In a letter to the Czechoslovakian President, in 1975, Vaclav Havel wrote, “You and your government have chosen the easy way out for yourselves and the most dangerous road for society: the path of inner decay for the sake of outward appearances; of deadening life for the sake of increasing uniformity; of deepening the spiritual and moral crisis of our society... .�
TEMPTATION, is Havel's rendition of the Faust story dressed in modern 'scientism'; The latest version of the great lie: the claim of purity, and the demonization of the “other�. In human affairs, the self-styled pure are forever falling into error; Through misinformation or other forms of temptation or seduction. Purity is a hideout for the disaffected, the wealthy, the alienated, the warlords, the powerful. It is the threshold of spiritual corruption. (as is said in Christian scripture, “God alone is good.�)
Havel's Institute promotes a values-free vision of life. As the Director says, “We think it today, they live it tomorrow.� The older perspectives on life – ie: studies of the occult, or Archtypal/Imaginal realms, or even the divine – are condemned out of hand as viral and dangerous.
The dread-filled atmosphere of the Institute is lethal to the imaginal life. Foustka and Vilma are reduced to playing sterile games of intrigue and jealousy. Lorencova intrigues with Kotrly and Neuwirth. The Director seeks intrigue with Foustka and Kotrly. Vilma intrigues with the Dancer. Foustka intrigues with Fistula. The Deputy Director tows his servile and unofficial concubine from function to function.
I propose that the proper use of imagination is to relate to Higher Values and Higher Power. Used as a bridge to transcendence, imagination frees each to act ethically in our daily lives. Choked off, imagination becomes focused on self-referential concerns like appearances, possessions, power, wealth, sex, drugs, alcohol.
Foustka is betrayed by his own self centered imagination. His choice is always the problem. He does not honor his own hunger for meaning with integrity. Each of us follows him at our own peril.