No Mentors. No Contemporaries.

A man goes through his entire life in a state of need.

He seeks validation from all manner of sources.

When he is an unknown, he seeks validation from the masses.

When he becomes known, he seeks validation from his lofty group of peers.

He joins groups. He attends social events. He rubs elbows and hobnobs.

All the while, at the mercy of fluctuating degrees of need.

The idea of mentors is overblown.

A mentor can only tell you of his own experience.

This experience is fraught with X-parts wisdom and X-parts luck.

It is impossible to differentiate one from another.

When almost any man attempts to advise, he “sums things up.”

He “distills” what is fundamentally complex things into a “tenet to follow” or a “rule of thumb” to adhere to.

One-half multiplied by one-half yields a quarter.

The idea of having no contemporaries is rarely discussed.

In fact, it is never discussed at all.

Competition only exists between individuals of equal skill.

If one man has a skill equal to others . . .

If he has contemporaries . . .

Then he has not found The Truth.

He has not stretched his craft to its outer-most reaches.

He has not refined it into a sufficiently fine powder.

I have no interest in convincing anyone of these things.

I write them because they overflow within me.

I write them because I have no choice but to write.

What do I recommend you do?

This is what I recommend:

Do nothing that I say.

This is my sincerest recommendation.

Do not agree with me.

Do not imbibe my teachings.

I am a madman.

I have no idea what it is that I am saying.

It does not last long, but I must admit that I am bothered when someone agrees with me.

The one who “agrees” with me has not heard a word I said.

I have no interest in other people’s opinions.

For I have no interest in my own.

As for contemporaries, why should a man have any contemporaries if he seeks The Ultimate?

Each man is endowed with his own DNA, his own drives and passions. Why should he have any equal?

The only way that man can have an equal is if he subscribes to the notion of competition.

Why should there be a “group” of ANY kind?

It is only when a man stands alone that he is on the firmest ground.

For then he will not have compromised.

He will not have regressed to the mean.

He will not have taken a file and softened the edges of his masterpiece in an attempt to trade a sense of loneliness for camaraderie and belonging.

Rare is the man who does not compromise. No matter how successful he may be.

For standing alone in the wilds of Antarctica is a daunting prospect.

It is not for the faint of heart.

To my eye, the only category is the one that a man Creates.

Without a human for miles in any direction.

Rabidly alone.

In deafening silence.

A light unto himself.

Namaste.