Parcequedonc - Light & Reflections

Light & Reflections

Light

Light is the essence
the absolute.......

In a spatial reality
consisting entirely of variables,
Light shines.....

It shines at a speed
of one hundred and eighty-six thousand
miles per second

regardless

of where you happen to be
or in what direction you happen to be travelling
when you measure it...........

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Guide for Infants

This is a Guide for Infants and Other Recent Arrivals to the Planet....

Guide for Infants & other recent arrivals.

Guide for Infants & other recent arrivals.

Helpful Hint
Remember
to maintain an organic, living dialectic between:

Observation and Participation,
Position and Approach,
Philosophical Backdrop and Action
Potential and Kinetic,
Strategy and Tactics,
Purpose and Attitude,
Attitude and Stance,
Stance and Way Forward.

And also
that the apparent futility of a direction
is, in the face of the overall futility of the entire mission,
never grounds
for abandoning it..........

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Introduction to the Guide for Infants.

As you work your way through this publication, you will notice, hopefully, a certain interactive relationship between the Guide and the various sections of the publication. This is not coincidence.

The Guide is, if you like, the 'mainframe' into which the 'components ' of the sections are placed. The fact that components are placed in so few of the sections is not merely oversight or bad planning. It is directly attributable to the fact that the author is, himself, a relatively recent arrival to the planet and has been working, for the most part, completely in the dark. Aware of his informational and communicational shortcomings, he has nevertheless felt it important to publish what little he has, in a subjective sense of course, discovered. He has felt it important because he is only too aware of his own mortality and is very conscious of the fact that time, for him, on this plane of reality, is definitely running out. And, as you will see, he is trapped by the conviction that he must communicate what he can before he goes.

If things work out, he is hopeful that he might have time further to embellish this outline and even, with luck, make it more communicable. However, readers are not encouraged to anticipate this. Attempts have been made to define various components of the Guide. Attitude, Purpose, and Stance appear in the Guide and their relationship to each other and everything else is as clear as it is ever likely to be. Attempts to define Light, Reflections, Assumptions, Attention, and Communication are of a slightly different order. Although they do no appear in the Guide, they are nevertheless there as examples, or as components of the components.

You may occasionally notice a tendency, on the part of the author, to mix what he perceives as Light with what he perceives as Reflections. Often, you may well be uncertain as to which he imagines he is referring in any of the sections of the book. The reason for this is that the author is rarely sure himself, and, although fully cognizant of the problem, is ultimately as helpless in coming to terms with it as an amoeba. (Perhaps, on reflection, more so.....)

The justifications for these attempts to define are, roughly, as follows:

Light is defined
because Light is what shines on everything
and makes the whole business of defining
possible,
and because
it is the author's suspicion
that, in a universe dominated by variables,
Light may be an absolute.......

Reflections are defined
because they are what make Light
so important to us;
they are the islands of information
in the slipstream
of cosmic indifference.......

Stance is defined
because it is both Applied Attitude
and the starting point
for Applied Strategies........

Attitude is defined
because it is what combines with Purpose
to provide a dialectic
between Participation and Observation......

Assumptions are defined
because they are the building blocks
of human knowledge;
the launch pad
of human beliefs........

Purpose is defined
because, in the absence of absolute truth or meaning
and despite its inherent subjectivity,
it is the only sign post........

Attention is defined
because it forms the basis
of one of the author's central
Applied Strategies........

Communication is defined
because it forms the basis
of one of the author's central
Deduced Purposes...........

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Background Briefing Item 1

Consciousness Flaw

Human consciousness is the product
of random radiation.........

Random radiation set into motion
the multiplication
of slightly mutated brain cells
and created the renowned short-circuitry
known as "awareness of self",
which in turn
led to further complexities of circuitry
and gave birth to what's now known as
"human imagination",
ie the ability to associate two or more thoughts
on an incidental,
haphazard,
or random basis
and look for applications
(or vice versa)
and which, again in turn,
became refined,
narrowed down,
honed,
concentrated
into "deductive and inductive reasoning".............

The basis of the original short circuitry
was no more nor less than the random collision of particles
at molecular, atomic, and sub-atomic levels
in such a fashion
(though perhaps heavier dosages would have been called for)
physical mutations
such as hairless bodies...........

To be honest,
we have no reason to believe
that this process
isn't still taking place........
So,
be careful............

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Background Briefing Item 2.

ENTROPY EXPLAINED:

1) "measure of the unavailability of a system's energy for conversion into
mechanical work...."

2) "similarity;
lack of differentiation...."

If maximum Entropy is the complete unavailability of energy,
then the concept of a trend towards this
(we know the universe is exploding.....)
has fundamental and far reaching implications...

The broadest possible implication of the concept
is that the smallest possible units of physical matter
are destined to become motionless
and equi-distantly spaced
throughout the universe.....

When Entropy is spoken of as a trend,
it is sometimes assumed that the outcome
is chaos and disorder ....
But chaos and disorder is in fact only a stage
in the movement towards
the perfect distribution of matter....

Although Life as we understand it
may have a function
in a moving shifting changing universe,
clearly,
there is no requirement for Life as we understand it
in a motionless universe
in which matter
is perfectly distributed....

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ENTROPY RESPONDED TO:

If the fundamental dichotomy is:
Should we be resisting Entropy,
or Should we be embracing it....,
then all strategies for Life
must assume
one premise or the other....

If, as we recommend, the assumed premise
must be that we resist Entropy
(because Entropy precludes
the requirement for Life as we understand it),
then all our Life strategies
must be relateable
to that premise....

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Our Mission (Emission from Mission Control).

Brothers and sisters,
fellow crew members,
our mission
is to combat Entropy...

We know this is an illusory task,
but we also know it is the inescapable function
of our misconception,
our coincidental presence
in the workings
of the forces of perfect distribution....

As the universe explodes,
we drift on this particle, Earth,
knowing that our role
is becoming more and more redundant,
knowing that our function as a Life force
will, ultimately, have no place
in the order
towards which
the universe is moving....

In the face of this knowledge,
we must embark upon our mission....

In the face of the disintegrating nature
of everything around us,
we must move towards integrating....

In the face of the impossibility of developing
a stable rationale,
we must move towards
developing a stable rationale....

In the face of the futility of moving towards
and the impossibility of arriving at
a specific goal,
we must learn to appreciate
that it is the direction in which we move,
rather than
the point of arrival,
which is
of greater importance....

In the face of this knowledge,
this certainty
that arrival is out of the question,
many of us will create illusions
- thousands of them,
very complicated and very beautiful ones -
to shield us from such relentless
hopelessness....

Among some of us,
the illusions will become so complete
that this knowledge,
this certainty,
will become obscured....
Such will our anxiety be
that some of us will construct and pursue illusions -
determinedly,
wilfully,
but unconsciously
oblivious of all else.......

Among others of us, there will be a struggle;
a struggle to take illusory responsibility for illusory decisions
whilst retaining
a full recognition of the knowledge;
a full acceptance
of the certainty.....

We will be aware
that there are various qualities of illusion
and that these qualities
can only be determined
by comparatively relating the illusions
to our mission strategy
and by doing so
in the context
of the illusory nature
of our mission....

Brothers and Sisters,
I do not take this mission lightly....
I do not minimize your courage....
I do not disparage your glittering resolve
in the face of this impossible,
this ridiculous,
this wholly unjustifiable
situation.....

I commend you
with all my heart....

And,
if I may take this opportunity to do so,
I would like to wish you,
with every ounce
of my being,
every particle
of my soul,

"Good luck...."

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Reflections

Reflections
are the secondary perceptions
of light;
they are what light
serves to illuminate....
They are
the application
of light....

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Stance

Stance is the balancing act;
the poise;
the placement between two stools....

It is the mental reserve
for the physical indulgence;
the cerebral lookout
for the visceral commitment to action.....

It is the spiritual highground
for the observation and assessment
of the corporeal application
of strategy.....

It is the astral rationale
for the material conclusion.....

But it can and should be manifested
physically....
Stance is how you stand
or move
at any given moment.....

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Assumptions (Beliefs)

The way you look at the world
is based on a continuing set of assumptions....

The assumptions take shape
as you adjust to your environment....
And they alter
according to your needs....

Your environment is created
of the assumptions of your colleagues
who in turn,
each one individually,
are adjusting to their environment....

As they alter, so do you....
As you alter, so do they....

But what stabilises this environment
is agreement....

You see,
sets of assumptions have to be altered gradually
- both in the group and in the individual....

If too many assumptions
are altered at the same time
their dialectic relationships
with all other assumptions
will chain react
to create an accelerating disturbance
resulting in a state of chaos....

In the individual, this is psychosis;
in the group it's something else....

Altering a manageable number of assumptions at once
will create a disturbance
but one
which can be handled and absorbed by the other assumptions
in a sort of mathematical dissipation......

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Assumptions and Instinct

Instinct is the process by which
an individual: controls the adaptation of his assumptions,
uses the assumptions to respond on the physical plane....

If the instinct is alive and healthy,
the sets of assumptions are stable
but adaptable at a manageable rate
and can bring to bear a significant enough number of points of similarity
with the "reality" of the physical plane
to allow the individual to function successfully
on that plane....

But there is a dialectic between the instinct and the assumptions
just as there is between changing and unchanging assumptions
and between instinct and environment
and assumptions and environment....

In a group,
the collective instinct
is made up of generalised assumptions
derived from the individualised assumptions
of the membership....
In a group,
the collective instinct is established
in the education system....
Adaptations of the collective instinct
may occur through social intercourse
and the manipulations of mass media,
but the fundamental assumptions
are set
in the education system....

In our group (western society)
the rate of alteration of assumptions
is either erratically high
or erratically low
because the instinct is not well and happy....
This is because
in a group, on the physical plane,
there tends to be a discrepancy
between those who profit from a given set of assumptions
and those who don't....

If the discrepancy is too extravagant,
the erratic fluctuations
in the rates of alteration of assumptions
become unpredictable,
unstable,
and unmanageable....

The fluctuations
in rate of alteration of assumptions
are caused by the shifts
between the slow repressive rate
determined

by the needs of those who profit from the current assumptions
and the explosive accelerated rate
determined
by the frustrated needs
of those who don't....

An instinct which is responding
to a minority of its sets of assumptions
will make an individual unsuccessful on the physical plane....

The group will either expire
or experience sudden disjointing alterations
to its collective instinct
(its informative processes)
which will, in turn,
have a chaotic effect
on the physical plane,....

(Wars are created
by manipulating
the changing assumptions of the people
in the interests of those who have profited
from the previous sets of assumptions.....

Revolutions are created
by manipulating
the changing assumptions of the people
in the interests of those whose needs have been frustrated
by the previous sets of assumptions....)

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Purpose

Purpose
is the winged beast....
It is the night flight;
the cosmic motivator....

Purpose
is what directs flight...
It is what prompts control...
It is the hidden voice;
the quiet navigator....

Purpose
is the human obligation
to act
and to act in accordance
with one's perceptions, observations,
and conclusions....
It is the human obligation
to move out into the observed area
and participate
- to test one's discoveries
in the theatre
of "the real thing"....

But
the obligation doesn't end there....
It extends to include
modification of conclusions or actions
as discoveries in one or the other
dictate....

Nor even does it end there,
because it's the "dialectic"
between the thought and the action
which is the real initiator of both
in individuals....
And it is the "dialectic" between the thought and the action
of each individual
and the thought and the actions of other individuals
which is the real initiator of both
in societies.....

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Deeper Purpose

Purpose is sometimes overt,
short term,
recognisably realisable....

But this is really
only an aspect
of purpose....

The truer nature
of deeper purpose
is hinted at
only in the examination of the underlying motivations
of short term, realisable purpose....

You need a deeper purpose....
That's the trick....
You need a deeper purpose to make the passage of time
add up....
(It's those periods of chronological reflection
which remind us of why we're here;
of our search
for purpose...)

The trick is to adopt a purpose
that holds water,
and the trick is
to maintain a detachment
so that the effort spent in realising the purpose
isn't all-consuming;
so that
the present tense can be savoured
in the way we assume we try to savour it
when, for example,
we take "holidays"
and assume we try to divest ourselves
of purpose....

(Getting there
is all the fun....
Not because arriving isn't fun,
but because
it is not in the nature of the human predicament
ever
to arrive......)

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Attention 1

Attention
is the tool,
the lever with which
we gain access
to each other's minds....

Attention is the almost tangible commodity
which each human has the facility
to confer
upon every other....

It's tangibility is most notable when,
for example,
one human is totally deprived
of other human attention
for a sustained
length of time....
It is a very physical sensation of discomfort
and disorientation....
Our need for it
may be more biological
than we care to admit.....

Attention is something with which, normally,
we caress each other....
We groom each other with it
in much the same way
as other species do it, more directly,
with limbs or tentacles....
It is a gift
requiring the free willingness of one human
to fully observe another.....

I think, myself,
that our obligations as humans
with regard to attention
are twofold....

On the one hand,
we should notice when we're giving it
and where it is taking us
and not give it too lightly....

On the other,
we should not seek it frivolously,
self-indulgently....
We should not waste
those precious moments
when others
are freely
caressing us....

There is more to attention seeking behaviour
than meets the eye....
We say, "May I have your attention..."
or even, "Pay attention..."
without realising the enormity
of the demand.....
Attention 2

We underestimate
the damage caused by environments
within which
attention is not readily forthcoming....

In situations of high urban stress, for example,
people are walking about,
day in, day out,
surrounded by indifference
and generalised hostility....
What attention they do get
is either fleeting and inconsistent
or unbearably direct
and associated with dread....

In a real world -
a proper, sensible world -
criminals wouldn't be stuck away
in concrete bunkers,
in "solitary confinement"...
They wouldn't be given concrete
reinforced with steel
every time they went astray....
People go astray
because they've been lacking attention....
It doesn't make good logic
to deprive them
even further....

In a real world
they'd be given full attention....
People would be there
to respond to their every whim
until they had been whimmed out
and the source of their distress
had been reached
and soothed away.....

"Give me your attention..."
That's all they're saying....
If you just want to smash them
you can afford to ignore this....
But is you're looking for change
you have to listen....

The funny thing is,
I don't think you can overdose on attention....
Too much of it is exhausting
and people rarely need to glut themselves on it
in the way they often feel they have to glut themselves
on other forms of gratification....
And if you get enough
good quality attention,
you are better able
to give others
yours....

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Sinister Attention

Attention can be sought
negatively....
It can be held negatively too
due, partly, to our capacity, as humans,
for becoming mesmerised
by the horrific....

The best example, in human terms,
is that of the torturer
and his victim...
In a situation wherein
one human has complete control
of the environment of another,
the stage is set
for some very high quality attention conferral indeed.

The victim notices everything
about his torturer....
He hears the first faintest footfalls;
is transfixed by the facial expressions;
notes the slightest changes
in breathing patterns....
The torturer, in turn,
is hooked
by that attention....
He is wallowing.
strutting;
posing in it....
The reason he has come to be a torturer
is probably
that he has never had any attention of mentionable quality
before....
Nor is it likely that he's getting any
outside the intense universe
he is creating with his victim....

As in all things,
there is a diminishing return
to torture....
If it is overdone,
the victim cannot maintain consciousness
let alone attention....
If it is done mindlessly, without inspiration,
and the victim can escape into feelings of contempt,
the quality of the attention drops
and the torturer, perhaps unknown even to himself,
loses
what he is craving.....

It is very difficult to manipulate attention....
You can use extremes to attract it
but you can't keep it
without
some genuine consideration....

As has been pointed out,
we have obligations as humans
with regard to attention....
The first is to notice
when we're giving it....

Torturers come in many forms and degrees....

Some are simply people in uniform
or in positions of assumed authority
suffering from lack of attention
and trying to throw their weight around
to get it....
Policemen are good examples....
But the world is full of little pricks
in all walks of life
struggling in all kinds of ways
to get their quota
of attention....
But we have to be careful not to give them attention
for negative reasons....
We, as intelligent humans, have to use our attention
to positively reinforce
non-torturing behaviour....

The second obligation
is really the obligation of the torturers -
the obligation not to seek attention
self-indulgently....

Unfortunately,
torturers are not, by definition,
intelligent....
And, really, in all fairness,
the only humans you can expect to consider their obligations
are intelligent ones....

This increases the onus
on those of us who consider ourselves
to be intelligent....
We have to apply our assumed intelligence
not only to the consideration of our own obligations,
but also, indirectly,
to the consideration
of theirs.....

Many of us will be appalled by this realisation....
We will be shocked
by the blatant unfairness of the situation....
Others of us
will embrace this further complexity
with the fervour
of intelligent humans
making new realisations.......

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Sex and Attention

Look at sex....
Is it simply the placing
of one's unspoken extremities
at the disposal of another.....

Or is it, more simply,
the laying on
of one's undivided attention....

To give to
or receive from someone
so complete an attention
is what the buzz
is all about....

The pleasure is there...
The gratification is there....
But what gives it that special quality;
the quality that we all crave,
that we'd all
die for,
is the attention....

I sometimes try to imagine Rednecks
or Tory voters
doing it...
But I can't
I can't even imagine that they even know
about giving attention...
Perhaps that's the nub of the problem...
All this "self-make" shit
comes of not getting enough
real attention...

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Deduced Purpose: Theory One

The purpose of human Life
is to develop
human communication....

The purpose of human communication
is to refine and maintain
the Common Understanding....

The purpose of education
is to develop fluency
in the tried and tested techniques
of communication;
to encourage familiarity
with the basic concepts
currently in transmission....

The purpose of art
is to experiment
with new techniques
and to explore
new basic concepts
in communication....

The purpose of community
is to do all this
collectively....
Both the outcome
of the collective commitment to do all this
and the commitment itself
combine
to form the Common Understanding.....

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Common Understanding 2

The Common Understanding is the organic receptacle,
the crucible,
for all
our intellectual adventures....
It is the bio-dynamic network
that we all nurture and feed
and which nurtures and feeds
us.....

It is like a delicate web of unimaginable complexity
covering the surface of the planet....
We sustain it
and it sustains us....
The complexity of the web increases
with our ability to transmit information
further
and faster.....

From a certain standpoint
it becomes difficult to determine
whether we are the conscious beings we think we are
or whether we are merely the blind,
ant-like servants
of a much broader consciousness
which is already, unbeknownst to us,
transmitting signals
across the length and breadth
of the universe......

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Common Understanding 1

The Common Understanding
is the fund of knowledge
into which we are born;
from which spring
on our journey through
human consciousness......

The beauty of the Common Understanding
is that it is assembled over many centuries
by ultimately selfless people.....

In their journeys through human consciousness
many people forget the indefinable nature
of the task facing them.....
They forget that they are here to learn
and to contribute.....
In the course of their forgetting,
they become petty and selfish....
But this only lasts a short time
because people die
and in this ultimately selfless act
they leave behind whatever they have discovered
in their journey......

The sum total of all these discoveries
that those of us still journeying
can remember or record
is the Common Understanding....
The sum total
of these recorded or remembered discoveries
becomes the best answer
that we, through the generations,
can provide
to the question
"Why are we here......?"

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Communication 1

Art
is the process of distilling moments.....

It is the struggle against
the passing of time
and the elusive nature
of the Present Tense....
The distillation of moments
is what gives us
our Learning Experiences.....

Learning takes place
in those distilled moments
when the eyes de-focus
and slip into that distant, parallel vision*.....
In the distilled moments,
time stands still
and the Present Tense
is at hand......

But these moments are completely unrelated
to any subject matter
or to any subject process,
(ie the process of a particular form of study or concentration
in a particular subject area....)....
Distilled moments are part
of a completely different process....

This different process
is one in which we all share....
It is like a separate time/space
with which we as individuals occasionally connect....
It is like "God"
insofar as it is always within us
and always available
for interaction.....
Where we are or what we are doing
has no bearing on this....
It is always there;
always within reach....

It is the link
between us as individuals
and us as components
of the Common Understanding.....

* "vision" in parallel vision
refers not to a thing seen in a trance or dream,
but to the act of seeing....

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Living in Memory

I am living
in my memory...
I can't track down
the elusive present tense....
It is always
just out of reach....
It is like the finest razor's edge
between past and future....
As the visions I see
and the gestures I make in response to those visions
pass me by
into the past,
I realise I will never
get a grip on them....

You are the same...
You are living in your memory...
Try it and see....
Say out loud,
"I am in the here and now..."...
Notice how it disappears
as soon as you utter it...
As soon as it passes you lips
and your ear drums stop reverberating,
it is already a memory,
part of your past.....

It's like standing on a platform
watching the inter-city come through....
As you see it in the distance,
you are looking into the future....
As it rushes through the station,
you are experiencing the present....
As you watch it fade down the line,
you are looking into the past....

But even as it's rushing through the station
you get the sense
of not knowing
at what point the train is actually there
and at what point it is actually gone....
I hear you say
that when it is next to you, wherever you are standing,
is when it is there,
but are you thinking of the front of the train,
the back of the train,
or any one of a thousand points
in between....

If you are analytical,
you realise that whatever point you choose,
it is gone in a flash,
just like the present tense....
If you are not analytical
and say "When it's there, man, it's there...."
that's okay too
but it still means that your present tense
depends on the length of the train
and the speed at which it is passing....

You can't escape it...
If you think
(and I think it is our obligation as humans
to do so),
you can't help but realise
that the present tense
doesn't exist....

Don't get me wrong....

There is no need to panic....

It only means

that we are all

living in our memories......

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The Big Fear

There is a discomfort
associated with
an awareness or possible awareness
of how wrongly our perceptive/interpretive networks
are perceiving or interpreting
any particular aspect
of an environment
with which they are trying to deal.....

This discomfort is called anxiety...
(This discomfort is also associated
with more tangible awarenesses,
but then is, more generally,
called Fear...)

The social response
to this discomfort
is to produce agreement
upon particular ways of perceiving and interpreting
as many aspects of the environment
as possible....

Unfortunately,
this can lead to entrenchments
of attitude...
Human territorial imperative
is often extended
into areas of agreement
over particular ways of perceiving and interpreting....

That is to say,
people often feel they have an "investment"
in a particular area of agreement
and will defend it
as viciously
as if
it was their own front door step....

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In the Stillness 2 (or, The Listening World)

Here I sit - undefended...
From my brain
comes this varying web
of intent....

So much of the time
it is stifled,
brought to a halt,
by material circumstances....
It is a struggle
to maintain an integrity
whilst, at one and the same time,
trying to connect it
to the new technological
channels of communication....

People with ready access to the new channels
generally forget what the access is for....
They indulge themselves
in petty,
pathetic,
celebrations of self....

They forget
that what they have to do
is to develop and maintain an integrity
and then try it out
on the listening world....

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In the Stillness 1

Here I sit - undefended....
From my brain
comes this varying web
of intent....

Why do I hold it so dear,
this plane of reality....

Why am I so moved
by the feel of the wind;
the gentle buffet
of the warmth from the fire....
I can smell the smoke
and the damp trees....
I am rooted to the ground...
I can feel my limbs
waiting....

(is it simply some sort of evolutionary denominator...?
Is it simply that living creatures have to be convinced
of an illusory pleasure in life
in order to survive...?
Is the pleasure simply a biological gimmick...?
Or is it just something that some of us have
and some of us don't
and it doesn't make much difference
either way....
Is this fascination with the flow of consciousness
peculiar, for no particular reason,
to just a few....)

I can feel the earth
turning....

I have come to know
that this plane of reality
is only one of many;
that there is a function to be fulfilled in this one
which relates to functions being fulfilled
in other ones;
that if I can get it together
I will be able to extend my function
to some of the others.....
But,
this doesn't explain my fascination
for this one....

Is it a weakness
or is it a strength....?

Back to top...

Death

Death
here I come,
you bastard....

Wait for me as always;
tell me nothing;
have it all your own way....
I'd smash your fucking face
if you faced up to me
the way I
have to face up to you....

I walk the earth in complete ignorance....
I stumble in this nonsensical darkness....
I pick up what I can...
I begin to assemble
structures of knowledge....
I begin to develop
the means to communicate them....

Then,
you show up.....