GH at a chat session on
Jesus:
"Good friends, it is a wonder to me to be with you
tonight... and on very short notice, I might add. Good
evening to all of you. I have come to speak with you
about the man you call Jesus. Our name for him was
slightly different, but that really doesn't matter at
all. It doesn't matter what his name is or what he looked
like (although I can tell you that he was not
blond-haired and blue-eyed and he did not look at all
like a simpering victim!). It does not matter what he
wore or what he ate or where he lived or how he died. His
message, that o so simple message, was his power and his
glory and our own. If only everyone had heard that.
"I will tell a little bit about what I know. This
was a man whose pores breathed his energy. He had no halo
following him around, but his energy was a glow around
him. You touched him and you felt that he was more alive,
more physical, more himself, than anyone you had known or
ever would. It was a palpable feeling that came across
even if he had not spoken one single word. He was the
living, breathing image of his message and he taught all
of us who would listen that we could be just like him...
maybe not now, but some time. And more than that, he
taught us who we were. This man could talk to you for 5
minutes and know your soul--know who you were and who you
could be and who you would be. He was whole, and he was
complete, and that allowed him to see what that would
mean for others. Some thought he could tell the future,
but no, he could tell who you were and he could love who
you were; and through his love for us, we began to
understand that we could love ourselves. He saw the queen
in the Magdalen and the child, faithful but with much
growing to do, in his mother, and the philosopher in me
though I was but a poor peasant mother. And that is why
we loved him. Being next to him was almost like an
addiction. It made you feel GOOD about yourself! And so
the crowds came to feel good about themselves but they
said it was him and he said 'no, the kingdom of heaven is
within you!' But they could not hear it, most of them
could not believe it.
"But what I came to tell you is this: this was a man
who was whole as we all will be. He did not perform
miracles of physical reality, he performed miracles of
spiritual reality. The loaves and fishes were sufficient
for the masses because being in Jesus's presence made
them feel the abundance of who they were. What more did
they then need. What more do any of us need. You see, the
story--the way--was there in his words and in his being.
Was he disappointed that things went so wrong? Yes and
no. Of course he would have had it differently, but he
also understood that it would have to be that way. He
never once felt deserted by God or a failure.
"Well, this was supposed to be a short visit, so I
will take my leave now. Thank you for listening so
intently. I hope I have given something valuable to
remember. Goodnight." (8/1/99 - W#142)
"So, listen up. People keep hoping they will get all
of the picture at once, and then there'll be no more learning
and remembering crap. But it is all evolutionary. So
you get some now, and some more later... which really
means if you got it all now, you wouldn't know what to do
with it. Just look at what we've done to those who even
have a glimpse more: crucify, hang,
kill, ignore. But if you are sharp you will see this
presents a problem, a conundrum, a paradox. If we living
now have more of the picture than someone who lived 2000
BCE, then if they became whole and moved on, and we
become whole and move on, we will know more than they, so
how could we move on to the same next level of
complexity. Yeah, how could we. But this is if we take
knowledge as the measuring stick, and not as the
measuring schtick.
"I give you this example. There's a wall to be
painted. I give you paint and a 1-inch brush. You paint
the wall. It takes days, but it gets painted. So you move
on to other things, having successfully painted the wall.
About 1000 years later, someone comes to paint the same
wall, and they are given paint and a sprayer and are done
in one hour, and can move on to other things, having
successfully painted the wall. So, did they do the same
thing, yes. Just because you have more or better tools,
does not mean you learn more... or less. It is still the
same task. And unless you see having a few more lives as
a punishment, then what's the difference. Ultimately,
when all is shared that can be understood at this level,
passages through this will be quicker--but not
necessarily easier--and there will be no difference in
the learning. Remember, if time is an illusion, who cares
about how long it takes. And efficient meaningful
progress is what gets us along, not the specific tools.
Got it. And if you get a break by dealing with this all
after some great exemplars have lived... hey, you get a
break. But if the path from differentiation to connection
is infinite, then it doesn't matter how long a stage is.
"So, accept the new insights as welcome, handy tools
to your spiritual development, but not as a means to
avoid it or substitute for it. You still gotta get it
right and whole and integrated. And guess what. People,
more often than not, get new tools and then use them
wrong, and the process takes longer. For example, to see
anyone else as one's savior would be to miss the point,
and so one whole life would be spent standing still. Just
because it has been given and is available, doesn't mean
it will help. Deep enough? So let's leave it at
that." (8/5/99 - V#45)
"I offer a conundrum. My work as a guide ended long
ago, and I have moved on, but we still talk. How. I am
alive again on Earth, yes, but not yet. How is this
possible. Clue: time ain't time. Ok. Why do the living
impose their linear time on us who are beyond it. Can we
be here and in another life at the same time,
yes and no. It is not a matter of time, only sequence,
and there are many sequences. So, for you, I wait until
you get here, years from now. But I also leave and get on
with it. My sequence is right for me, and yours for you,
and as long as we don't impose arbitrary time, it's ok.
So picture me here if you want that--your thing. I'll
picture me elsewhere--and that's my thing. So ponder
that." (8/23/99 - B#25)
"We are all combinations of lives, and what we
remember from what is and has been and will
be is the measure of our fulfillment. We are the sum
total of all of our lives, and also the sum total of all
the lives that created our component parts. That's it, I
remember now." (8/27/99 - V#46)
LD:
"Good whatever-part-of-the-day it is where you are.
Morning... sorry. Here's the point you have been
pondering: She is back, she says, and you immediately
assume it is 'now' by your time; but it is only 'now' by
her time. You remember all those lives you have had.
Well, they are all now--as well as those you will have.
Hmmm, you say. So, inspiration is a sudden awareness of
what is known in the future. Deja vu is when the
wires get crossed and now appears as past; you get a
double image. And lots of emotions are based on being in
the present life and sensing past ones; but remember,
when I say 'past,' 'present,' or 'future' I speak not of
time but of soul development. You see time as we see
stages of development, and it is dynamic. As TWO said,
change one piece and it all changes. And what you look
for is the completion of a sequence of experiences that
make you whole and ready to connect and move on; and
then, at last, you really know the order and then it
doesn't matter anymore.
"So, what you think of as long ago may in the end be
just before now; and what seemed just previous is long
ago or far in the future, so to speak. She told you this
with the photo analogy. So she is back, but not in the
same world you call 'now.' But hey, how would you have
connected so often over so-called time if you didn't have
different lives intertwining across simultaneous
existences. Capice. Ponder it. Give up time as
the arbitrary sequencer. Yes she is back, and yes she is
a maid in Ste. Maure, and yes she is that hairy cabin
boy... sorry, doll... and she is a slave in Babylon, and
a father to you, and much more to come and much more that
has been. And when you can give up time's sequences you
can then move ahead together now. Sing and dance all day.
And with that, I take leave of you. Sometime in what you
call the future, you as you will be will meet her as she
is and you will feel connection. Study it. And now she
that was and is and will be (hint: see the words and know
they apply to all as well as All That Is) she gives me
the timeless gesture, and I leave." (8/27/99 -
W#143)
MCP:
"Hello-a. When I was-a boys-a they call it Geno but
hey-a we call it-a Genoa. You know-a what-a. That LD is a
big piece-a work. I like-a him. He makes my head-a hurt.
So I need-a bigger hats-a. He's deep and so am I. I
speak-a in your-a tongue. Near-a your tongue. Ok, like-a
your tongue-a would-a speak if she be-a mine.
"Why do some people travel and others fear travel. I
tell you. When we travel we open ourselves to the greater
possibility of meeting more often the various components
of our being-to-be. We expand our spiritual horizons. We
accept complex possibilities. But when one fears travel,
one fears oneself and what might, across lives, be the
reality. The wider the horizons of a person, the greater
the complexity imagined; and if you need to have
complexity of 8 to move on, and the world you limit
yourself to is always 4 or less, hey you'll be here a
long time and many lives. Stuck.
"And remember those people of your time who thought
that drugs were mind expanding, ha. We laugh at them,
since all they did was expand inside a single life's
brain and did nothing to push horizons to include others.
They were journeys deep within but going nowhere. Just
like if you read only one type of literature, you only
meet the same characters with different names. So to move
on we must also dare moving out. Or you would end up
marrying your sister--or the spiritual equivalent, which
is what most people do. It can take many lives, but time
is irrelevant. And now with time irrelevant she says
time's up. So, I go-a. Prego." (8/27/99 -
W#144)
Marky:
"Bonjour. So we meet again. I have always
liked your part of the world, but not in summer. Here's a
point to ponder also. It is about the collective nature
of the task. Monarchy has its problem. It inherently says
let's keep things static; but life is not static, so a
form of government and society must exist that can be
dynamic. It is true that your country has sustained
itself over centuries, but only because it is dynamic.
But be warned, whenever anyone seeks to make your
republic static it will become a de facto
monarchy of ideas. This is the same as not being willing
to travel. For the challenge of any culture or society is
how it can travel across the territory of evolving lives
and find meaning at any point. If it says meaning was
back there, or that meaning is ahead somewhere, then it
misses the point. And if it fails to change for fear of
what meaning it will find, it is already static. Society
is an agreement on process, not content; and those
societies who have agreed on a process by which the
content doesn't change are static. Ponder that. And now
here she is again." (8/27/99 - W#145)
TP:
"Hello. Hmmm... let me speak first and then you
decide if we have met before. I am a mother of 5, and I
do not work outside my home. My husband is very
industrious and gentle and good. No, I don't sing and
dance all day. In my spare time I paint and also think. I
would write but I do not know how. Or should I say, when
I was alive all this was my life; for my mind was always
active, and I could always help others with their
problems. Some said I was clever enough to be a man. I
liked my life, but I longed to travel to see other
places. Our annual trips to market were my joy. So many
different things, so many different people. Do you know
me. Say it. O yes. It is I, LD, in another life."
(8/27/99 - W#146)
"There are other worlds. But do we have choice, is
there a cosmic travel agent, no. But we choose to make
opportunities out of experiences. Look, you are so many
places, that some have to seem real to you in relation to
your needs. You choose to see and experience and remember
what's important. Quick, name every movie you've
forgotten. See, can't do it, even though there are many.
You were there when they were screened and your eyes
beheld them, but they are not real for you. So, too, with
lives. Been there and not done that. Real for others
maybe, but then what's not real now can become
real, as you become more fulfilled, and that which was
lost is found--in those moments when you suddenly get
it, without any clue from what you knew you knew.
"Sometimes what happens is not in your remembered
sequence, but is in your experienced sequence as a
resource--kind of like kinetic
and potential energy. We live with our
kinetic memories, but there is always--for all but
first-timers--potential. Think of potential memories,
which our act of remembering and sequencing bring into
active reality for us. And, at the same time, some drop
back from active to stored. And as we
fulfill, our active energy rises as we use and
meaningfully sequence more. We begin all action, no
meaning, but in time we gain meaning. And when we have
both, we are energetic little sons of bitches, and we can
move on without the need for energy outside ourselves,
and so the evolvement--the complexity--is a form of
enhancement, not compensation for any lack. And that's
all I am going to say about that... blech. Too
heavy." (8/30/99 - I#28)
Ericka's Bench 9/3/99
"Good morning. I am FS. It is good to be
here. So, let's say you want to paint a portrait of
yourself. Ha, you don't know how to paint... but say you
could. What should it look like. Hmmm... should it look
like you are a dot of being in time and space. I think
not. If you wanted to convey to others who you are, then
you would need to include more--what and who you have
been, and all of your connections across being. You would
have to paint the universe; because you can't exist
separate from it and it can't exist separate from you.
Hmmm... just think of that. You and All That Is are
intrinsically connected--can't be envisioned separately.
So when anyone asks you to see someone or something as
essentially separate from you, ask them how that is
possible. How can they be part of this reality and be
separate. Can't do it. Hmmm... ponder that. Can't be. You
and all else are essentially and intrinsically connected.
And I think you get the picture, hahahahahaha. Bye."
(9/3/99 - W#147)
Rikkity: "Hi. Great day, huh. Why do you say
'blech.' Because it's raining and cloudy and gray? So
outward circumstances create your reality? So who's to
say this is a good or bad day, and how do you tell. Pick
a day from your life. Go ahead, pick any day. 3 of
Spades... no, that's another trick. Tell me about any day
of your life this time that is now without meaning to
you. Yes, without meaning. You can't do it. Ha. So, all
the days are components of your meaning system. And as
you remember from here and now and then and there, that
is also added to meaning. It's a whole field of meaning
for you. By the way, what's my name... CW, ha. Clarence
Wentworth the 56th. So, anyway. Been there, done that and
done that and done that and done that, etc., etc., etc.
So, you cannot know of a portion of your existence
without it having meaning to you. This life, past lives,
less complex existences; what you know is meaningful to
you. So let's review. You and All That Is are
inseparable, and you and all your remembered existence is
meaningful to you, ha. Now hold that thought."
(9/3/99 - W#148)
"Hello. I'm MM. So,
let's consider all of this in relation to what you got in
what you call the last session. But, of course, that
could be the next session, too. In fact, when you have
these words, read the two sessions in either order. For
if we really are fields of being and meaningful
existence, then before and after are not meaningful. All
the points of experience will be in the field, and what
you see as your life's journey will be but one of many
paths through the web.
"Picture a spider web. Now make it 3-dimensional,
since most spider webs are 2-dimensional. Now go for 4 or
5 or many more. And where your mind can't go any more,
know it gets even more complicated; and then try to tell
me how there is only one path of meaning and existence
through it. And for the theists in our listening
audience, how you can have the gall to think there is one
imprinted design in or on it. Your one small intersection
of all the dimensions is as important as any other, and
without you the web would not be the same. And without
the web you would have no meaning. So we live in fields
of being and meaning, with no one point being all or
nothing; and in fields of being that require our presence
to be, but which can hold infinite understandings. From
where anyone is, there is an infinite number of paths of
being and meaning and all of them are YES. So what
arrogance it is to speak of an infinite universe and an
infinite God, and then talk of finite paths through it
and finite meaning in it. Arrogance no, blasphemy yes. By
your intrinsic connection with All That Is and by your
intrinsic connection to the meaning of what you know,
then your field of being puts you in the midst of all
possibility--which is infinite. And you may ponder that.
Bye." (9/3/99 - W#149)
"Learning and remembering is never understood in a
solitary context, but only as a necessary sum total of
the entity-to-be. You don't get it just to make yourself
whole, but to be a fitting part of the entity that is
more complex. So you may need to learn and remember some
things which seem foreign to the you you know as
you, but which fit the them you will become.
"Nothing of value is ever extraneous, even if it
currently appears so. But if you only get what you think
you want or need, and don't stay open to it all, you will
serve yourself, but disserve the future--which ultimately
disserves you. So live without boundaries or expectations
of what life should teach you. If you truly live and
enjoy, then take all that comes and try to learn and
remember, and what seems outside of what you think is you
will become part of you when you are part of something
more. That's it.
"Don't make value judgments, not until later--which
means not later, but at a level of more complex
understanding. Like the stuff that seems stupid when you
begin to read, but which later lets you read Camus and
Voltaire and me. Hey, a comma isn't worth much until you
understand subordinate ideas. So all your learnings and
rememberings become resources, even if not tools, today.
"Papa found teaching flying to deaf people hard.
They don't know how to listen. And just like spiritually
deaf people, who have one experience that opens their
souls, but they don't know how to listen to the messages
and instructions that follow. It takes something to hear
physically and spiritually, and it takes something more
to really listen and learn and remember. Some of the most
unreliable people spiritually are those who have only
begun to hear, because they don't know how to listen.
Ponder that.
"It's like learning a foreign language. Learn one
word, and then when you listen to a conversation you pick
out that word and say you understand, but hey, you miss
all the rest. One word from 90 languages does not a
polyglot make. Programmed dolls can do that. Ponder
that." (9/26/99 - Y#35)
"Those who try to describe spiritual reality with
the terms they know, get it wrong... like using only
numbers to describe a sunset." (10/4/99 - I#29)
"Ever stood on a step and wondered what was on the
next step. Now with Moo-O-Matic you can see where your
eyes can't go. Featured this week on Ericka's Bench.
Buy 2 and see even more. Comes with a lifetime supply of
faith and hope. Shipping extra.
"We will consider the quantum
mechanics of spiritual knowledge. Hey, it
ain't linear, baby. And we ask and answer the question of
how come we seem to exist at one level of understanding
for a long time, and then suddenly we are at another
level, without any seeming flow between the two. And what
seemed so true, suddenly seems so ridiculous.
"Hint: The ancients knew and called it 'the
straw that broke the camel's back.' One
little thing, added to a system already stressed but
unchanged, can profoundly change the whole system. That's
why some people encounter a death and seem so strong, and
then a week later a shirt button will reduce them to
tears.
"It's the same with growth. You store all this
learning and remembering which does not change you, and
then one wee wittle thingie happens and all of it falls
into place. And you say 'Where did all that come from,'
or 'Why didn't I put that together before.' Because it
took a certain spiritual awareness to do it. Actually, a
certain sum of spiritual
awarenesses." (10/4/99 - V#47)
Ericka's Bench 10/8/99
WL:
"Good mornin' to you. Would a cuppa go good right
now. Ok, but have you ever had a cuppa.... and another...
and another... and another. Usually not that much. But if
you did, you'd probably need the loov. And you would
probably think, 'Darn, it was the last cuppa that was too
much. If only I hadn't had that last cup, I could've
waited till I got home.' But it wasn't the last cup at
all. But was it the first, yes and no... or the second,
yes and no. So I just says to 'im, 'Two. That's all. I'm
not responsible for serving you 3.' And if they gives me
grief I shew them out. And she is shewing me out.
Ta-ta." (10/8/99 - W#150)
PT:
"Good morning. Let's talk about electrical
excitation, and the way that an application of a current
to a conductor causes a flow of electricity. Now here's
the puzzle: As I excite the first molecule of the
conductor it takes on energy; but does that molecule move
through the conductor, no. It just gives off the energy
to its neighbor, who does the same. As long as there is
more electric charge being put into the beginning, the
charge continues to flow to the other end; and in
time--which seems instantaneous to you--it comes out the
other end and zap you are electrocuted, ha. Don't hold
the wire. Ok. Now, is the flow the result of the first
molecule's excitement, or the last, or the middle
one--known as Fred. Hi Fred. Much of this world is named
Fred. And yours, too.
"So, it is impossible to say which element made it
possible. Got it. Good, and don't hold the wire. And
that's it for me." (10/8/99 - W#151)
GM:
"Hello. Now onto quantum mechanics. And don't hold
the electron. We all know that if you apply a little
energy to atoms nothing happens. And a little more and
still nothing... and some more and still nothing... and
some more and still nothing... and some more and suddenly
things change bigtime. Ok, now let's ask the same
question: Which application of energy produced the
change. The first, the last, or Fred. Hi Fred.
"If things were linear, then each application would
have a proportional effect... but nooo. So, it isn't
linear except when averaged at large scale. Instead, it
is quantified. Get it. Quantum: a certain quantity of
energy is needed--and energy is expressed in quantities,
not in flows. You get bundles--little bundles and big
bundles. So, when working for change you need a certain
sum total of energy.
"And here's the kicker: Let's say atom A needs 8
units, or quantums, to excite it to the new level. You
could give it bundles of 4 or bundles of 2 or 1 or a
combination. So it might be 4 2 1 1, and the 1 makes it
happen, right. Sort of. It appears that 1 did it; but you
could also do 1 1 2 4, so then 4 does it, or 4 1 1 2 and
2 does it. It does not matter which one or what order.
And you get the same with 4 4 as with 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.
Get it. Ok, enough for today. See you around when you get
here." (10/8/99 - W#152)
GG:
"Now, listen to what they have been saying and put
it in context. You are there and we are here, each on our
paths to fulfillment. There is something we need to learn
and remember to become whole and ready to move on. And
let's say that what you need is symbolized by 8. See
where I am going. In your lives, you may get that by
having lives in which you learn and remember 4 2 1 1 or 1
4 2 1 or 2 2 2 2 or--more likely--1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2. And the question is,
does it matter what order or magnitude you get. Until you
get 8 it is all building up. And what puts you over the
top is not as specifically important as going over the
top.
"But so many people make a big mistake. They think
the first thing that sets them on their path is an
essential first step for all. Or they see what the last
step was for a famous few, and assume that's the last
step for all. Or they sense giant leaps and think those
are better than small steps. But, in fact, it is the sum
total that is important; and that sum total is
spiritually different for each of us. Some elements of
learning may be very common, but the overall combination
of each is very different. So see the lessons that inform
you, not someone else. And don't believe there is a magic
order to them. And know it is about getting your act
together as a whole that counts. Got it. I go, she comes.
So it goes." (10/8/99 - W#153)
"Not all heavy thoughts appear heavy--just as the
most complex systems seem simple when understood.
Remember, yesterday's complexity is tomorrow's
commonplace. When da
mon has made the canal lock,
everyone says 'how complex,' but when Mom rides through
it she says 'boooooring.' The only complex thing about a
newly discerned idea is its novelty, because novelty
requires us to change our thinking. Heavy enough."
(10/21/99 - Y#36)
"What are they trying to prove and to whom.
Believers believe and skeptics skept and neither the Mark
Twain shall meet... unless they channel him, and he's
tough. Proof will not change anything, only experience
will. A theory never converted anyone." (10/24/99 -
I#30)
"So, how are you. No, don't answer, it's a
rhetorical question. So many people, when asked, give an
answer of immediacy. But the real answer is--like so much
more--a sum total. So, one might answer, 'I'm learning to
deal with my fears of separation' or that 'I'm dealing
with prejudicial thoughts.' See, it's not about how tired
you are after a midterm. How do you expect to tap into
larger values and meaning when you focus on the small
stuff.
"On any given day, the answer to that question,
usually given about 4 days before, will be forgotten
already. But a real answer will stay with you. Like,
'What were you doing on June 11, 1996.' Don't know, do
you. But if I asked, 'What were you working on bigtime in
June, 1996,' you would know because it would be part of
the larger picture. So if it isn't going to add to the
sum total in a remembered way, why mention it... unless
you are looking for sympathy or praise, and why are you
looking for those points to the real answer. Heavy
enough. So don't stop the idle chit-chat, but don't
mistake it for the real stuff." (10/26/99 - Y#37)
At a Halloween
Party chat:
" 'Twas
brillig and the slithey toves did gyre and gimble in the
wabe, hahahaha. Tweedle-Dumb is
here... no not you, him... ouch! Did you know
trout could bite. CT is here in full trout regalia, and
Tweedle-Dee as well, looking
very round.
"So, hi. This is about words. Have you ever wondered
why the words of powerful magic spells make no sense--abracadabra,
etc., and Merlin's charm of making? You might as
well be saying 'yada yada boom boom' for all the
difference it would make. Does anyone know why? (Excuse
me, I have to fix my wig... black roots, haha...
I think it's on backwards.) The words are sometimes
distractions, and what matters is the action that
precedes and informs and follows them. We can get so
caught up in visualizing the concrete symbolism of the
words, that they lose their power to charm and heal and
teach. That's why daily affirmations are s h i t unless
you understand and believe in the intent and action
involved. Just saying the words gets you nowhere. People
like to think their thoughts make things happen, but they
only make things happen if there is action and intent and
energy focus along with the words. Words have no power in
themselves; and those who try to make them powerful are
like those who try to go through the looking glass by
going through the wall.
"In order to go through the looking glass (have you
guessed who I am tonight yet?) you need to remove it from
the wall, to remove it from the door, to remove it from
what is concrete. It really isn't hard; but when you try
to go through the wall, man can that smart. We are here,
is the message I bring you tonight. We are not gone or on
another side; although, it is hard to talk about
where we are without saying that, because your minds
translate everything so concretely. We are not on a
different side, on a different level,
or up there. We are right here,
and as close to you as you are to your keyboard right
now. All you need to do is look into the glass and not
see the wall.
"Remember, the rabbit hole is a tunnel that goes
both ways, and don't be afraid you won't be able to
return. When there is no here or there,
there is no returning or leaving. Do
you understand what I'm saying? Wonderland is at your
doorstep, in your front yard, under your oak tree, and
all around you. Like Alice, all you need to do is shift
your focus and your expectations and voilà!
There you are! Reality is real, but only part of the
tunnel--the silver backing on the mirror that makes it a
one-way mirror, so we see you and you don't see us. Take
off the backing and know it for what it is."
(10/31/99 - I#31)
"We are always here, but not all of us are talkers
like I am, ha. Some of us have other things to
focus on, and some of you are not very receptive, so we
who need to connect in this way try to do it, and
sometimes we are successful, but most of the time we are
not. Others of us don't attempt to communicate because
that is not what we or you need. It's always a 2-way
street, and you can't make anyone do what they don't want
or need to do." (10/31/99 - I#32)
"Forgetting is when you
lose sight of what is meaningful." (10/31/99 - Y#38)
"When you are bored, you cannot see the meaning that
is all around you. You don't learn, and you don't even
remember that you need to learn. Spiritually, it's a kind
of death." (10/31/99 - Y#39)
"Hey, never trust anyone who is always up. That's a
sign of an energy sucker--use it before you even have it.
Not what logic would tell, but the mellow folks have
their own internal energy... like wow. And
that's all I have to say, man." (11/2/99 - R#28)
"So, a Thanksgiving Day
thought. Too often, people think of thanks as a
relationship with the past. It can be that, but it also
must be a relationship with the future. When we give
thanks that is true, we are saying that, as we aim
ourselves through the web of being, that for which we are
thankful will inform and guide and shape our paths. To
say thanks, and not be changed in the act, is a
fraud... book
'em, Danno.
"So, always as you say thanks in any way,
ask yourself how you will be different because of that
for which you are thankful, and it is the transformation
for which you should be truly thankful. So yes, don't
just say 'Thanks for holding the door for me, Mr. Brown,'
but also say 'It reminds me to be polite to others.' Thanks
is only the opening phrase of a whole sentence, and it is
the dependent one--even if not grammatically--because you
could live without giving the thanks, but you can't live
without the learning part." (11/25/99 - B#26)
"Yesterday will always seem more certain than
tomorrow. But both are equal realities." (11/25/99 -
B#27)
MW:
"Good gracious evening. Knowing that this is a
holiday season for you, I reflect on this. Remember that
holidays should be holy days. And that which is holy is
the intersection of your inner self and that larger
reality which informs your innermost self--your soul and
your God speaking with one another. So, if this is to be
a time of days of the holy, then you should be able to
sense--in all that you do--both your soul and your God.
And if you do not sense both, then you are going through
motions but not touching the holy. And rehearsing old
motions that once were holy but now are empty will not
make them holy again. What filled your heart as a child
does not now serve you. So, too, that which belongs to
last year does not serve this year--unless your soul and
your God are not alive. And I pray that both are alive
and becoming in your experience. And with these words I
enter into this holy season: May you always enter into
the holy season that is at hand. Goodbye, dear
friends." (12/3/99 - W#154)
HG:
"Hello? Wow, this is something else all together.
Hey, I can talk with the living. There are people here
who say we can't. There is one who is offering a big
prize if we can prove we can. Not the amazing Randi...
this is the dead George: 'Look, when you're dead, you're
dead. Stop trying to project an image of something you
call life. Has anyone ever been alive and come back and
proved it.' You see, it's a mirror image. Here there are
those who doubt physical existence. And here's the
thought of the day. Ta-da. It is the recognition and
experience of the two that hallmarks the next level. And
there there is no tension between physical and spiritual;
but... but... but there is a new tension between
realities for which you have neither language nor
experience, much less vision. The process of spiritual
persistence, as Rikkity calls it, is about spiritual
complexities and an ongoing resolution of many
dichotomies into wholes. Physical versus spiritual is
just the issue of this level. Wait till you see what's
coming... or so I'm told. It's hard to imagine. Remember,
your ability to imagine is limited by the sum of the
consolidated experience of your integrated entities; and
if you haven't been there yet, you can't imagine it.
Imagination is only a synthesis of what you've already
seen, packaged in new ways. It's not really novel. Wow,
talking with live ones. I'm going to go try and harass my
brother in his sleep. Bye." (12/3/99 - W#155)
VD:
"I am wonderful, and so is everyone else who can
spell quickly. Greetings, earthlings. I always wanted to
say that. I'm different today, yes, but wait... ok,
ok...[Wow! What's happening?] Focus. You have many
energies, and when you let them drive you it can be
exciting and wild; but when you focus, then you tap into
depths. Just like seeing a whole forest, it can be
awesome; but focus on one branch of one tree and wow,
deep. So, too, with everything. Focus is a key. And when
we are grieving we think we are being made to focus on
our loss, but that's not so. Grief keeps us scattered
because we have to assemble all the energy we can muster
to survive, and we take it from everywhere. But to focus
is to be able to see each source of real spiritual energy
as a bottomless well for our use. The process of healing
is about finding our ability to focus again. As you work
with grief you will see this. Those who can move on can
focus again--and by that I mean focus on other than the
loss. And we all have resources if we would but focus,
but most of us don't and we get this: 'Hi. Hello. So how
are you, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.' Go ponder focus.
Goodbye... Wait. Remember, obsession is not focus.
Bye." (12/3/99 - W#156)
"Talk about a tough final, try this (being
dead)--judging your life, so to speak. It can be part of
it, or not. Those who want a grade can. You want a
choice? In some point you do choose not to get a grade.
They choose not to give you a degree. So why do we think
we choose, and no one else does about us." (12/17/99
- Y#40)
"So listen. Cryptic message: Dogma is not always
religious. And, in late-breaking news, nothing is new.
This is about choosing your lessons. Choose, choose...
huh. Only if you have unidimensional existences do you
have choices like that, but in fields choice is not an
issue. See, you proceed through all the opportunities,
and then the meaning is in the total pattern, not a
single choice. Ok, try this: If it were choice, and you
were born in Cleveland and died in San Diego, then the
pattern is a life trip from Cleveland to San Diego. But
if it is about the 8 months in Pittsburgh and the 10
years back in Cleveland and the 5 years in Kankakee and 0
time in Kansas and 5 years in Florida, then San
Diego, that's a different picture--much more complex, and
not about a choice to move from Cleveland to San Diego.
"So, ask these people if they can identify a moment
when they decided to be open to spiritual truths, without
any precedent events and subsequent events. Show me the
choice, show me the choice without it being in a field of
experiences. And how do they know that what they call a choice
is all played out and at its fulfillment. Tell me that,
how. What they assume was choice and effect, may be
inconsequential in a larger vision. They say, 'I must
have chosen these experiences.' How do they know the
experiences didn't choose them. Was my
death about you or me, none of us know. Maybe it was
about Arfer... rrrrrr. But still our pattern,
our field, is enriched--even by that which was not
chosen. Funny how everyone wants to be the subject, not
the object, of the sentence called life. Hey,
that's egoism of the highest order.
"It's getting being and doing confused. If you are
defined by your choices, then you are always behind
because there are always more things you didn't choose
than that you did--unless the field is infinite, and then
in infinity no one choice any has meaning does. So, a
logical problem: Stay finite and your choices are
meaningless for lack of field, or be infinite and the
idea of choice is meaningless for lack of context. Get
it." (12/17/99 - Y#41)
Ericka's Bench 12/24/99
Rikkity: "I be at the beach, mon. No problem.
And with no lights in the palm trees it is very
authentic. And now for today I give a nod to another
great Unitarian, Mr. Chas. Dickens. And so, here are my
guests. First, one who needs no introduction."
GW:
"Good morning, dear friends. I used to like to sit
by the dying fire on Christmas Eve and take stock of my
life's passage since I last so sat. Somehow the embers
burning low would both warm and chill me. I was warmed by
the passage of time, so filled with loving comrades, and
life so generous to me and my family. In each coal's eye
I could sense the warm heart of another. And so I would
be lost in reverie. But then, too, each ember would also
remind me of how each piece had once been a great and
living tree and had its own vitality; and now before my
eyes each was fading towards oblivion. So much that was
is going. I lose so much each year. Another dear soul
departed, another lost to the mind's vagaries, another to
the agonies of death's lingering grip. So I am warmed but
chilled. Tomorrow the blaze will burn high again, and so
it is each day; but at the midnight hour the embers
twinkle out and I feel more alone. It's a turning of my
years. And yet I know that Christmas is about what lies
ahead, so I live on with loss but with hope. May your
feelings of loss always be tempered with hope. I go back
to my fireside and wish you a good Yuletide."
(12/24/99 - W#157)
Rikkity: "He is so cool. I will get him an
electric blanket. And now another, and be patient with
him. He's new here and we have to translate for him. He
doesn't know the conventions. He's never been to a
convention, not even a seminar or workshop. He once was
part of a triad (group discussion). Here he is."
"I cry. It is hard. The mud comes and I cannot go. I
see my family. They are safe, I think. They cry for me. I
miss them. But my tears are not all sad. They and I are
separated but not lost. There is a big difference. And I
have so much that death cannot take. I bring with me so
much. My wife, I have my years with her even now. And my
little 'chickies.' I call them that... they are my
daughters, and every feeling of pride and joy I carry
with me. Nothing can erase the good. The bad we must
forgive ourselves or else we lose the good, and that
which is evil destroys itself and is of no concern. So I
let go and find I keep that which is good, and I cry
because I never expected to keep so much. In life I had
so little, I thought, but now I realise I had so much. I
hope you who are living will see that, too.
"And it is not even what's in the glass, but can you
cup your hands when you have no glass at all and still
drink from life's fountain. The hands of prayer should
not be closed, I see now, but open like drinking from a
cool stream--the cool stream of life, which is the cool
stream of meaning. They will say their prayers for me,
but my body is not found. I will just await them. I will
cry and move on, drinking what there is here for my soul.
Adios." (12/24/99 - W#158)
Rikkity: "Wait till he gets a taste of
ambrosia. He is a peasant from the mudslides [in
Venezuela]. He was very poor but very rich. And now
another treat. Someone about to go back. 54 percent
clocked, ha:"
"It is not about intelligence. If it were, we could
live in peace and love; for all the world's troubles are
caused by less than 1 percent, and we get 3 to 5 to work
with. So, I will return to a point yet to be, and what
will I do. I will look for the largest and widest view of
all things. I will scan the horizon for new horizons. I
will try to see a greater, not a lesser good. I will try
to picture what can be, not what I need and/or want. And,
if enough join me, then we will all advance. But the sad
news is that when we have learned to do this we will be
dealing with other issues elsewhere.
"So make this your holiday wish. Not, 'Next year in
Jerusalem' or Mecca or Brooklyn, but 'Next time beyond.'
And to do that you have to be willing to let go of all
you treasure and try to keep. Remember, you move on only
when you let go of the past, so to speak. Reunions with
those of the past will pale when you connect to the
future--and when you can do that with gratitude, not
sorrow. And so I move on." (12/24/99 - W#159)
Rikkity: "So there they are. The last one is
a friend, WK, soon to be something else. I know not what.
You have been visited by Christmas past, present, and
future. Learn and remember. That's my gift to you."
"Focus gives substance to the theoretical framework
called possibility." (12/31/99 - B#28)
"Specific fears have an appeal in a time of
uncertain fears. Hell had the biggest play when life was
uncertain but no one knew from what. Just as the Enlightenment pulled
away the veil of superstition, and fears were made
specific but not uncertain, now again veils need to be
pulled off to show realities--which are always less
frightening than suppositions and mysteries.
"The cult of technology, when it is held in the
clench of nerds, creates an uncertain in the rest of us.
So only as the secrets of it all are shared
without lingo... and also without lingonberries, yum...
will we find a way out of the uncertainties. But the
nerds hold on tightly because they feel so outside the
culture. They like the feeling of superiority they get by
keeping everyone else uncertain. And what do the idiots
do, they sue Gates and
prove he is besieged, and this will work against what
should happen. Threaten a technogeek and you get more
secrets, not fewer. It has to be a mutual handshake. And
most common people are as scared of the technos as they
once were of the medieval priest. So I invite in the
geeks, and say they are socially accepted, and then they
will share and the fears will diminish. Circles of
openness.
"So, Y2K was
about all of this. So the next time someone fails to
program a VCR, they
should not curse the VCR or the
designers, but call up one of those who know, and ask for
help and invite him or her over for dinner and a VCR
party. The future of the class struggle will not be
economic but technological, and it is not about
possessing the objects, but about understanding the
principles. Them that's gots the info are top dogs... and
the rest of you make fun of them. Remember Peggy
Sue Got Married and Richard. She
opened to him and he opened to her and fears dissipated,
but all the rest stayed in fear. One of the smarts and
one of the in-crowd. So ponder that.
"And let me say it again. Once we had tribal war,
then racial, then national... and always class. But the
coming conflict is about ideas and knowledge supported by
technology. If you want to make a difference, focus on
that. Give an African American or a Hispanic access to
knowledge and technology, and race won't mean shit...
oops, I mean beans. And in the coming period,
focusing on race or economics will be a handy way to
avoid the issues and keep the whole struggle alive with
top dogs and fear... or is it hot dogs and beer... no,
top dogs and fear." (1/3/2000 - R#29)
Ericka's Bench 1/21/2000
MCP:
"It is a big problem-a. I came back from the East
with ideas and spices and spaghetti, and what do the
people want. Ideas, no; spices, in moderation; spaghetti,
you like-a pasta I bring-a you 2 pounds-a the best pasta
you ever tasted. So they went for the physical. But has
pasta changed the world, not really; and spices, a
leeetle; and ideas, o yes. But ideas have always been the
currency of least value; it's like they are the packing
tissue around the real stuff. But ideas are the
transformative gifts of the universe.
"And it is not the separation of economic classes
that is the big struggle, but the division of those with
the new ideas and those without a clue. Some belong to
the future, but most belong to the past. When a system
attempted to deal with the class struggle as economic it
failed in less than 100 years, but the ideas of the
Buddha have lasted thousands. And so it is today. If
everyone were color blind and all had the same access to
resources and we could not hear-a accents-a, then the
whole thing would hinge on ideas. Just because we are not
that classless yet doesn't mean the same is not true. And
I prefer marinara with a good anchovy twinge. She's back,
I go-a." (1/21/2000 - W#160)
LD:
"Good morning. My friend MCP has made an excellent
point. In my life I was often moved from place to place
by politics and religion. I was seen as valuable for what
I could make, with their dreams of alchemy in the
forefront. But what I had most were ideas, and here's a
big thought--so big it will take thousands of years to
understand. But, this weekend only, it will be available
interest-free for all of 2000:
"When the mind focuses on products, then the test of
ideas is success. But to have success one must then deny
all the failures. But the ideas that lead to immediate
success often have more to do with the past. Ideas that
challenge the future often fail in the present. So, when
we speak about the equality of ideas we mean the equality
of success and failure as well; for today's failures may
lead to tomorrow's successes. And when we create a
society of success but try to limit that success to a
perpetuation of what has been, we deny both success and
failure. So a new idea comes along, fails, and we laugh
at the idea only to rue our laughter later; or it is a
success but we honor it only if it enhances the previous
collective vision. But the great ideas are those that
float without either success or failure because they
belong to tomorrow.
"But watch, every age is the same: Praise the
trivial novelties of the ideas, but prosecute and
persecute the big ideas of transformation. And always
remember, the status quo wants ideas that appear new but
which change nothing. And now I go to think of ideas.
Remember, most people view paradise like home. Few dare
to even think of something beyond our wildest desires.
And now she is bringing a dog my way, a dog with pasta
breath." (1/21/2000 - W#161)
ME:
"Hello, mon. No problem, mon. Here's a laid-back
thought. When the most mellow ideas are suggested, no one
likes them as they are but want them dressed up with
differences and obligations and physical realities. Rasti
didn't need no ganga, but people wanted a sign of
difference. Ain't nothing sacred about a cow.
Rikkity: "Wait a minute."
"Or should I say more sacred about a
cow."
Rikkity: "Moooooo."
"People had to put the idea of sacred somewhere. So
this is my test. An idea comes along. I say, 'Hi Mr.
Idea' and he says, 'Hi mon' and I say, 'What you
thinking, mon' and Idea says this: 'Here's my thought'
and then I ask, 'What do I do with it;' and if Idea
answers, 'Do this or that' I say, 'Nice meeting you, bye'
but if Idea says to me, 'Think me and you will later know
if you need to do something' I say, 'Idea, we could be
friends.' And if Idea just says, 'Think me' then Idea is
me. So I test it all. Ideas don't got no obligation. They
are thoughts, not princes. They do not rule me... and I
mean ME.
"So use that test and be mellow. The greatest
compliment of an idea is not, 'I'll do that' but, 'I'll
think about that.' Doing doesn't take thought but
thinking does; and ideas are thoughts, not deeds. Whoa,
mon. That's enough." (1/21/2000 - W#162)
"Rules are always of the past. Adventure has no
rules. So join us Sunday nights for A World Beyond
Rules with Rikkity's wild adventures.
"And don't mistake structure for rules. Structures
that help you understand experience are not the same as
rules that decide it. Know the difference, or lose out on
real living. Learn and remember that learning and
remembering is about finding meaning, not rules. Every
law, every rule you have will someday seem absurdly small
and trivial. I gotta go. Goodbye." (1/23/2000 -
Y#42)
At a chat session on Ideas:
"Hey guys, whassup? I want to start by asking you a
question: What's the first thing you ask when someone
introduces you to a new game. 'What are the rules.' And
where do the rules come from. Other people. And when did
these people make those rules. Rules come from the past.
They contain nothing new, and are self-sustaining only, only
if we agree to follow them. We are told we must follow
them to win, to succeed. But on whose terms do we do this
winning and succeeding. Our own? I theeenk not! Remember
that rules are made to keep the status quo the same.
Adventures have no rules. And so, if you want to live an
adventure, if you want your life to be real life and to
contain meaning and learning and possibility, be aware of
where the rules are that you follow. And rules are not
the same as structure. Structure lets us make sense of
our experience, it does not tell us what our experience
will be.
"Think about the difference between a house and a
prison. A house contains life. It orders it to some
extent, but the way it orders it is our choice (within
our budgets, of course). In a prison, you have no choice,
but you have many many rules. Ever wonder why the prison
system doesn't work? There's your answer... or part of
the question. It contains the past, and leaves no room
for the future. Games and their rules are like prisons,
and so often we walk into them willingly because we are
promised great rewards for doing the right things in the
right way. We all have probably had the experience of
hearing an older person advise us about how to be
successful, and knowing deep in our souls that their
advice would not work for us because our world was
different from theirs. Our world had changed, and their
rules would not lead us to the same place they found.
"Remember Bobby
Fischer. He walked away from the game,
and no one understood how he could do that. How could he
walk away from all that success. Now you know. Live as an
adventure, live in possibilities, live toward the future
and toward the horizons. The only structure you need is
the ripples of the great ideas that flow from the mind of
All That Is through the universe, and inform all we are
and all we will be. And now I must go and let your
discussion proceed. Learn and remember. Goodbye."
(1/23/2000 - Y#43)
"Ok. Serious time, and I'm going to make some people
mad at me. I'm going to speak my mind, ha. So
there. Viable organisms... ta-da... don't just
deal with the present. Re-creation and procreation are
all about looking forward. If you aren't focused forward,
you are part of the past. And here comes the sticky part:
Those who try to live in the present are part of the
past. Don't glorify the present. Don't make it an icon
over and against thinking ahead. So often, the mellow
people dislike and disclaim those who think about what
will happen, but those with an eye on the future get to
shape it, and living in the eternal Now doesn't. Now
is only valuable as a starting place, not a stopping
place.
"So when all those people who dream meet those who
try to be only present, let the dreamers take heart; for
theirs are the winds of change, which are the only true
movements of being. In fact, living in the moment is just
a copout for trying to avoid the demands of the future.
The great teachings about being aware were not about just
being aware, but cleansing what had been, so one can move
into the future without contamination. The current
fascination with the Now is just a way to cover fears of
dealing with a future. Ok, that should piss off a few.
"In fact, those who spend time thinking through
possible scenarios for the future are the closest to the
field of their being. First-timers are clueless, but the
next several layers focus on the past ('Who do you think
my great-grandmother was,' etc., etc.). And in the middle
of the process are the Now people, and in the
more-ready-to-be-fulfilled-and-move-on is a renewed sense
of future as important. Remember the garbled reports
about Jesus speaking of the future. He was there, mon.
Talk of future times has always been seen as prophetic,
but it is just a quality of being into the future--all
ready to move on, but with only a sense of this
world for planning. That's it and that's all and
that's enough.
"Being open to the future here is a sign of
openness. You expect maybe you die and POOF you
get it all together. No way, José. It is a process over
many lives of changing lives. A leeetle here and a
leeetle more there and a scooch there and a quack quack
here and a quack quack there, here a quack there a quack
everywhere a quack quack... moo. So ponder that.
Being too attached or focused on the Now, and where can
you go from there but to Now, which is already past,
bye-bye, ta-ta." (1/25/2000 - B#29)
"Many of the living seem to prefer the past, and
there are 2 reasons and both have to do with change.
Those without a profound loss think it will keep them at
bay, and those living with profound loss think it will
keep them from losing the loved one forever.
"Those who dwell on the Now are also trying to avoid
the awesome and awful reality of loss. 'I won't think
about then, I will focus on now and
maybe meaning will catch up to me.' But here's the
clinker: While we are stuck with the past or fixated with
the present, our loved ones move on and they are no
longer past and they are no longer present, but in our
futures they hold meaning. That very place many fear
going--the future, where they think the loved one has no
place--is the very place the loved one is.
For it is there that our meaningful connections will be
manifest again.
"So don't fear the future. It is not a place and
time of loss and separation. It is the time and place of
connection. But that's not the way I, or most others,
think when alive. I was as dense as the rest. I worried
about Papa dying first. But it wouldn't have really
mattered, if I saw him as part of my future, not just
part of my past. And I had to get here and see him in
bathing trunks here to realize that. O how many will
mourn the years lost in pining and grieving when they get
here. Regrets, no... more like duh. So, that's
the scoop." (1/30/2000 - B#30)
"So, you want to know about disassembly. Well, when
it happens you get a great shock, so to speak, and the
components know that and also know nothing... it's like
shock therapy. It wipes the slate clean, but you have a
lingering sense you don't want to go there again. There
is no conscious memory of being in that combination, and
no learning... much less remembering. But if one were to
attempt a similar entity assembly, something spiritually
primal would scream, 'Do not.' It is so primal
and essential that one would have to work to overcome it.
"You wouldn't want any of that entity to exist in
memory, because memory is reality. So wipe it clean, or
the universe will go to the same place over and over.
Notice that while you've had many villains, they are each
unique. Only one Hitler, one Vlad, one Jim Jones. If the
slate were not cleaned, then you would risk more than
one. All cases of evil are unique. That's why systematic
attempts to eradicate evil always fail, because they deal
with the known--the already evil--and the problem is with
the evil yet to come into being. And since the evil is
just a random bad combo, you can't systematically deal
with randomness. You all try but it don't work, do it. So
they try to deal with Hitler as if he were Bismarck and
it fails... and Saddam Hussein as if Hitler. So, enough
deep shit." (2/15/2000 - R#30)
"Why do you think spirits are so spirited. They
don't waste energy on physical realities."
(2/22/2000 - I#33)
Ericka's Bench 2/25/2000
Rikkity: "And now, our first guest: a
hedgehog from Greenwich." [silence]
Elissa: "He doesn't talk much, does he."
Rikkity: "Not at all. And why do you assume
it's a male. She's insulted and will not speak even more.
She's leaving with Sandy's assistance. Put her down. Oooo
yes, now she's talking... or should I say squeaking.
Anyway, onward and downward. Here's DP."
DP:
"Hello friends of the majestic one."
Rikkity: "I've got her well trained."
DP: "Listen. Why do you venerate others. Is
it because they have what you do not. If you do not truly
have it, you would not know to value it. But what you
value in others is always in you, too. You see a mirror
of yourself and that image is what you value. But listen,
I want you to think about mirrors. There are four kinds:
flat, distorted, concave, and convex. Ok. In a flat
mirror you see the same proportions as in yourself; so
when another mirrors you in this way, you see your
inherent valuables in them in equal measure. We call
these mirrors friends.
"In concave mirrors the images are larger than we
sense in us. They are magnified. Those people we call
gurus or masters or wise ones or wise guys, etc. But
remember, it is only perception that magnifies their
traits. If the mirror of our perceptions were flat, we
would see them equal to us. They are not greater than we,
we just see them that way.
"And with convex they appear lesser and we judge
them accordingly. We think they need help and guidance,
etc., but again it is our perception and the lens of our
mirror that creates the image. They in a flat mirror
would be us.
"And then the fun house mirror's distorted, and so
the other becomes strange--but no stranger than we.
Remember, the image of the stranger in the fun house
mirror is still you. So the question is not the image but
what mirror are you using and who put it there: you,
they, someone else, culture, society, prejudice. You see
what you want to see, when a flat mirror would show you
you. So don't place too many on pedestals or too many
beneath you, because then you put yourself there, too;
and where you belong is neither. And now I go to sing
that Carly Simon song. Bye." (2/25/2000 - W#163)
Rikkity: "And now another guest. A Thomson's
gazelle. Usher, help the gazelle out."
Sandy: Arrrrrrrrf.
Rikkity: "The strong, silent type. So far, a
small silence and a strong silent type. Hmmmm. And now,
GT."
GT:
"Whoa... I am on the Bench. Like whoa. This
is so cool. Me and the animals. But they've split. And
the pooch ... damn nice doggie.
"Ok, get this. You think that you are normal and
that, hey, like I'm strange. See the hair... and the
rings--ears, nose, nipples, lips. Strange, hmmm. But when
I appear to Africans they see me as strange--but not for
the rings, but for my whiteness. And when I appear to
Muslims I am not strange for being white or for the
rings, but because my head is uncovered. And to the Jews,
being white and with rings and not having my head covered
is nothing; but why have I not shaved my hair, etc.,
etc., and all that shit. You see, there ain't no norms...
except for Norman Schwarzkopf.
"So the next time you go, 'How strange,' remember
you're the one who is strange if you say that because
then you aren't connected to the bigger picture. Ok,
splitting. And why would you think my rings strange and
not his hats." (2/25/2000 - W#164)
Rikkity: "Ok, moving right along, a monarch
butterfly."
Sandy: Rrrrrf.
Rikkity: "Gone... in sublime silences of
beauty. And now, CL."
CL:
"I think I'll not talk and see if Sandy chases me.
Aye... The trick is to find a way to be both in your own
reality and also to be radically aware of the limitations
of your own reality. You will see with your acculturated
eyes, but look for the wider vision; and you will hear
with your tuned ears, but try to also hear beyond the
measured tones; and you will imagine the dreams you have
been allowed, but also dream and remember the edges
beyond where the images make no sense. And don't let
others make you put your sights and sounds and dreams
into their schemas. Remember, when someone tells you an
interpretation of your dreams it is really their dream,
not yours. And so, too, with sights and sounds.
Bye." (2/25/2000 - W#165)
Rikkity: "And here's a little tiny thingie.
An egg. Shhhhh... can you hear it. An expectant silence.
No, Sandy, don't eat it."
Sandy: Rrrrrrrrf.
Rikkity: "Biscuits."
Sandy: Aaarrrr.
Rikkity: "So remember, silence can be small,
strong, sublime, and expectant--but only if you listen to
it, not if you try to speak for it. Some things were
never meant to be spoken. Some things were never meant to
be heard. And yet they dwell powerfully on mountain crest
and in deep valley and in the heart of those who pause
long enough to stop being themselves and listen. And
that's the show. And, for all the spirits and all the
animals, and especially for the magic Sandy, this is the
Moo. UTV. Goodbye." (2/25/2000 - W#166)
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