DOWNLOAD PDF PHILOSOPHY OF TEDDYBEARNESS BY BORIS KRIGER
Almost his whole life, the author used the word “Teddybearness”, thinking that people understand him. He wrote many books where he mentioned this concept.
But recently, to the author’s sincere surprise, it turned out that the dictionaries do not know the figurative meaning of “Teddybearness”.
The author believed that “Teddybearness” in a figurative sense is known to people, but a rigorous test showed that this is only a figment of the author’s imagination.
The concept of Teddybearness (figuratively) was formed in the author gradually, from childhood. It meant for him a sweet, affectionate kind attitude, and it seemed to him that he was not alone in this understanding. Well, he was wrong.
After the author tried all imaginable ways to cope with this life, – which turned out to be quite overwhelming for him, although objectively nothing tragic happened, – he returned to this concept of “Teddybearness” and realized that this was the only thing that can save him from despair and desire of non-existence.
Of course, the author expects the most negative reactions to his treatise on Teddybearness. Accusations of “idiocy”, “madness”, or just dirty swear words. But the author does not blame his offenders. He doesn’t blame people at all. Being thrown into this disgusting, hopeless, cruel world, they simply cannot be different. Nothing but pity and careful attention should be exercised towards them. This does not run counter to Teddybearness. And Teddybearness, at least for the author, is the last defense against the abyss.
DEFINITION OF TEDDYBEARNESS
Teddybearness is a system of values, ideas and actions, based on a gentle and benevolent attitude towards everything and everyone, the absence of all anger, hatred, envy and hostility.
Teddybearness ignores the insolubility of the problems of this world and is aimed at creating maximum comfort “here and now.” Teddybearness allows the mental transformation of both past and future into an really good and kind story, deliberately sweeping away and ignoring everything that is disgusting and tragic.
This is achieved by the fact that Teddybearness deems all evil as a bad dream, which has no basis in the reallity. And all good, on the contrary, takes here the form of actual reality, even if such is not.
Teddybearness, like everything else that is available to our perception in this world, is an illusion, but an absolutely positive illusion that does not allow any negative painful thoughts, destructive intentions and evil deeds.
Teddybearness does not allow the possibility of the real existence of evil and assumes only a positive and joyful existence.
Teddybearness is a remedy against despair, usually caused by gloom, hopelessness and tragedy of the world in which we are forced to live.
Teddybearness is a kind of dam that protects our inner world from the destructive waves of external and internal contradictions. Of course, at some moments this dam breaks through, but it must be stubbornly restored in order to maintain the Teddybearness of our inner self.
Teddybearness is not a synonym for happiness, but a means, a peculiar method of achieving it.
Teddybearness is a mental return to a childhood state, but not of helplessness and fear, but to the illusion of peace, comfort and security.
Teddybearness does not imply the existence of concepts such as retaliation, profit, deception.
Teddybearness is not compatible with any religion or philosophical concept, because they are trying to reflect the world with all its versatility, while Teddybearness does not make such an attempt. It deliberately and consciously ignores and rejects concepts such as betrayal, hatred, lust, violence, death. Teddybearness makes you behave and live as if such concepts do not exist and even cannot exist in our world.
It does not try to confront them, explain them, and uproot them. Teddybearness simply ignores their existence and even their very possibility. If Teddybearness is not able to protect from the realities of this world, then at the very first moment it gives everything bad an interpretation of a nightmare that has come true, and which should be completely forgotten.
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEDDYBEARNESS
The practice of Teddybearness consists of teddybearly actions. They are the conscious deliberate actions of free will to fill the universe with Teddybearness.
The content of the teddybearly act is determined by the gentleness and non-aggressiveness of behavior, the amplification of good and ignoring of evil.
A teddybearly act is a conscious action, assessed as an act of moral self-determination as a teddybearly harmless creature. An act is a manifestation of a teddybearly person in his teddybearly attitude to another person, himself, a group or society, to nature as a whole and to God.
The motives and goals of the teddybearly act correspond to the teddybearly awareness of the world and lead to the multiplication of Teddybearness, gentleness and goodness in the world. For example, you can sing a funny song or give everyone around if not hugs, then at least smiles. Cook semolina porridge for a friend, help, support, cheer, distract from unpleasant thoughts. Do not be angry or judge anyone. Rejoice everyone, like the spring sun. All this is a combination of teddybearly acts.
You should not allow bad, painful thoughts. You need to treat them like terrible nightmares that you must immediately forget. If the circumstances of life leave much to be desired, then after the acute phase of suffering, one should try to imagine that nothing happened, that everything is affectionate and teddybearly, and the cause of the suffering is illusory and nothing more than a nightmare that should be immediately forgotten.
TEDDYBEARNESS AS A VARIETY OF ESCAPISM
Escapism is the avoidance of the unpleasant and boring things in life, especially by thinking about something more interesting and pleasant; a departure from everyday reality into imaginary world, in other words, flight from reality.
Of course, Teddybearness is an attempt to get away from the realities of this world. But it is not difficult to prove that every individual lives in a certain reality of his own, and therefore a “superhero” chasing a “criminal” is as escapist as a teddy bear dreamily looking out of the window at little cute bunnies playing.
Any vigorous activity (career, art, sports, fashion, role-playing games, sex, religion, etc.) can become a way of escapism if a person uses it as compensation for unresolved personal problems. It is difficult to imagine a person for whom all problems have been resolved. The man and the world in which he lives were created in such a contradictory way that it is impossible to avoid a certain tragedy in life. Of course, one can try to ignore this tragedy. But this will be the manifestation of escapism.
Passive activity (watching films, reading books, video games, intoxication, meditation, etc.) can also become a method of escapism. Escapism can manifest itself both in the form of physical withdrawal from the world (into remote villages, inaccessible regions), and without it – when, in the absence of isolation from society, a person ceases to show interest in the values known to him and accepted in society, preferring the world of his dreams.
Escapism is not a disease and is not listed in any medical guides.
Writer and literary critic John Tolkien, in his writings, considered the flight from reality to “secondary worlds” generated by imagination and literature as a purely positive phenomenon that gives comfort and satisfaction. He believed that the “escape” in literature is served by happy endings and unexpected salvation of characters. In his books, he embodied these ideas, and to this day, many Tolkien fans “move” into the world he invented, identifying themselves with the characters. Tolkien’s friend Lewis, agreeing with him, added that they usually “escape” from prison named «banality».
In the modern world, new technologies and popular culture provide many ways to escape from reality: computer games, the Internet, virtual reality, television. Psychologists and sociologists are particularly interested in the phenomenon of online role-playing games, in which players are completely immersed in a fictional world.
Sigmund Freud considered escapist fantasizing as an integral element of human life: “Life, as it is given to us, is too difficult, it brings us too much pain, disappointment, insoluble problems. In order to endure such a life, we cannot do without means that give us relief”.
So, we have found that Teddybearness is a kind of escapism and that trying to escape from painful reality is not pathology, but rather is a normal protective mechanism of our psyche.
Moreover, the attempts to escape using our imagination and a certain unorthodox lifestyle are very common.
What makes teddybearly escapism special?
Sometimes, running away from a certain reality, a person falls into the grip of even more dreadful imaginary world that can exhaust him.
Teddybearness creates a naive, but at the same time cute and cosy world, in which nothing threatens us. Everything in it is eternal, affectionate and in it we feel protected and happy.
TEDDYBEARNESS AS SOLIPSISM
Solipsism is a philosophical doctrine characterized by the recognition of one’s own individual consciousness as the only and undoubted reality and the negation of the objective reality of the world around. It can be considered as an extreme form of subjective idealism.
Teddybearness does not insist that the imaginary habitat created by it is an objective reality, but at the same time casts great doubt on the generally accepted reality, which is nevertheless the result of our collective imagination.
The logical basis of solipsism is the judgment, according to which the only reality that exists authentically is the individual consciousness (which is directly accessible to any particular person) and sensations (which are also directly perceived).
The question of the adequacy of the display of the surrounding world in our consciousness always rests on the question of the reliability of perception; if the sensations are reliable, then the world is the way we see it, but we cannot prove the reliability of sensations indisputably, because, apart from sensations and consciousness, nothing is directly accessible to us.
In this case, we can assume that the sensations are distorted or generated by our own consciousness, and the world around us is not at all the same as we see it, or it does not even exist at all.
But Teddybearness does not insist and does not intend to deprive everyone around it of the right and opportunity to believe that their imaginary reality is real, let them think, if only they would less hamper Teddybearness to arrange her tender and gentle world. Unfortunately, such hampering happens quite often…
But having got worried, we use Teddybearness, perceiving and forgetting everything bad like a bad dream and living comfortably and cheerfully on.
In ethics, the term “solipsism” refers to extreme forms of egoism and egocentrism.
So is it “selfish”? “Immoral”? “Not progressive”? On the other hand, would it really be better to become insane with grief and fear of this world? Let at least someone, using Teddybearness, try to be more or less happy, – at least in the framework of their own imagination.
TEDDYBEARNESS AND THE PROBLEM OF FREEDOM OF WILL
The issue of free will is very important in philosophy and religious teachings. In the Teddybearness philosophy, the presence or absence of free will does not matter. Of course, we make a free choice to eat either raspberry or strawberry jam, provided that both are available. We feel and know that we have such freedon. Although, the rhetoric that we are predetermined to choose this or that type of jam and we are not really free to choose anything, may be true from a logical or some other point of view, but completely meaningless in a teddybearly state.
Teddybearness suggests and postulates that for certain things we have a choice, and for others we have no choice. The only thing we can do is say if we don’t like something, or keep silent, and this is also kind of a choice.
A teddybearly choice always tends towards good and affectionate decisions. In addition, the intensive use of a teddybearly imagination makes you feel comfortable even when there are not too many reasons for this.
TEDDYBEARNESS AND PROOF OF GOD’S GOODNESS
To prove that God exists, that He is good and loves us has never been an easy task… The problem that the All-good and All-mighty God allows the possibility of evil in his world does not lose its severity. The explanation that this is none of our business and that all suffering is for our own good does not satisfy, to put it mildly. For millennia, these questions have worried philosophers, theologians, and many ordinary people.
But Teddybearness doesn’t care how it really is.
For Teddybearness, there is a God, hHe is kind, and he loves us, that is, he is not an enemy or indifferent, but he is our best friend.
It’s cozy and good to live with such believe. Yes, perhaps we are likened to Pangloss, the character of Voltaire’s philosophical novel “Candid”. Pangloss claims that our world is the best of existing or even possible worlds. The circumstances and events of the novel stubbornly prove the opposite… Tell me, Voltaire, was it easier for you to live with such truth?.. I do not think so…
The author is Pangloss … OK. I won myself an hour of another teddybearly calm and rest – and thank God. And what was out there, what is really out there, and what else will happen out there – none of my business…
TEDDYBEARNESS AND RELIGION
Teddybearness is not a religion. It is simply an attempt to cope with the constant burden of existence. Teddybearness does not pretend that it has answers to the basic questions.
The following is an explanation of the attitude of Teddybearness towards different religions.
CHRISTIANITY
Teddybearness is scared about why God should be crucified. Teddybearness does not want Him to suffer. She pities everyone. She wants to give everyone tea and treat with biscuits — Christ, Judas, and Pontius Pilatus.
Teddybearness wants everyone to be happy. She does not ask why the Almighty God could not or did not want to arrange everything in a nicer way.
Teddybearness, on the contrary, believes that this is precisely how it works, and all that is bad and terrible is just a dream that must be immediately forgotten.
Teddybearness has incorporated within itself a lot from Christianity. It teaches not to judge anyone, not offend, not to resist evil, and most importantly, to love everyone.
But Teddybearness could not cope with the tragic essence of Christianity, the need to bear the cross, and then ascend to it and crusified. It is too painful and upsetting. And the Teddybearness cannot stand it.
JUDAISM
Teddybearness is frightened to read the Old Testament. There are a lot of terrible things written in there. Teddybearness does not like to follow all sorts of traditions. If she wants to make cakes on Saturday, she does it, despite the prohibitions.
Still Teddybearness does not distinguish who is Jewish and who is not. Teddybearness loves and pities all the same.
ISLAM
Teddybearness is terrified to read the Quran. There are a lot of terrible things written in there. Teddybearness does not like to kneel. Teddybearness does not want to pray to Mecca five times a day. Teddybearness doesn’t like jihad.
Teddybearness would gladly treat with cup of tea all of the fanatics and try to persuade them not to be fanatical, but if she doesn’t succeed, then she doesn’t care. It will act like there are no terrorism! All just dreamed and forgotten.
BUDDHISM
Teddybearness adores Buddhism because Buddhists, as a rule, don’t fight, but she doesn’t like that it is necessary to stop desiring in order to stop suffering.
WHAT INFURIATES THE AUTHOR AND HOW TO CONTROL THESE FEELINGS USING TEDDYBEARNESS
NATURE
Nature is an ultimate sadist and our main abuser. It is she who makes us do and desire everything that we do and desire. She has her shepherd interests – so that we eat, drink, breed and die in time. And around these disgusting earthly needs revolves all our human philosophy, morality, religion and politics…
The author is outraged that any of his actions in one way or another is dictated by nature. He wants to rebel against nature, but even this rebellion, is dictated by nature…
In general, we need to understand and remember that we are always in the grip of Nature. We must try not to succumb to the evil Nature. We need to take a step towards a peaceful disobedience against Nature.
Teddybearness can help. Teddybearness is independent of nature and is outside of it. Having plunged into Teddybearness, we can protect ourselves from rough manipulations of the stepmother- nature.
REALITY
The author is infuriated by “reality”. Each one has his own “reality”, and even it splits into a thousand small, parallel “realities”…
Look in front of you – here is the hangnail… and there the spider on the wall is crawling …
And the other person would percieve a completely different “reality” at the same time and in the same place.
And then it turns out that in our memories we cannot distinguish such “reality” from the dream…
Only Teddybearness can help us. Take affectionate Teddybearness for the only reality and live in it, admiring – oh, what a funny hangnail, oh, what a funny little spider!!!
DREAMS
The author is furious with dreams, because they often spoil the mood. We do not have freedom over our own dreams. Well, well, we have practically no freedom and power over our own lives, laws of physics, we always collide with “reality”. But in a dream, what prevents us from being the masters?! Alas, here we are forced to suffer at the most vulnerable moment: when we seek rest from the hardships of the real life.
So with Teddybearness we have to fight with dreams also. We cannot, at our command, make dreams teddybearly, but we can try to use them to cope with bad memories.
Since Teddybearness considers everything bad to be a dream, it is very important to learn to forget bad dreams. For this, the following exercise is proposed.
Remember some terrible dream that you had. Now remember something unpleasant from your past.
Both the dream and the memory now feel the same, don’t they?! Aren’t they made from the same illusive substance?..
Well, now forget the dream and “reality” that you dislike. Nothing happened.
Be teddybearly: funny, affectionate and harmless.
BAD THOUGHTS
The author is enraged by bad thoughts. Well, why can not a person be the master of his own thoughts? Why can’t he decide what gets into his head?
One must learn to block and reject evil thoughts. Just started thinking, immediately decide: is this idea bad or not? Do not be afraid that at first almost all thoughts will turn out to be bad. Well, drop them all. It is especially useful to think teddybearly cozy affectionate thoughts.
CRITICS
The author is furious with critics. Probably everyone is furious with critics. But we understand that most often this criticism reflects the critics’ own issues, or they criticize, pursuing a certain benefit for themselves. Moreover, we do not care about the opinion of most of them. Many simply do not understand what we are talking about. Therefore criticism is just an illusion. There are only bad dreams about critics and they should simply be forgotten…
DOCTORS
The author is very infuriated with the doctors. Oh, doctors, doctors. It seems that in some ways they save us and alleviate the suffering, but at the same time very often kill us and aggravate our suffering. Firstly, as it is not surprising, but with all the modern development, in many cases medicine cannot offer anything useful. And if it can, then family physicians do not offer those remedies. Therefore, as before, for the most part we deal with charlatans and scammers who know that they can’t help, but blow cheeks and prescribe useless procedures, and sometimes harmful pills…
How can Teddybearness help here? Teddybearness is not only naive, but at the same time also a bit crafty. Thank God, now a lot of information is available. Do not go to see the doctor unprepared. You should at least know what kind of pills they perscribe, and what are their side effects are. In short, if possible, monitor your health so as not to upset loved ones with your premature departure.
Well, and to the doctors themselves, Teddybearness is affectionate and understanding. Those people were not trained to make miracles. And they are also quite troubled creatures after all.
DISEASES
The author is enraged by diseases. It’s difficult to cope with disease. When it hurts you want to scream of despair. Of course, you can’t help just with Teddybearness. Try to apply all possible and affordable methods to alleviate suffering.
When the pain has subsided, close your eyes and imagine that you are not sick, that all is just a dream and will pass away soon. That nothing bad is happening. That you feel comfortable and warm in bed. Help to feel that way those besides you, who are sick.
DEATH
The author is infuriated by death. Even by the very possibility and supposedly “necessity” of death. Teddybearness proclaims: there is no death! Forget it. Our love ones deceased are alive; they just didn’t give us a call for a long time or just left the room a minute ago. Forget bad and sad thoughts. They do not make anyone happier. You say it is “cheesy” and “immoral”? And Teddybearness does not pretend to be the standard of morality. Live lofe as if everyone is alive. After all, in a dream this is the way it is. Well, at least can we get some benefit from dreaming?
IMMORTALITY AND THE AFTERLIFE
The author is furious with immortality and the afterlife. Teddybearness believes that there is no death, but no one needs immortality either. After all, you need to relax. In short, no matter how it really is. Offending a teddybearly person is like farting at an innocent flower. Even most cruel and sadistic creator will somehow manage without doing this. But since we are still alive, all these fears of afterlife and final judgement are not yet relevant at the moment. Therefore, you should not think about it. You just need to be teddybearly, love everyone and not be angry with anyone, and the rest will follow.
YOUTH
The author is enraged by youth. Youth is a terribly unpleasant state. Nobody treats you seriously, even yourself. Acne. Constantly you are occupied with frivolous playfull thoughts about sex. Everyone takes advantage of your inexperience and arrogant naivety, forcing you to do what it’s impossible to force you to do in your mature years: working on completely idiotic slave jobs, serving in the army, doing prostitution, doing homework, drinking terrible amounts of alcohol, smoking all sorts of shit, and so on.
Those who look attractive suffer no less than those who have been deprived of handsome looks. But youthfull beauty is given only for a couple of decades at the most, and those who get used to relying on their appearance are driving themselves into a wall.
Sexual attractiveness has not brought anything good to anyone. You will get abused and thrown away like a a banana skin.
The young mind set often leads to depression and even despair.
Only Teddybearness can somehow brighten up young years. It is ageless and dimensionless, and therefore good at any age.
Love each other teddybearly. That is the salvation! Teddybearly can love even the ugly and unattractive ones. With true Teddybearness you may not notice the sex appeal of the one next to you. Just swim in the clouds of tenderness, wipe each other’s tears and snots. So, maybe, you will somehow endure your youth and survive…
ADULTHOOD
How disgusting is adulthood. These mature individuals of both sexes. They radiate their maturity like odors of perfumes and colognes. Although, they are just unloved kids inside. They only got fat or withered and learned to blow their cheeks.
Here you really can do nothing without Teddybearness. If you are too serious about yourself, life can lead to serious consequences…
Only Teddybearness can save. Imagine that everything you strive for is already achieved and you can just bask in the waves of mutual care and tenderness.
And what about money? Teddybearness, she’s smart. It knows to make money effortless or not to pay attention of the lack of the funds. Just don’t get carried away. Money is the most disgusting poison that this meaningless world is armed with. So spend it on teddybearly deeds. Buy flowers and chocolates!
OLD AGE
Old age is awful. Such a sadism not every sadist would have invented. Gradual or rapid aging is a torment incomparable with anything. There is no way to deal with it without Teddybearness.
HOW TEDDY BEAR GOT HIS NAME?
The author was obliged to invent a new term «Teddybearness», although in general he did not invent anything new.
Рe did not find in English language a term describing this wonderful feeling of happiness and denial, about which this book was written. Closest to this state of naive infantilism was the term teadybearness very rarely used. It should be noted that such a cute toy as teddybear also came about as a result of tragedy and misrepresentation.
Here is a short story about how a teddy bear got its name, despite the fact that its prototype – a real bear was killed.
The teddy bear is named after U.S. President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt.
In 1902, President Roosevelt participated in a bear-hunting trip in Mississippi. While hunting, Roosevelt declared the behavior of the other hunters “unsportsmanlike” after he refused to kill a bear they had captured. His friends killed the bear anyways.
As news of the hunting trip spread, many newspapers around the country featured political cartoons starring “Teddy” and “the bear.”
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, New York, a shop owner named Morris Michtom saw one of the cartoons and had an idea. Michtom and his wife created plush, stuffed bears and placed them in the front window of their shop.
With permission from Roosevelt, Michtom named the bears “Teddy bears.” They were an instant success. Ladies and children carried the bears with them in public. President Roosevelt even used the teddy bear as his mascot when he ran for re-election.
In this story, the cruel world has proved itself as such…
AFTERWORD
In his books, the author has repeatedly said goodbye to the reader forever. Like, “I said everything”, “the curtain down” and so on.
But, since he persistently resumed the conversation with the reader in each of the next books, in this short brochure the author does not intend to say goodbye to the reader, although of course, he means that he said everything.
The author, of course, markedly surrendered, backed away by this work of his. Of course, the author’s previous books, especially the one that teaches the Creator how to create the worlds, were bolder and more decisive. Teddybearness is a big step back, some kind of change of position. Well. Sooner or later we all get tired. After all, it is hard to overcome everything that does not suit us in this.
Let Teddybearness be a retreat and defense, one might say, a dull defense. So be it. Let there be not even a single try to invent something new!.. But the fact is that with his life conclusions, the author hopelessly approached the abyss, and a step back in such a situation is not a shame, but the only way to salvation. The author suggests you creating your own small, cozy world, not paying attention to what might hinder this,
“Cultivate your garden …” The same conclusion as Voltaire made in his “Candid”. Nothing new, nothing brilliant, nothing epic… Just Teddybearness. The author hopes that based on his pamphlet people would not make a “Sect of Teddybearnists” and not persecute everyone and everything, uprooting all that are not “teddybearly enough”…
People distort every idea so much that you might not longer want to express any ideas at all. Although, however, no one had listened to the author before, so there is probably nothing to be afraid of…
Ultimately, Teddybearness truly helps the author to continue to live, and everything else, perhaps, does not matter.
BORIS (BRUCE) KRIGER 