July
28, 2001.
The
father found the son reading an account of one man’s time in a far away
monastic school identified historically with that notion that through certain
methods a man can improve his state of consciousness, (achieve, “Enlightenment”),
sat
down with him and said:
“The
initial impulse is to think that giving up a normal life;
moving
to the other side of the world;
living
in harsh, silent conditions
while
trying to sit motionless for most of the day,
then
reading revered texts, far into the night
while
waiting for the mind to become sufficiently settled & prepared
to
allow for the arrival of the Great Awakening
would
be the strongest possible sign of a person’s dedication to that goal,
but
in all ways does this Curious Human Activity remain a universal singularity,
for
if we were speaking of a man’s interest in any other area known & named
by man -- except for the altering of one’s consciousness -
immersion
in its study -- as total as possible --
would
be the superior approach.
If
a man wanted to become a mechanic
the
most efficient procedure would be for him to be in an environment
wherein
automotive mechanics was the only topic discussed,
and
only reading material on the subject, available;
and
it would be beneficial for the students to engage in exercises,
and
hold poses reflective of the kinds of physical demands they would
eventually
face in the real world of mechanicing,
and
the same would be true in any other activity --
save
the strange one, always on our tongue.”
The
elder got up & moved to another chair, then continued:
”From
any minimally sane perspective,
a
man has no choice in the beginning but to believe and to operate-on-the-basis-that
the
reading of books by past achievers;
the
listening to lectures of present experts,
and
the exercise of accepted rituals,
all
dedicated to the goal of, Waking Up,
is
the course -- the only reasonable course -- to follow;
due
to certain innate qualities of our inner construction
there
is simply no way that such an entrée into this life can be avoided;
it
is the only door in -- but, Ohhhhhhh ! --
it is a tricky door indeed,
for
it opens up into the absolute trickiest area in the whole universe.”
The
father then left his chair & sat in the floor:
”Consciousness
-- that is what the door stands before;
that
is what it opens into,
and
that is what the door is made of;
thus
the trickiness not only has you, coming-and-going,
but
is also the sole medium for your, coming-and- going;
it
is tripartite tricksterism: it is your present location; your destination,
and
your only means of getting there -- all rolled into one.”
The
patriarch then shifted from sit to supine, and pressed on:
“Thus
-- from afar -- and with the mind of a child --
you
might look with envy-at -- even feel ashamed-in-comparison-to
–
those
who are not content to sit home and read books,
and
day dream about becoming Enlightened,
but
who are dedicated, brave & strong enough to, pay-the-Big-Price --
to
chuck it all -- give up everything -- leave family & friends,
and
move to an exotic, faraway place wherein they will be under
enforced
conditions, tried & proven to produce that longed-for state;
did
you not understand things more deeply from your own experience,
such
feelings would be predictable,
but
the whole story of what this other state is, and how it is realized
is
something totally outside this cozy, reassuring picture --
a
picture that in truth is one of: postponement, timidity & weakness.”
The
perè rolled over on his back:
“The
filthy, despicable and totally outrageous little secret is that
anyone
can be in that superior state of conscious
anytime
they want to -- badly enough.”
He
rolled on to his side:
”There
was once an enterprise, and like all such,
it
wanted to make a profit & survive,
and
to this end, it set up a, special-department
that was a combination of
Research
& Development, and Plant Security.
The
R&D operations went splendidly,
as
did Security -- with one exception:
it
did fine in regard to activities outside the plant’s fences,
but
when it turned its attention to matters inside the factory itself –
it
stumbled mightily -- I tell you that it did --
but curiously,
this
failure appeared to go unnoticed by
the
powers that ran the enterprise.”
Padre
now to prone:
”Did
I mention that everyone involved in the business was mute,
save
for those in the, special-department?
(even the owners?!?),
and
even there -- there was a Stangenessssss – as per speech.”
Vater
into vertical:
”The
R&D arm could articulate their finding with accuracy & precision,
and
Security could do so likewise -- regarding activities OUTSIDE the
plant,
but
when nothing of importance was going on in that area,
Security's
resources would automatically turn-to, (‘drift-to’ is actually better),
matters
inside the plant at which time -- instantly –
its
reports on the internal goings-on became inane;
the
sentences would make rhetorical sense, but they were meaningless in that
they conveyed no information about what was really going on inside;
now
this sounds impossible, but it is so, figlio.
Security
would issue constant statements on what it saw
going
on inside the plant, but these reports were never about the mute workers
who did all of the productive work in the plant,
the
reports unwittingly were about the daydreams of Security
when
it was not actively engaged with monitoring matters outside.”
Progenitor
into full, locked & upright position:
”Oh,
and a further even curiouser thing:
Security's
meaningless, vocal reports on inside activity
would
undergo an instant transformation -- if
a
particular letter of the alphabet was employed.”
The
father was now back on his feet, and moving toward the door:
”When
this was done, Security always momentarily felt, better-about-itself,”
he
reached for the knob: “By the way:
I
have just told you everything you need to know to
put
your own hands on that other state of consciousness,”
he
stepped through the door,
looked
back at the son a final time, and said:
“A little maze-running & reverse engineering is all you need do.”
J
There is no
secret like a thoroughly disgusting one --
-- one already WELL
understood by all.
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