Go Figure

A boy once asked his father, "Why doesn't man's study of his mind ever get him anywhere?"

According to one legend, man's present condition is not the consequence of a past run-in

with some god, but rather the result of him having swallowed the first one he met.

There was originally a bag labeled "All Possible Human Behavior," and another one tagged "All Possible Behavior Imagined."  One bag was full—the other empty.

The mind of man is this galaxy's only two-legged creature who can walk with one leg.

The mother of all imprisonment is in having someone else trapped inside of you.

'Tis said there was once a mystical school whose name was "Go Figure"...that is, in its early days.But later, when it matured, the name was changed to "Don't Waste Your Time”

J.

The Lack of Effort Involved

There was once a planet of robots, but of very unusual construction: they could operate at their normal, mechanical level, plus they had a switch that could be thrown that would make them believe that they were not robotic, plus they had a hidden one that could sometimes be triggered which would allow them to be aware of their complete situation, dreams and all.

There was once a race of creatures who could live in the daytime, or at night.  Living in the day seemed to require effort, while living at night did not. No one knew for sure whether this was true or not, but when you lived in the daytime it sure seemed so.

There was once a planet of wild horses, but no one knew they were there.  Then a foreigner arrived who could observe them, and they disappeared.  A boy once asked his father, "Is a machine still just a machine if it becomes aware of its mechanicalness?" “What a damn fool question," he replied.

"Without any doubt," said the mayor to the people, "the greatest aspect of not making any effort is the complete lack of effort involved." ...And their rousing cheers evidenced his inevitable reelection...again and again.

J.

Additional Angles

The simple have it easy--when they don't know what to think, they simply ask somebody.

In a herd we're born and physically run, but on your own two legs only is it possible to fly.

Only life can put the brakes on life, while an individual man's mind can on him.

One man discovered a dam in his yard--this in spite of the fact that most of his neighbors still weren't even aware that they had a river in theirs.

The more conscious are more interested in the universal nature of lthan they are in the personal incidents of their own life--which might be why they so seldom seem to think of making mention thereof.

Time to face it:   Anything people are talking about is not worth thinking about.

J.

Common Interests

Rarely do you find the interests common to ordinary minds

to be of much interest or value to those more conscious.

For, unlike the ordinary, once their basic physical needs are met,

their interests turn in directions far removed from older, survival ones

to younger, not-so-specific, more-difficult-to-describe ones

in the futuristic area of consciousness.

     To accept the fact that you have specific, identifiable, "psychological problems," which are unique to you individually, is to have the muther-fu...is to have them for the rest of your days. (All kingdoms divided are in pain.)

One mind once wondered, "Why do so many people want to know if a more conscious man could ever do anything evil or injurious to others?" ...(A question [I might suggest to you] that is pregnant with many useful possibilities far beyond the immediately apparent.)

There were once two mighty, adjacent kingdoms, a situation which to routine observers always implies necessary conflict--and if not now, forever impending. The reason that a more conscious mind can live in peace is because it lives only with itself.

J.

Christmas Decorations You Can Make

You know that little bookshop in the City I’ve mentioned before, well, something just seems to keep drawing me back, at least to their window displays, and the last time I was by there, they had a list posted out front giving the titles of recent new releases.  Are you ready?  Can we bear it again?  Okay, here’s a few of the ones I can recall:

“The Causes and Prevention of Dermatitis and Popular Music,”

“Social Progress and Personal Development Through Dread,”

“The Emergence Of Modern Retrieval Systems and The Shoddy Treatment of Poets,”

“Recent Developments In Multi-port Fuel Injection and Family Planning,”

“The Treatment and Cure of Modern Italian Literature,”

“Early Postcranial Arthritic Posture and Christmas Decorations You Can Make,”

“Gender Disorientation and The Care Of Your Newt,”

“The ABC’S of Stress and the XYZ’s of Ulcers,”

“The Travels, Letters and Opinions of Sir Douglas Clark and Some Other Guy,”

“Commercial Treaties, Reciprocity and Mating Patterns of Rock Drummers and Rottweilers,”

And lastly; “The Human Brain – BIG DEAL!” 

(There were more, but I’ll pretend that’s all I can remember.)

J.

R.S.U.

Withdrawal of consciousness is no cure for anything.

If someone in the City offers you some good advice, ignore it.

If, whenever you’re reminded of the fact that, “the world’s big enough for everybody,” you are not almost floored by its veracity and vitality, you’re not much of a Revolutionist.

If you just must talk do this: Be particularly careful of the order in which you line up your words.

An R.S.U. – A Real Soon Update:

Although I noted that “Withdrawal of consciousness is no cure for anything,” it is true, except, of course, for consciousness.

J.

Cheap Shoes

Proper plans and suitable munitions are part of the necessities for a Revolution, and which, fortunately, an alert Enlistee can obtain.  The remaining necessity is, unfortunately, ability.

If all of humanity were brought together and placed in a choir loft and directed to all sing out all at once, and all together, what would come forth would be the “answer.”  Your problem would be in knowing which song, that is, question, to ask for.

I guess one description of a “civilized Man,” at least in City terms, would be: One who can forgive those who help him.

In all ordinary Cities, a fresh, astounding mind is like a “second government,” and cannot be long tolerated by the Ruling Powers.

If you still insist on looking at life as some kind of struggle, or contest, at least note this: Life is the only winner.

If you wear cheap shoes, don’t ever look down.

Prelude

Everything in the City is just a prelude for what’s coming up.

Everything you want in the City is just a substitute for what you’re actually going to get.

If both parties are wont to blame each other for all annoyances and disappointments, then what you might call a “relationshi,p” would be better named a mad, four legged dance attempted at two different tempos with four ears picking up two separate songs.  A ridiculous tango done in a life boat from the Titanic.

I started to offer you this little four word maxim: “Real Revolutions are untidy,” but actually, compared to ordinary City life, these uprisings are downright neat and exact.  (In the same way a forest fire is symmetrical and systematic.)

This could sound a bit “off-putting,” but I know you can see measurements beyond the outlines of words, so here ‘tis:  Under most ordinary conditions, those who passionately struggle against the tyrannical and the cruel become themselves cruel and tyrannical.  You do see, or suspect, the right angle view of this?

J.

Stupidity

If you can be “full speed pissed” within sixty seconds of awakening, you are a world class pisser.

Maxim Update, Code Green, Z-42: When you have eliminated the impossible, the improbable, the uncertain and the vague, then whatever remains however unsettling and surprising it may be, must be what is left.

Stupidity is a terrible thing to waste.

Probably the greatest waste of time for a Real Revolutionist is to actually have an enemy…or is that to “actually have an inner life?”  No matter, they’re both similar enough.

Everything you can get in the City is just a pretext for not having what you actually want.

J.

For No Reason

All apparent solutions unnoticeably demand that one cough up a price quite dear; that is, a piece of themselves; that aspect of them that was affected by the solution.

True survival is a matter of total structures, not of individual parts.  If the aggregate survives, so will the components.

Anyone who says, “I am rich beyond my wildest dreams,” needs dream coaching…or wildness lessons.

In the City, I once heard a man loudly proclaim, “I am now prepared to love all of mankind, except for my next door neighbor.”  Come on now, what’d you really expect?

From a particular view, it could be fairly said that a Revolutionist has no individual agenda; in fact, no particular reasons for what he does and says.

J.

Sure Cure

Just “doing it” is always a cure for the reasons why you can’t do it.

If, as you reach your later years, you believe the greatest lesson you have learned is the “value of time,” then you have wasted yours.

More Useful Revolutionary Info:

Question:  How can you know if a sore leg muscle is sore enough to keep you from your daily run?

Answer:   If it is ALMOST as sore as your consciousness muscle is over having a sore leg muscle.

A little every day, run-of-the-mill stupidity may not hurt most people, but in a Revolutionist it can be quite dangerous.

J.

Say What

In the City, facts don’t cease to exist simply because they’re not true.

If the people say it’s important, even inevitable, be sure it is not.

Certainty and desperation are the City’s most common embalming mediums.

In ordinary City affairs, always say what it is you’re going to say, before you have to actually say it.

In ordinary City affairs, you can also say what it is that you’re going to do before you actually do it…(and especially so if you don’t actually do it).

J.

Only Life Knows

Perhaps you were propitious to correct my rhetoric, but why shoot me in the liver?

How’s this for horizontally curious: Those with nothing, generally have nothing to say.

If you actually insist on trying to ride some of your City dreams, at least don’t put ‘em up wet

The Real Revolutionist expects no sacrifice other than the meaningless.

Only Life knows, (and it’ll never tell without a good lickin’).

J.

Natural Ability

Tell, pray tell, what ability is there but natural?

There can be no freedom for those in the serene embrace of the Dominant-Submissive Dance.

The only law worth a gott-damn to a Revolutionist is a self-made one.  (Which is also the only kind applicable.)

As close as a Revolutionist might come to what others call “evil,” would be withdrawing his basic awareness from something; a form of denial which is far removed from the creative charge of those truly called.

All present conditions are proper and functional and do not require change. 

All change is proper and functional and does not require change, or explanations.

J.

Official Warning

On a certain, quite real, quite cellular level, Men equate fame with power; hence they worship, submit to, their measurements of celebrities.  (You might further note gossip as a low-level form of submission.)

Your success in the Revolution is not controlled by the failures or breakdowns of any Institutions or organizations but you.

Attention, Attention, Official Warning:

According to some late breaking reliable reports, in certain parts of the City, reality is loose and spreading quickly.

If you think, you should probably say that, “You’re in charge,” you’re probably not.  If someone else states that they are, you should probably take some heed.

Let us not fail to take note of one of the City’s Great Mis-Expectations: The contrast between what Man is made to say he expects and what he gets.

J.

"How to Look at Stuff"

There was this other poor chap in that same City, who began to have someone else’s day dreams.

Reasons aren’t everything.

Always remember:

The best way out
IS
the best way out.

Another significant, long-awaited, and I might add, sorely needed book would be the one entitled, “How To Look At Stuff.”

A broken heart is a terrible thing to waste.

J.

Twenty on a Thursday

As a would-be Revolutionist, you cannot allow yourselves to simply be “blown about” by every little wind of certainty.

A sore-head-City definition: Greed, one of civilization’s better alarm clocks.  “Get up, get up, it’s seven o’clock; goodbye Morpheus, Hello Dow & Jones.”

‘Tis been said that “Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains,” and I expound: “Change was born dollars and pounds, but is everywhere in nickels and dimes.”  “I say, pardon me, but can you break my twenty?  Not A twenty, but MY twenty.”

Your Revolutionist conduct of today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Behave as a Revolutionist, nonetheless.

Heard a man in the City, express his concern over the fact that opposites do not seem to always receive equal coverage.  For instance, he noted that store signs that say, “Open, Come In,” never on the reverse side read, “Closed, Go Away.”

J.

Worth Doing Wednesday

Expansion in motion is in having Man continually mis-identify the foe; as in mistaking genetic balls for cultural serves.

Those outside a particular dance can never understand or appreciate the intricate, subtle steps involved between the partners.  The Peoples of one State are astounded and filled with wonder at how their neighbors tolerate their unruly monarch.  (I know you say you want to understand the exotic and the unexplored, but few are the reptilian anthropologists who actually participate in the Exchange Student program with the snakes.)

There are some things worth doing that are not worth setting out to do.

Wearing the garb of a “wise one,” an ole feller strode up to the edge of the village and loudly proclaimed, “I do not expect to come here and be able to sell you a parcel of warts and boils,” and subsequent events proved him correct.

There was a certain City Doctor of Melancholy, I mean, Philosophy, who conjectured that, “If one becomes TOO boring, one could cause it in others.”  Heavens!

J.

Thoughts for a Tuesday

A tragedy is a terrible thing to waste.

There are no certainties in the City, (and only a couple in the Bushes).

You don’t actually “give” something if you first calculate its cost to you.

Ancestral voices, via their cellular phones, persistently cry out, “Over here, look over here!”

If you ever want to try and treat yourself for an ill, abandon any interest in its cause.

And finally, Remember:  They are flawed, you are subject to transient systemic anomalies.

J.

Your Feelings Toward Feelings

Perhaps, surely, hopefully even, we can once again “set to rest,” permanently “put aside,” give the “final statement” already, in the updating of that hoary ole, yellow-fuzzy chestnut regarding the assumed self-proof of “Man’s existence,” and firmly, although, strongly declare, “I am, therefore I am!”  Case closed, thank you so much.

The unrecognized trouble with trying to “learn from history,” is that it’s always someone else’s history.

There IS one possession that encompasses all beauty, and usefulness; the sole possession everyone wants and needs; the possession that would make everyone happy.  There is, of course, one small problem in obtaining this possession…

Here’s another one on which I refuse to comment, (I just report ‘em ma’am).  I heard an hombre conclude a discussion by soundly insisting that, “What we need today is a good neural prophylactic.”

Your feelings toward what-you-feel, is the glue binding your energy to your mass.

J.