This past Sunday, Dodie Bellamy came to Lightrail Studios to read from and discuss The TV Sutras (Ugly Duckling Press, 2014), a work divided into two sections, 'TV Sutras,' and 'Cultured.' The TV Sutras were created during a process where Dodie wrote after doing yoga and meditating, culling lines and descriptions from television. These lines from television are each followed by 'commentary,' or a sutra. Sutra literally means 'thread' and is an aphorism, or original thought. These sutras are in fact wise and useful messages. We talked about engaging in a spiritual practice in an urban environment, and how both the mundane and the cacophony of SF gets incorporated into the process of meditation. The book is full of beautiful illustrations by local artist Neil LeDoux.
The second section 'Cultured,' which is in prose form, tells the story of being in a cult, and investigates the charismatic leader. Dodie did extensive research into cults in preparation for the book while also bringing in personal history mixed with the fictional. The narrative goes from autobiographical first person to a more unreliable first person, and this becomes a metaphor for the cult leader. While there is a critique of cults, Dodie recognizes that we all have 'spiritual longings.' We discussed the function of cults and how other groups and relationships can also be considered cultish, such as MFA program.
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