MAKING A POINT

So, man, humankind, including all its males and females no matter of what age, has been here on Earth for many, many thousands of years, at least. Man has made numerous accomplishments he takes pride in. Bridges have been built, hospitals have been built, churches and temples  also. There are so many government offices one could never find a list including them all.  There is even one called The United Nations. Accomplishments in the arts are displayed all around the world. Books, my God, so many libraries, so many private libraries, now all stored in cyberspace. Knowledge. Man’s knowledge. But what is it actually? What does it accomplish, really? It is important to point out that one thing is common in all of this accomplishing man has bragged about…argument is its name. Shame its shadow side. 

It can be seen by anybody that the world man has developed is like a family living in a house who have an active lifestyle shown to us by the media daily…fed to us you might say… which family takes a lot from the world into the house but never, never takes out the trash. Never cleans house from top to bottom. This is a metaphor of thought. As you consider it remember that all the argument going on in the world among humans is like this little paragraph but this one is being offered to reveal some broader, hidden truth to every reader on Earth. Who is it has an interest in keeping you living in this way? In keeping your mind so full of harmful, trivial and useless junk it prevents you from noticing how it is being done. 

Okay. A few people think the rest of us to be useful tools for their benefit but those also fail to take out the trash in their heads and so are not in a better position than the least of the masses. There is a man living as a pauper somewhere reading these words who knows he is a very remarkable fellow and he is singing while he works but not for wages. Not on anybody’s schedule. He is satisfied. Content. And generous and kind. This man’s mind is clear, for he takes out the trash. Do you wonder whether your mind could possibly be so clear and you could feel so happy and content? 

Reading this far is not even a start. 

It is up to each individual to commit to an effort he makes to bring this about in his small life. It is not easy. It is simple though. Any one can do it. One needs the  willingness to try. It is something you owe to you. Nobody else. Do not ask anyone “How?” Nor demand, “Tell me what to do.” On your own find a way back to the clear mind you had on the day of your birth. It is not lost. It is not spoiled. It was placed so that it cannot be touched, injured, or destroyed  by any power in the world. This paragraph up to this point is pointing you inside and that is all anyone need do for you. This project will be for you a learning in action. Not learning from another. Learning. Question everything. It will bring about a transformation of your psyche by the psyche itself. That is all you need do to end all the corruption. In truth, there is nothing wrong with you except your doubt.

Giving complete indifference to all you have been taught since you were born, center your vision at a point between the other two eyes and just above them where a gland attached to your brain is located whereby you may see that the world is really perfect as it is or may as well be since it far excels your meager wishes for a different one and so requires no alteration by you whatsoever and you begin to relax into that stillness and take things as they come to make the most wonderful discovery. Beyond thought lies harmony with all that is and you can feel your way along the line of absolute order throughout the cosmos. Like, instead of building a bridge over troubled waters, a natural and harmonious link to the other shore will be made apparent without asking for it as soon as there is a requirement for its use. And by joining it you will harmonize with all that is and every aspect will be served. Nothing is left out. 

Living in service to thought so much is left out or obliterated it hurts. And the pain is too much to bear so we live in denial and we all know it. Won’t you try this other approach? Like I said, you have to do it. Nobody can do it for you.

 NEVER A GANG MEMBER BE

A new beginning would be to drop all fear if you can and make someone else feel it’s safe to be around you. Can you? Locate that in you which you have always known to be a true friend. Above all, trust that. And listen, Johnny, to those who suggest you do it.

 VAST UNBEKNOWN OF IT ALL

Old Man: Jesus is another name for the vast unbeknown of it all. You actually have separated yourself from it, have you not? You do not say, “I am the whole of life”, and remain still; you want to change this and improve that, you want to reject and to hold. You, the watcher, an immovable, permanent center in this vast movement of life are caught in conflict, in sorrow, and confusion. Now, you who are separate, how do you approach the whole? How do you come to this vastness, to the beauty of the earth and the heavens? Our lives are shallow and bound to routine; and the gods of the trivial mind are as silly and stupid as their maker. Whether we live in a palace or a village, whether we are hired hands or sit in the seats of the mighty, the fact is that our minds are petty, narrow, ambitious, envious; and it is with such minds that we want to find out if there is God, what truth is, what the perfect government is, and seek answers to the innumerable other questions that pop up….such as, What is the purpose of my life? 

First: Yes, sir, that is our life. You nailed it! What can we do?”

Old Man: Die to the past, not little by little, but totally! In this way come suddenly to the point of beginning and learn what death is while still alive. Like I said, life is circular. It’s the petty mind that tries, that struggles, that has its ideals and systems. You must die to all you think you know for the unknown to be your way. 

First: I can see that we should die to the past, but if I die to the past, what is there left then?

Old Man: You are saying – aren’t you? – that you will die to the past only when you are guaranteed a satisfactory substitute for what you have renounced. That’s not renunciation, that’s only another effort at gain. A petty mind wanting to know what there is after dying will find its own petty answer. 

First: I think each one of us has felt deeply the truth of it all. May we come again?

Old Man: Yes. You may, but let us not delay. All the great geniuses with all their great works piled together throughout history have made no real difference at all. Surely it is time we admit that to ourselves, renounce civilization as it is known to be, and take a wild chance on the vast unknown.

 

                                                             SUPPOSE

Suppose with me a little while that the cosmos as we know it can be seen as a laboratory developed by love with great precision and in absolute order to give all subjects a chance to find out clearly what it is and what it is capable of, see what is to be done, and do it. One might think of it as a place a Creator made for Itself in order to know Itself better and, more important, what that means. In this lab one separates from reality then tries to find one’s way back home. Separate from reality, it really knows nothing. It is as if the action of returning from a hopelessly lost state itself brings an understanding by no other way obtainable. And perhaps the deeper one goes into the void the better. So, God separated Itself into billions of souls and here we are. 

God meets God along the way back to Heaven many times and at each intersection one soul serves the other on its journey, sometimes by tricks. For example one might tell the other you must obey some laws, of course, and names one or two examples he knows full well will fail just in order to help the other find that no method is going to work. Some of the time it will be the most helpful way of nudging someone to the next lesson or maybe cause someone to rethink what was just told it and tell the speaker to get fucked so as to be free from any outside influence. Only to realize later, I was stuck and that coyote helped me, and laugh. Laughter is good medicine.

A hint to help you with this is to remind you that an image of who you are was planted in your brain to build a set of  memories and to believe it all happened to it…take it personally.  All its memories are limited and incomplete of course. It is robot-like and lives on Desolation Row denying it is more like a Rolling Stone than anything else. It has served as your identity ever since implanted in your brain much as Pinocchio was carved by the woodcarver he believed to be his Papa. After awhile, living as the image and gathering stored memories of your life which is not your own, you become very lost from your true identity. Something inside is telling you that you need to go home but who can it be? The story of Pinocchio was written to appeal to children who are still somewhat aware of where they came from. All that you need do is realize for a moment that something has been watching all along the drama the imposter thinks is its life and that you are that which observes the observer. At that,  the memories and the image vanish. Your real life as a brand new real child begins; all that was required of you having been a willingness to roll as far as it takes to find her.

                                                     A Greater Thing

What can be expected of a civilization of people led by its politicians? I watched a war movie the other day based on an actual war that had taken place. The army that the film was praising had been greatly outnumbered by their foes from the start of the story but were asked to hold out until reinforcements could be sent. Many lives were lost in terrible battles day after day. The heroes at the end were in a hopeless position and knew it but refused an order to retreat. They were asked by their commander, “why not?” His men replied, “We cannot tell you more than this: we will die before we leave here.” It seemed clear these young men had tapped into some truth beyond all words, and, so, beyond all thought, that has to do with the feeling one has for a dead comrade with whom one has struggled together and how great is that feeling. Greater it is than the love for one’s own life. That being said, how much greater a thing it is to follow than a politician and how far apart those two things are. I immediately thought of Muhammed Ali.

When we fail to see that those asking us to kill in their name are the same ones who brought us to a situation where that choice has to be made we are blind, blind in the sense of being ignorant. What can be expected of a civilization of people led by its politicians? Recall the story of the turtle who gave a snake a ride on his back across a river? “What did you expect, I’m a snake, it’s my nature, what else can I say?”

 I think: Therefor,

I am fucked!

That is all.

Being dominated by thought is the thought: You may go to Hell if you do not do what you should do.

And, so, acting by thought you make a choice between opposites.

And thought says: This is Hell! I have been here before in the past. I need a plan to get me out of here. I know. I’ll get a girlfriend. Another thought prevails and you act on it. 

And you wind up in Hell. And thought says : This is Hell. I have been here before in the past. And this cycle can continue for a lifetime. 

So, the question is

Can I live on some basis other than thought? Is there a pure observation of what is actually happening? One that does not rely upon the wordy translation by an idiot? 

Of course there is.

Do it.

Find Hell is not.

 CONSIDER THE TREES

Consider the trees in a forest. Many varieties are there not? Roots intertwined. Branches spreading like arms and fingers toward  the skyway….the Sun, the undisputed source of life and energy. So far, we have come to understand that the trees obey patterns that result in a harmony expressed as what we have named a forest. We accept it that these patterns have not been set by each individual tree itself operating individually and sparring with its neighbors for advantages nor by certain leader trees that stand out above the ordinary trees, each leader conceiving of a day when the tribe it leads will prevail over the other tribes of trees and monuments built to honor his memory as a great leader and generations of children made to memorize his name.  If we consider the entire make-up of the intelligence back of a forest and call it the brain it is the brain of the entire forest not the brain of any single tree or group of trees considered separately. It is a whole forest we see in operation before us and, by golly, we are so very dependent on that forest to a degree that cannot be overestimated. Our daily lives rest upon their existence. Think about it.  Search it out for yourself. When you understand life depends upon the sanctity of a forest ask yourself, “Is that not a world of love?”.

I read a quote from a famous musician who said we can either hate the ultimate power we call life or love it with all we have. It’s up to us. The trees of a forest have chosen the way of love. You have probably already done it but next will want to consider the dependence and interdependence of all the animals of a forest, large and small. Do not overlook the humans who have lived there. And get out your microscopes and examine into the invisible world inside of you and its wonder and love. Not with a motive to control it for your benefit or the benefit of your friends but to go “wow!” See for yourself, without a motive, how life has taken care for me…little ol’ me. Then decide to fully embrace it with all your heart, soul, and mind. In this way, your brain will transform itself.