JAN’S FRESH REAL NEWS
                            © 2001: Jan Cox
                                               **********************************************
 

September 13, 2001.
 
 
 

As they were doing bows on some railroad ties the son said to the father:
“As regards our family’s traditional pursuit of that certain goal,
why do you describe it as, ‘getting-to-the-bottom-of-things’?”
and the elder responded:
“I am obviously using it in place of the more common ones of:
‘waking-up, being-enlightened, achieving-liberation,’ etc,
but I refer to the same end.
After many years in this expedition, and experience sufficient to see and understand for myself -- literally,
the reality of what such terms as, ‘waking-up’ attempt to reflect,
it suddenly struck me one day that what realizing the goal amounts to would be most directly described as:
getting-to-the-bottom-of-things:
this tells you plainly and precisely the reward of this effort,
(and I also like it because it has no cryptic or
other-worldly connotations, and better reflects the reality of, ‘being-enlightened’  --   which could not be less so).”
The father seemed to warm to the task, and switched to Windsors
as he continued his comments:
“Getting-to-the-bottom-of-things in the physical world outside of you
is a straightforward undertaking;
that which can be mentally known by humans about the
make up and properties of the material universe is being constantly pursued and results made available;
unless active participation in the hard sciences is your life’s hobby, you can adequately satisfy your interest in,
getting-to-the-bottom-of-those-things
simply by reading about them,
(plus today, professionals in those fields have access to technology aimed at both the large and the small of the universe
that dwarfs anything you could achieve on your own
merely through your own senses) --  so:
requiring no more effort than it takes to read,
and the, interest-equals-the-intelligence-to-understand-it,
you can, get-to-the-bottom-of-things about the physical world,
insofar as such is possible for the conscious, talking part of man’s brain.                               End of story there.
                  (Wonder how the B & O feels about the four-in-hand?)
So what is it that the few in our bloodline (often insulted as, mystics!)
are after that is not to be found through,
getting-to-the-bottom-of-things in the material world outside their skin?
Exactly what is it that such as we are so driven to, get to the bottom of?
Okay, we have already established that whatever it is,
it is not something that is outside of ourselves,
and it is not anything that you cannot put your hands on --  so: what is it?
And here --  right in the beginning  --  is where everything blows apart,
for the hunger in the brain that drives the special interest of the few does not have a clear idea of what it is hungry for,
and a variety of guesses, and
assumptions-into-hardshell-beliefs-passing-for-facts
have been spawned by minds along the way,
and subsequently adopted by later ones;
it is thus that we now have the terms that ostensibly describe the goal of our hunger: to be awake; to be enlightened; to be liberated, and others, and for those to this hunger born,
the descriptions initially strike home;
there is no arguing their overall applicability,
yet they contain a built in criticism:
that man is asleep; that man is in the dark;
that man is in captivity  --  all being criticisms that
the conscious part of the brain is directing at itself.
Few of the few with our hunger ever realize this simplest of facts:
they (as the brain dictates) think and speak in terms of:
‘I want to awaken my sleeping consciousness;
enlighten my darkened mind; liberate my captive spirit’
which is a matter for which no word exists;
the brain, through its thinking/talking facility makes your mouth say:
‘I want to do such-&-such about my mind, my consciousness’
when it is your mind & consciousness saying it;
the brain by its own knowing action has set up,
(‘tis tempting to call it) --  a fraud –
but how can a fraud occur with only one person/entity involved?
How can the brain pull a fraud on itself?
For a fraud to take place, one party must be fooled & misled by another,
and here, such is obviously not possible;
so, ‘fraud’ is not the word.        How about, ‘error’?
Perhaps the brain simply made a mistake in causing its host human/body to speak & think as though the speaking & thinking were originating from it, what the man refers to as his 'I' --  his 'self' (whatever that is
supposed to be) instead of the brain --  which is clearly doing it.
Could that be what happened? --  and ten thousand years simply has not been enough time lapsed for the brain to recognize
its misstep?          Ridiculous --   so, ‘error’ is not the word.
There really is no word that begins to fit this particular
constant activity of the brain,
(then throw into the mix the fact that the brain is the
sole source of all words  ---
does this perhaps indicate that even the brain itself
does not know what to make of this?!)
        Maybe an overhand would look nice on the Erie?….
        …but back to the mainline.
What is it that the brain really means when it makes us say we want to, ‘wake up, be enlightened’?
Some of our clan (hosts for such brains) are led to believe that
they seek to get to the bottom of:
‘Why do other people act as they do?’ or:
‘Why is life (as experienced by man) arranged as it is?’
(why the injustices, inequities, injuries? etc);
others say that what they want to get to the bottom of is the question of: ‘Is there a God?’ or: ‘Do we live after death?’
but none of these (and their various versions) hit the mark;
I say to you, oh son of mind --  I mean, mine,
that hardly anyone ever comprehends the goal clearly;
ever interprets the hunger correctly  --  ever gets down with it.
The innate desire in a scant few people’s brains is not for
getting-to-the-bottom-of-the-physical-world out there;
but it is also not about getting-to-the-bottom-of
the non-physical world inside of you
and shared collectively with the rest of ordinary humanity;
that is what it SEEMS like (according to that most reliable of
sources --  your own brain) but I tell you from first hand experience
and my own dirt-plain understanding –
what the conscious part of your brain is after that causes you to:
‘want to wake up’ --  to: ‘achieve enlightenment’ --
the only thing it is after is: getting-to-the-bottom-of itself.
Set aside chemistry and biology, and the only thing your consciousness has to, get-to-the-bottom-of  is itself,
for everything else in the entire universe
that you cannot touch with your hands  --  is in consciousness.
Thus, that is all that your consciousness needs to
be at the bottom of everything.

Getting to the bottom of what wants to --  get-to-the-bottom-of
is the whole shootin' match, my boy    --    that's all there is to it.

.....................(I bet Southern Pacific just goes with the open collar look.”)
 

                                                     J