Let it be made clear that I'm not a Mansonite myself but one quote allegedly from him has really haunted me for years:
One aspect of Manson's philosophy especially puzzled me: his strange attitude toward fear. He not only preached that fear was beautiful, he often told the Family that they should live in a constant state of fear. What did he mean by that? [ ... ]
To Charlie fear was the same thing as awareness [ ... ] The more fear you have, the more awareness, hence the more love. When you're really afraid, you come to "Now". And when you are at Now, you are totally conscious.
Manson claimed that children were more aware than adults, because they were naturally afraid. But animals were even more aware than people, he said, because they always live at Now. The coyote was the most aware creature there was, Manson maintained, because he was completely paranoid. Being frightened of everything he missed nothing.
- Vincent Bugliosi: Helter Skelter, p. 320
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I may be off my way here saying this, but as this haunts me too, I've been thinking about it every now and then. There's a glimpse of Heidegger and existentialism (how to be conscious that you exist) in Manson's thinking and also a touch of Marxism: how to raise one's consciousness.
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