Today we are in, The Same Old Thing, Minnesota,
where both our presence, and
the aptness of the place’s name,
speak for themselves.
After our previous sojourns to so many exciting, 
and exotic locales,
it is a shame that it has come to this  --  but – 
--  alack! 
(or several lacks, as the circumstances may call for.)

As you are digging us out of the snow,
I am moved to note to you again the  curious fact that 
while it is by purely automatic, 
instinctive,and  inalterable behavior 
that all of our fellow creatures live, 
and with the same being true for man  --
--  from the conscious part of the brain down,
the activity that IS this consciousness 
claims to some how operate outside of these restrictions.
 

History shows that only a few men, 
now and then,
make specific note of the fact that
what men call their thinking
operates just as instinctively AND automatically
as does any other physiological function.

Simple observation in yourself reveals this to be so,
yet if note of same is made to an ordinary man
he will deny its veracity,
and if pushed to look in himself --  FOR himself --
to test the idea,
he will commonly become abrasively dismissive of 
the whole idea.

Curious, huh?!
And this in spite of the fact that men routinely claim 
to want to know the truth about themselves,
and will pay all manner of soothsayers, 
from the psychiatrically trained,
to the tarot card brained,
to help them discover same.

Men will readily admit to all sorts of 
unprofitable behavior as long as there is 
an event in their past that they can point to
whose impact was of such force 
that it sank below consciousness,
and now --  totally beyond their conscious control  --
is the cause of the behavior in question. 

Yes, people will confess to all manner of 
unsavory conduct  EXCEPT 
in their cranial area.
From the neck down --  all operations are fair game,
but from there up  --  well…… “Just watch it, Buster!” 

If you examine at a more fundamental level
the matter of men thinking that they want to 
know the truth about themselves
you find that the attitude of the cellular activity 
in the brain responsible FOR thought
ranges from apparent indifference to,
outright self-deception, (which no way can be so,
but that is a story for another day, what?!)

So -- we have a creature, (man),
whose brain has an area that talks & thinks,
and which makes him call it his, “self,
and then causes him to think & claim that: 
“I want to know the truth about myself,”
when the very activity responsible for this assertion
both already -- 
KNOWS  -- “the truth”
about what this “self” thing is,
yet continues to make/allow the man to
engage in a useless, and frustrating search therefore.

Of course --
hardly ANYONE takes this search SERIOUSLY!
Ordinary men do not ever speak of the matter 
unless first spoken to about it,
or else under unusually stressful circumstances.

No, everyday people do not come anywhere close to experiencing the full frustration of sincerely trying to
discover the truth about yourself --  which is,
the truth about thinking.
The truth about a man’s body is obvious,
(even if unsightly),
it is the truth about what is going on in his brain 
for which he hungers,
(even if unrecognized as such).

A father suddenly leaped out from behind a door,
and shouted at his son:
”Quick!  tell me:
if you use thought 
to study thought,
what is there left to study?”
 

A man asked the head of a school for awakening:
”How are you able to tell if an applicant 
is suitable, or not by speaking with him for just a moment?” 
and he replied:
”I ask him a question – almost any question -- 
and if he is essentially here, 
he will respond immediately,
but if he has to think about his reply
that means he is not actually here,
and thus cannot really be making application.”

   A man obviously belongs in the body he is in --  but,
    ----  where ELSE does he belong?
 
 

There was once a kingdom
whose ruler lived in its middle, up on a moutain top 
where he kept records, 
and made certain decisions, 
while the work that actually supported the land
was all done in its extremities.

   If cats watch cats,
   who’s to watch the rats?
      …(and for the answer to that,
      I refer you to the story of father & son supra.)
 
 
 

Being in this particularly named city
reminds you of that eternally burning question:
”Where does a carrousel operator 
take his family for vacation?”

There was also once a man who wore 
mirrored sunglasses --  but with a slight variation:
his were mirrored on the INSIDE -- 
on HIS side.
      …(we can only hope that he has a father to
      jump out from behind a door for HIM!  --   huh?!)
 

To be awake is to know what is going on,
to “know the truth about you”, (if you will),
so,
your basic approach would seem as obvious as 
a splotch of humility on an attorney, now wouldn’t it? --
to stop lying to yourself about yourself,
which is much easier to do than 
ordinary men perceive it to be 
whenever the subject arises,
for all you have to do is 
stop taking seriously the tales that 
your thoughts tell you about you,
the very “you” that is nothing more than
their TELLING you of “you.”
 

There was once a man on a train,
and the ride went on, and on, and on,
and he finally asked himself:
”How do I ever get off of this train?”
Ah -  but there is the catch,
for the man did not actually realize that 
he was ON a train!  -- 
some of his brain cells just made him say what he did.

And here, (put more bluntly), 
is the catch in the journey of the few:
the cellular activity in your brain that makes you say that you want another state of mind
already HAS another state of mind,
or else it would not be able to even 
conceive of such a thing.

Neat, huh?!
Kinda makes you feel better about home, huh?!
…’course you gotta see all this for yourself, huh?!

(Hey, maybe later we’ll drive over the river to, 
Huh, Wisconsin --
bet you’d like that better, huh?!
a place where you can still wallow in questions
instead of having me slap you around with 
exposés OF “questions.”

Ahhh   --    naw, you wouldn’t --
the cold’s just  momentarily addled you;
you’ll be all right in a second,
(or maybe a third, as circumstances may require.)

     Stay warm, my little sweet pea --
     but not at the expense of vigilance.

                                               JAN