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copyright 2000
jan
cox
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It
is Saturday, September 9, 2000 as I stand
at the bow of the yacht I am on here in the middle of the Pacific
-- but it is still yesterday as I move to the stern -- which is
just over the International Dateline. Within your own head your
thoughts can move just a bit and suddenly you are constructively
"back in yesterday, or yesteryear rather than the present. Those
wanting-to-get-to-the-bottom-of-things have within them a
kind of "Dateline" which marks the division of whether they are
struggling to stay alert and up in the bow of their mental boat,
up in front of thoughts, or if they are snoozing, back in
the stern, living -- back-in-the-past. But stick with me for the
next few minutes, and at least for that period we will keep you
forward of midship. And here is my news to you for today
A
man went to see a guy
who specialized in root medicine, (that is, a practice of medicine
that goes to the root of the problem), and asked him: "If you are
no longer captured by illusions of gods, demons, forces-of-fate,
or the power that other people have over your life, then who or
what can you now blame for your shoddy, distracted state of mind?",
and the root doctor guy replied: "The blame, you should now be able
to clearly see, rests on one thing, and one thing only -- the mind
itself."
The
man pondered this response for a moment, then said: "But that
cannot be correct. Why would the mind operate in a manner that
could in any way be detrimental to itself?!", and the physician-of-the-radical
replied: "But it does not. It is your lack of understanding
its nature and function that leads you to make false assumptions
regarding what may or may not be in the mind’s own best interest."
Only
while nestled securely
and snoozing in the expansive embrace of the thoughts passing through
him does a man "know" what is "best for him" in any non physical
affairs. (Which is my sly way of inferring to you that it is only
when a man is in the throes of total stupidity that he "knows" anything
about the intangible world.)
Any
reasonably sane and alert man knows what is good for him and what
is bad for him -- physically, but only dreamers and the distracted,
(6 billion strong, I might add), "know" what is profitable to them
mentally, and what is not so. (Which again is my backhanded way
of noting that they do NOT possess the ability to make such a distinction.)
While
an ordinary man will not drink poison, he will, (as he is ordinarily
forced to), tolerate and entertain thoughts that are, (from
one disinterested view), if not toxic, then certainly of no nutritional
benefit.
Under
routine conditions the mind is simply not constructed to make what
an outside observer would consider to be, "Impartial, scientific
decisions as to what thoughts are in its best interests".
To
an ordinary, sane man this statement is INsane
-- but a person with that certain interest should not
so easily pass it by.
Everyday
people profess
that to live a profitable life a man must have insight into the
life he leads; insight into his actions, and insight into his thinking,
but I say that only the former is possible -- never the latter.
A man cannot have insight into his thinking for it will be his thinking
that seeks the insight. Thoughts can "know" a hand, but not themselves.
Men’s
minds produce thoughts same as geese produce foie gras, and
only men fast-asleep-&-fully-distracted, (read: "ordinary"),
believe themselves the source of what they think. (Life itself is
alive, and kicking around quite nicely inside your own frontal lobes.)
When
a man
with the natural affinity for that certain affair hears about
the idea of achieving a special kind of "Knowing" that compared
to ordinary knowing is like "being awake" is to, "being asleep",
he begins to take a non standard, intense interest in what goes
on in his own "knowing apparatus" -- his mind, (assuming that he
gets past the elementary stage of being entangled in meaningless
fascination with his behavior). And if he does not weary, stumble,
or otherwise get distracted and gives up, the day will come when
he must fearlessly face the fact that his study of his mind has
yielded nothing. He must accept the cold blooded truth that his
insight into his insight operations is non existent, and that his
knowledge of that thing from whence all of his knowledge apparently
comes is illusionary. All in all, my friends -- the
great
day
of the great liberation.
Few
of the few who ever become involved in this specialized
endeavor ever go this far. Most come to gradually accept
their interest in the matter to be an agreeable "hobby", (assuming
that the frustrating, endless, circular, "mental-chasing-of-themselves"
does not finally drive them into some less stressful pass time such
as philately, or playing the stock market).
You
can entice men to "seek knowledge", but few can ever see the need
to know about the thing whereby they apparently HAVE knowledge.
You
will never get to the bottom of all of this without relentlessly
prosecuting a study of your mind until you realize for yourself,
in your own way, the illusionary, meaninglessly, self reflective
nature of what you have been attempting.
And
may I take this opportunity to assure you of what splendidly
delightful news this be. All you have to do is -- press
on -- and you’ll see.
Remember:
The mind is responsible for itself --,
and
the mind is not responsible for itself.
It
is all a question of whether you see, or snooze.
Well,
we are about to set sail, and Hawaii calls, (and Poland sends a
postcard -- what to do?! -- which way to go?!). Well, no matter
where you go today after leaving me, at least don’t fall off the
edge of the planet. Talk to you tomorrow when it will be Sunday
no matter where I am.
Jan
One
mother reprimanded her children with such regularity that all she
had to do was open the door to their room and look in, and they
would all stop whatever it was they were doing and in unison cry
out: "Yes, Ma Ma, we know --"Who" we are", and "What
we’ve done"!"
….(this
may be the well known, "Van Trapped Family" made famous by the movie
in which they sang that popular song: "The Hills Are Alive With
The Sound Of -- Self Confinement".
And
in conclusion, one man confides to us: "There are two things that
I really hate: doing something new, and then after doing
it -- myself! -- for not having done it sooner.
(Tip
For The Day: Do it sooner.
……and
don’t forget to say good by to the root doctor on your way out.)
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September
10, 2000 -- a Sunday as I write to you
from Santiago with news concerning that certain subject --
the only subject we cover here. The following are headlines
and items from around the world that bear on that specialized
topic, (and I trust they will not prove too grizzly for you.)
A
man-who-knows
does not say to himself: "I have some control over my
life.", neither does he say: "I do not have some
control over my life."
Thinking that one of the two must be true is the sign
of a man who does not know.
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Meditating
on the mind without meditating on where the mind comes
from is like waking up in a strange airport and not
knowing what brought you there.
Don’t
just dodge traffic -- play in it! …………… and take
tag numbers.
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The
cardinal rule
in rock climbing is: "Never let go of what you’re holding
on to until you’re holding onto something else."
The
rule for wising up is just the opposite.
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Just
because you know your name and a few facts about yourself
physically doesn’t mean that you know what you are.
Only
sleepers know what they are…..……..and they’re dreaming
it.
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A
boy said to his father: "What d’ya figure it’s like
to be totally awake and enlightened?", and his father
replied: "Like being you without the "you" in you."
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People
who talk about their life do no have a life worth talking
about.
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Fact:
A man astounded by mankind’s stupidity is astoundingly
stupid.
Fact:
A man befuddled by mankind’s odd activities is oddly
befuddled.
Fact:
No where is it written that you personally must be either
stupid or befuddled, but every where around you it is
permissible.
Question:
Since nothing that you can think or say has any
effect on whether you are fully awake or not --
why do you still bother with either?
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A
man asked a sage: "What method do you recommend to get-to-the-bottom-of-things?",
and the wise one replied: "My approach was to constantly
try to think what a mind would be like that had no thoughts."
"And that did it?", the man asked, "No, but the trying
finally brought me to my senses."
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Regarding
The Diagnosis:
Having a name for your condition does not mean that
you understand what it is………..in fact, one operational
definition of, "Being asleep" is in, "Not understanding
what the term, "Being asleep" actually symbolizes."
Corollary:
An alcoholic is someone who drinks more than the
person defining the word, "alcoholic".
Fact:
You either finally get it or you don’t and no
amount of being told that you either get it
or you don’t will help.
Question:
When standing in one, what could be more
obvious than the bottom of a barrel?
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A
boy asked his father:
"Do you say that "Being asleep" is believing that you
have control over your life?", "Yes.", he replied, then
the lad asked: "So is believing that you do not have
control over your life – being "awake"?", "No.", he
replied.
………….(rumor
says that the most efficient approach to that special
goal that has ever known was one that went by the name
of -- "Case Dismissed."
…..until
I see you next time I trust that you can keep your name
off the active docket.)
Jan
The
difference between a confused man and a man who-knows-what’s-going-on
is that a confused man thinks that he knows what’s going
on. |
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September
11, 2000. Dateline:
Kiev -- a place of intrigues and possibilities. Although a bit chilly
here, a man involved in that certain investigation always
has the heat of his own mind to keep him at operating temperature.
Plus it is Monday, the start of the weekend, when you can loosen
up a little and perhaps take a more relaxed, refreshed look at the
case, (after all: "All work and no results." is everyone else’s
slogan). Infra find my specialized news for the day.
To be normal is to be troubled by
what you are.
To be "asleep" is to not recognize
the source of the troubling.
Ordinary, sane, civilized men are
never completely satisfied, (speaking as always about nonphysical
matters), but they never identify the source of their dissatisfaction
in the way that do the few, trying-to-get-to-the-bottom-of-things.
The thinking of routine people is constructed such that it always
looks outside itself for "causes". When an everyday man is angry
it is because something made him angry. Something that some
other human said or did was the cause of him being angry, (so he
says and accepts).
But an alert and experienced special
agent -- trying-to-solve-this-case -- knows that a man’s own
genetic temperament is the source of his anger -- and his affection
-- and every other feeling he ever experiences.
To be human is to have thoughts.
To have thoughts is to be
troubled.
To be troubled is to be
unwittingly troubled about what you are -- nothing
more, and nothing less….. (and to "be awake" is to be
fully aware of the arrangement, and indifferently acceptant
thereof.)
People judged by their collective
peers to be, "normal" are not normally troubled by this troubling
sufficient for it to play a substantial role in their lives. And
they have religion, counseling, drugs and good old fashion, "talking-about-your-troubles"
as always available backup.
It could be said that
the certain people attracted to this sort of activity
do not find the readily available support-cum-explanatory systems
operational. They derive no nourishment, relief or insight from
religious notions of evil forces being the cause of their being
troubled, nor of psychological ones, identifying other people as
the source. And if they search for alternative maps and explanations
beyond these what they first find and initially step into are models
of man presented wherein his own "state of mind" is the cause of
all that troubles him and which keeps him "asleep and deluded".
No other profitable entree
into this great adventure presents itself. It is here where
you must begin…………thing is, most never get beyond it.
Someone says that a certain idea you
expressed is,"ridiculous"; the sound waves caused by their tongue
and lips saying the word, "ridiculous" entered your ears, caused
an appropriate vibration therein, was transformed and transmitted
to your cerebral cortex where your thoughts immediately translated
the electro-chemical energy into the message the speaker intended,
and -- Viola! -- you are angry! If you are ordinary, you are angry
because of what the other person said. If you are an amateur waker-upper
with some experience, you attribute the cause of your
troubling anger to your own mind -- to your very own, "sleeping
consciousness", which is certainly a step in a more profitable way
of looking at the matter……………….. but STILL -- you are not yet really,
"on the case".
This
is quite difficult to initially
see, but try this approach: if it is your own mind, consciousness
and thoughts that are the source of all that troubles, confuses
and deludes you -- your OWN, (don’t forget), then tell me
this: "What are you going to think next?"
There was a man who was bothered
by the shape of his nose.
He was also bothered by the shape
of his thoughts.
He did not take the shape of his
nose personally --- since that was the way he was born, he did
however take the vexing nature of his thinking quite personally,
and did thereby, increase his state of vexation.
To be
an ordinary human is to think that things can be other than they
are.
To be
an ordinary human is to recognize no distinction between what a
human can think and how things are.
To
be an ordinary human is to
think that you and other men can be other than you are, and
to be an ordinary human is to never realize the obvious, observable
fallacy of this thinking.
A man understands nothing save he
understands thinking, and he never understands thinking save he
discover for himself the thoroughly delightful impossibility of
thoughts understanding themselves.
To ever see for yourself what is actually
going on in life requires insight, but not insight into life, but
insight into that thing through which men say that they gain
insight.
Dig it: A man with faith in his mind
is asleep and totally deluded --- PLUS,
A man with no faith in
his mind is likewise asleep and still confused.
It is all so simple --
far too simple in fact for the ordinary
mind to ever get it.
Go ask your bathroom mirror what it
looks like when you are not there,
and if it had "awareness" its awareness
at that moment would be that of an awakened man. So -- since it
has no consciousness, why don’t you take what I have just
described and YOU be conscious of it?!
……that is actually all that this magnificent
expedition is about -- the realization that you really only exist
-- as you are -- and not as you think that you are………taking
into account obviously that, "what you think that you are" IS
a part of, "what you really are".
……(Yeahhhh,
well I already told you that the whole things is far too simple
to be labeled, "Mystical", and all that other crap! -- but, you
have to initially play the verbal cards as they are dealt at the
common public table.)
Time to head out of here………said enough…...for
some, (they think) – more than enough……….do the same for yourself.
For a true gum shoe; TOO much evidence is NEVER enough evidence
-- which is why ALL evidence is – immaterial.
The sleuth-with-promise has no interest
in "evidence" -- what he wants is "proof"……….and there is
quite a difference between evidence and proof, and someone asks:
"Exactly what IS the difference?", and I will be delighted
to tell you: Everything I have supra said is,"evidence". . Everything
I did NOT say is the "proof" ………(same as goes on in your
own mind constantly -- ‘cept you don’t yet realize it.
Tip For The Day: Realize
it.
Jan
A son so approached his father: "You
recently said that a man who talks about his life doesn’t have a
life worth talking about. -- so -- does a man who doesn’t
talk about his life have a life worth talking about?", and
the old man shook his head sadly: : "No boy. When are you finally
going to "get-it" concerning the "opposites thing"?!"
Suggestion For The Day: Get
it!
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September
12, 2000. Tuesday; 7:25 a.m.; Osaka,
Japan. Another day to not only live, but another day to try and
out live the mind you were born with. A singularly exhilarating
challenge known to but a few, and one whose reality transcends all
normal notions of success or failure. If you must do it --
you simply -- "Do
it!" --
and that’s that. So -- if you are one of the musters -- here
is your news for today.
Thought
can never bring anything to a satisfying
conclusion.
Thought’s
responsibility is to keep everything open-ended and liable to
change.
We
live physically amidst the technologically based comfort we do thanks
to this natural attribute of thought. The human mind when it looks
upon a thing, sees not the thing as it is, but as it could be. This
be the fountainhead of all change and progress, and the practical
basis for man’s manipulation of the environment for his survival
advantage.
When
Dr. Corvette first looked into an iron mine he did not simply
see a malleable ore, but rather, a sports car, (and others saw
a heart-lung machine, and other beneficial human inventions).
Certainly no fault to be found here.
But
how does this play out in the non-physical, inner world
of man’s mind?
Thought’s
inability
to bring anything to a satisfying conclusion also keeps man’s mentally-sourced,
"Secondary Reality" forever active and changing, (although the importance
of changes here do not rival those of the sort supra noted that
concern man’s physically-based, "Primary Reality".) Changes in this
realm are manifested inter alia in; fashion, music, art,
and in all manner of constant design change in objects of less than
survival significance.
And
here too does this matter present no "problem".
So
why do I even bring the subject up?
Thought’s
inability to bring anything to a satisfying conclusion has not stopped
it from turning its so-called attention on itself, and then blinding
itself to its abject lack of objective results.
Men
do not go to war over differing political, or religious beliefs,
but rather because their thoughts about such so-called, "matters"
are never brought to any satisfying conclusion.
Ordinary
men think that they have ideological conflicts with the
ideas of other men -- and it is all a mere illusion, although
one that is an integral part of the life support system
of man’s Secondary World. (Conflict in the secondary realm
keeps its blood circulating, its respiration active, and
skirt lengths rising this year, and falling the next.)
But
the more specific reason that this is our main story
for the day is this:
When
a person undertakes that ancient and honorable goal to, "Achieve
Enlightenment", or to, "Wake Up To Objective Reality" what they
are seeking is to bring their thoughts to a satisfying conclusion……………..a
totally unnatural act.
But
how do they go about it?………how MUST they go about it?
-- by using thought.
Sending
a river to catch a river.
To
"wake up" a man must cease thinking "sleeping" thoughts.
Employing
a sunbeam to suppress a sunbeam.
To
say that this is an open invitation to frustration is to verbally
engage in the obvious, and yet even while the results of such action
relentlessly manifest themselves throughout the life and history
of man, it goes unnoted and is accepted as the norm. E.g.; "Getting
revenge" never works, that is, it is never satisfying, for with
matters that exist only in men’s minds-cum-Secondary-Reality nothing
can ever come to a definitive, once-and-for-all, unshakable
-- satisfying conclusion.
So
what are the few to do?
As
is always the only useful reply: See the situation for yourself.
Being
in prison is one thing -- being there while also imagining
that you are in prison is something else altogether
unacceptable to a man trying-to-get-to-the-bottom-of-all-this.
I
put it to you plainly:
When
you clearly realize for yourself that the nature of thought is such
that it can not bring any matter to a satisfying conclusion -- you
are free! Free from the only thing in the entire universe even remotely
resembling a prison -- thoughts.
It
was a thought that told you that you are "asleep
& deluded"
–
and
it was a thought that told you that you should "awaken
& be enlightened".
Other
than for your bad feet, weak back, and propensity for obesity,
(which are physical and outside our interest here), all
of the "problems" you suffer in life were delivered to you
via a thought.
You’re
imprisoned by thoughts – then promised freedom by --
thoughts.
A
pret-tee nif-tee little nepotistic arrangement, (if
you axe me.)
Answer
me this:
Who, but a world class moron, with a specific destination in mind
will board a train whose history clearly shows that it never arrives
ANY WHERE?! Answer me and you, that!
(Damn!,
but it’s nice here In Japan this time of year.
"Hey!,
are you subtly trying to change the subject on me here?!"
-- No sir, simply trying to make you surprise yourself
with a sudden shift in attentional direction. Try it
-- if you belong here -- you’ll like it.)
Do
not expect
to harvest corn from a goldfish field, nor to get straight answers
from an attorney on a roller coaster, and why do you continue to
believe that something EYE POPPING and LIFE CHANGING is going to
come out of your thoughts?!………just look at their track record.
What
the few truly seek, who seek to get-to-the-bottom-of-things (though
few-of-the-few ever realize it), is to live in an internal, mental-world-of-perceptions-about-life
that are free from the normal interference of normal thought. In
otter woirds: What they long for is a relationship to life not colored
by the commentary of thought. To be in such an internal position
is to be as free, awake and enlightened as a human can be.
….not
hardly mysterious or mystical --
not
hardly at all.
Well,
the sake’s getting cold, and Ole Paint is choppin’ at the bit, and
pawin’ up the ground, so I reckon I’ll be soon ridin’ off again
into that magnificent Nipponese sunset, but I’ll see all you little
buckaroos back here tomorrow, same time, same place, (‘cept of course,
I be some where else as usual. ….by the way: where do you expect
to be tomorrow -- internally?!….I hope not in your usual
place,)
Jan
A
father so advised a son: "As soon as a man says, "I believe that
with the right effort we can – turn-this-thing-around", you can
quit listening ."
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September
13, 2000 finds me in Samarkand, a place of fanciful tales
and a self-professed, "mystical history", (not unlike many people
I have met on my assignments. Say…….in fact you look familiar……didn’t
we meet in -- ah, never mind -- as you always say: "The past is
over -- forget about it" -- right?!) So here is some contemporaneous,
never-before-handled-or-mutilated news regarding that singular subject
of sole concern to us here.
The
minds of those who do not know what is going on have non-physical
preferences -- meaningless preferences which will bar
them
from ever realizing exactly what is going on".
(Let
us hear another rousing cheer for the, "Universal-balance-of-everything"!)
A
boy asked his father:
"What is this curious condition I hear referred to as, ‘Being asleep
with your eyes open’?", and the elder replied: "It is actually ordinary
men’s ordinary state of mind in which their inner, voice-over commentary
that is continually delivering its judgements of life is doing so
based on personally irrelevant preferences whose source is unknown.
At least among those who really know -- this is what, ‘Being asleep’
is."
The
mentally contrived, non physically essential, "secondary", civilized
world of man is driven by -- meaningless preferences -- without them, life as you
know it now would cease to be.
This
matter is certainly not difficult to perceive. Any preference
you have about anything that is not essential to your physical
survival is a meaningless preference. Such preferences are not
meaningless in the secondary realm which depends on same for
its survival, but clearly in the overall matter of life-&-death
your preference for Mahler over Wagner is irrelevant. (For the
perceptive, enough said regarding the literal aspect of the
matter.)
But
with the other six billion, everyday, sane humans on this planet
the preferences they have in non survival-essential affairs ARE
certainly meaningful and relevant -- they will in fact fight over
them. With an ordinary man his political, religious, and cultural
preferences in large -- define who he is. There is nothing
therein that warrants criticism, (but as you always say: "There
is nothing ANYWHERE that warrants criticism!" -- right?!…….just
remember how often you have said that., but back on track).
The
objectively, "meaningless preferences"
around which so much of an ordinary man’s life revolves, and from
which he so substantially derives his sense of himself are indeed
"meaningless" for the simple reason that in the overall operating
scheme of things they are meaningless to the life the individual
actually LIVES! -- not the one he thinks about, and not the
one he even talks about, but the preferences are irrelevant
and meaningless to the life the person actually lives.
Again,
thanks to the universal-equilibrium-of-things, in the "secondary-weighted-world"
in which routine people live, the irrelevance of a person’s
professed, "Strong-held and well-founded preferences" goes entirely
unnoticed, and thus contributes to no additional, unnecessary
disturbance in their mind. (Come on now! -- don’t hold back!
-- let’s hear it for the universe! -- what’d we do without
it?!)
Okay
-- for the purposes of our instant, private confab, let us assume
that you recognize the validity of what I have above noted. Let
us say that you are no longer substantially distracted by the constant
yapping in your mind of judgements, criticisms, and preferences
which you now realize, (in your periodic,"lucid moments"), show
no relevance to the actual, physical -- life you lead --
then, "What next for you in this extraordinary undertaking?"
Now
here is where it gets really interesting.
So
we have a man whose life and mind is no longer overwhelmed with
entanglements in meaningless preferences -- he has it narrowed down
to but a single, all important preference: he prefers to be awake
than to be asleep. Gotcha! You’ve
been had again! But now on a much more sophisticated level……..in
fact on one that damn near escapes detection save by the most alert
of the alert.
A
son thus addressed his father:
"So is it accurate to say that an enlightened mind is one that entertains
no meaningless preferences concerning matters that are not essential
to survival?!" -- "You could say that.", replied the elder, and
the lad then said: "And a bit more specifically you could define
an awakened mind as one that does not rely on preferences that pass
through it regarding other men and the preferences they express?!",
and again the old man agreed that such could be said. The young
boy rubbed his chin for a moment, and spoke again: "So -- that about
covers it?!" -- "Not quite.", responded his father: "You left out
one thing: A mind fully enlightened
also has no preference as to whether it is enlightened or not."
"But that cannot BE!", exclaimed the incredulous lad -- "Yes, I
know.", said his father; "That
is why the phenomenon is so rare."
Jan
…..(remember
that my father and son stories do not concern two people, but represent
a potential scene inside your own head.)
……and
some late breaking,: "Beach
Music News".
Only those who
believe they are drowning --
believe
they are drowning.
A
son came home and complained to his father: "In
history class today while my teacher was making critical remarks
regarding some event, I mentioned what you have said about there
never being anything "wrong or amiss" in life, and my teacher was
outraged . She not only gave me an "F" for the day, but said that
if I believed what you had said that we were both crazy?", to which
his pater replied: "You got what you deserved. You should never
say such things to an ordinary person.", and the lad asked: " But
once I already had, what should have been my response?" -- "You
should not have responded . . People
either get it or they don’t, and there is nothing you can
add that will make any difference."
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Thursday, September
14, 2000. I drove all night from Samarkand, and am now in
a small town at the Afghanistan border whose main industry is the
selling of mystical yarn to tourists. (‘Tis easy to find work here
-- on either side of the just noted commerce. By the by; which are
you; buyer or seller? In either case, another instance of, "illusionary
employment"………["See!, I told you: all of the good jobs are NOT just
at Disneyland!"]). Keep your green card handy, and in a temporary
tight, I will vouch for you. But remember where you are and -- stay-on-your-toes.
(Oh yeah, you ever do any boxing?……...interested in some serious
sparring?….) And now for today’s specialized news concerning that
certain provocative topic.
A man
trying to awaken does not answer questions.
A man attempting to snap-out-of-it,
and get-to-the-bottom-of-things does not answer questions
-- he asks them.
An ordinary
man -- a man living in a low-wattage
daze, guided by voices in his head -- will answer any question asked
of him. He is primed at all times to tell you anything you want
to know about him. He is forever prepared – and anxious --
to spill-his-guts regarding that most important of all subjects
-- himself.
A
man struggling to see does not answer questions.
Only
idiots answer questions about
themselves --
morons -- the deluded, the confused,
the deranged -- people taking naps, men whose minds are, "some place
else", people momentarily, "distracted" -- your friends and family
-- ordinary, everyday people – Yes!, it is everyday, ordinary people
who will answer questions that are asked about them. (It can get
surprisingly hot here, considering the altitude, huh?!)
A
man closing in on the truth does not answer questions.
If your
aim is to awaken, then be it
known: Every time you respond to a question about yourself -- you
sleep.
If
your goal is to be enlightened,
then take note: Every time you answer a question asked about
you -- you have put on shades and strolled into a totally darkened
room.
Question:
How can you tell with unerring accuracy that a man is in a dream
and hasn’t got a clue? --- He will answer questions you ask about
him.
Question:
Why WILL a person answer questions about themselves, (even
when asked by absolute strangers)?
…….want a hint?
At a recent party
it was almost impossible to get a word in -- what
with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Snow White and
Don Quixote all trying to explain to everybody,
"What kinda guy they are"!
You are a fool, you are ordinary,
and you plainly enjoy your sleep if you feel the need to answer
any question anyone might ask about you -- that is the easy and
obvious part -- and here is where the geldings are separated from
the stallions.
A
man who knows what he is doing does not respond to
questions
about himself that are raised by his own thoughts.
You have got to have been off-the-farm
for a goodly spell to get this one in your pipe, and lit.
Question:
What purpose is being served in a man’s own thoughts relentlessly
yammering on-and-on to him -- day-and-night --
about the, "kinda-guy-he-is"?!
WHAT? – he doesn’t KNOW
what kinda guy he is?!
Out of all the people in the entire
world -- HE needs to be constantly reminded through words
and pictures in his head of just exactly who, or what
he IS?!
Question:
This doesn’t strike you at all as -- "curious"?
…….(ordinary men do not find
this curious at all …..since they never think about it..….they’re
always too busy answering questions about themselves to
even notice it.)
Does
anybody get it?! Are any of you
struck with the realization of what I’m doing here?! Must I everyday
present the news-you-might-use in pabulum form?! (Whew! -- open
that widow and see if we can latch onto a passing breeze and cool
things down a bit………..that is what you want, right?! -- to "cool
things down"?! Ahhhh!, and you originally seemed so promising. Ahhhhhhhh.
Well, maybe I shouldn’t be picking
on you like this right now……you know, you look a mite sickly,
tell me: How you feelin’?
Utt!,
come on now, you weren’t really fixin’ to answer that, now were
you?!
Fact:
No one really cares "How
you feel" -- but, Hey! -- that’s okay,
‘cause an awakened man doesn’t
even care HIMSELF – "How he feels".
Well, the mayor and some soldiers
are coming up the street in this direction -- I assume to either
give you the combination to the city, (or something less savory),
so until next time, I leave you to answer for yourself the question:
"What is it in me that motivates me to read these words?", (you
should of course be phrasing the question: "What is it about the
nature of the MIND that motivates my interest in these writings?"
Excelsior!
Jan
A son asked his father: "Are you awake?",
and the old man slapped him so hard that the spit in the boy’s mouth
achieved enlightenment!
……..Oh!
-- all right: then. What is the one REAL question? -- well obviously
this: you asking yourself: "Am I awake?", at which time you should
slap YOURSELF as heartily as possible
…oh yeah, I enjoyed that tattoo
you have on your knuckles:
"Qui s’explain s’accuse".
J.
Okay, one more thing:
Tip
For The Day: Assume that every
question anyone ever asks you about yourself is actually life asking::
"Are you asleep?"
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| September
15, 2000, Kingston, Jamaica, Friday morning,
a little after seven, and news is already coming in from every where
concerning that one remarkable business upon which I report
herein daily. (FYI: franchises are available in your area -- in your
own head, to be more precise.) So – inthat the SEC has no authority
in this affair, we will get on with my, "Insider’s tips".
In
this extraordinary endeavor to more fully awaken the mind
-- a man who knows what he is doing
does not listen to anybody.
Obvious
Converse Corollary: Listening to the thoughts of others will keep
you right where you are now.
Not
So Obvious, Teenie Weenie Detail: This includes listening
to your own thoughts.
Long
ago, (when all of this first got started), life told Adam:
"You are going to find yourself living in a universe in which -- "Things-are-as-they-are".
But after consciousness awakens in your brain you will mentally lose
sight of this inescapable, physical fact, and will never again be
satisfied, but will forever be dreaming of changing everything --
including yourself."
Adam pondered
this for a moment, then said: "The whole thing strikes me as totally
inexplicable!", to which life replied: "Yeah -- it‘s my masterpiece!"
To
a man trying to get-to-the-bottom-of-things -- other people’s
ideas are just in the way. (Same regarding his
own ideas.)
Some years
later Adam was at a ball game, and the person sitting in front
of him had on such a large hat that Adam could not get a clear
view of the playing field. To no avail did he repeatedly ask that
the hat be removed, and after taking it upon himself to knock
it off, met with no more success.
Well,
the longer Adam sat there with his view obstructed, the more
frustrated and irritated he became, and even began to have
fantastic day dreams regarding the affair and its potential
metaphysical implications.
Finally,
(apparently out of some sort of "enlightened desperation"),
Adam stood up -- an act which, at that location, required
extraordinary, unnatural, and totally unnecessary effort
-- then walked around to get in front of the person who
was blocking his view, (something that had never been
done at that venue), only to make a most disturbing discovery.
He had forgotten that there was no one IN the stadium
but him.
Thus
the person blocking his view was none other than --
good old him himself.
To
a man trying to awaken -- listening to the thoughts of others does
nothing butcause him to sleep. (His own thoughts not excluded.)
One day
life and Adam crossed paths again, and life asked: "How are things
going?", to which, (with some grimness), Adam replied: "About
like you said they would.", and life shrugged: "Well, that’s what
you get for listening to me."
P.S.:
It was many years, (if ever!), before Adam – "caught-on".
Adam had a son
-- who had a dog -- who almost drove him crazy with its barking and
unruly behavior.
The boy
tried to calm the dog and teach him to be quiet -- but with no
luck.
After
the lad had reached a certain intensity of annoyance, the
elder noted to him: "The activity required in trying to calm
the beast is the very same activity that you are trying to
stop when you decide to try to calm the beast’s activity."
(P.S.: Mucho years passed before
this made any sense to Adam’s son.)
To
a man seeking enlightenment -- listening to other people’s
ideas keeps him in darkness. (This includes
his own.)
Every time
Adam would find himself in unfamiliar circumstances, and would
ask someone for assistance, they would -- raise their hand, point
their finger, and in their attempt to send him in the proper direction,
inevitably -- poke him in the eye
-- temporarily blinding him.
To
a man struggling for freedom -- listening to the thoughts of
others only adds to his captivity. (The thoughts
in his own head being cows of the same
herd.)
Recently,
Adam began to hear rats in his attic, and just as he was about
to get all entangled and frustrated anew over yet another totally
futile extermination undertaking, he came to his senses, and finally
realized that: the attic came with the house, he can’t move else
where, and the rats are not really his any way. In other words;
the way things were is simply -- "The way things are."
--
and just then life strolled by and said: "See -- I told you."
Well, that‘s enough,
(if not too much), news for one day. I’m gonna hit the beach while
you finish your coffee and perusal of these stories. ………. You can
catch up with me later.
Jan
A personal,
"P.S." just for you:
In the game
of, "Enlightenment vs Illusion" -- if you take sides -- you lose.
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