requested #18
Silence is golden.
I don't like to say too much. It's not that I don't have much to say, it's just that I have just learned that it's better to keep my mouth shut, even when I think I DO have something to say. Opportunity does not equal necessity. I'm sure that most people would love it if I interacted or reacted to their comments or behavior with typical canned responses that they are used to getting from others. Why else would they say and do those things if they didn't think they knew what I was going to say before they did it? For example: If I say, "hello", I expect a "hello" back. And so on. But they don't get it from me. I have learned to be a listener and not a responder. It took me a long time to learn to hold my tongue when it was aching for a chance to squawk. Ironically, NOT talking didn't lead me to calmer waters which I thought it would, it led me into a huge tempest that far exceeded my imagination.
Some old Chinese dude made a living creating cute little sayings that would eventually be the pulp for the greeting card industries of the future. And he did all of this 2000 years before greeting cards were invented (this is a guess, there is no emperical data on the first official usage of the greeting card but I know that Hallmark didn't start up until the early 20th century... so that's my basis). Most of the things he said were pretty important and very wise. And most of the things he said only came after years of intense mediation for enlightenment. He actually had the foresight to know that his powerful words would reach across time and look good in print. And he also knew that you would think when you read the cards, "Hey. Yeah, he's right. What a smart old Chinese dude. He thinks the way I have always thought." So you buy the card feeling pretty dandy about yourself as if you were as smart as that old Chinese sage. You're not really, but the four dollar card in your hand says otherwise and whomever you are giving that card to with think so as well.
One of the things this old smart Chinese dude said, and that most people take out of context, is "Silence is golden". People hear this and the first thing they do is say, OUT LOUD, "Yeah, he's right. What a smart old Chinese dude. He thinks the way I think." I have seen some people actually debate the meaning of the phrase in raised voices. It would seem that the truth behind these words seem to have several meanings to everyone that hears them, except for the person that actually said them. That old Chinese dude had a deeper purpose behind his choice words, which seems to be lost to the people that hear them today. He wasn't trying to create discussion or discourse. What he was trying to say was, "Shut the hell up!" and "Only a great fool opens his/her mouth all the time". A fool is anyone that isn't enlightened. You, me, Larry the Cable guy, Bush, JFK and even Jesus. We're all fools.
What is this enlightenment that is so elusive to all of us you ask? Well, it's when your mind, your spirit and your soul ascend beyond the limits of your own body, of all time and space and it finds itself in a new world where such human concepts and learned limitation don't exist. (pretty deep, huh?) A world where emotion, passion, pride, death, life, failure and general definitions all disappear. According to all known legends, only one person in the history of mankind has ever made it that far don't the enlightened path. Others have come close, but as Christopher Lambert taught us in Highlander - There can be only one.
The enlightened one, or BUDDHA, was a man that mediated for years and years and years until finally, his soul left his body and he was just pure brilliant energy. Of course, this is all conjecture as no one really knows what happened to him. He could have just gotten drunk and slurred out, "I can't feel my fuckin' feet!" and people took that to mean that he was having an out of body experience and was therefore, enlightened. Anyway, after years of living in this state of enlightenment, Buddha just woke up from it like it had never happened and just started laughing, singing, smiling, eating, crying, humping and enjoying life like it had never been done before. It was said that he invented the boogie board and the crazy straw during this post-enlightened era. He lived for years laughing and singing until he died and left the world grasping at air trying to embrace his soul. To make themselves feel better, they invented a Dali Llama who is supposedly the reincarnated soul of Buddha. Of course, Dali isn't the laughing, singing, fucking Buddha that left us all those years ago, but how often are religious symbols truly appropriate? Is a cross the best way to remember Jesus? Isn't that sick?
Enlightenment. It's a place beyond your emotions. It's beyond your dreams. It's beyond yourself. In order to find it, you have to forget who you are, let go of your pride, your belief in time, space, in everything you have learned.... It's incredibly difficult to do this and it takes years to figure out. Most people start as young as four years of age and don't ever find it after ninety years of trying. It's that hard. Some people got as far as being able to sit for days and weeks without food or sleep. Some people have been able to set themselves on fire without flinching. Some people were able to sit in caves long enough to actually starve to death. But they only came half way, can you believe it?!!
One of the first steps is mediation. A simple thing really. You simply close your eyes, Breath slowly. Inhale through your nose exhale out of your mouth. Do this for next fifty years. Don't open your eyes. Do this five times a day for five minutes at a time. Just close your eyes and breath. That's it.
When you have that down, start turning off other senses. Smell, sound, touch, taste. Turn them off and just live in your mind. Try to become unaware of the way you are sitting or standing. Become unaware of your breathing. Do this during your breathing.
Now, try to think of one thing and ONE THING ONLY! Just one thing. I bet you can't do it for ten seconds. Let's try right now... For the next ten seconds, just think of....
Water
Don't let any noise, light, touch or thought take your mind off the word, W A T E R
Can you do it? Or did something else enter your mind? If you were able to just think of water without interruption, you're on your way. If your mind wandered, so does your soul. This exercise shows you that you are not in control. Let go. (if you have ever seen people humming the word, UMMMMMMMM. It is meant to be a mind eraser. A cheat if you will. Give that a try if you think it helps.)
Silence is golden. Golden is meant to mean that there is a value, or a luster, or a magic to being enlightened. Enough so that you DON'T need to react to things around you. That you DON'T want or have to say something or even feel that you have to. Silence is the most wholesome reaction and it's the highest level of achievement. Wholesome because it's without pride.
Control your breathing... Close your eyes... Now forget everything that has ever happened to you - who you are, where you've been, where you want to go, who you want to be. Doing so means that you'll finally be blissful and you too will laugh, sing, eat, fuck and live life like never before.
I don't like to say too much. It's not that I don't have much to say, it's just that I have just learned that it's better to keep my mouth shut, even when I think I DO have something to say. Opportunity does not equal necessity. I'm sure that most people would love it if I interacted or reacted to their comments or behavior with typical canned responses that they are used to getting from others. Why else would they say and do those things if they didn't think they knew what I was going to say before they did it? For example: If I say, "hello", I expect a "hello" back. And so on. But they don't get it from me. I have learned to be a listener and not a responder. It took me a long time to learn to hold my tongue when it was aching for a chance to squawk. Ironically, NOT talking didn't lead me to calmer waters which I thought it would, it led me into a huge tempest that far exceeded my imagination.
Some old Chinese dude made a living creating cute little sayings that would eventually be the pulp for the greeting card industries of the future. And he did all of this 2000 years before greeting cards were invented (this is a guess, there is no emperical data on the first official usage of the greeting card but I know that Hallmark didn't start up until the early 20th century... so that's my basis). Most of the things he said were pretty important and very wise. And most of the things he said only came after years of intense mediation for enlightenment. He actually had the foresight to know that his powerful words would reach across time and look good in print. And he also knew that you would think when you read the cards, "Hey. Yeah, he's right. What a smart old Chinese dude. He thinks the way I have always thought." So you buy the card feeling pretty dandy about yourself as if you were as smart as that old Chinese sage. You're not really, but the four dollar card in your hand says otherwise and whomever you are giving that card to with think so as well.
One of the things this old smart Chinese dude said, and that most people take out of context, is "Silence is golden". People hear this and the first thing they do is say, OUT LOUD, "Yeah, he's right. What a smart old Chinese dude. He thinks the way I think." I have seen some people actually debate the meaning of the phrase in raised voices. It would seem that the truth behind these words seem to have several meanings to everyone that hears them, except for the person that actually said them. That old Chinese dude had a deeper purpose behind his choice words, which seems to be lost to the people that hear them today. He wasn't trying to create discussion or discourse. What he was trying to say was, "Shut the hell up!" and "Only a great fool opens his/her mouth all the time". A fool is anyone that isn't enlightened. You, me, Larry the Cable guy, Bush, JFK and even Jesus. We're all fools.
What is this enlightenment that is so elusive to all of us you ask? Well, it's when your mind, your spirit and your soul ascend beyond the limits of your own body, of all time and space and it finds itself in a new world where such human concepts and learned limitation don't exist. (pretty deep, huh?) A world where emotion, passion, pride, death, life, failure and general definitions all disappear. According to all known legends, only one person in the history of mankind has ever made it that far don't the enlightened path. Others have come close, but as Christopher Lambert taught us in Highlander - There can be only one.
The enlightened one, or BUDDHA, was a man that mediated for years and years and years until finally, his soul left his body and he was just pure brilliant energy. Of course, this is all conjecture as no one really knows what happened to him. He could have just gotten drunk and slurred out, "I can't feel my fuckin' feet!" and people took that to mean that he was having an out of body experience and was therefore, enlightened. Anyway, after years of living in this state of enlightenment, Buddha just woke up from it like it had never happened and just started laughing, singing, smiling, eating, crying, humping and enjoying life like it had never been done before. It was said that he invented the boogie board and the crazy straw during this post-enlightened era. He lived for years laughing and singing until he died and left the world grasping at air trying to embrace his soul. To make themselves feel better, they invented a Dali Llama who is supposedly the reincarnated soul of Buddha. Of course, Dali isn't the laughing, singing, fucking Buddha that left us all those years ago, but how often are religious symbols truly appropriate? Is a cross the best way to remember Jesus? Isn't that sick?
Enlightenment. It's a place beyond your emotions. It's beyond your dreams. It's beyond yourself. In order to find it, you have to forget who you are, let go of your pride, your belief in time, space, in everything you have learned.... It's incredibly difficult to do this and it takes years to figure out. Most people start as young as four years of age and don't ever find it after ninety years of trying. It's that hard. Some people got as far as being able to sit for days and weeks without food or sleep. Some people have been able to set themselves on fire without flinching. Some people were able to sit in caves long enough to actually starve to death. But they only came half way, can you believe it?!!
One of the first steps is mediation. A simple thing really. You simply close your eyes, Breath slowly. Inhale through your nose exhale out of your mouth. Do this for next fifty years. Don't open your eyes. Do this five times a day for five minutes at a time. Just close your eyes and breath. That's it.
When you have that down, start turning off other senses. Smell, sound, touch, taste. Turn them off and just live in your mind. Try to become unaware of the way you are sitting or standing. Become unaware of your breathing. Do this during your breathing.
Now, try to think of one thing and ONE THING ONLY! Just one thing. I bet you can't do it for ten seconds. Let's try right now... For the next ten seconds, just think of....
Water
Don't let any noise, light, touch or thought take your mind off the word, W A T E R
Can you do it? Or did something else enter your mind? If you were able to just think of water without interruption, you're on your way. If your mind wandered, so does your soul. This exercise shows you that you are not in control. Let go. (if you have ever seen people humming the word, UMMMMMMMM. It is meant to be a mind eraser. A cheat if you will. Give that a try if you think it helps.)
Silence is golden. Golden is meant to mean that there is a value, or a luster, or a magic to being enlightened. Enough so that you DON'T need to react to things around you. That you DON'T want or have to say something or even feel that you have to. Silence is the most wholesome reaction and it's the highest level of achievement. Wholesome because it's without pride.
Control your breathing... Close your eyes... Now forget everything that has ever happened to you - who you are, where you've been, where you want to go, who you want to be. Doing so means that you'll finally be blissful and you too will laugh, sing, eat, fuck and live life like never before.
posted by Daniel Loomis | 5:59 AM
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