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 11 Jan 2003 @ 11:09, by jewel. Ideas, Creativity
Another nice tidbit sent from my beloved Glastonbury neighbour/ comrade Palden Jenkins. I've heard this one below, but with a slightly different bent about what is 'hell' and what is 'heaven'... God put the angels and the devils to a test. He set up a huge banquet hall with a wonderful feast. First He invited the devils to the feast. They were delighted until they found out that they couldn't bend their arms at the elbows! How were they to eat all the delicious food when their hands wouldn't go to their mouths? They tried eating off the plate, which was messy and undignified. They tried throwing the food in the air and catching it in their mouths. Nothing worked very well. After 15 minutes of this mayhem, God told them that time was up. They trooped out cursing Him.
Next, He invited the angels into the hall. A fresh feast was laid out,and the same thing happened - they couldn't bend their arms at the elbows. The angels all looked at each other and burst out laughing. "What a great game!" they said as they fed each other. ... Hmmm... Sometimes in our journey is about how we approach the situation we find ourselves in. I remember a quote I learnt in junior high, 'When Life hands you lemons.... make lemonade!" The motif of the lemonade stand is probably a favourite amoungst my generation --- the charm of creating an event out of what you find in your own backyard, your own Kansas... and harvesting it's fruits.
Right now my family is living on some friends' land up in the High Mohave Desert, near Joshua Tree. We're in a trailer out in the middle of a picturesque canyon with no visible neighbours in sight.... and, learning about solar power and living a simpler life for six temporary months. A strange sabbatical from the English countryside! On some days, because of the learning curve and the many demands of our worldly life... if the main power zaps out after one light being on for a half an hour, we can decide we're inadequate for not understanding our electrical systems by ourselves and without having to call upon the help of our friends. We are the devils in despair. Yet, the next night, we can be resourceful, and play a game of cards by candlelight. With this simple idea, at that moment we have 'lightened up' and just enjoyed the Now....
Yet yet yet, still yet... how can we celebrate the lightness without the journey through the many tunnels of psyche? How can we 'be there' without going somewhere else first, to get there? This has been a constant source of musing for me... if we were only angels in heaven... how could we know it? The Gnostic Jung mapped the idea that from the realm of the undifferentiated, we must distinguish ourselves. On the road map through time and space, there must be points to define where one has been and where one is going. A concept of goodness can only be experienced not as an idea but as a coming into beingness... an alignment or emergence from mind, heart and spirit... and of course, our physiology. I call these 'pops'... I pop out and remember... only, again to continue this mad hatter party and forget again tomorrow.
All, for this continuous dream of the awakening... More >
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 22 Dec 2002 @ 22:53, by jewel. Ideas, Creativity
Another eccentric High Desert customer to Paladin Video in Yucca --the most extensive, inspiring, and intelligent collection of films I have ever come across--I was recommended the film Waking Life by Richard Linklater. What got me was his description that it had to do with my favourite theme: are we dreaming awake, or waking from the dream? I have begun viewing this surreal 'animation' that blends between worlds and philosophies of life. It has futurism , biology, one brilliant treatise on the 'truth' behind Satre... and even a wonderful pillow talk between Uma and Ethan, voices beyond their Picasso-esque 'animation' selves....
But really, what is the dream? When do we ever wake up? Is there a point? There must be a point of recognition, of this Great Crescendo as one brainy 'Waking' character pointed out. (I like to think of it as waking the Global Brain, this Epoch into The Future). In this dream of our awakenings... I have written and pondered and fretted... and then spaced and forgot and just got on with the task at hand of feeding a babe and kissing a wounded lover's feet. Though still we continue with The Great Ah-Has of those lucid dreams when we know indeed we are threading the themes of yes, this Waking Life.. and that we Know, the Gnosis is shared with all the I's that are having their way with us... and then, why do we wake up and forget the journey, or the point of it? And, so I answer my own pondering. We cannot know the point, for the ant perspective. We must fly and have the moments of Communion in order to come back and be fragments of beauty once more.. confused and within that, the Eye sees the I but yet again, differently. More >
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17 Dec 2002 @ 19:27, by craiglang. Ideas, Creativity
Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the town,
Not an auto was moving, I saw gridlock abound.
The parking lot full of both new cars and old
The snow was not here yet, but only the cold
With prices reduced, on gifts all around
The economy hopefully soon would rebound
I with my MasterCard, and Visa and Cash
Had bought my last package, completing my stash
Toting my purchases out to the lot
I wondered a year from now what would mean what
Would we be locked in a war with Iraq
Or would peace prevail, with prayer and with luck
As I turned the key, and started my car,
I felt that the cheer of Christmas was far
Yet as the car started, the engine to purr
I felt a sense of warmth start to stir
The feeling that God watches over us all
And living within us, answers our call
It made me feel better, as I drove in my car
This season is time to enjoy who we are
I arrived at my home, my family to greet
I saw decorations, ribbons and wreaths
And looking, I saw the family room filled
With holiday ornaments, stacked to the hilt,
As I continued to take off my coat
A tear of joy rose, and a frog in my throat
I thanked our dear God for this time and place
The best of the season, to this blue dot in space. More >
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 13 Dec 2002 @ 23:16, by matrxmuziq. Ideas, Creativity
I wandered lonely as a cloud... (please pardon my poetic ravings) More >
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 26 Nov 2002 @ 03:53, by ming. Ideas, Creativity
There is very little I know for certain. I know that I am conscious of my own existence, and I'm aware of many changing perceptions of the world I appear to be in, and I have abstract thoughts and feelings related to my experience. That's about it. Anything that my perceptions or my thoughts or my feelings are telling me is something I'm guessing. An abstract over-simplification of something that possibly is real. I have formed a certain extensive mental model of what the world is like, based on what I have perceived and thought, and then tested and verified, but I know it is only my best guess, even when it works well. The only thing I know for sure is that I am conscious right now, and conscious of my own consciousness. One of the first things I notice is that my consciousness returns after times when I haven't been conscious, so one of my first logical guesses is that my own existence is more fundamental than my consciousness, and I keep existing even when I forget to notice it. All that it takes to bring me back is that I notice. More >
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 15 Nov 2002 @ 02:31, by swan. Ideas, Creativity
This is a beautiful meditation and blessings to the author who wrote it who is yet to be known.
Collage by swan
"I speak directly to the Child within. I want you to know I have prepared a safe place for you. In this place, you will not be violated. In this place, you will not be judged. In this place, you will be loved, honored, respected and supported. In this place, you will be listened to, accepted, and allowed complete freedom to express whatever you need to express. Here, in this safe place, you can feel whatever you need to feel. Here, you'll be comforted and understood. You have carried some burdens for a long time. You were able to do that because you are smart and very strong. You had to do that because you had no choice. I want you to know that you have different choices now. Now, if you choose, you can begin to let go of some of those burdens, that pain, and those secret feelings. Anything you want to release can be released, and I will help you. Anything you still need to hold on to, to make you feel safe, you can hold on to. I will honor your boundaries. I understand you tried to speak out some things before, and were not allowed to be yourself or tell your truth. I understand that it may take a little time before you trust me, and that is good because it means you have learned to protect yourself. I will give you the time you need to trust me, and to trust the adult you have become. You can remember a little or a lot, or you can just let the memories release through emotion or breath. You have different choices now. You are in control. Remember who you are." More >
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 6 Nov 2002 @ 11:39, by devic. Ideas, Creativity
When will we awaken from this current state of being?
The answer is when we do, but for now,
We lick up the vomit from television.
Our eyes are painted over with entertainment........ More >
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 26 Oct 2002 @ 17:30, by koravya. Ideas, Creativity
*
The dark waters at the bottom of the pool
are glossed over by the light on the surface.
The Rock is on Fire with invisible flame.
Wind carries the heat to all parts of our flesh.
All Movement is measured and balanced,
so as through the symbol of Tao,
so as through the symbol of Ollin,
The Twin Rectangles
at the Heart of the Aztec calendar stone.
*
The sphere of fire is covered by water,
and through the surface of interaction
emerges the Rock and the Sky.
The Earth is colored Blue
all the way around from the outside,
and the forest is a patch of moss
growing out of the Rock.
The spores of the lichen may cling to the Rock
and may eat the Rock.
From out of the Rock grows Tree-by-the-Lake.
Roots draw water to the Leaf,
where exchange occurs with the Sky.
*
57 More >
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 4 Oct 2002 @ 21:14, by koravya. Ideas, Creativity
*
Rock returns to the Fire.
Cloud-water returns to the Ocean.
Fire returns to the Water.
Another cycle of Life begins.
*
Rock grows into Tree-by-the-Lake.
Roots drink from the water table.
Breath of the leaf is extinguished
by Fire-in-the-Rain.
Tree burns away,
returning to Cloud and the Rock.
*
Sun fire continues to warm the Ocean
which breathes through fire in the water.
The fire within Rock burns within flesh.
When the Rock melts
and returns to the Twins
of fire and water,
The Wind may scatter
the seeds of recollection
to the Twin continents
of Ollin and Tethys,
and to the Twin oceans:
the Indo-Pacific and the Arctic-Atlantic.
The seeds of recollection
may find a new path
for return into Life.
*
46 More >
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 2 Oct 2002 @ 17:02, by quidnovi. Ideas, Creativity
"There was a pool
silver with shining water...
Here Narcissus...
came to rest...
to quench his thirsts...
and fell in love with that unbodied hope...
The vision is only shadow,
only reflection...
I know my image now...
And even in hell he found a pool to gaze in,
watching his image in the Stygian water."
---Ovid, Metamorphoses [6] iii 326
Until the End of the World (1991)
Directed by Wim Wenders. Written by Wenders and Peter Carey. Starring Solveig Dommartin, William Hurt, Sam Neill.
"They lived to see their dreams.
And when they slept, they dreamed about their dreams."
"...and here you are, seeing yourself to death."
Synopsis:
In a variant of virtual reality, the movie features a bizarre invention with unexpected technical and philosophical complications. The 'visionary' invention is a camera that records 'the act of seeing' so that one person's vision can be transmitted directly into the brain of another---allowing even a blind person to see, if only vicariously. Others are drawn into the experiment, and ultimately use the technology to project the contents of their own minds, their childhood memories and dreams.
Soon they become addicted to watching their own mental images on-screen. The fascination becomes an all-enveloping, morbid obsession that, like heroin, displaces all other concerns. The addicts eventually become zombies incapable of relating to anything save their inward visions. (1)
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