Spiritual Roots of Herbert’s Litany Against Fear
Pastor Steve
Feb. 6, 2023
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The Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear is a popular and frequently reproduced epithet written by Frank Herbert in his novel Dune where it serves to introduce a powerful group of characters known as the Bene Gesserit. Herbert started the novel in 1959 and published it in 1965. The text of the Litany reads as follows.
“I must not fear
Fear is the mind killer
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
No one knows where or how Frank Herbert came up with this brilliant bit of wisdom. Its origins belong entirely to the genius of the author. While we can’t say with any certainty where it came from, we can explore similar concepts as they occur in the larger context of philosophical, spiritual, and religious literature. Various science fiction blogs available online reveal that different readers see different origins. Christians see the 23rd Psalm, others see influences of Jalal al-Din Rumi. Others see other origins. This essay will explore resonances with the Upanishads, especially with the statement; “Only I will remain.”
This statement encapsulates the basic concept that ego, and ego consciousness can and will surpass the painful limitations and threats brought to us by our circumstances. Fear destroys the mind, and it threatens the ego with dissolution. Fear brings forth the idea that our individuality, our very existence is under threat by the powers of the conditions we find ourselves facing.
Philosophical and ideological systems of thought seek to enable us to transcend our circumstances by empowering our internal sense of ego consciousness. This may be contrasted with religious systems of thought which seek to empower believers by linking them to external systems of transcendence. Here we may note that many, if not most religious systems are declining because the external systems of support they seek to provide are typically conditional. In other words, the religious message is; “You will receive the gift of salvation, but only IF you follow our directions and believe correctly.” Meanwhile, various philosophical and ideological systems of thought are gaining in popularity because they allow the individual to find encouragement and support within themselves as they see fit.
Digging into systems of the past, we can discover a powerful resonance between Herbert’s brilliant Litany and the philosophical system of the Khandogya Upanishad. The text under consideration is published in Max Muller’s Sacred Books of the East, (American Edition) Volume 1, page 101 and following. This is also indexed as VI Prapathaka, Ninth Khanda. The idea here is commonly expressed by the Sanskrit phrase “TAT TVAM ASI”, or “Tat tuam asi,” translated as: “That also is You.” A google search under these words will reveal a vast abundance of everything from books to merchandise. The idea is that, come what may in life, you are it. All that we perceive, and all that we experience is what it is as it resonates within our own perceptions.
While Frank Herbert might have read Muller’s text of the Upanishads, there is another, more obscure, but even more resonant text which he most likely never encountered. This was originally the work of the 17th century Persian scholar Dara Shikoh. He was the oldest son of the Mughal emperor Sha Jahn who set about the task of unification between Islam and Hinduism. This was the era when the Mughals had colonized India. Shikoh had undertaken to translate some of the more universalist texts of the Upanishads into Persian from Sanskrit. Shikoh was killed for his trouble in 1659.
In 1775 a French scholar and adventurer named Anquitel Duperron translated the work of Shikoh into Latin. Duperron would have faded into total obscurity had his work not fallen into the hands of a German philosopher named Arthur Schopenhauer. It is said that Schopenhauer kept a copy of Duperron close at hand and read from it every night as he developed his two volume masterpiece called The World as Will and Representation. Muller’s assessment of Duperron is both amusing and significant. The following quote is from page lviii of Muller’s preface.
“This translation, (Duperron) though it attracted considerable interest among scholars, was written in so utterly unintelligible a style, that it required the lynx like perspicacity of an intrepid philosopher, such as Schopenhauer, to discover a thread through such a labyrinth. Schopenhauer, however, not only found and followed such a thread, but he had the courage to proclaim to an incredulous age the vast treasures of thought which were lying buried beneath that fearful jargon.”
While Frank Herbert certainly never encountered Duperron, he was likely to have encountered Schopenhauer who used Duperron in the development of his own thought.
From Duperron, the following text speaks directly to the way the Bene Gesserit Litany against fear helped the Bene Gesserit as a people to decisively rise above any hardship or calamity. This is the Hymn to Roudr from page 12 of volume 2 of Duperron. Roudr is a figure within the Hindu school known as Sanatana Dharma. Roudr is presented as a Hindu god, but also as an idea internal to ego consciousness. What follows is the author’s translation from Duperron. The Latin text starts on page 12 of Volume 2 of Duperron.
Router said; If there is one second to me, I say that I AM that one.
I have always been, and I always exist, and in the future I will always exist.
There is no one second to me. What might I say, but that I am this, and this is I.
I am the inside of the interiors.
I AM in every offering.
I AM whatever exists.
I AM whatever does not exist.
I AM Brahma, (Hindu concept of supreme Divinity, inwardly realized)
I AM the cause of causes.
I AM whatever is in the east.
I AM whatever is in the west.
I AM whatever is in the south
I AM whatever is in the north
I AM whatever is below.
I AM whatever is above.
I AM whatever is at any angle in between.
I AM man.
I AM woman.
I AM the fire burning near you.
I AM the fire burning in the sun.
I AM the fire burning within you.
I AM the Truth.
I AM the ox, and all the animals.
I AM the King of Kings.
I AM within every quality and quantity of greatness.
I AM fire.
I AM water.
I AM each sacred text.
I AM universal.
I AM particular.
I AM every hidden place.
I AM carved into every sacred structure.
I AM light.
I AM ONE.
In Frank Herbert’s novel, the Bene Gesserit owned this faith as internal ego consciousness, and not as some form of external conditionality. It belonged to them and it was them. Parallels with a range of Biblical texts are obvious as long as we remember that the Biblical texts have been continually subsumed by institutions of conditional faith. Common institutional interpretations of Biblical texts are meant for crowds of people who are afraid to possess their own greatness. This is why Frank Herbert’s novels with all their sequels are so triumphant. This power belongs to us and to the stars. It is not something we can either proscribe or control in any of our vain attempts to build empires.
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