I want to show you this picture that I found. Why is the idea of the deep ocean so disturbing?
Because it is one of the most perfect avatars of the Dark. The ocean is chaotic, powerful, mysterious, and completely out of your control. The deep is terrifying, thrilling, for so many reasons. It is beyond you. It holds more life than you could ever encounter or document, more power than you can imagine, yet it cares not. There's a cold power to the ocean, an uncaring beauty to it. This is more characterizing of the Yin than most things people are aware of. I wish I could go there someday. Deep, deep, deep into the ocean. I would find elder things, stranger things... things from another era. Perhaps you would. But depth is all around you. And even more so within you. You are only shielded from this Dark energy by your mind. A deeper, darker, and stranger place is inside yourself. Look within, and go diving if you seek these things. Depth is important and powerful. Perhaps it is a subtle Divine Quality. It is dangerous, and treacherous, but also beautiful, magnetic, and wise. Go diving my friend. Tell me what you find. I think I will. Diving within... I am afraid. Would you come with me? Unfortunately, this sort of journeying can only be done alone, just like all true adventures. But don't worry. No one's ever truly alone. And I am always here for you. ... Do you know how much I love you? I do So... do I even need to say it? Well... it is nice <3 I found a lovely poem! Can I show it to you?
Of course. "The answer searches for itself. Lost in what. Lost why. Desperately seeking for a sign, oh, but the sign is all it sees." - Hilebard That's lovely. Thank you for showing it to me! How about I give you something in return? A freely given gift for a freely given gift. Sounds like an enlightened exchange. A quote then, in the same vein... "The desire for a more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one's negative experience is itself a positive experience." Two parts, fitting together perfectly. The Yin And the Yang ... Okay, okay! My turn. A story this time. A monk was walking along a road to the Starlight City. Before him appeared a great and ferocious demon. And it spoke, "I am Ramiell! See my teeth and tremble. See my hungry eyes and weep. Know my nature and flee." The monk merely stopped walking and looked upon Ramiell. The monk was silent and calm. The demon roared and screamed, breathing poison and flame from its horrid jaws. Ramiell threatened and postured, taking a great boulder in its hands and shredding it as if it was paper. The monk was still silent and calm. In a dark tone, the demon questioned the monk, "Why do you not fear me, oh foolish one? There is nothing to defend you. There is nothing to stop me from condemning you to an eternity of torture in a moment. You have nothing." The monk was still at peace. Now the demon was even more furious, "Do you think some flimsy ideology will protect you? Do you think that your life has meaning, that anything has meaning? You are wrong. There is no meaning. NOTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON. And you have nothing to protect you." The monk smiled and nodded. "You are right. I have nothing to protect me. And nothing happens for a reason." And the demon was dispelled. ... The power of Silence. Another Divine Quality. The Nothing, the Space Between things. So you see the truth of it. You can't have the music without the Space Between the notes. And in the end that is more important than the notes, because it IS the notes, and so much more. The Space Between, between the notes, between the lines of sketch, between the words on a page, between continents, between planets... it's all fractal. Yes it is. ... ... Hey, are you there?
Always. When we were talking last time, you were speaking about Zen Masters. How do you become a Zen Master? There are infinite paths. Of course, of course... But give me something more concrete than that!!! It's always so wishy washy with you. Well, I am no master of this subject. I am only a student, a beginner. But you have studied for so long! Time is not relevant in this discussion! I am always a beginner, in this and all things. :P Your sweetness is distracting... there. I blew a kiss to you. I don't know when it will arrive. The mail system at my location is at times unrel- There! Caught it! <3 <3 Have you heard of "Principia Veritas?"
I can't say I have. Tell me about it! You always find the most interesting things... It's a book. An old Latin book. The title means, "The Principles of Truth." It has a fascinating premise, if slightly disturbing. Pray tell! The author has interesting ideas about belief. He writes that by believing in something makes it truly real. That if you truly believe that you can fly, then you will. That if you really believe in ghosts, you will see them. That if you truly believe in magic, then it will exist. Not that you will perceive it as real, but you will have that reality integrated into yours. I think I see. I am imagining a set of glass colored and marked lenses. You could combine the lenses in different combination piles, and make colors or symbols. So by truly believing things you become part of a reality where they are real? Yes. Its sounds like a fairytale but it gets pretty awful pretty fast. The author points out how superstitious and myth focused the early human cultures are thought to be. If you follow what this book says, then the ancient woods of Europe or the ancient deserts of Africa really would be filled with monsters, tiny gods, ghosts, and other such things. Priests could do magic- But only to those who also believed in it. Thus the belief is a strength and a weakness. Depending on what you believe. But you don't truly control what you believe. You control what you think but that's different. Belief is very difficult to change. Most people when they say they believe things only think them. It's easy to test. If someone's life is in danger and their belief is tested then you will know. Ask a man who thinks he can heal any wound to cut off his arm. You can find out what people believe right away. That's a disturbing example. But that's just it! This whole book is like that. It becomes a vicious cycle. How could I convince you to truly concretely (in the same way you believe in gravity) believe in something you have never seen! By definition, you can't see things that you DON'T believe in. So those pre-modern people were stuck in a hell hole of monsters and demons, and how could they not believe in them? But if they managed to, then they would stop them from existing. How did the change in superstition come about then? The author paints the scientists of the Rationalist Revolution as the heroes of humanity. Not because they were right, but because they convinced the entire planet (throughout a century or two) to change belief. They diluted belief, and made a much more standard set for people to have. A much less chaotic set of beliefs. Think of classic rationalistic ways of thinking! "Everything has an explanation." "Every effect has a cause." "If you truly understand something, then you can control it." It's not just empiricism, it's an affirmation of control. It puts the whole world in a vice grip. It's genius and masterful use of the Principia Veritas! That's an interesting way of thinking. I know! I have been fascinated with this book forever. There are so many layers of interpretation! For example, it has been written by some critics (this is a hard book to find, but there are many who have found it) that this book is not a helping hand, but a curse. Another "affirmation of control" as the author would put it. Some say, that by explaining the change in Earth belief completed by the Rationalists this book puts that very change in danger. That by reading it, your mind is opened up to many different ideas about what is possible, thus stopping the Rationalists from having the hold they want. This could throw the world back into an age of magic and demons again, which the Rationalists do not want at all, thus this book is so hard to find! Can you imagine that? What an intense concept, this war of belief and ideas, waged with books. Where whole armies become meaningless, compared to who has stronger belief. So many ideas and principles and axioms are written about, battles of belief that ancient sages would have. In these battles they both try to believe the other doesn't exist while defending themselves by believing that they themselves do exist. The one who had stronger belief would be victorious. He talked about this Order in his books. He seemed very tight lipped about actual information, but kept going on about them. Men and women who had mastered the powers of belief. How they could change reality at a thought. Age, war, disease, death, famine? What problems are these for such Sages! Apparently, the Order lives on today, acting as a scalpel instead of a tsunami, they solve problems, and maintain balance. What I wouldn't give to meet a Truth Sage! ... Such ideas and power and change and control are inebriating. They whirl people's minds into unstable tornadoes of moving energy, constantly thinking and predicting and seeking. There is no power in changing the world at a thought. Let us say that your book is true, for I am no master of such a subject, perhaps it is. Even a Truth Sage at full power is no match for a Zen Master. Surely you are mistaken! He could fashion him into anything he wanted! Zen Masters have no thoughts or beliefs, thus he would be powerless. Wrong. The Zen Master flows with the energy of the Is. It is he who is fully a part of that energy. The Buddha is the Universe, the Love Force. Even if your book holds truth, the Love Force is greater than all things. Because, it is all things. It is unconquerable. How would you fight the ocean? Take a man and give him weapons of war, swords and shields, armor and so on. Let us say he is the greatest swordsman of all time. He will never defeat the ocean. Not because the ocean is stronger! Because the ocean can't fight. It just is. The Love Force can't conflict with anything because it is everything. Even the push and pull of Yin and Yang, Dark and Light, is just a dance of energy in the eyes of the Is. The Zen Master is greater because he is flexible, yielding, like water. ... This book fills my head with too much. It is good to have you here to ground me <3 It is my natural place, and I am happy to hold it <3 Let's make a poem! Are you ready?
Always. Okay, don't think about it too much, just... express yourself! Like the falling rain. Ooh! That's a good start! I'm gonna steal that. Okay, okay, okay... Like the falling rain I kiss you So that I miss you When You Aren't Here I like that! So pretty. It's like a flower in your heart. Heartflower... that word seems so beautiful to me. It's a type of flower. Really? Perhaps! I can see it in my head. Those flowers we hold in our hearts are the gentlest crop, the most sacred garden. What do we do with them? Why are they there? To express the beauty of the heart? No. They are there to be given, picked from their home soil and gifted to others. But a picked flower must die! And so it is. We are doomed to give our Heartflowers away. Better to die in the heart of another, then to wilt away in winter. ... Here. Have one of mine. Speak to me of God. I love the way you explain things.
Only if you help me. I love your words equally. Okay <3 Where to start? Need a hint? Sure, help me out here. Speak to me of the Divine Qualities. Ah! You sneak! A topic we both favor. Doesn't everyone favor the Qualities? Naturally. Well those that I have found are Peace, Love, Joy, Truth, Beauty... perhaps Hope and Faith as well. And all are the same? Yes. Properly understood (or at least as far as I understand) these qualities are faces of the same thing. I have always called it the Love Force. Yes! I quite like that. I knew you would. The Love Force, the Is, Being, God, the Universe, the Great Spirit, the Holy Spirit... so many names. All for the One. And there are infinite paths to it. Infinite ways of walking. The Way of the Stone, the Way of the Cup, the Way of the Poet, the Way of the Warlord... as many Ways as there are things that exist. Because the Way and the Destination are one. Are THE One. Like the river flowing into the ocean. Both are water. Just in different states. Seemingly in different states. ... ... What is your path? Everything that I experience is my path. My existence is my path. Perfectly fitting, universally elegant. And mine? The same. Every Way tailored to every Wayfarer. It's beautiful. It is. I love you. I love you too. Where do we go from here fellow wanderer? Wherever we will. Can we go deeper? Just ask. HRIDAYAM! Yes. What are you? I am the color of Love. Who are you? I am the face of the stars. Where are you? Within. Hey, are you there?
Always. What do you do when you are bored? What do you mean? Bored, "feeling weary and impatient because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one's current activity." It would seem to me that the boredom itself is the activity. It's a portal to another state. Like all suffering, it is a chance, a gift. How so? Boredom is an invitation to a quiet place. It's a mental whiplash, as your brain readjusts. All your energy was ready to go someplace, and it has no where to go. Let the boredom happen. Imagine you are a car speeding down a flat road. No need to use the break, or speed up. Let the car slow down. Let your energy refocus on something small. How can I get it to refocus? It will by itself, just allow it to. In this way it is like water. It will flow to where it needs to go without effort. It might take some time. But what is that anyway? Let yourself be bored. And watch as you focus to smaller quieter joys. Thank you. Where did you learn all this? Hmm? Who taught you to think like this? It's all inward. If you know how to let go you can just relax, and allow your energy to express itself. When you do that, beautiful things happen. I can see what you mean. It's like you stop holding a flower closed. And when you take your hands away, the petals spread. It seems like magic. But it's just the way things are. Exactly! All those ideas of magic and miracles and the supernatural are partially true. But if you call those things that, it shows you don't understand their true place. They aren't magical or miraculous. They are just as magical as the grass growing. It's all magic. And none of it is. Both ring true. So magic exists? Yes, as everyday life. Is that God? A piece of the whole, yes. The last time we talked you called this reality the "realer reality" in comparison with the dream world.
I did. Well (excluding the horrible grammar) I have a problem with it. Why didn't you call it the "most real world?" Because I don't think this world is the most real world. Explain. Consciousness is not a stable state. It is like the top of the ocean, always moving and altering. Your analogy is better this time! Not as good as you would think. Your consciousness does not only change in formation, but also in size, content, nature and so on. It would be more accurate to say your consciousness is a huge ball of matter. But it can change shape, size, weight, color, or what type of matter it is. In fact, it could be something entirely different to matter. ... That was worse. Sorry. But regardless, your consciousness can shift to a lot of different places. More places than you can imagine. The dream world is not really a different world. Realities are separated with hard lines or huge walls. It is all just your consciousness shifting and moving and molding. But that's just perspective. You are talking about subjectivity as if it is real. Just by being conscious of something does not make it real. Perhaps. What type of real? You can't see me rolling my eyes, but be advised... I am rolling them. What type of real do you need? We have all types of real here? Dream real, imagination real, thoughts real, hold it in your hands real... Rolling them around and around. ... so real you can taste it, so real you can believe it... Like a record, baby. A million and one types of real! Which real do you need? There aren't better or worse "reals." Only different ones. Like a carpenter's tools, each is different, each serves a different purpose. But be sure, each does serve a purpose. ... You're crazy. Perhaps! :D What are dreams?
I think they are another sense. Like touching, feeling, tasting or thinking. I like that idea! Wait, you think thinking is a sense? Yes! The brain is the sense organ for thoughts. Think about it. Where do thoughts come from? Do you create them? Oh Jesus. Let's go back to dreams. Okay. What do you dream about? Normally? Last night? Be more specific. Sorry. What are your dreams normally like? Flashes of color. Scenes. Memories. People I knew. Once I had a dream about a man who I loved deeply but who I never met in reality. He wasn't a passerby, or a friend, or relative, or anybody from real life. I only knew him from that dream. But I really loved him, I mean truly and deeply. Then I woke up. I woke up missing someone I could never meet. ... That's beautiful. Thank you. You didn't have to say, "or anybody from real life." Oh? I think the place dreams sense is a life too. Not as real as this world, true. But still real. Hmm. You could have said, "or anybody from the realer life." That's a lovely way to think about it. Thank you. ... What was his name? James. That name rings sweetly to me, even as I read it. Don't cheapen love even in the dream world. It is beautiful in all places it is found. I won't. I promise. See this picture?
Yeah. What is that? It depends. How can it depend? That's a picture of a thing. What is the thing? That's true. But is the picture a separate entity from the thing? That image is just a square of pixels, each one on a scale from black to white. Nothing more than that. Your eyes choose to see what they will in it. So what if I see a fortress or a cloud or a dragon or whatever? Then you do. Hmm. What do you see? ... A mouth. Open wide? To devour. Hey! What are you up to?
Just sitting. Breathing. Wow. That's beautiful. What do you do when your thoughts interrupt? They don't. What!? How? That's all thoughts do during meditation. My thoughts anyway... They are part of the meditation. You can't interrupt the flow of a river by dumping a bucket of water in it. I guess so, huh. That's a beautiful way of thinking (even including the messy analogy). That's the only way to do analogies :P :) What is this part of the blog?
I am not quite sure yet. Then why did you make it? I don't know that either. That's pretty useless to me. So you just did something random? Something completely spontaneous without reason? I guess so. Well... that doesn't make any sense at all... |