*image by Ben Harubin

First voice: "I hear a noise."
Second voice: "It's the television."
First voice: "No, I hear another noise."
Second voice: "It's the air conditioner."
First voice: "No, I hear another noise."
And on and on it went like that.

An enlightened man with a doctrine is an illusion...and if not, a fraud.

Only ordinary minds believe there is anything wrong with conditions;
Only ordinary minds perceive there being conditions.

(Yet another reason, you might note, for not thinking about other people.
Seeing' as how they's mostly what's always responsible for there bein'
conditions in the first place.)

A man so addressed a certain mystic, "If, as you have claimed, the primary purpose
of the mind, when specifically and attentively directed, is to enhance man's chances
of survival, then the random ramblings of his unfocused daydreams must also at least
indirectly serve such ends, say, by way of 'time filling distractions and diversions.'
A kind of mental R and R, rest and relaxation to keep men refreshed sufficiently to meet
new survival challenges when they arise."

And the mystic nodded his acquiescence.

And after some moments of silence the man again spoke. "But if that be so,
then would it not follow that the individual characteristics of all life, all birds, fish,
plants, and animals, must in some way serve to increase their chances of survival?"
And once again the mystic made body moves which appeared to indicate his
agreement to what had been said.

Then after a few additional seconds of stillness between them the man said,
"Well now, thinking about this matter in a deeper way than I have ever before,
I am suddenly moved to ask the most basic and simple question, which I have
never considered before: Just what does 'survival' mean?"

And the mystic again replied silently through the body, this time by his shoulder
and facial expression which clearly said, "I don't know."

The more specific the mental pointing,
the greater the errors and delusion.

One man says he had a somewhat peculiar thought, but one he guessed some
of you would understand. He notes that one of the dangers in talking about
other states of mind is that it can be so interesting.
As the ancient proverb points: A braying ass can never ride himself.

Warning! -- Be On The Alert:
People who like to say "as I always like to say"
always like to say something.
(Well, them and ever'body else.)