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copyright 2000
jan cox

September 2, 2000 Saturday here in Madrid -- another day, another story to report regarding that certain matter that is of unequaled interest to a small, select group. A matter which when discussed, even some ordinary minds will say is: "Absolutely fascinating! -- although I don’t really understand what it is exactly that you’re talking about(?!?)" But they needn’t feel bad, for most of those who become actively engaged in this affair never really understand what it’s actually about. "But, Hey!", (they might say): "It’s still a great way to past the time!" If a person is inherently wired up to be attracted to this thing, nothing else will do, but the fact is that most of them eventually become satisfied with this just being a hobby. (But, as the one legged flamenco dancers like to say: "It’s no sweat off my toes!"). But be ye a hobbyist at this, or an irredeemable addict, here is my report on the matter for this fine day.

99.9% of men have no continuing awareness of this easily observed fact, and even if it be pointed out to them they fail to recognize any significance thereabout. Only under extreme and unusual circumstances when he attempts to explain some detrimental act he has committed, (such as wrecking his car), will an ordinary man bring the matter into momentary light by saying:"As I was driving around that curve -- my mind wandered, and I ran off the road."

But such infrequent anomalies aside; Under routine conditions men are not conscious of being engaged in the living of these two, some times quite separate, and even conflicting, different "lives". (As always I emphatically note to you that neither man nor his life is divided into discrete parts such as I have just described, and that this is simply an expedient model I have devised for the instant purpose of trying to direct your attention to areas not plotted on standard maps of man, and thus never visited…….now back to our working model).

Thus is mankind’s advantage. Yet a small number of individuals personally find it less so. Put in the verbal framework historically familiar to the mystically inclined: "Being, "Asleep" is the uncomfortable awareness that you live these two parallel lives, and that they are frequently at odds, or at least, out-of-synch."

There is today’s full description of what it is that fuels your interest in that certain matter about which I herein daily comment.

And as always it is proper to ask: How can this particular ad hoc model be put to permanent, practical use?

I say to you that the whole tenor & taste of your life will change if you will just hold a continuing awareness of what I have described. Your life cannot stay the same if you but stay a constant witness to the fact that you are constantly engaged in the living of two separately-identifiable lives; the life of physical movement-and-rest, and the life of mental activity and no rest.

The desire by some, (as they put it), to, "Gain Enlightenment", or to, "Wake up", I say is but their unrecognized wish that the two parallel lives they lead be merged. And I further say that that most extraordinary of human experiences know as, "Being Enlightened", or "Awake", is when, (constructively speaking), something quite like a merger has momentarily occurred. (In truth, a better telling of it would be to say that a man is temporarily freed from the uncomfortable awareness of there being two, apparently separate lives in which he seems forcibly engaged. Yes, that is quite a mouthfull, but I strongly recommend that you go back and re-read it several times, and re-consider what it tries to indicate.)

I say to you that were it not for this mass-imposed illusion inherent in man’s consciousness that makes it seem that he lives these two parallel lives, I would not be writing these words, nor would you be reading them. Were things not as I have described them, man would have no religions, no psychiatrists, no air conditioning, no tv game shows, (and I have no idea what the few of us would be doing to pass the time?!)

You can’t "be asleep, confused or deluded" about yourself, life, or anything unless you be living your two concurrent, parallel lives of movement-and-thought while blithely blind to its ever-present impact.

Stay constantly aware of what I have today detailed as per my model, and as simple and obvious as it may at first strike you, I assure you that its relentless reality is presently beyond your sustained experience. Striving to live with a secret, personal, continuing awareness that you live these two parallel lives will alter your consciousness. If I did not know from experience, this to be so, I would not be saying it to you.

Once you find your own way of, doing-this-thing you’ll discover that it can even be great fun to be living two different lives at the same time. As curious as may presently sound; that which previously annoyed you can ultimately become downright rib-ticklin’.

A boy said to his father: "Take a look at me -- how many people do you see?", and in reply the old man shot one of them.

Sunday September 3, 2000 finds me here still in Spain, and Spain still in me. What do you find in you? -- you, or your environment?, and before you answer too hastily, check with your goldfish. I bring to you today, headlines, and brief items from around the world, all intended to comment on that certain matter that is, at this site, the main and only real story.

After declining repeated requests that he write his biography, one man explained: "I am afraid if I did that one day I would read it, and then believe that that is actually who I am."

After years of going from one expensive mystical teacher to another, one man finally settled for a cut rate dominatrix. (Self-criticism stripped to the bone, you might say.

A boy asked his father: "What’s worse than believing that something is wrong with you?", and the elder replied: "Believing someone else when THEY tell you that something is wrong with you.", and the lad pondered this for a moment, then said: "Really?", "No, not really.", his father replied, "So why did you tell me that?", asked the son, and with a look of disgust his father said: "You know what your problem is?……"

The first philosopher said: "What good is it to have a woody if you don’t have a woman, and what good is it to have a woman if you don’t have a woody?!", and the second philosopher said: "What good is it to have a mind if you don’t have a plan, and what good is it to have a plan if you don’t have a mind?!", and a near by gold fish mused: "I don’t think they’re ever going to get it…….they should be asking me about such things.", "Yeah, or else me.", added the water. A man with a clear understanding of the distinction between him and his environment is clearly confused.

*

"Faulty thinking" is not in having your facts wrong -- it is in thinking that what your mind calls thinking IS thinking.

The more ridiculous a thing is the more seriously men tend to take it. (E.g.; life after death, the value of reputation, a broker’s stock tip.)

September 4, 2000, and it is a warm, sunny day here in Shanghai, as I prepare today’s dispatch regarding coverage of that particular subject that is always headline news to the few, because with them: no matter what day it is, and no matter where they are -- there THEY still are – apparently! (It’s amazing the number of false sightings of you there are throughout the world, [in case you haven’t noticed……and not noticing such matters IS one of the major causes of so-called, "Human confusion and uncertainty",(whatever all of that may be via the latest definition)]). But now that I know that it is the real you -- here in person -- we can go ahead with today’s report.

It is inconceivable that anyone ever gets-to-the-bottom-of-things without having employed the, "bass-ackwards approach" (a Spoonerized sobriquet for doing something in a way opposite to the one that comes natural to you.)

Inthat men have two possible responses to their circumstances, that is: they can either, take action, or, think about it, they have dual opportunities in which to put into practice that most profitable of approaches -- The bass-ackwards one.

Ergo, when something comes to your attention about which you have a preference, and the present conditions in which it presents itself do not meet your personal standards then you have the twin choices of either taking action and physically doing something about the situation, or else, you can just think about it. Then using the bass-ackwards approach you can either take action totally inappropriate to your initial inclination, or else think about the matter in terms foreign to your intrinsic view of it.

What a great and liberating treat this doeth be, (assuming of course that you have the taste AND the heart for it.)

Here is where the test gets brutally applied that reveals whether a man truly has no stomach for the illusionary problems and confusion men routinely believe they suffer due to the circumstances of their lives, or whether he just enjoys whining and talking about his alleged distaste, for if a man employs the bass-ackwards approach it will per force and instantly -- free him from his negative feeling regarding whatever the matter happens to be. Try it -- you’ll see.

Using the bass-ackwards approach will immediately reveal the lack of seriousness or substance to any of man’s non-physical "problems", or, "disturbing metaphysical questions". Take the bass-ackwards view of any problem or question you have and it instantly becomes ridiculous, (again as always, assuming that you are really wired up to do this thing, and are not just horsin’ around…..which is okay, but they are not the same thing.)

That unschematised operation in the brains of a few that causes them to speak of such things as, "Waking up", and, "Achieving enlightenment" will relish the introduction of the, bass-ackwards approach, for such will relieve the mind of a multitude of meaningless concerns, and will lift from the mind’s eyes a normally, never-noticed veil of illusionary and absurd "seriousness" throughwhich ordinary men see the circumstances of their lives.

You really wanna quit suffering, and being a poster child for self-pity?; you truly wanna get free of thinking the same old useless thoughts over and over again?, then simply take the -- bass-ackwards approach.

Let’s say that you haven’t spoken to your Uncle Charlie in fifteen years because of some dispute, but you continually think about him, and are troubled by your memory of the affair. Call him up, and do not say anything that at all resembles what your thinking pictured you would say in such a circumstance. This is, bass-ackwards action, but a thinking version is also always available, for if it were not for your thinking about whatever the matter is, you would not be troubled by it in the first place. (Check it out:; simply never think of Uncle Charlie again and nothing that ever occurred between you two will be of any significance whatsoever. …..[‘course this is WAY too simple for your average, sophisticated person to put up with].)

Using the bass-ackwards approach as per thinking rather than doing is obviously the most efficient course since you can do it any where, in complete secrecy, and while not having to move a muscle.

Anyone who believes that what their automatically-appearing thoughts-cum-feelings say about the circumstances of life is ever of any significance, or enlightening are far too ordinary to ever understand any more of what’s really going on in life than do all the other people around them. I do not daily write these words to attack ordinary people, nor to make those who read them feel guilty or inferior;. My only interest is in seeing others, (who want to), to "see" things in a way that is not automatically available, nor standard, but which frees those with that certain hunger from all of the stupidity and confusion that has always troubled them. (Plus it’s more fun than anything else known to man…….[‘cept of course for – you-know-what, maybe].)

Remember: anything that’s "serious" is ridiculous,,

Anything that’s frightening is laughable.

Anything that’s insulting is cute, and anything that seems to be you-&-your-thoughts is an illusion -- and an illusion that is laughable, ridiculous, and yet -- kinda cute, (IF you don’t take it "seriously").

  A boy said to his father: "I have the feeling that most of my life experiences that I tell you about -- you don’t take seriously.", towhich the elder replied: "I give you the benefit of the doubt by always assuming that they are metaphorical." -- and right-there-you-go, (if I may say so); nothing that ever happens in your life would bother you at all if you would but look upon it as being allegorical.

…but seriouly; Finally let me tell you about the "extreme form" of this sport. Rather than trying to, "wake up" from your usual state of distraction, try instead to go so FAST alseep that you never again even THINK about "being awake", and -- Viola! -- problem solved. (Tthis never receives much of a positive response whenever I present it, but I assure you that it would work, [unless I’m just pulling the bass-ackwards approach on you by saying this?!?!?…………………………no, I’m not joking, it would actually work -- you could "wake up" by TOTALLY "going-to-sleep", ["totally" being the key]).

……(there is in fact a John Dillinger version of this which says: "Only the sleeping know for certain if they are asleep or not, [don’t let the lady in red know that I told you this].)

But of even greater interest should be in you asking yourself, If what I say is true -- how can it possibly BE?! ……….. and seeing the "answer" to that will take you right to the bottom of the mind -- which is indeed - the bottom of everything.)

Everyone’s mind has all mental matters, catewampus; the enlightened man’s advantage is that he doesn’t give it a second thought.

Jan
 
 

 September 5, 2000. Today’s dispatch originates in Haifa -- from whence do you cometh? People who say they know the origins of their thoughts will prove not to be readers of this newscast. Ordinary, sophisticated people who haven’t got a clue as to what’s really going on with life readily identify the sources of their thinking and mental preferences as being such things as their nationality, their religion, their family, their culture, and I can only repeat: They don’t have a clue -- or even a decent suspicion. For the remaining .01 of the population, I daily offer up news with a different source -- one that is unidentifiable, or, (if you prefer), one that admits it has no source, same as is true with the news already in the heads of its readers. Only he is home who has abandoned foolish dreams of his birthplace and destination. Now for today’s main story.

Men cherish antiquity -- they adore the notion of that which is ancient, and I refer not to Egyptian jewelry, or Roman coins, but to ideas whose ancestry seems lost in time. Put simply: the way men are able to mentally accept the foolishness that they do is based on them pretending to ignore the fact that everything men know about non physical matters -- they made up, (or more precisely, their thoughts conjured up).

What could be more obvious than this, yet very few men have ever unconditionally seen it, and been able to consistently sustain their knowledge thereof.

How revered would be the Old Testament if it had come from the pens of a dozen or so guys who lived in your neighborhood as you were growing up? This is but one example out of the countless available. Every single iota of "knowledge" (so-called), that man has about things of a non physical nature are simply inventions of his own mind. No one has ever seen a dead person arise to live again, yet billions of ordinary, sane humans profess to believe otherwise, and most, if questioned, offer as support, the idea as laid out in their particular vade mecum, writings either of such antiquity that their sources are lost in the haze of the past, or else if from the literal hand of some identified human being then the ideas themselves being from the ultimate personification of the unknowably ancient -- the origins of time itself -- a god. The alternative version of this comes into play when the identity of the ideas human author is apparently known, but the time of his life is now so far removed from ours that its age alone is assumed to give it near supernatural gravitas. For instance, men will continue to engage in a certain activity alleged to bring about, "Enlightenment" on the basis of nothing more than the fact that it was recommended by some man thousands of years ago, and that every since then there have been people attempting to practice it, so what further proof of its efficacy is required?! (And same for all the other examples of, "Ancient wisdom and truth the likes of which you don’t find today, by Gawd!")

I use religion as an example only because it is the most recognizable, but the same holds true for every other aspect of man’s unique, mental world, (his Secondary Reality, as I am often want to call it). Make a quick-study-survey for yourself. Man simply mentally invented -- made up -- every single, so-called "fact" that he knows about such subjects as: economics, art, philosophy, psychology, sociology, political-science, and so on. This is no theory; it is no mere speculation; the reality of what I verbally describe could not be clearer, and only a mind totally captive of itself, (read; six billion minds +/-), can fail to instantly realize it once it is impersonally pointed out.

Question: Can you instantly, and clearly see it? -- now that I have pointed it out?, or does your mind uncontrollably deny it?, do thoughts immediately appear in your head who dismiss the idea out of hand -- "unworthy of any consideration!"

I am not attacking religion, or anything else, (there is nothing TO attack). I am simply pointing out to those interested in so-called, "Awakening, and Enlightenment", (getting-to-the-bottom-of-things), a basic, and simplistic fact of human life that must be clearly recognized before anything else is possible.

My purpose in these writings is not to be discouraging, or to make anyone "feel bad", but I must say that your future in this sort of thing is quite problematic if you cannot easily realize that everything men think about that is not about the physical world -- they simply made up. Man obviously has not suffered from this; indeed we would have to say that he has benefited therefrom; after all, civilization itself depends on this ability to make up such things as; "Divine Guiding Principles", "Intrinsic Political Precepts", and, "Inherent Moral Laws", and the like.

Simply put again: Were it not for the mind’s ability to make up ideas-cum-knowledge concerning non physical matters -- which the mind conjured up to begin with -- life would not be as we know it now. It would be brutish, dangerous and of brief duration.

Perhaps these words might afford you a profitable glimpse of what I point to: A man who understands the nature of the mind and thus understands that man’s mind invented totally the idea of a god and thus the various religions that issue therefrom would nevertheless, based on his enlightened understanding of what life’s about, be all in favor of everyone else’s allegiance-to, and participation-in religion.

With understanding there is no criticism.

Now as with each of these day’s writings, we bring forth the question: Of what practical, personal use is this news?….okay, consider:

 Men cherish antiquity since it helps them ignore the fact that the true source of everything they know about the non physical world -- they made up. Now, answer this: What, in your own personal mental experience is your oldest source of knowledge? That’s right! -- your own mind. It’s older than god even, (since it made him up). It’s older than Lao, Vishnu, time, morality, truth, falsity, self pity, guilt, fame -- you name it! If it doesn’t physically exist -- man made it up. (And one final time I note to you that what I describe is in no wise a condemnation of this matter, for it is what makes human existence the singular thing it doeth be, but to ever realize for yourself what’s actually going on in this thing we call, "being alive" you must be aware of how things are in this regard.)

So -- here you are; taking your primary guidance in mental affairs from an ancient, unidentifiable source in you -- your own so-called, "thoughts". And I say that the only reason men rely on its -- in-the-main -- foolishness is that they blind themselves as to their actual source, that is to say: Men allow their thoughts to deceive them by allowing them to claim either direct authorship thereof, or else by professing to be channel for supernatural sources.

The facts: Thoughts do not know where they come from.

The mind has no knowledge of its origins

Men do not know anything that they themselves did not make up.

Simple, obvious, unquestionably true -- and down right comforting to know.

My Proffered Project For The Day: Take some idea that you naturally take to be true, and ask yourself: "Where did it come from? How did I come to take this notion to be unquestionably correct?" The answer to these questions is freedom from all confusion. The proper execution of this project will clean out an attic full of useless junk in short order --- and a clean floor makes it finally possible to look down between your legs and see the bottom of the mind -- a sight that answers all questions

.

A boy said to his father: "I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the things you’ve told me about the mind, and I must say this", at which point his father stopped him and said; "Don’t."

Jan
 

It is Wednesday, September 6, 2000 here in Reykjavik, where there blows a refreshing Atlantic breeze, and stirs some likewise bracing news concerning that certain subject in which this net service specializes. The unseasonably nice weather here seems to have created an unusual buoyancy in some people such that a man on the street was heard to exclaim: "Ah but it’s -- great to be alive!", a sentiment that motivated several passers-by to stop and try to revoke his citizenship. (By the by: How are things where you are.) Now here is the news I have to report from what seems to be a parallel reality to the one in which our fellow citizens persist in living……(although it might be noted that they are only living as life directs them to……if that fact is of any enlightenment to you. (And by the way: why is it not?). So on with it.

To be human is to be never satisfied -- and it is to be never satisfied – mentally. This is unique to man and clearly distinguishes him from all other earthy creatures whose closest similarity is them being, "On the move.", a sign of their being physically dissatisfied -- not mentally so.

Man is the only creature who, even when not on the move seeking to satisfy instinctive needs, can be at rest -- doing nothing, and still not be satisfied.

The mind is never satisfied, and no amount or variety of food, sex, or physical comfort will accomplish same, (other than may cause a man to fall asleep…..but then the mind continues its dissatisfaction in dreams.) The nearest that ordinary men ever come to experiencing such satisfaction is in the momentary joy of succeeding at a strictly mental challenge, such as completing a crossword puzzle, or solving a mathematical conundrum, (which is why men with a particular wiring are instinctively attracted to particular activities; e.g.;men whose primary orientation is mental become scientists.)

At the spasmodic, and low-wattage times ordinary men ARE made aware of their internal, non-physically-based lack of satisfaction sufficient to make them take action, they will attempt to meet the need, and feed the beast through means that the entire recorded history of man shows to be inefficacious. Men will try to satisfy their mental dissatisfaction via the acquiring of new "knowledge", (education), or by trying to actually stop the mental pacing, (such as by psychological counseling, or meditation), others will employ drugs and alcohol,(which have the opposite result, but whose side effects apparently make up for their primary failure.) Nothing works -- nothing that ordinary, sane people do will bring satisfaction to the mind. But do take continual note of the fact that everyday people are not particularly bothered by the affair, nor do they suffer ill consequences therefrom

There are many such "methods-&-ways", but the Big Time Success comes through a thorough tracking-down, and relentless investigation-of of what you think of as your "mind" which eventually brings you to the steady-state acceptance of the mind’s natural state of dissatisfaction based on your own crystal-clear understanding of how things are in life

To, "wake up", or "achieve enlightenment" without finally understanding the reality behind such ideas is not possible. You can certainly play around with it, and without question, enjoy yourself immensely, but unless you ultimately turn your efforts to "awaken" into an effort to comprehend the physical basis-for and reality-of the idea, it will forever remain just that -- an idea. There is a thoroughly astounding and singular reality behind the idea, but it can never be reached unless you first realize what your mind really is, and thus learn to accept the limitations of what it is constructed to do. …….. you simply gotta love for what it is.

 Every time you tell, "how you feel" -- you lie.

Men’s thoughts expressing their conflicting "feelings" about the intangible affairs of the mind’s "secondary reality" in large part, is what keeps the secondary world alive and running. It is irrelevant to a man’s survival whether the latest showing by a particular painter is the "fraud" that some critics say that it is, or the announcement of a new, "genuis", as claimed by others, the meaningless, localized furor it causes is an integral ingredient in the continuation and maintenance of the thing we call, "civilization", and -- modern life. There is nothing whatsoever "wrong" with such happenings, but they must be realized for what they are and the continual role they play in the life of man if you are ever going to see-to-the-end-of-all-this.

A man "awake" does not live by the self-deceptive "feelings" of the thoughts that pass through him.

Question: Why does the mind so unquestionably fall for such an obvious misconception, (or at least something that is "mis-named", which constructively, to the mind, is the same thing)?

Answer: Thoughts themselves being things with no tangible existence are sitting ducks -- super suckers -- for ideas that have no physical support. Only a man’s thoughts will embrace the idea of "life after death" -- never his liver.

And now: The Grand Illusion Of Them All: The mind believing that IT exists, based on it "feeling" thoughts running through it while ignoring the fact that it made them all up, and that thoughts have no real existence. (Are you back in the dictionary re-checking the comprehensive definition of, "self-serving"?)

The Only REAL Tip An Alert Man Needs: If it can’t be sat on a table – forget about it.

But – cheer up! Here I am on a gorgeous island; the sky is clear; the sun is still running, and amenities are right here on the beach.

to "awaken requires a super bad memory…………and I mean SUPER bad.

September 8, 2000. Dateline: Paris. Fodder feasible as a springboard for my "Real News" abounds, as always, all around me. In selecting a daily topic to relate to that certain matter of interest to my readers I can look outward to the collective activities of ordinary men, or I can turn our attention inward, and comment more directly on the goings on within an individual trying to get-to-the-bottom-of-things. But ultimately it is all the same. It is a matter of understanding the nature of thought, (or, "the nature of the mind", for those of you who prefer nouns over verbs -- things over actions, [which is itself a subject someday worthy of coverage, (but until then there is no reason that you could not look into the matter on your own)]). So -- let us turn our well focused eyes in one direction or the other and try again to see to the bottom of the barrel.

That, "Life is alive" is a universal fact;

No explanation of man’s life has ever been satisfactory.

and human life but a part thereof.

Forget notions of fate, and destiny, they are no more enlightening, nor accurate than ideas of gods, and supernatural forces. I say that any where you look -- life is plainly alive, and you can see it for yourself if you will abandon thel habit of accepting both the explanations in your head, and the ones in other heads, and look impersonally, for yourself, at what goes on constantly in life on the basis that you are observing life’s life – not man’s. THEN everything make sense.

Also: Anyone who says that they know where life is going is "Asleep’, and, "In-the-dark", big time. (I don’t know that life even knows.). The only thing that can be safely predicted is that; Life has a life of its own, much larger than ours, and towhich our lives are subject. Anyone who thinks that they know more than this about life has no knowledge whatsoever of life, or of the commanding role thought plays in the mortal version.

When you realize that life is alive, the basis of all your complaints about other human beings vanishes, and your own self condemnations become meaningless. The struggle to see the reality of what I am verbally describing will inevitably lead your thinking from the land of confusion and uncertainty to an inner terrain of peace and plain-speaking.

If you truly believe yourself interested in this matter I herein point to daily, then try just holding this idea in your mind constantly, that: "Life is alive" -- literally.

A boy asked his father: "Exactly what is it to, "Be asleep"?", and his father replied: "It is to talk about things that you do not understand -- both to others and yourself."