posted January 15, 2008 12:16 PM            

~HSC

It is good to experience new art from my favorite writer. You're back with new "Wit and Wisdom".

These words I wrote came to mind...

I don’t know
If it’s right

To share the dark
And the light
Innocence
Purity

Why, oh God
Does she look
To me
With those eyes
That are wise

And would catch
Deceptive
Lies

~me

I wonder if you start early if you will have more "time" to make it back.

posted January 15, 2008 09:26 PM            

One day they set out to find their fortunes...

They met a holy man who gave them four mustard seeds...

He said,
"Where your seed falls,
there you will find your treasure."

And the four brothers continued on...

Until one of the seeds dropped...

And the brother who dropped it dug a hole,
and in the spot where the seed had fallen,
he discovered a treasure of copper...

And he rejoiced,
and said to his brothers,
"Come, my brothers, there is no need to journey farther.
We have a treasure here big enough for all of us."

But the other three brothers,
having greater ambition than the first,
journeyed on, and, though they were weary,
they travelled many years without stopping,
until the second seed dropped...

Here the second brother dug a hole,
and found an immense treasure of silver...

"Brothers," he said,
"there is treasure enough for us all!"

But his brothers had a greater thirst...

They journeyed on for over a decade,
until the third seed dropped...

And the brother who dropped the seed dug a hole,
and there he found such a treasure of gold
as had never been encountered before,
except maybe in the distant lands of the Pharoahs...

"Brother," he said,
"we have travelled for many years,
and here is the fruit of our search.
We will live like kings!
There is treasure enough for us both."

But the last brother was not satisfied with this...

"No, brother," he said,
fixing his gaze beyond the horizon,
and with a glint in his eye,
"if our first brother has found copper...
and the second has found silver...
and the third has found gold...
then, surely, just beyond the mountains there,
I am sure to discover a treasure of gemstones!"

And he set out to find his treasure...

Many years past,
as he journeyed along the mountain paths,
until, at last, he came to a place
where a man was standing, perched atop a large pillar...

On the man's head, a disc was spinning,
and from the disk, blood poured down over his face,
and it was apparent that he was in great agony...

And the brother said to the man,
"Stranger, what is this predicament I find you in?
Who has placed you here and for what reason?"

And, at that moment,
the disk lifted as if by magic
from the head of the man,
and floated down upon the head of the brother,
and, at once, the two had changed positions,
and the brother found himself perched atop the pillar in agony,
with blood pouring down his face...

"Why has this happened?!" he cried.

The man,
overjoyed to be free, replied,
"All I know is that
I came here many centuries ago,
in search of my treasure,
and I discovered a man atop this pillar,
in the same predicament that you found me in,
and in which you find yourself now.
And I asked the man the very same questions
that you asked me, and the very same thing
that happened to you, happened to me.
And the man gave me the same speech that I am giving you,
and then he thanked me for replacing him,
and went merrily on his way."

The man concluded his speech
by thanking the brother very sincerely,
then went merrily on his way.

As far as I know,
the brother is still perched atop the pillar
somewhere there, deep in the north mountains,
a disk spinning on his crown,
blood pouring down his face,
and himself in bitterest agony.

I do not know if his seed has dropped.

posted January 15, 2008 11:24 PM            

so, the moral is "don't listen to holy men?"

If his "treasure" was just to suffer, why didn't his seed drop yet?

Is it supposed to mean that we don't know what will happen in the future?

Does it mean treasure sux?

Does it mean to hold a knife to the throat of the holy man and demand to see the fine print?

Does it mean that just because you are promised treasure doesn't mean you won't first get stuck with a spinning saw disk stuck to your head for a while on the way to finding it, especially if your treasure appears to be the coolest?

Ok, so fine, you have to pay the price for the treasure? Who wants gems that bad? Oh, it's some symbolic treasure and some symbolic crown pain, all crown of thorns third eye and psychic pain. For gems of wisdom or actually Who Knows, since the seed hasn't/never dropped.

That story sux

(*she said in a pouty/crabby way*)

posted January 16, 2008 08:37 AM            

I interpret it this way:

The disk is the Zodiac.

The man who stands on the pillar is the highest adept of that age.

He attained to the highest position,
and now he has to rule the heavens for the next age.

And it is a painful responsibility.

The brothers searching for fortune...
could be spiritual or material fortune.

The ambition of the last brother is what gets him.

He wasnt satisfied until he reached the awful truth.

"Enlightenment is the ultimate disappointment."
~ Zen Proverb

posted January 16, 2008 10:50 AM            

Yeah, it's lonely at the top.

Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated

So the moral is to stay away from guys with saw discs spinning on their heads.
Or everybody should/will have/take a turn at the saw.
Depending on your point of view and concept of time.

It's one of those 'each of the characters is ourselves/OurSelves' at a different point in "time" in our lives/entire spiritual journey/existence stories.

So, the choice is always... do you want door number 1, door number 2, or door number 3... (but there isn't a choice, right? )

Personally, I'm not down with the saw disc. (maybe... "I already 'got one"/had one, ya see?) (((" 'e sez 'e already GOT one!!!"))) I'm more of a "middle" man this time around. But you... I'll bet you are thinking a saw disc won't be that bad as long as you can find out what happens when/if that last seed finally drops. Ya weirdo.

posted January 16, 2008 01:56 PM            

and

"Know when to stop."

Singing my song

"I dont think there's anything to figure out.

I'm not even sure there is work to be done."

I'm glad you clarified that is where you are at at this moment. I know it changes from time to time, but it's nice to know "who" I am talking to. :^D

I don't think I understand this all the way, Teach, but I'd love to hear more:

"The print of a man is punctuated by,
and interspersed with, the Void.
But that is only the place where his two legs meet."

This is that brilliance of yours that warms me mind, body, and soul:

"He is, after all, characterized by his dual nature.
For man, there is his action in the world,
as well as a mental construct of his place in the world.
This is, I think,
symbolically and synchronistically represented
in his footprints, in his upright posture,
and in the peculiar illusion of self-awareness
which we are all, in a manner of speaking, suffering from."

And there is so much there, in different layers, that I will probably be digesting it for a couple days. <3 I hear you though, and I love it " "

"The man on the pillar is not only upright,
he is perched at a great height, perpendicular to the ground.
Crowned with the spinning circle of the Zodiac,
he seems to look out in all directions.
But he is imprisoned there for a cosmic age."

So poetic.

"I think it goes much deeper than this, though,
because there is a true paradox, a true mystery here.
Basically, Salvation and Damnation are confounded.
We cannot distinguish the one from the other.
And it may be that there is no distinction at all."

YES! You say my thoughts so perfectly. So eloquently.

This is why I am in no hurry, seeking to learn more in a widely dispersed manner, and just learning to use the energies like a martial arts master. To use Mars to do the heavy lifting around the house instead of using it to war against friends or family or people out in the world... etc. Learning to follow the astrological weather and become sensitive to the currents so I may use them to my greatest advantage and the "highest vibration".
I can always count on things to fall apart without looking to increase that in my life, but it gives satisfaction to see a slow, general upwards trend in most areas of life. My growth may very well be all pre-determined, and so are my thoughts on this matter to take me where I am "going" which I can sense is beautiful.

I would say the key is to accept that... but I will accept it when I am meant to (as it is pre-determined by the Whole as It was set into motion from the Beginning)... but if I am One with the Whole... I can change my mind (and the story) at any time :^D Ya think? :^D

(Ok, what is he going to say... that there would have to be some sort of "cause" to make me change my mind which was already pre-determined by other causes etc etc and I say But what about the Very First "Cause" which is the Beginning of Existence? That by it's very definition wasn't "Caused" by ANYTHING, so who is to say it can't happen again?! Now I have to wait... )

posted January 17, 2008 02:56 AM              

What law transcends transcendence,
encircles the circumference of every living sphere,
and sets a limit called limitless there?
Only freedom.

You very beautiful, aligning flame.

Stephen,
the Seasons build a sense of something
growing. Monumental feels the anticipation
of the range and beauty your gait is traveling and yet to travel. I gaze as well in mutual awe
at the landscapes you inspire, you create.

posted January 17, 2008 10:11 AM            

love

posted January 17, 2008 10:12 AM            

So beautiful.

Thank you.

posted January 17, 2008 10:57 AM              

HSC,

These words:

quote:

---

It is impossible to say everything. In attempting to say anything at all, our words must sit like islands in the stream, surrounded on all sides by a restless uncertainty; or, like a bit of cloth, frayed around the edges. No matter how clear you try to be, at the frontier of your speech there is ambiguity, and the likelihood that your wisdom will be subject to pressumptions and displaced into inappropriate contexts is almost absolute.

---

Reminded me of a thought I'd forgotten (which inspired the Literary File Cabinet):

"This mind's eye has seen the world from where this body stood and it has humbled the man who saw it.
He is small, so very small as to hardly be worth mentioning.
Still, though his thoughts might encompass the entirety of the universe, the words with which he can express them, are even smaller still."

Thanks for warming these bones beside your fire, everyone.

"No distance is too great when the company is good."

daf

posted January 17, 2008 11:50 AM              

Where you smile, you widen smiles or soften frowns.

posted January 17, 2008 04:06 PM            

"If the impulse, or intention, returns to them intact, -
manifested as some concrete object, person,
circumstance, or experience in the world;
as a true reflection of the idea held in the mind, -
it is because that idea or intention has found
a deep and universal, resonating consent in the collective unconscious.
Outer planets are generational influences.
People who accomplish great and outstanding things
do so in collaboration with the unconscious mind.
To the extent that their accomplishments are effective
in changing reality on deeper and deeper levels,
not just for themselves, but for others as well,
it reflects a corresponding collaboration with the collective.
The deeper you penetrate into the unconscious mind,
the more you align with the unconscious wishes of the collective,
and the more inclusive and expansive your concept of the collective becomes."

Yes, exactly what I think, but have never so eloquently and thoroughly expressed (or even thought).

Everything's a microcosm. (Well, unless it's the Macrocosm... but since there is eternally and potentially the possibility that it will "soon" relatively speaking, BE a microcosm...)

"When I am inspired by an idea,
its like there is a kind of Big Bang.
And I know that, from that point on,
the idea will follow a trajectory
which will simultaneously carry it
towards the truth, and away from the truth."

I see a firework in the middle of a circle and as it bursts it is sent throughout the circle, spreading itself to encompass more of the "truth" and I see the ultimate circle exploding outward away from itself, and simultaneously creating more possibility to create more strands and more within the strands.

"I think a dogmatic or overzealous "mind over matter" philosophy"
I understood that was where you are coming from when I internalized a message from your determinism last year. Until that time I had wondered if we were at cross purposes in a way...

I understand your river/man cause/effect thing. I love the knot and flow and joining of energies thing.
I also have to "jet" as it turns out.

posted March 01, 2008 03:22 PM              

The poetry is beautiful.

I also love these lines:

quote:

---

The beauty of an infant is so pure that, in contrast, all the adults we meet seem to have acquired an unattractive, dull, and greasy patina. What makes the child glow, as if surrounded by a halo of gauzy light, is merely the absence of this patina, which we might never notice, if not for the stark contrast provided by the child. Innocence is not a positive element of existence, in the sense that, it is not a thing in itself, but, rather, the absence of some other thing; it is an emptiness; a negative element; it appears only in the space that gives definition to forms. Our true nature is innocence, and it is regarded only in the absence of impurities. This is why saints glow again like children.

---

posted March 01, 2008 11:39 PM              

All men tell the truth.
Liars tell the truth by lying.
Their lie is their truth,
and, if they did not lie,
it would be untruth;
or else they would not be liars.

Bright souls outshine the merely good;
despite a cloak of vices,
a fugitive light breaks through
between the shallow stitching.
And if such a soul were to be purified, and made good,
it would shine naked in the sun, and would outshine the sun.

Windows in the steeple,
spattered with impurities,
what still may be seen through you?
Crooked visions, these,
but not wholly unclean.

There is no context. It is impossible to say everything. In attempting to say anything at all, our words must sit like islands in the stream, surrounded on all sides by a restless uncertainty; or, like a bit of cloth, frayed around the edges. No matter how clear you try to be, at the frontier of your speech there is ambiguity, and the likelihood that your wisdom will be subject to pressumptions and displaced into inappropriate contexts is almost absolute. Only intuition circumferences the unspoken. Only wisdom knows her own.

Every head is a headstone.
Every body, a grave for restless spirits.

Only the proud may be virtuous in humility;
the humble should cultivate a healthy pride.

Amazing.

posted March 01, 2008 11:43 PM            

((You should read what i wrote on Mirandee's goodbye thread, earlier tonight.))