archives14

Ericka's Bench 3/6/2006

Rikkity: “Sanford has been a wee bad doggie... arrrr. Sanford was whining and said ARF--which meant he wanted a bone... grrr--and I said ‘No, you are a spirit dog.’ So, without a bone he gnawed on the bench legs... woof. And so what does this mean? A shorter bench.

“So, our first guest: an old friend of the Gallic persuasion, Marky.”

Marky:

“Bonjour. It is good to be back on the bench--even if I have to sit cross-legged or else my calves will drag. They need a good French poodle to teach the dog good manners. He wouldn’t dare bite my legs... grrrr. Why do my pants feel damp... arf arf. Bad dog.

“She has told me it is time to tell you about spirit averaging. And I said ‘No’ but she said ‘But yes’... actually, she said ‘Mais oui.’

“In the reality beyond time, the essence of spirit is not a point but a flow which gains and ebbs. Now, you could argue that to gain and ebb implies time. But it doesn’t, for the two cycles coexist, and each is a function of spirit energy--which is a sum of the many, and that sum grows and falls. And to take a snapshot in time gives a total, while a snapshot beyond time gives a sum. And those two are quite different because the sum divided by the infinite parts is always 1, but the total divided by the constituent parts can vary from 1. So in the fullness there is unity, while in the particular it may appear more or less than a unity.

“Always focus on the 1--even when the apparent status is less than 1. And do not become elated when the average is more than 1; it is an illusion. So, idyllic times are as unreal as are demonic times, and we waste energy on any focus other than 1.

“Ok, got that? Adieu.” (3/6/2006 - W#369)

Rikkity: “He is so suave. And now we have Madame X. How mysterious.”

Madame X:

“Hello. That’s actually my initial. I get only one. That’s because when I last lived, I was royaltyand we had just one name each. What a pain. I always longed for an identity with more dimensions. But alas, it was not to be.

“People with complex histories seek simple lives and people with simple histories seek intrigue, when, in fact, we all have the same amount. We don’t like to think we are average but, in the passage of many lives, that’s what we learn: The average which is us. And that average may not look like the average of anyone else but it is still an average. You stand out only to the extent to which you find and live your average.

“You are the expression of the sum of many lives, and when you finally get your personal average to 1 you are ready to move on. Everyone likes to think the big total wins, ha.

“Off I go.” (3/6/2006 - W#370)

Rikkity: “Ok, here’s another friend.”

MCP:

“O I like the bench this way. Hi-a. I don’t need climbing gear to sit down.

“So, what was the highlight of my travels? That’s easy: my travels! People keep wanting travelers to name the top spots. Ok if it were about destinations, but it isn’t.

“Each destination is part of your travel quilt. Pieced together it is meaningful, but separate parts are just rags. And French cheese is meaningful because of Velveeta. Get it. But some days Easy Cheese is the highlight. A sandwich you would disdain becomes a feast on a marooned train. So, you weave it together and trips stand out as wholes because of their averages.

“And now, I easily step down and walk away. Hey-a, cool!” (3/6/2006 - W#371)

Rikkity: “And so off into the sunset goes the masked rider of the Tuscan hills... oops, he fell off. And one last visitor: my main squeeze, CT."

CT:

“Hello. She’s letting me speak.

“So, what have we learned today. Look for the trends, not the positions. Don’t become dismayed because circumstances are less than perfect. Worry more about a life than details. Be sure you are facing and focusing correctly.

“If you give in to the minutiae, you will live a small life. If you desire the larger life, remember it is not gained with a sum greater than 1, but with a focus on the one that it is.

“Don’t mistake the parts for the whole, or some other whole for yours. Ok, bye. She’s back.” (3/6/2006 - W#372)

Rikkity: “Ok, pith to ponder. And I have 4 new legs. Whack, whack, whack, whack. Ok, the bench is fixed... grrrr. And I have a bone to pick with you... grrr. No, I mean I really have a bone to pick with you... ARF. Meaty bone... arf arf.

“No no no no no, don’t get on the ben... *crash*. Have you never heard of glue? Rrrf. Ok, whack whack whack whack. Now come and gnaw... rrf.”

Ericka's Bench 3/27/2006

Rikkity: “Welcome to another chapter of the continuing saga of MCP. We last saw our hero when he said ‘Oops, quicksand.’ Oooooo. ‘Hey-a.’ ‘Here, grab this rope,’ the swami said. And then, with mystic powers, MCP rises up as the rope ascends to Heaven. Wow, that was close.

“Stop, we’ve got the wrong tape in. Wrrrrrrr... clunk... buzz.

“Hi and welcome to Rikkity’s Bench. Hi folks and dogs... ARF. What an exciting half hour we have planned. ‘What,’ you say?!? ‘Half an hour.’ That’s right, we are being preempted for the Big Balls Tournament. CT is playing because he has big... trout. What did you think I was going to say? Ok, let’s get started, LD!”

LD:

“She has been spilling the beans about the pervasive potential always available, because without that perspective I can remain a creative inventor, but once everyone knows the truth, I’m just a simple forward thinker.

Rikkity: “LD, you’ll never be simple.”

“Thank you, but you get my point. I didn’t create anything, I didn’t invent anything, I just pay attention and remember what I see by looking forward and outward. It is a measure of how underdeveloped this level of complexity is that we have so few who appear to be creative. All it takes, for most people, is to turn around--face forward, not back--and to turn themselves inside out to look out, not in.

“And religion doesn’t help, with its images of great outward deities but the need to go inside and examine one’s soul. I tried that, but my soul needed so many repairs I gave up.

“So it’s no trick or genius, it’s just a matter of orientation. And since the word orientation is based on knowing where the East is, what good is it to get oriented if your future is in the West. And for all those who bow in one direction (they don’t actually bow in the same direction, but their minds are conditioned to think linearly), whether you face Rome or Mecca or L.A. doesn’t matter. Get up, look around, and anywhere and everywhere you’ll see something new to you. It’s there waiting for you and me and them... but not him. By the way, he is a genius and she is a cutie. So said the wise old dirty man.” (3/27/2006 - W#373)

Rikkity: “Ok, he’s fallen asleep or into thought or into his food... whatever. Ok, who do you want to talk to, Soupy Sales? SS. How about Rutherford B. Hayes? And his brother, Isaac. Hey, spirits are not racial. Here’s Matahari... shhh. Ok, you! Get over here!”

IW:

“Boy, is she bossy. That’s what we call her here her here her Hereford... she moos and we call her Bossy. I knew her in the old country. I was not a spy--not now, not then, not ever... but maybe not yet. It was the English countryside, and the gentleman here talking with me was a daft sort. He spoke in strange tongues and begged about the village. Slovenly sort.

“The point of bringing all of this up is that each spirit has some past which is not sterling. Just as metal must be annealed for strength, so, too, spirit. And those who journey in regressions and find only strength of status, not strength of learning, may glow in what they find. But a slate of goodness only is the sign of a weak spirit and one that surely shall know testing in the future. Never be ashamed for having been the idiot; be ashamed if you thought you couldn’t be one--just as it is no shame to be a serf, but a shame to think oneself above serfdom. The worst leaders are those who have no sense of themselves as followers.

“And I remain, IW. (3/27/2006 - W#374)

“I gave you that penny openly and honestly, so no thanks are needed. But if now you might have a crown to spare, I could use your remembrance of my kindness."

Rikkity: “Hey, you don’t need money here!”

IW: “O.”

Rikkity: “Habits are hard to change. And change is what you get when you take off your habit. No, it was not a punchline! It was a planned segué to our next guest.”

MW:

“Hello. Please sit with us awhile.

“Now, I will continue what IW said. His ‘W’ and mine aren’t the same, but we are related by insight.

“Think with me of the great sermons preached and how often the message is about how our gracious goodness--whatever little of it we live out in life--will sustain with us in death, but the habits of sin will need to be purged and we will need to be purified.

“Now where did that notion come from, that this side would not be a continuity of all the traits of the living side? Wishful thinking! If, as she has so often told you, life is about learning and remembering, then any purification must come in life. This side is neither reward nor punishment but rest and consolidation.

“Any change from habits must be the conscious choice of an enlightened life. The great Divine does not save us but offers a universe filled with possibility for our choice, and we make habits of our choices.

“Intent is not good enough. Experience of a different perspective, which becomes habitual because it is remembered in the core of the spirit, is what changes the spirit and lets it grow into its fullness. And when I speak of purification, I don’t mean pure by the definition of ideals, but pure as the entity each one is.

“Remember, it is about you becoming you so thoroughly that you can become more.

“As you habitually become you, you become you habitually. And identity and essence are one, as well as identity and action and experience are one. Chart your expectations against your experiences. As they become synonymous, you sense the unity forming.

“O I do think that’s enough. Tea’s done and G’s coming. Ta-ta.” (3/27/2006 - W#375)

Rikkity: “Ok, in just a minute, Big Balls! We will have all the action. But now let’s say goodbye to our audience, with a reminder that come Friday we will talk, but not on Saturday because we are no April fools. ‘I am!’ Yes, you are! This has been a production of Sanford Radio... ARF ARF... and UTV.”

Ericka's Bench 4/3/2006

Rikkity: “Once again, Zippo Spirit presents Rikkity’s Bench. New sponsor: Change lives in an instant with Zippo Spirit. ‘Hey-a, without time, who needs Zippo Spirit?’ Sh... just remember sh is hs backwards. ‘O, carry on-a.’

“Hi. And welcome to an action-packed Bench. Welll, not really--more of a spirit-packed Bench. And here we go. 4 spirits? We will see. Here’s AB... ‘Hi’... as in, AB Normal (Igor). Just kidding.”

AB:

“Hi. I just got here. What a place they’ve made for me. I always wondered about heaven because it sounded like a place that was perfect, but everyone’s perfection is so different. Then wham the bus and all that, and here I am. And wow, it was about my perfection, just as I would want it. I should have believed. But hey, it worked just fine.

“Just look around. Could it be any more perfect? I don’t think so. Ah. And I get an eternity of this. Not a bad trade for 53 years. Just goes to show you... but I haven’t got a clue what. And this is so cool that I can talk with you.

“I am off to enjoy. Bye, later.” (4/3/2006 - W#376)

Rikkity: “There goes a happy spirit--a clueless happy spirit. Sandy... ARF... keep a nose out for AB... gr. And now, BC.”

BC:

“Hello. I keep having this feeling of loss. Here I am, with all my needs met, but I feel like there’s something which was and now isn’t. I keep wanting to turn back and see but, when I do, the something flitters out of perception and is gone. There’s this inkling of a 'before' that isn’t real, but is, too.

“This place is tinged with a feeling I can’t describe--potential and loss at the same time--which makes it hard to be present here. I feel torn, not whole. Why? I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a troubled spirit.

“And what is ‘me’ and what is 'not me'? So many feelings and so many questions. But this seems a good place to feel both.” (4/3/2006 - W#377)

Rikkity: “BC has wandered off in thought and feeling. Sanford, another to keep track of... ARF. Here’s CD.”

CD:

“No, I’m not a record nor a savings instrument. I’m who I am, and wow, I feel so multifaceted. Look, this is me... and this and this and this and THIS! Wow! better than the breath mint-candy mint dilemma. I am so many and so much! I am the Alpha and the Omega, and a little Psi, too... did I mention Rho and Theta. I Eta Pie.

“I feel so full and fulfilled, but yet I sense there is more. What comes after Omega... and do Omega 3 fatty acids make a difference. I don’t know, not here. Here you can eat all the trans-fat you want, but there ain’t any.

“Verge... that’s the word I was trying to tell Rikkity... on the verge. On the verge of something--the green growing edge of one’s path. I am so much and so many, and yet I feel the great potential awaiting on the verge of I-don’t-know-and-I-know-totally. And it’s not frightening, it’s beckoning and enticing and alluring and seductive and o wow.

“I have seen it all and there is so much left to see! I am me! And I am becoming.

“Off I go. Bye.” (4/3/2006 - W#378)

Rikkity: “And now, DE.”

DE:

“Hello. And greetings to you. Do you like jigsaw puzzles. I do. I am one. We all are.

“You open the box and all the pieces you need tumble out. And it’s easy to create the edges, but then it gets harder to fill in the picture. And you look at the box and think ‘What?!?’ It’s the image of you with all your potential all realized. But all you’ve got is a physical edge and lots of fragmented parts, and some did not appear to fit anywhere--just random junk, no meaning, no place in your life portrait. But then a piece fits into another--sometimes because it looks like the box and other times just because they fit together--and pieces that made no sense make sense when connected, and slowly you see the patterns emerge.

“Somewhere, about midway, the pace which slowed after the edges were made begins to quicken. And the last pieces almost magically fall into place because the other pieces have made the spaces for them. And, at last, all the potential is realized; the picture is complete; the pieces all fit into a meaningful whole, and you sit back and admire it and say ‘Whoa.’

“And some take the pieces and take them apart to do it all over again, and others leave it intact and say ‘Now, let’s try it with more pieces,’ and get lost in a more complex puzzle, more potential. And that’s where I am. Do I want to keep putting together the same pieces, or is it time for a more complex potential. I think I’ll move on. I’ve done this one so often, I know it’s edges and core and tricks by spirit.

“Anyhow, after I’m gone, pick up the pieces. Bye.” (4/3/2006 - W#379)

Rikkity: “So, 4 guests on the Bench, 1 spirit on the Bench. Without time, we can see. Gotcha. Sandy, make sure we don’t lose any pieces; DE needs AB and BC to be DE... arf arf snap. And remember, Zippo Spirit: You don’t want to be without it, and you don’t need it.”

Ericka's Bench 4/7/2006

Rikkity: “Sit down! There’s room for y’all.

"O, hi. I didn’t sense you arriving. Welcome to 'The Bench Decoded'. Tonight we have 3 great minds... ‘and 2 great bodies’... CT! And we will illumine... watch it now, watch it now... I digress.

“But seriously, here’s our first guest.”

Guest 1: “I just want to get things right and understand the rules. Is that such a big deal? Lots of people go through life making it up as they go, but that’s not for me. And others just fantasize and dream and are so impractical that they are useless. If you can’t build it and use it, what’s the purpose?”

Rikkity: “Hi, this is Rikkity, wondering if you can guess who our first guest is. It’s LD, but not LD as we know him, but as his spirit back a few lives. Couldn’t be the visionary without first knowing the realist. So, we try again.”

Guest 2: “Hello. Life is so awful. I’m glad I’m dead. Done with all the suffering. And don’t tell me suffering is redemptive, that’s horse manure. Life sucks and then you die. Horrible joke by the Creator--big cosmic haha, but I ain’t laughing.”

Rikkity: “Ok, ready on this one. MW, a prior M. Had to be the nihilist to become the believer. Ok, one more. And you can stay here with Sandy while we talk... ARF.”

M: “He won’t bite me, will he.”

Rikkity: “No no no no... sure... that’s the ticket... snap.”

M: “O”

Guest 3: “Whenever we try to discover the patterns of existence, we are limited by three things: Past experience, which tells us how things have been understood; the current cultural climate, which allows us to look here but not there, and which suggests direction which may not point to more inclusive understandings; and third, we have the limits of our own capacity for faith in ourselves, because doubt is the greatest barrier to a growth of understanding.

“Where people lack depth, you know that one dimension dominates. But where even a single person can see beyond the horizon--not in certainty, but in expectation and possibility--there the dimensions are infinite and open.” (4/7/2006 - W#380)

Rikkity: “Ok, last guess.”

Tea lady: “Here, lovie, have a cuppa.”

Rikkity: “Tea ladies can become sages! There are no dead ends... hahaha I slay myself. And that’s the pith and the whole pith and nothing but the pith so help me me. Sanford, pack up the show, we’re leaving... ARF.”

Ericka's Bench 4/17/2006

Rikkity: “Hey, guys, they chose the Bench! Get that shit off the bench... grrr. Ok, get that nice doggie memorabilia off the bench... ARF.

“O, hi, and welcome to my Bench. We’ve been expecting you... grrr. Ok, we didn’t know if you were coming... ARF. Honest dog... snap. Send him to DC, put the bite on the pols. Today he’d be pushing eggs with his snout... ARF... gulp. Don’t eat ‘em with the shells... ARF? No! f.

“So, sit down and ponder awhile. O, you expect guests, too. Just sit and ponder. Ok, here comes a spirit, whistling down the lane.”

Marky:

“Every little breeze seems to whistle Louise, birds in the zee trees seems to... o, ello. Eet ees a beeautiful day, nez pas... by a nose. I smell spring, nez pas. I dance with my nose.

“And just as what we call people have the strands of their being, so, too, the idées... o, the ideas. Fixe is a concept of the first-timers, for ideas have strands and layers, too.

“Some ideas are born, flourish and grow, and then die. We have a pile of ideas here: Dead ideas waiting to be born again.

“Spirits are but one dimension of persistence. We also have ideological persistence! And you don’t want to get near a first-time idea! Dare I mention some? I dare, I dare! Nazism, fundamentalism of any kind... and timeshares. Plus that Duck with Bananas. And patriotism--while altruism is a very old idea. What you call the history of ideas is a great pedigree of thought. Ideas are not actually thoughts, but modes of organization. Ponder that while I stroll away.” (4/17/2006 - W#381)

Rikkity: “Well, I hope you liked him. And you still want more? Just one more, I guess. But who. ‘Hey-a.’ Ok, you-a. ‘Me-a?’ You-a! ‘Ok-a!’”

MCP: “Hello-a. I follow the frog’s lead.”

Marky: “I resent that!”

MCP: “Ok, the honorable French gentlefrog.”

Marky: “Thanks.”

MCP: “Don’t mention it.”

Marky: “I won’t.”

MCP:

“All That Is exists in a variety of representations of greater and lesser complexity: Ideas, spirits, matter, dreams, whatever. I was famous for a complex trip; others have been famous for a single step--all parts of the same tradition. I could not have made my complex trip without a succession of single steps, and single steps do not stand out unless there are many long treks.

“Never see anything as alone, apart, disconnected. If you see a single element, always look for the infinite threads of which it is a part. And nothing stands as an element of only one strand. Ponder that when you have to choose between one from column A and one from column B. And have fun! Bye-a. Ciao, ciao, ciao... ARF ARF ARF.” (4/17/2006 - W#382)

Rikkity: “Ok, short Bench, but pith. Hug the bench... ouch. Sanford, did you leave this knife on the bench... woof. And they sat on it? Woof. And I hugged it... woof. And are you sorry? Woooof. Ok, let’s play... ARF.”

"When we last spoke, CT was hiding in a closet while MCP said ‘Hiya.’ Now we return to our action as Sandy the Wonder Dog arfs... ARF. A storm has wreaked havoc in Spirit City, and the residents fear the rodents. But suddenly, they hear their savior... Arrrf. Once again, they are safe... grrrr. (We have to humor him once in awhile. He’s a dog, you know.)

“Moving right along, we have a letter from little Missy Edwards of Titsworth-on-Thames. She writes, ‘How does the soul differentiate itself into experience while still having existence in the matrix of All.’ Missy, little children shouldn’t play with metaphysics. But since you asked, think about your dinner of bangers and mash. Each bit of banger is both a part of the whole but made up of even smaller parts, yet it takes all the parts of the banger matrix to make it other than a Sheffield sausage. And each bit is itself, and a part of the banger at the same moment. And those nasty bits... well, just spit them into your napkin and know they will not have continued existence of the banger as it becomes one with the you matrix. Disgusted enough! Good. Now eat your dinner.

“And precocious Bobbi McIntyre of Perth writes, ‘How does one differentiate between the knowledge of the spirit and the knowledge of the body.’ Sounds like a deep question. But he goes on, ‘And how do I convince Mary Ellen Richards to let me have some knowledge of her body.’ Naughty, naughty. Yet, I think you will find that if you pay attention to the spirit, you may become welcome to the body, but rarely the other way ‘round.

“And finally, young Master Williams of Cardiff writes, ‘Why is my immortal soul connected to a mortal body.’ Ah, the essential question of this level. And I remind you, we are here to live and enjoy... especially if Mary Ellen is willing... and therefore, to learn and remember what the soul cannot learn without a physical experience. Thanks, boys and girls, for your questions. And now, it’s time for Teen Toons. Sanford the Wonder Dog... ARF.

“Physicality teaches us the limitations of physicality. This is deep and essential. Every level of complexity has the same lesson: To learn the limits of the basic structures of that level, so that one moves from seeing that existence as being paramount, to seeing it as limited and limiting and inviting of a greater inclusivity to get past the limits. Every level feels like a new universal, until experience of it shows its limitations and a more universal is desired at the soul level. A person who is starving thinks bangers and mash is a feast, but after years of them, they yearn for something more. Ok, got that?

“If you step on a Wonder Dog’s cape, he can’t fly... grrrr. But how often do we step on someone’s Wonder Soul so they can’t soar.” (6/26/2006 - V#112)

Ericka's Bench 8/21/2006

Announcer: “And now, it’s the periodic refutation of sanity, it’s Ericka’s Bench. Brought to you today by Arfpo Dog Food, first he goes ARF ARF and then he goes.”

Rikkity: “Hi. Welcome the start of our 11th season, because today is the start of the rest of your spirit. But in a timeless reality, it is also the start of what has been your spirit, and it is also the middle and the end. And about 40.18452396 of the way along (that’s percents, to the sticky poopheads).

“Today we have a great Bench, with callers calling in from all over... but wait, this is not a call-in show so please hold your calls until we are live.

“And now, with much folderol, here’s the little voice of big ideas.”

MCP:

“Hey-a. So, yesterday was a learning experience. By the way, did you know that the tower in Pisa was designed as a school project and was called the Learning Tower of Pisa, but some monk made a manuscript mistake so they had to undermine it. Joke only works in English. In Italian it makes no sense.

“But back to our exciting story. Yesterday did not go as expected, did it. It was very on target. You cannot recreate spiritual moments. Each moment stands on its own. So the balloons... ‘baboons!’... ok-a, and the fountain could have worked perfectly and still failed. The sustaining rituals of humanity never rest on their elements, but on their meaning. Now Saint Paul might think otherwise, but I suggest that if the cup were dry and the platen empty, communion could still be served because true ritual reflects the feelings, not rehearses the actions. So you had a great day because the fountain leaked and the baboons... ‘good!’... were wimpy, and so you had to rely on feelings instead of water and baboons.

“Too often the focus becomes the elements, and in the first years this is so because to focus on the feelings would be impossible to bear (but the feelings could also be hard to bare). A sign of integrating events is the growth of feelings and the decline of symbols... ‘crash!’ CT, symbols not cymbals... ‘O.’

“In future years, you will find even less need for pageantry because you and the feelings will be integrated. When you have learned and remembered, there is no separation between you and the other. Symbols serve to remind us of what we have learned but not yet remembered.

“Mark my words (pun intended!). Now, go get on horses and hit the ball. Bye-a.” (8/21/2006 - W#383)

Rikkity: “And now, Papa.”

Papa:

“Hi, babe and Randy. So, what a day. 11 years ago time stopped, and while we all grieved we missed the lesson: Time stopped.

“I remember a day in July ‘69 when the day went on forever. And some afternoons at Bar Beach had extra hours in them. Why did we living become so obsessed with a span of time, when we could have found more in a meaning of living. What if we measured things by meaning instead. Calendars would look way different! Now, of course, living in a physical world it is hard to imagine such a calendar, but I assure you it is possible. And when you can see it, you will transcend it.

“As a scientist, I was obsessed with measurement. But all of what we call ‘measurement’ is about the past, and the future awaits in new measurements. And don’t forget new, delicious Measure Mints. They last as long as you want.

“Well, I’m off to seek out high flying baboons. And remember, write if you get work and hang by your thumbs! Roger, over.” (8/21/2006 - W#384)

Rikkity: “And a quick change of spirit.”

MW:

“Hello. Good to be with you again. Sit, let’s talk awhile. His generalship won’t be home for hours.

“We need to be with and for each other on anniversaries--not because they are days different from others, but because we are different on those days. Did you know that on the anniversary of a passing of one spiritually connected to you, your physical reality is more porous. You touch the spirits more easily. But for many, and for many years, this is too much for the living to take in. So ironically, on the day of greatest connections, people engage the powers of business and ritual to build hard shells around their feelings.

“Jews make treks to erect headstones, Christians go to mass. People stay busy. Some even let go of simians. And all of this, in the name of remembering, is to ward off the experience of connection.

“To sit silently and really feel... few have the constitution for that. But when the heart has healed, that is not only enough, it is sought because which is more satisfying: an image in the mirror of ritual and action, or the sense of spirit within one’s own spirit. Save the great displays for those not of your entity, and keep your heart open for the intimacy of the day with spirits of your being.

“I take my leave, with blessings to you all.” (8/21/2006 - W#385)

Rikkity: “And now, Sanford McPooch will introduce our last guest on the Bench. ARF ARF snap woof woof wooooof.”

Roderick: “Hi.”

Rikkity: “Can’t introduce myself, I can introduce my elf. Here’s Roderick.”

Roderick: “Hi!”

Rikkity: “He’s short on words.”

Roderick: “Hi.”

Rikkity: “Let’s have some fun. Roderick, what did Rikkity get at Yale.”

Roderick: “Hi.”

Rikkity: “When you grow up, you hope to be what.”

Roderick: “Hi.”

Rikkity: “What is a mountain.”

Roderick: “Hi.”

Rikkity: “Bye bye, Roderick.”

Roderick: “Hi.”

Rikkity: “Hello, it’s me and my elf... wooof.

“So, another celestial go-around. Time passes... John Dos Passos... que pasa. But things are, and I appreciate all of it and you and them... but not him.

“And now the Bench is at an end... and I fall off... ARF. Until then, remember, later on this same channel, oooOOOooo Scary Stories of the Living. And buy Arfpo, the dog food of spirits.”

"Now, let me explicate. I said vibes because if I used any other term, you would hear it in physical terms. It is not physical, so don’t talk energy or substance or vibrational frequencies or polarities. Just think of connections without connections. Can’t see ‘em, can’t prove ‘em with science, but they be there and here and there... but not here. There. Is that clear?

“Ponder nonphysical connection. There will be a quiz on Tuesday. Ponder deeper, not just hide deep... moo.” (10/27/2006 - I#97)

"So, about this vibe connection: Can’t measure it by the tools of the physical world. But the physical can sense it. Soulmates allude to this.

“Those connections of spirit are an untapped resource. And if and when you get glimpses of this, poof: next level... and a free meal at KFC (Kentucky Fried Carma). It’s all transliteration.

“Love indicates, but does not contain... hmmm. In this level, we get indicators, but sense not the essence. We are pointed in the direction of experience and understanding, but not possession and comprehension. Already but not yet.” (11/3/2006 - I#98)

"So, we were walking along the strand, stringing some tourists. And yes, we get tourists here. Spirits of other entities are curious. ‘You’re curious, aren’t you, Daniel. I like that in you.’

"And I go check out other spiritual realities, too. Can’t say, because it’s beyond language. I would have to use something like a metaphor or a glowing simile. But I can’t, or won’t, or you’re not ready for it... or you can’t handle the truth. Just let it simmer.” (11/20/2006 - I#99)

"In the movie The DaVinci Code, I liked the last scene with the multiple matrixes... or is it matrixi... ‘or is it mattress’... CT.

“Now, picture an infinite number of such layers, and the layers running in all dimensions, and you’ve got a metaphor for existence. That’s all the pith. You can’t handle the pith, because it’s not physical, and you can’t even think it. It is beyond thought and touch, it is non-sensical. It’s essential, at the heart of being.” (2/28/2007 - I#100)

"Bodies are not all they’re cracked up to be. In fact, all physical entities are not what they’re cracked up to be. I keep talking... yeah yeah, I know I have no lips... about things in physical terms: levels of complexity and grids and matrixes, etc., but those are metaphors, not descriptions. Long ago, I talked about how a person from Place A would describe Place B but it would be in terms of Place A. I give you another example... no, I don’t, he does.

MCP: “Hi-a. You-a go-a to Burano and you come-a home and tell people about her. You say-a ‘She’s got-a these pretty-a doors, and all is color.’ But someone from Burano tells you about the man down the street and the fish market and the little garden. To them, the houses are the houses. See-a?"

“So every time you understand a model I share, go ‘aha’ but also go ‘Yes, but that’s not really it.’ Like the many dimensional matrixes of being, which allowed you to see intersections and paths, but if I told you it was more like consommé, it would baffle you. ‘Huh... wha.’ But it is! Take a microscope to consommé, and you see intricate patterns, but look away and see a broth that is itself in every delicious sip. ‘And now with 20% less salt’... C.T.!

“At your level, you see your level in very detailed physical terms, but step back and it’s all consommé. And which is it, details or consommé. It’s both! And a damn fine breathmint, too!

“Structures only support more structures, but the whole is! Get it. Probably not and probably so. The trick is to accept that the reality is beyond your models of it, but your models embrace it.

“But be wary of those who put spirit in boxes and make everything physical. They aren’t wrong, but they aren’t right, either. I have decided that either will now be pronounced urther. Either way it’s true. Ok, I rescind my spiritual order and I’ll have a shake and fries. Just trying to bring some chaos to an ordered world. Bringing chaos to the world of presumption. Dr. Doubletalk, I presume. Why, yes. I am Stanley, Mr. Stanley Steemer. Pulled the rug out from under him. Chaos is not disorder; disorder implies order. Chaos does not presume. Chaos makes a good houseguest for the adventuresome... ARF... and Sandy.

“So there’s the pith and the dog... ARF. He’s a pith bull... grrrrr. He’s part pith bull and part retriever and mostly setter... woof... hooowwwlll... and a little coyote.” (3/20/2007 - I#101)

"Well, here we were, considering 3: past, present, or future... and height, length, depth; father, son, and you-know-who. Don’t you see, you are trapped in a physical world and you are just a physical girl (Madonna, Material Girl). But what happens when perceptions are set by prior limitations of perception and understanding. Just like compound interest, give it a hundred years and you have big errors.

“The trick is to measure or describe things without using existing limiting things. MIT knew this when it measured the bridge in smoots. But if Smoot had a growth spurt, what is reality. Just remember, all measurements and metaphors are equally flawed. Just the pith of the day.” (3/25/2007 - I#102)

"The trick is to hear any metaphor or image in its universals, rather than its particulars. Get caught up in systems and you miss so much.

“And peeps like to think that being open-minded is to question the details of any system, but being open-minded is to see where every system connects with every other system. One is deconstructive and the other constructive. Postmodernism is a total waste because it is about taking apart, not building up. And I will deconstruct postmodernism later.

“Good grief, why waste energy on taking apart, when you could be creating. But that’s enough. Lack of vision. The world needs Sandy the Super Seeing-Eye Dog... ARF.” (4/5/2007 - I#103)

"Let’s put it all together: Strings and strands and noodles... o, haven’t I mentioned noodles. Noodles are dried strands which, when enriched with meaning, swell. So they can look quite insignificant, but then, in other conditions, they are humongous--Amazons of flowing reality.

“Some strands are bound and some are noodles, and together they create arrays and fabrics and quilts of possibility. And it’s like one big mishmash, with a pattern. And meaning is in there, but it’s not anywhere but only everywhere. And the pattern is projected on it because it can’t have a pattern because patterns rely on points, and I made a point about that. So it’s a mishmash of strands and strings and noodles, which appears to have a pattern but is really a continuum of meaning--flowing in the ever-changing intersections. And that’s the whole of it and I’m done and I retire! ARF. He does, too.

“Noodles swell, just like the LIE gets bigger about 2am without changing size. It is functionally bigger, while a back country lane always seems the same--even on Sunday afternoons with the tourists. So, ponder that!” (6/8/2007 - I#104)

"Pondering for Points. If one proceeds along the trajectory of the known, and never pauses for some reflection; if someone keeps on the move constantly, the great intersections which might have been may never happen.

“Right now there is a nexus which might include you in a deeply meaningful way, but if you proceed toward goals and connections already perceived, the string which might pass through your strand may just forever remain a parallel possibility, but not a reality. Yes, yes, yes, I know, in the fullness of being, all the nexuses... or is it nexi... will be real, but maybe what you need now is right there if you weren’t striving to get somewhere else. The name of the game is connections, not motion.

“Sometimes the rushing river must become the tranquil pool, or else it will only be an erosive entity.

“That’s worth 27 points.” (6/26/2007 - I#105)

"People need to realize that what you want to be true must be intrinsic to a situation, and not just imposed. True, there are an infinite number of probable connections across strands, but the only ones that will become realized are those whose qualities are inherent in the strands.

“Now, a road in Ireland could conceivably take you to Des Moines, but not with the strands we are living out. To drive between the two, requires strands in which the continents are connected, or the sea is dry or frozen, or one can drive very fast and jump over the ocean. But our strands don’t offer those options. So while the Dublin-Des Moines car trip is possible, it is not probable in our strands of reality.

“Wishful thinking is thinking outside one’s strands--creative, but not grounded. Genius is not a matter of thinking outside the strands, but thinking deeply within them.

“Crusoe is stranded on an island. He sees only his stranded strand, until he is walking down the sandy strand of beach and finds another footprint strand. He could work with those footprints and enlarge his world, or he could dream of the signal flags put up at Greenwich, which would be outside his world of strands, and do him no good.

“It’s not in the cards, nor in the stars, but in the strands. Ponder that.” (7/11/2007 - I#106)

"All meaning flows in levels of harmonic vibrations of electromagnetic waves generated by the core of the spirit of each soul... or such gibberish. Here’s a clue: If a theory about spirit uses metaphors, ok. If it uses precise descriptions which are physical, whoa. It can be like a magnetic resonance or spirit is the coming together of past and future in a Now which blossoms. But it can’t be the gibberish I said before, because hey, dudes, it’s not physical.

“Remember, I said it was like the atoms forming molecules, I did not say it was. Big difference. One is used to help people understand, and the other is used to quantify. And you know what really pisses us off is being free of the bounds of the physical and then being called to act in physical ways. It would be like (notice I say like, not that it is) like going to Jones Beach, getting ready for a day on the sand, spreading out the towel, slathering on the lotion, putting on the shades, and then being told to put on formal business attire. Can ruin a great beach day!” (1/18/2008 - I#107)

"I have two... count ‘em, two... important things to say, and believe it or not, they’re about vibrations... oooOOOooo.

“First up, people often speak of higher vibrational frequencies, etc., etc., etc., and they are both right and horribly wrong. I give you an example: You develop heartburn. It feels like your stomach is burning and hot, but it’s not. It’s just the acid interacting with the stomach lining... gross. But you could argue that, since you experienced a burning sensation, then the temperature of your stomach is higher, but it’s not. The burn you experience is not really a burn, but that’s the way it feels. So, too, with many spiritual experiences. It feels like you are living at a different speed, and lights and such seem to burn at a different color. So the assumption is made that since you experience it as a higher frequency, it must be. But just because you experience it vibrationally does not mean it is inherently vibrational--which brings me to point due, which I have made before. The human predilection is to reduce all experience to the physical--even what is not physical.

“People have dreams, and then are asked to share them, as if they could be expressed in physical terms. And listen to what they say: ‘Did I dream in color, no... well, maybe. As I think about your question, I remember a vivid blue.’ Ok, let’s unpack this. The blue is a result of the question, not the dream. When asked to speak in physical terms, the mind will grab some way to express experience, but expression is not experience.

“So all the talk about frequencies and vibrations are metaphors--which explains why equipment set to measure it comes up empty. Machines can’t measure metaphors. And nearly everything you take as physical and certain is actually metaphorical. More on that on a later call. So ponder.” (1/25/2008 - I#108)

"Just one word: Sympathy, as in sympathetic vibrations. Did I say vibrations? O dear! Do you know what sympathetic vibrations are? Ok, Device or Entity or Situation A vibrates, and Entity or Thingie or Situation B is caused to vibrate. A clarinet and a piano are in the same room. The clarinet sounds a note, and a string on the piano vibrates. And it is not because the clarinet vibration is higher or whiter or of a more majestic frequency, but because the two have a sympathetic relationship.

“So, too, with feelings and sensations, and even intuitions. You know that when you are listening to a radio, you hear only one station on one frequency... WABC 770... but at the same moment, stations on many frequencies are passing right by and through you. All a radio does is put itself... and its elf... in sympathy with one frequency. So, too, with everything else. And being physically human means learning to progressively screen out many frequencies. Kids are sympathetic to a wider range; we narrow them, to be able to cope. And what is known as spiritual opening is just recovering and exploring some other openings of sympathy.

“And here’s the kicker... no, I don’t want you to punt! People keep talking about expanding the range of their perceptions, with the belief that the important stuff happens at a higher frequency. The important stuff happens at every frequency, and I am not talking about just physical waves. I am talking sympathy--in which we each feel attuned to something other and larger, and are always trying to make it larger yet, so it is less other. See that twist. We can only see as other what is outside us, and as we widen and deepen us, we make more us, rather than other. All That Is experiences nothing as other. The least complex entity experiences everything--even itself, at first--as other.

“Sympathetic vibrations of spirit, and sympathetic vibrations of physical, and sympathetic vibrations of stuff which is beyond spiritual and physical, are all ways for us to be invited to move from otherness to inclusion. And if it is at middle C or in the infrared or the ultraviolent... no no no no... ultraviolet, or whatever, doesn’t matter since every piece contains the knowledge of the whole, but just from a different perspective. Ponder.” (1/29/2008 - I#109)

"So, about happiness. Happiness is always the result of harmony of a sympathetic vibration between self and transcendent reality.

“Have you ever watched a spider in a web, sitting there, vigilant. Touch any place in the web, and the spider feels it and is alert. But that same web singing in the wind will not bring the spider to alertness, but rather tranquility. A happy spider is one in the midst of a harmonically humming web. So, too, with all physical, and even spiritual, beings. When you are so attuned, that the matrix of being hums around you, that is happiness. And physical beings feel it as an emotion, and they physically smile. But spiritually we don’t feel it, we know it. We sense we are at one with the At One--a sense of the ultimate unity, humming in the winds of eternity and the universe. And how do you know? Because you can do no other than to hum along. My poetic pith.

“I go with the vibes. And since they are not physical waves, and are not about frequencies--although you experience them that way, as the physical metaphor of what is happening--it is like a great attunement. Some look for atonement; that is looking backwards. I want attunement, which is ever seeking to be harmonious with more and more in an ever-changing existence in which what is hums. And I hum along, so that what will be can find its pitch and come into full song, to which I can add my hum line... and so forth forth forth so so. And so forth and so forth and so forth, but that’s only three forths. I take the fifth.” (2/8/2008 - I#110)

“Reality is not the same as experience. Experience is the projection of reality into the realm of dimensions of your complexity. Just because we didn’t have color movie film did not mean that life wasn’t in color. Projections are always limited, but by the dimensions of the media.

“So a one-eyed person experiences differently than a two-eyed one. Which experience is reality? Yes! So when you can’t remember things as vividly, that’s because they were already abstracts of something greater. So you get the gist, but not the totality–which is why, as you experience more and understand more, some memories can grow in detail and others, in which you remember minor points, fade.

“And some just aren’t worth remembering, which is why photos and films and videotapes of the past often contain lots of things which make you ask, ‘Why did I take that?’ Seemed important at the time, but not in relation to larger dimensions... and Leon’s getting larger! But more complex projections require an annual pass, available at the front counter. Much of complexity is experienced by the same reality being projected on a different plane. So a Jerry Lewis movie is different on Air France than on American. But the same is true of all those films which seemed so deep when viewed on college cinema programs, and now make you go, ‘Huh.’

“And one’s complexity and subcomplexity change. Think a life is at all the same complexity? Pretty assumptive to think the dividing points are life and death. Hey, it’s not all about you, your precious little life. If there is continual change and enhancement on this side, why not on that side. It isn’t like lifetimes are school terms, with death the final. But I regress. And I ingress... a snowy ingress... in Wisconsin.” (5/27/2008 - I#111)

“We’re fed up with all this dead-alive dualism. Without time, then who cares. Dead, live, it’s all at once. So look behind you and I’m there... or not. You’re right over there by Sandy... ARF. You’re a flea on Sandy... snap... not anymore.

“And paradigm shifts happen when enough people change the prevailing motif. Historians always look for an event which signals a transition from one era to the next, but the event is a product, not a symbol. By the time it is there, the change has happened. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have the event be visible. Lots of diverse projections go by all the time; you just see the ones that match the familiar script. You think there was no relativity before 1905. Always there, just not recognized--like Boo in the corner behind the door.

“So the changes that seem positive are... ‘more spicy, with a dill overtone’... CT... more inclusive. The ones that seem negative are about forgetting, fear, loathing, and a failure of vision. You can’t see what you’re not looking for. Nessie is out there, but is something other than a giant dinosaur.

“‘People want a spin-free zone’... no no no no, CT. They don’t mind spin, but they hate blinders. All perception is spin. And that’s it for now.” (5/31/2008 I#112)

“Ok, hold onto your heads. Remember the matrix of all existence. ‘We call it Fred.’ CT. ‘Ok, Erwin.’

“Now, we have already pondered connecting an infinite number of nexi in the web to create a plane of existence. What you call reality is one of those planes... ‘or is it a brooch’... CT... ‘and where did you get those shoes...’ CT, go! ‘Ok, we’re all counting on you.’ (CT leaves.)

“So, you have this plane, and then through the matrix you could posit another parallel plane, right? Sure! It would connect through other points in the same strands. People imagine this when they speak of parallel universes, but they are not accurate. Such planes would intersect the same strands, but not our plane. So somewhere along each of the infinite strands, a new plane would appear possible, but it would not intersect our plane. However, if one connected nearly all the same nexi, but changed a few, then you would have another plane--which would not be parallel, because not all the same strands would be intersected, yet most would. That plane would pass through the plane we call reality, but looking across it there would be at least some new dimension that is not contained in ours. This is a better description of a real parallel universe as it is conceived--but not actually parallel.

“When peeps speak of parallel universes and realities, they are actually speaking of intersecting universes and realities. So we have parallel, which mirror ours, but at different points on the strands. And we have intersecting, which share many points and strands, but not all. And we have unknowns, which intersect other strands than the ones of our plane. And with each inclusion of complexity, the number of strands included goes up, and the number not included goes down, until that complexity which is One contains all points and all strands and therefore all possible planes. Ponder that! Let go of your heads. Just a thought. It’s so plane.

“Eventually there is no node that is not on the plane, and time drops out of the strands... ‘falls on his head and screams ouch!’ (He’s back.)” (9/24/2008 I#113)

“So, here’s the dilemma... which is more than the dilemmon. Those other planes which are really parallel and not intersecting, do not necessarily appear as planes to us. But our plane of existence doesn’t look like a plane to the others.

“When you are in a plane of existence--and I hasten to add, it’s not a plane but a complex solid of multiple dimensions... ‘and dementia.’ CT. But this plane thingie only appears to be a plane because all of the reality we know fits on or in it.

“To a creature who has always lived in a cage, there is no cage reality, just reality. So the plane seems natural and normal and plane old plain and plain old plane. And if you say ‘Hey, wait a minute, we are not caged animals. We know there’s always something outside the confines of our existence,’ I ask, how do you know? Or is the something more just part of a larger cage? So there!

“Until you are one with everything... hold the mustard... thanks. Ok, hand it back. Until then, your plane is as good as a cage. So, ponder that.” (9/27/2008 - I#114)

“Let’s drip spirit splatter. It’s a spirit Pollock. You see, here comes the pith. Warning: Pith Ahead.

“If we could drip spirit on a canvass, it would be as meaningful as if we used a brush or did a photo. Every presentation and representation of spirit is as good as any other. And some will detect the meaning in one, but not another. That doesn’t mean that one has more spirit or is more correct.

“Everything which is at least one degree separated from essence is only a representation, and so it can’t be the whole. Don’t miss-take the parts for the whole. That’s what a mistake is–taking something wrongly. A miss-taking, not an evil taking or a bad taking, just a miss-taking. I missed out on what it was because I took it a wrong way. It’s a wrong way to Tipperary, it’s a wrong way to go. See, the Irish knew!

“There will never be a perfect representation of spirit because they will all be reductions. Can’t put into finite dimensions what is infinite. Ok, End Pith Zone. Resume Normal Ignorance.” (10/18/2008 - I#115)

“Strings, strands, planes, parallel and intersecting dimensions–none of that exists. It and they and we are just representations of existence. Models, not essence. Just as you are not your body, those various ways of understanding are vessels, not content.

“Hey, a wine store is not defined by the wine bottles in it, but by the wine in the bottles. But try to stock the shelves without the bottles. So we use symbols and metaphors and models and other modes of understanding, but don’t mistake the bottles for the wine. And ok, put a bottle and about a bushel of grapes and some yeast in a room, go away, come back, and in two years you will have a dirty bottle and some dried up moldy raisins and some dead yeast. Great wine! So, even when you talk about spirit, remember the concept is only a bottle. Ponder that. And I mean by ponder to use the process which is understood within that word, and not just the word ponder. A person who knows what it means to ponder doesn’t necessarily ponder, and someone who doesn’t know the concept of ponder just might do it.

“See, it’s not the bottle, nor the concept, nor the word or label. Those just point in the direction of what is universal and can’t be pointed to or not pointed to.

“Let me pose that one again. The that the which the is the... CT, get the the out of here. 'Ok.' That which is universal can’t be pointed to, and cannot avoid being pointed to. Points and pointers are specific, but universals rise above specifics but contain all specifics. Ok, enough pith. And when I say pith, I am just using a language symbol and not actually saying pith. The word pith is not pith, it’s just a word! It’s a word, a bottle, a hat, a brooch...” (10/22/2008 - I#116)

“So, we have these parallel planes which are parallel to each other, never intersecting. So how do you get from one to the other? Jump? No... and yes. Sometimes a spirit is catapulted from one reality into another... ayeeee. These are often called transformative moments because reality seems different after them. But that is not the usual course... or cours, for my French amis.

“Usually, one is on a plane, and there comes a point in which an intersecting plane is there. Choice: Stay the plane plane or take the diverging intersecting plane. Most don’t even see the option, but some do. But few will deviate from the plane plane because it seems so linear and right. The intersecting plane looks a bit askew, off balance, out of kilter, not right. To be on that intersecting plane means to be a bit out of control--dizzying. But if one takes the intersecting plane, in time it will feel level and right and true, and the old plane plane will seem wrong and old and past. So a few dare take the intersecting plane, and make it home.

“Ok, now, of course, there are going to be some intersecting planes which meet at too steep an angle, and no one will try them. The smaller the angle of difference, or intersection, the greater the probability of being taken. ‘Probable potbellies.’ CT.

“So the lesser angles of intersecting are taken, if any at all. But what does this do. Ok, let’s follow the intersecting plane. Look, it will sooner or later intersect with other planes, and some of those will be tempting because they are parallel to the plane plane. So while some aspects are different, they are different in a familiar way. But here’s the problem: The intersecting plane at a small angle of intersection will either intersect with a parallel plane not that different from the plane plane, or one must live on the intersecting plane for an extensive experience before the parallel plane intersects. And such parallel planes will be much different from the plane plane--many levels removed. And by then, the intersecting plane may feel too familiar. So, at the intersection of the intersecting plane and the parallel plane, few may choose the parallel one.

“So we start with only a few who will deviate from the plane plane, and then only a few of those who will stick it out until a vastly different parallel plane, and then actually choose that parallel plane. I hope this is plain. Ponder that.” (11/1/2008 - I#117)

“The nation is headed for one of those choice points of planes. How steep can they handle... or can they handle any change at all. But you don’t get anywhere different staying the course. And every change of plane is scary. Which will win, boredom or scariness. Are we ready for a collective adventure. You know, when the oceans are rising and the waves are high, you can either stay on the low-lying island or take to the sea on the rickety raft. Sail on!

“And even if the raft comes apart, it’s better than the drowned island because on the drowned island there are no sandy beaches.... grrrrrrrr.” (11/1/2008 - I#118)

“A warning: Just because you choose the intersecting plane, doesn’t mean you get to a parallel plane. If every time you choose, you take the diverging path, it is all too possible that--for all your choice to be different--you end up back on the plane plane. Just shifting your weight from one foot to the other and then to the other and then to the other, doesn’t mean you are walking. It just means you’re shuffling your feet.

“Bob... remember Bob?... Bob goes out in a canoe and he starts paddling on the right, but then he paddles on the left, and then right and then left, and he gets the illusion of going in all kinds of directions, but actually he’s just moving in the same old straight-ahead way. It’s not enough to choose to change direction, without having a vision of where you want to go.

“Contrarians can’t make a better world than sycophants, but visionaries can. But visionaries can’t make a better world, but activists can. To act without vision is on the same plane as being visionary without action, but together watch out. Have a private vision and be an individualist and be irrelevant; share a vision and help create community, and double watch out.

“The people awakened to their potential and their possibility can work wonders. We reach the parallel plane by having a vision of its attributes, and making and taking the actions to get there. Enough.” (11/5/2008 - I#119)

“Now, about these planes. Remember that planes as defined are planes only in their own perspective. So other planes may appear to be curved, and so you don’t see them as planes. But once on them, they are planes, but then the plane you left might look curved... ‘or it might look El Al or United.’ CT, lame!

“For example, you take a flight and they say you will travel at 34,000 feet... ‘but whose feet.’ CT. But while you are on the 34,000 plane, the surface below you curves and so your plane curves, but it is also flat. It’s all in the perception.

“From space, the top of Everest looks way down there, see. O my. But from the base camp, it looks way up there. O my. But it just is there. It is not the highest point, it is just the highest point on Earth. Take that Southernmost city: Have to add ‘the continental U.S.,’ or else you are with the penguins. They are so cute... grrrr snap. Sandy, you don’t like to eat them... grrrr.

“Have I made it plane enough for you? Well, let’s ask a spirit on the street.”

Tea lady: “Hi, lovey.”

“Your counter top, is it flat and level.”

Tea lady: “Well now, it was flat and level, but then the Blitz and the 200-pounder that went off over on the High Street, and that counter weren’t level no more. And she sure buckled here and there, but when those folks came up from the shelters, they paid it no never mind and sipped their tea right and proper. They was sitting at the counter like nothing happened to it, and years later they would remember the old counter and miss its tilt and warp. Had it that way for 20 years. And they still say the new Formica just isn’t the same. I liked how the tea ran down the side and I could clean it all with one wipe. Lemon? Sorry, got to run. Ta-ta.”

“So there you have it. Planes are defined by use and perception, not by intrinsic qualities, no matter what the Math 10 teacher says! In this world of existence, there are many kinds of sandwiches, but the only real ones are the ones that taste good and are filling. Ponder that.” (11/8/2008 - I#120)

“Now about those planes. There aren’t any planes in a purely geometric sense. If a spirit has experienced anything, it is that experience is never flat level–ups and downs and sudden turns. So when we... ‘not me!’ Ok, when we but not him say plane, we mean an understanding and experience of existence which is continuous and consistent--without any inherent junctures which would invalidate either meaning or consistency--not that the planes are flat. So rather than planes, we might say films.

“On the surface of a film, we have our reality. And it seems plane-like as long as we stay on the surface, just as the Earth appears flat as long as we don’t move about much.

“So I don’t want anyone getting all snippy about flat, or any other physical nature of planes. They are metaphors. Every plane is a metaphor. Some are metaphors for flat, and these are metaphors for consistent and continuous. Ok, I’ve got that out of my system!” (11/23/2008 - I#121)

“What if planes are not flat and, therefore, with edges. What if planes are edgeless, but not by reason of infinity but by reason of finitude. Then planes become the surface of spheres. We have nothing to sphere but spheres themselves. Hi Falla... arf. Hi Sandy... ARF. Go play.

“So, spheres as the containing yet edgeless arenas of experience. And the spheres intersecting, like wheels meshing. And a sphere could have many spheres inside of it, too. And always another sphere which contains many--but that larger one, one of many inside another still larger. But like being on Earth, they feel plane but are spherical. And wait to see what I can do with more dimensions! But for now, stick with the spheres. And think about it: You move from one sphere to another, but each of them is within another, so switching from one to another within the same sphere may give one a broader understanding but not a larger understanding. Eating at all the restaurants in New York gives you a broader understanding of the New York dining scene, but tells yous noting [sic] about New Jersey. So beware of those who claim wider knowledge just because they have explored more broadly within the same sphere.

“A sphere is an area, or arena, of complexity. Within each sphere, the contents--while perhaps diverse--are not diverse in complexity, but only diverse in expression of the same complexity. All humans are in the same sphere, but there are many spheres in it. Aha, in my Father’s house there are many mansions. He said it!

“And these are not literal spheres, because the shape is not the important quality but the edgeless nature of containment. Ponder all this if you dare.

“In limited dimensional perspectives, spheres appear as circles. I hinted at it long ago.” (12/3/2008 - I#122)

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