it from the library right now!
Definitely do more book reviews!
yay for book reviews!
keep’em coming
this one sounds amazing. right now I’m reading A return to love by Marianne Williamson and it’s great
This is perfect! I (unfortunately) have finished my “to-do” list of books to read and was searching for a new one! I ordered it now and am anxiously awaiting it’s arrival :3 Please continue to do book reviews!! xo
ADORE THIS POST. IN LOVE WITH THE MESSAGE. Please do more! Thx.
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