Introduction to the Doctrine of the Divine Revolution of Catastrophe

"Humanity must be surpassed by strength, by height of soul, by contempt..."

— Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist

In this introductive chapter, the foundational tenets of the Divine Revolution of Catastrophe are unveiled—a radical, antinomian doctrine born from personal trauma and cosmic vision. Rejecting anthropocentrism, collective illusions, and conventional morality, the text calls upon the solitary individual to embrace radical individualism, navigate the entropic decay of existence, and cultivate an inner, invincible light amidst gathering cosmic darkness.

Some thirty years have passed—and I will soon be more than double the age I was then—since the vision of a general course of world events completely possessed me, shook me, and permanently directed my pursuits and actions. From this temporal vantage point, that idea seems naive, yet I now see its power in a clearer light. During my student days, I was exposed to a traumatic event to which my mind responded by forming a single, destructive thought that encompassed the entire universe. Driven by the energy of that trauma, I wished for the end of humanity, realizing that something is fundamentally wrong with human beings and that they can by no means be repaired. Perhaps rare individuals can be, but not the human race as a whole.

To reinforce that thought, I set out to find arguments to support it. I then arranged those arguments into a structured order and thus outlined a doctrine. In the meantime, I infused it with initial energy by linking it with the energy of something I might call immanent fateful forces, given that the trauma had bound me to them. Thus was born the worldview that stands behind a specific esoteric revolutionary action known as the Divine Revolution of Catastrophe.

The intention of the revolution so named is neither noble nor progressive, but corrective. I had a clear vision of the arrival of a corrective force that would destroy humanity, yet still grant a fraction of a chance to those who do not hesitate. The bearers of this corrective force I named the revolutionaries of catastrophe. It would be overly pretentious to claim that my role in all of this is prophetic; rather, I would say I act here more as a propagandist. One might say my role is to warn people of the arrival of these revolutionaries of catastrophe, but at the same time, disgusted by the human element, I long for that arrival. Thus, I do not claim that I somehow summoned this force and its actors; rather, in the flash of trauma, they revealed themselves to me.

The fundamental premise of the revolution is that the world is dying because it is in its nature to do so. Catastrophes—whether natural or human-made—are part of the system of the world in which we live. The fundamental forces holding the universe together tend toward mutual separation, having been driven into the current order by a higher will whose essence I shall omit from this discussion, as wise minds have dealt with that topic for centuries. I will only say that this higher will established the world and then abandoned it to its natural outcome, which, in the view of the revolution, is decomposition into constituent elements belonging to entirely different energies. This rule holds true on both the micro and macro levels. It is important to emphasize that this does not refer to nuclear or other forces known and understood by the parameters of modern science; rather, it is a thoroughly subjective view of the world's structure. From the stance I take, it is irrelevant whether my views align with or diverge from generally accepted viewpoints—which are supposedly objective, having been comprehended through scientific, empirical, and measurable methods. Likewise, my worldview diverges from the horizons of religious doctrine. The standards of my objectivity are different. My method is not scientific, nor is my goal religious.

One of the key rules of the revolution is the rejection of other people's viewpoints, interpretations, and truths simply because they belong to others. Someone might say that truth is singular and that multiple truths cannot exist; yet I would oppose such a stance by asserting that my will shapes what is truth for me, and I do not care if it conflicts with the truth of many or even all other people. I can adopt the position that other people do not actually exist, and therefore their viewpoints—and consequently what they proclaim to be truth—are void. As a doctrine, the Divine Revolution of Catastrophe entirely denies the significance of the existence of other people and the human species as a whole. The fact that I am incarnated as a human being points to my own delusion regarding the nature of what I am. Just as other people do not exist, neither do I exist; for they are not human, nor am I human, nor do they possess a selfhood, nor is my selfhood real. Revolution is the path of liberating consciousness from the conditionings of reality. Paradoxically, the path of revolution is not the search for truth or for some higher or more real reality, but the systematic denial of any reality whatsoever, and thereby of truth itself. Reality can be real only if it is illusory.

Let us return again to the nature of the constituent elements of the universe. The perspective I adopt indicates that the universe is composed of two primary opposing forces. The nature of one is chaos, and the other cosmos. One is light, the other darkness. One is yang, the other yin. The higher will shaped the patterns of their mixing and intertwining so that together they form the universe, both in things and phenomena that are infinitely large and infinitely small. Cosmogenesis is a grand mixing of two substances that exist separately in their isolated forms—though by the standards of rational objectivity, that existence cannot be real, and thus that property could be denied to it, but this does not fundamentally alter matters. The cosmocratic will displaced substance from a completely different universe, mixing that substance with what exists outside any universe, thereby creating this universe in which we find ourselves. I felt no need for further philosophizing regarding the reasons and nature of the cosmocratic will; I accepted it as an axiomatic given. The consequence of this is a universe that tends toward breakdown, because its basic components can exist only temporarily, even if that temporality lasts for eons. As the entire created universe tends toward breakdown, so every individual phenomenon within it tends toward the same.

The form of existence I temporarily occupy is, as the phrase itself suggests, temporary and tends toward its conclusion. All human creations likewise tend toward breakdown. Every personal and collective progress serves to accelerate that breakdown. Every step we take "forward" is a step closer to our end. Hence, it is meaningless to attach importance either to oneself or to human creations, traditions, values, beliefs, morality, or history. Of course, this does not mean these phenomena lack their own laws or that they should not be studied. I view the trends of these changes as the laws of the Zeitgeist. I do not believe the cosmocratic will is concerned with this at all, precisely because it is cosmocratic. Under temporary and entropic conditions, that will created its masterpiece, cosmic perfection—which is (oh, the paradox!) a universe of chaos. I say chaos because that which is cosmic within it serves the function of returning to the primordial disordered state. The substance that is an intruder on this plane will, sooner or later, return to where it was incarnated from by the cosmocratic will. Everything is subordinate to that goal.

Light was cast into darkness so that, having completed the cycle of existence, it might return to a state of non-change. Darkness is temporarily disturbed by the presence of light and strives to swallow or expel it, returning itself to the original nirvana. Every substance strives to return to the primordial state of its purity. Phenomena of a mixed nature are not destined to endure forever, nor to change eternally; rather, they possess a purpose embedded within the cosmocratic will about which it is utterly meaningless to theorize.

How does all of this reflect upon human beings, their communities, societies, and history? Is it not enough to look around oneself to find the answer to that question? Hence, the ideological premises of the Divine Revolution of Catastrophe are intensely nihilistic. It is a radical nihilism aimed at accelerating change for the sake of liberating trapped substance that belongs, conditionally speaking, to the universe of order. When these ideas were rushing into my mind, I was unaware that I had discovered nothing new, but that a similar conceptual framework had been developed in the 16th century by the great Kabbalist Isaac Luria. Likewise, regarding specific ideological and methodological derivatives, I was unaware that the doctrine of radical antinomian action had already been formulated by Sabbatai Zevi and Jacob Frank, two apostate Kabbalists of the 17th and 18th centuries who constructed astonishing doctrines upon the foundations of Lurianic Kabbalah. However, unlike those two, my concept is even more radical.

In the introduction to the first edition of my book Divine Revolution of Catastrophe—with which, from this distance of time, I am dissatisfied and consider youthfully naive—I wrote that anything is better than the fate intended for human beings. Any uncertainty is better than any certainty. Every certainty is part of the fate intended for humans. Uncertainty is the only chance to escape the certainty destined for mankind. Everything about us that we consider natural is not natural, but part of the certainty intended for us. Uncertainty is a sweet trial before the horror of certainty. Therefore, let us step into uncertainty, for certainty belongs only to nothingness. Now, to that introduction, I would add the thought that nature is so structured that we cannot expect great changes from small horrors. Therefore, let us move toward great horrors... Let us keep in mind that whenever the forces of darkness make a step forward, they create the possibility for the bold to strike a counterblow or escape an unfavorable situation. Thus, let us rejoice in the initiatives of the servants of darkness, in the catastrophic and apocalyptic trends of the spirit of the age, for through them opportunities open up.

The noble individual will not interfere in conflicts, divisions, and disputes. His task is to remember and to know, to learn and to pass on. Toward everything, he must maintain a royal distance rooted in a kind of healthy indifference—a balance of the heart—without hating or loving, cheering, attacking, defending, or advocating. Being negative, being against, is the lowest and most primitive form of mobilizing the will. Being constructive, being for, is the second level, superior to the previous. Being indifferent—not numbly and motionlessly indifferent, but indifferent in a state of peace from which any effective, purposeful action can spring—is the third and higher form of mobilizing the will, for that is the will of alertness.

To whom is the message of the Divine Revolution of Catastrophe intended? By no means to a group, but to the individual—and exclusively to that individual who has been touched by a special power. He will be guided by that power and protected. Thus, he will know exactly what he needs to do, from one station to the next. That individual will choose one thing and will not disperse himself in all directions. And he will be a master of that one thing. This has nothing to do with modalities of self-improvement as we know them, for it is the power that makes the selection, not the personality. Moreover, that power requires no one's consent. If someone is chosen, then he is chosen, and thus equipped with everything necessary. Any resistance from the chosen one is futile.

One of the fundamental microcosmic crises, besides the ever-present existential one, is actually philosophical in origin. It is a crisis of worldview from which many other personal crises stem. Modern people lack a clear and complete worldview that would relieve them of unnecessary internal tension caused by sharp contradictions. Therefore, many who encounter the ideas of the Divine Revolution of Catastrophe for the first time will be disturbed in some way and will rebel against these ideas. I believe some might be offended by certain statements and stances presented, or would forcefully oppose them. The ideas of the Revolution can also be viewed as a system of my truths, or my truth. Naturally, whatever anyone thinks of me, they will be right. From the stance of the person who concluded it, the judgment passed will undoubtedly be true. That is perfectly fine, since truth is a clown with countless faces, of which we, during our brief lives, manage to meet only one, two, or perhaps three.

Our essential shortcoming is precisely that we cannot see ourselves through the eyes of others. We know about ourselves only as much as we are self-aware, and about others even less. We do not know what it is like to be someone else, or something else. We are molded and bounded by our personality—an unrepeatable and unique phenomenon—our energy, anatomy, culture, heritage, the scope of our intelligence, imagination, perception, and ultimately our species. As individuals, we do not have the experience of others' self-awareness. Hence exclusivity, and the multitude of derived exclusive truths and facts—that is, perceptual experiences or phenomena that we turn into facts through interpretation. 

I do not wish to impose my own truth; rather, I want my truth to serve as an example by which anyone can construct an autonomous truth—a worldview that fits nowhere and is perhaps unacceptable to others. In this way, everyone can become the smith of their own fortune, without being anyone's follower. It is not my intention to declare what is good for me as a general good, nor to attribute universal significance to my truth. Those to whom current truths and facts are also for some reason unacceptable, and who happen to like my truth, should feel free to adopt it, partially or completely, at least until the moment comes when they say goodbye to it as well.

The ideas of the Divine Revolution of Catastrophe are neither humanistic nor anthropocentric, and they often stand in opposition to current ideas about man, humanity, and humanness. These ideas are pedagogical, because they warn and instruct. They are also prophetic, pointing not only to the consequences of humanity's current trajectory, but also to the far-reaching ultimate destinations of that movement. According to the ideology of the Revolution, the fate of humanity follows a higher or lower order of destiny—which is the fate of the physical universe, depicted here as a process of entropy, and human history as decadence. This is my essential connection with certain traditional views, but the rupture lies in the method of action. The idea of the Revolution is a conscious and deliberate abandonment of anthropocentrism, a break with collectivism, and survival within extreme individualism. Involution is a collective phenomenon, and that is the iron law of decadence. Evolution is exceptional and always individual; hence it is necessary to separate oneself from all forms of collectivity and belonging, and to persist in an almost cosmic solitude. 

The future does not belong to everyone, but to those who have fought for it. Likewise, freedom does not belong to everyone, nor does truth. Illusions are logical; truth is illogical—yet what mind is capable of consciously maintaining a contradiction within itself and thus existing in this world while awaiting the moment of death's strike? Though dark, the spirit of the Revolution is nevertheless on the side of life—yet not all and any life, and not at any cost.

The Divine Revolution of Catastrophe faces an almost impossible task: to spur revolutionary spirits into action, reaction, and counter-action. Revolutionaries, in the meaning of this doctrine, are not merely rebels. They are lonely and accursed, yet free from anything and anyone. They are cloaked in darkness, but within that darkness they cultivate an internal, externally invisible flame. To cloak oneself in darkness, one must have immense faith in one's own inner light; one must build the center of the universe within oneself.

The fate of the world does not touch revolutionaries. Their mode of action is radically individual and often destructive toward the human world. Without egoism there is no individualism, but that egoism is the egocentricity of action and the manifestation of will, not an egotistical attitude toward everything. The revolutionary places himself at the center of the universe. He is the point around which an infinite circle is drawn. In that sense, he is the greatest possible egomaniac. Outside the context of the soul as the center of being, the ego as a function of the spirit has little purpose—except when woven into a meaning that does not break and suppress it, but straightens its unevenness. The ideal ego is like a perfect sphere. Such an ego can easily be compressed or inverted into a vesica or a figure eight. That is the ego of the Revolution and its bearers—an ego of active beauty radiating outward in all directions.