Trapeze

A man-of-the-Work who belonged to a circus was one day hanging by his teeth from a trapeze and a voice from below called out, “Say, aren’t you Rudolfo, the man with the knowledge of the Great Secret for which I yearn?”  And Rudolfo mused to himself, “Am I really obliged to answer just now?”

If the wrong man
used even the right methods
only wrong results will occur.

The only reality available to an ordinary man is invented and subjective, homemade and unique.

There are no particular dogmas or beliefs to which one must subscribe to approach real Work, but you must feel a spiritual quality to this quest or you would never draw near.

The Work requires only one belief, and that is that there must be an alternative to ordinary mental structures and invented reality.

J.

Take Your Time

With man, things sure seem to become
what they are repeatedly called. 
Yes, they certainly do.  I believe they do.
 I certainly feel they do. 
I think this is indubitably true. 
I am almost positive of it.

The Judaic prophet saw a time for everything, and Buddha mentioned a favorable moment, but I think you should not be looking far away for such a favorable moment-of-time.  There is another time coexisting with you present.  It is a matter of moving from one to the other.  Sometimes it just happens to men struggling with the game.  So, you might slip into this other more favorable time by accident, or you might in some way earn the knowledge of how it is done.  But be careful and take your time.

After a most detailed scrutiny of man and his Zork infested mind I have come to the astounding conclusion that effects bear a disturbing resemblance to causes.  (But maybe it’s not so astounding, now that I think of it, since causes bear such a striking resemblance to effects.)

What good is the past but for reference,

and what good the future but for dreams.

Direction comes by word,
understanding by silence.

J.

The Agitated Mind Is Addictive

No measurement the mind can ever make it large enough to encompass man's full nature.

Although you can physically take an inactive posture, The Great Stillness is still an internal matter.

Compared to the demands of instinct, everything the mind does is entertainment.

That which is done and then forgotten may endure, but that which must be remembered confesses its finiteness.

                       The agitated mind is addictive...it's supposed to be.

It is not accurate to say that man has "lost" his true nature, but rather that it has been partially "overridden."

             The human mind is the prime example of "alleged responsibility."

One guy kept buggin' a mystic to tell him The Secret, and finally insisted,
"Well, just give me a hint--is it terse?"
"Yeah."|
("Thanks.)

J.

Interplanetary Warning

Interplanetary Warning:

If the active pursuit of a mystical system does not lead to its explosion,
then the system leads nowhere.

In one legend, the greatest knight of them all was Sir Forgot-A-Lot;
while in most, of course, it was good King Always-Remembering.
(You untangle it!)

One father said to his son, "Let me, in conclusion, say this to you:
There is a place within a man's system where such as This cannot be said."

Interplanetary Warning:

Never trust a machine with one eye.

One man says, "Probably the absolutely hardest thing in the world to do is to describe what This kinda effort is all about." 
And a second man says, "You mean to others?" 
And the first man says, "Hell no, to yourself!"

On one world, life subconsciously tells everyone the moment they're born that,
"Okay, I expect you to be good and brain-dead by twenty--you hear?"

A Question from the Mailbag:

 "I notice that sometimes you refer to what you're involved in as 'This kind of thing,' and at other times as 'This kind of effort.' What is the distinction?"

 (Ultimately it is the supreme distinction.)

J.

Somewhere Else

The reason that the ordinary are forced to think about all the meaningless things they do, is so that the future will have a chance.

During the process of checking out several mystical schools to see which one he might like to join, a man asked the head of one (with which he'd found some favor), "Are you sure you don't have just a small cancer?"

A man wrote the Glaring Doctor and asked:
”Can't the mystical itself fall into the trap of excessive 'self-reference'?"

 But the doctor found this far too self-evident to bother responding to.
(Well...either that, or he just couldn't come up with a response.)

You don't live on the "cutting edge" unless you think on the cutting edge.  And someone asks,
"What would be 'thinking-on-the-cutting-edge'?"
(Any thinking done beyond your present range.)

 When one man learned what had happened to him, he wrote and said:  "I'm just sick about it!"

Then there was this other guy who sent himself a get-well card...in care of Life.
Life didn't think it was funny.

One man got all his ideas from somewhere else--one man is all men;

One man got all his ideas from somewhere else--all ideas are from somewhere else;

One man got all his ideas from somewhere else--you're surrounded by "somewhere else."

J.

Thank God It’s Friday!

One man said, "Thank God it's Friday." 
To which his brother countered, "Nay, premature, merely preparatory; you really mean Saturday."
And a second sibling demurred, "No, you did not go far enough, it should be Sunday, a time of respite and repose."
Then their father stepped in and said, "You all missed it--your attention should be on Monday, the beginning of it all over again."

While alone and in a seductive mood, one man said to himself:  "How'd you like me to give you some head?"
And his mind replied, "Jeeze, I thought you'd never ask!"

After considerable observation of his rhetorical output, one man concluded that he suffered from a "verbal bladder-control problem."

One man's pet name for his thoughts
was "Yeah, Yeah."

From the Friday Mailbag:
"I was going to write and say that I wish you wouldn't ‘patronize’ me...but upon further reflection, I'm not sure that's possible (considerin' my present position and all)."

Upon close examination of himself, one man concluded,
"Yes, I smell exactly like myself...in fact, too much so."

J.

Mysticism: An Invisible History

One of the more salient chapters in the invisible history of mysticism concerns the number of men who undertook the quest, only to eventually "give up," only to then become "teachers of the mystical."  Just like any good marketplace, a little something for everybody.
(And just like any good warrior will say, "I don't want no 'somethin'!")

 A couple of thugs were plotting to do away with a certain mystic, and one of them said, "What should we do? -- kill him?"  And another of the nefarious countered, "Naw, just make him take a name."  And all of  'em had a good, hearty, and really aggressive laugh at that one.
(Awakening unexpectedly in the middle of the night, a chap suddenly sat up in bed and exclaimed, "Mein Got!--I'm full of thugs!")

 Shortly after the carnival had opened for the day, one of the showmen cupped his hands and cried out, "I want to invite any in attendance here today who feel they have any interest whatsoever in my personal life and affairs to feel free to step into my tent over here and take a royal bite of my ass."
(Without any warning, one man suddenly awoke one night, and leapt from the bed screaming,
"Mama Mia!--My insides are a flaming midway!")

 'Tis alleged that on one world they think of the mystical as being kind, caring, and all-around charitable.
'Tis further alleged that this world is a sham, shadow version of their real one.

Thursday's "Fun Quiz":

What would you have if you took the "talk, talk, talk" out of a sham mystic? Well, there's always the possibility that you'd have a real one. (Some fun, huh?)

J.

Just How Secret is The Secret?

One man wrote the I-Ain't-No-Wimp-Give-It-To-Me-Straight Doctor and asked: "What is the absolutely most disturbing description you could give of someone pursuing The Secret but never experiencing it?" And the Doctor replied, "How about being engaged in sexual intercourse for infinity without ever reaching a climax?" And the man wrote back, "Well...perhaps not the absolutely most disturbing..."

As Masters said to Johnson (as she was removing that reflective rubber suit he liked so much), "Seems a shame that man's mental operations are not similar to his sexual ones which, when they seek something, can fully enjoy finding it."

If you take the hoopla, the razzle-dazzle, the promises, and self-promotion out of a mystical system, what will you have left?  The same thing you had to begin with: a sham mystical system.

After pondering an item read earlier in The Daily News, a viewer faxed the I-Know-That-You'll-Be-Easy-With-Me Doctor and asked:
"Well, if one does not engage in 'ancestor worship,' then just how is one going to go about thinking?"
(But inasmuch as the doctor seemed disinclined on this occasion to be very gentle in his response, I don't think I'll tell you what it was.)

Tip Time Again:

The Secret is not hidden over in the departments of Philosophy or Theology.

Just how secret is The Secret:

Well, every day, ordinary men stumble over it, and in fact sometimes unknowingly laugh at it.

So, just how secret is The Secret:

Well, every day, ordinary men stumble over it, and in fact often unknowingly curse it.

J.

...Not Half as Much

After many years of sampling various mystical systems, one man says he now has a "mental yeast infection."

When this one man knew that he wasn't going anywhere, he'd sometimes make sounds "vud-en! vud-en!" like a revved-up motorcycle. His mind loved this! (Since what I is talkin' about was not going anywhere mentally.)

Whenever he'd think about it, this one guy'd think, "What a shame."
(I assume you know that he was thinkin' about his thinkin'?)

 Okay, extreme form of a previous definition: 
Intellectuals--people who want to stop the merry-go-round with no idea what they'd do after that.

One guy told another guy, "You sure do annoy me."

And the other guy said, "Yeah, but not half as much as I do myself."

And the first guy said, "So, is that supposed to make me feel better?"

And the other guy said, "Yeah, but not half as much as it should me."

J.

News from the Kitchen

"All sheep drops should be pleased to live in an ocean."

"Ah! and so they are, Captain Gerkins, they just don't realize it."

A man and a crow were sitting on a log, and the man said to the bird,
"What d'ya figure's the advantage to being in a fable, as opposed to real life?"

And as the crow was suddenly and miraculously able to understand language, it replied,
"You picked a helluva time to ask me."

News From The Kitchen:

After all's been thought, chewed, and swallowed,
Talk's the automatic dishwasher...
(or is that food disposal?...)

And Now for More Good News:

As long as you take life, as you find it,
to be serious and important,
you've got nothing to worry about.

"Answer-Me-This" Addendum:

Just who would find the above to be "good news"?

Him?

Her?

Them?

Surely not you?

J.

From Paris to Istanbul

In all your major cities, it is prohibited for the collective to be foolish.  There is good reason the more conscious are always in the minority, and it has nothing to do with their number.

Life told one guy:
"Look, if the sun gets too bright,
all you've gotta’ do is whine."

A man wrote the Now-You-See-Him-Now-You-Don't Doctor and asked:

"Dear Doctor:  If someone becomes conscious enough,
do they disappear?"

And the doctor had to ask if the writer meant physically or otherwise.

The Announcer declared,

"Let all in favor say 'Yea!' and all opposed, 'Nay!'.”
“Now shake hands and go back to being one."

Query:

Why would someone go to all the effort to travel from Paris to Istanbul and then get off the train with the same crumbs in their lap that were there when they started the trip?

J.

The Visible History of Mysticism

Well, like I said, it's no wonder this kinda stuff is so gosh-darn popular. Now, if we could only get
                                                        a blind man to see,

                                                        a deaf man to hear,

                                                        a lame man to walk,

                                                        and everyone else "up-a-thinking"

                                                        why, we might really be on to something!

 A man wrote to the I'll-Try-Not-To-Be-Too-Discouraging-If-You'll-Enclose-A-Little-Something-"Extra"-For-Me -In-Your-Letter Doctor and asked:
"Dear Doctor: Will knowing the Secret keep you from getting sick?
But the doctor had to ask the man whether he meant physically or otherwise.

The visible history of mysticism
is the invisible history of genes
made visible.

Another way by which you can be certain that you're still reasonably ordinary, is if you can listen to what the majority of your fellow men talk about as being important, without either giggling or grimacing.

J.

Animal Time

Have you ever thought about the fact that even if animals had watches, they still couldn't tell time?  And did you further ponder why?

So what could be more ridiculous than a rhino-with-a-wristwatch?
Other than a mind with a plan (a plan that can only be acted on at some future date).

The Secret is discovered
not through talking and debate,
nor is it found through devotion or faith.
So what the hell gives anyway?

 At routine level, the greater the thought -- the smaller the mind.
(Normal-running machinery tends to shrink the factory size.)

Then there was this other wolf who found he couldn't wrest physical control of the total pack, so he began howling in metaphor to some of them, and soon developed his own small following, nonetheless.

J.

Mind and Instinct

The mind is want to call instinct by any name, save its own.

Minds enjoy reflecting on history
in that it relieves them from instant action.
Why else do men read and watch sports events?

One man made a suicide pact with himself (to wit) that every time he'd say something that other people had unquestionably said before, he'd give himself at least a small, potentially fatal, blow. (You might care to know that his mind refused to participate in this scheme at all.)

Any physical artisan will say that a laborer is no better than his tools, yet where be the mental ones who likewise understand?

The idea of mental time-and-space-travel is moot in a land ruled solely be the twin regents of “Instinct” and The Mind.”  It does no good to yell, "Let me out of here!" while not knowing the confining nature of "me" to begin with.

J.

Clothing the Neural

First guy says, "It sure is disheartening to be ordinary!"

And second guy says, "Yeah, but not half as much as being ordinary and accepting it."

A Tip Regarding the Clothing of the Neural:

If indeed you are "coming apart"
it will be "at the seams."

               Note:
This is not merely a warning for the routinely "fashion conscious"or your everyday seamstress, but rather potentially useful information for those engaged in (shall we say) other kinds of construction activities, in that it points specifically where to look when things appear intent on decomposing and disintegrating.

Everyone has a weak spot:
regarding the body, it's in the genes;
regarding the mind...
well, no one really wants to get into this.

A viewer writes:

     "Okay then, if fake mystics take illness as a metaphor for life, what would real ones use?"

J.

Unsubscribe

Surveying the literature and realm of the childish mind, one young lad one day paused to ponder: "Are all our dreams of superheroes but reflections of the future potential of everyday man himself?" And after a bit more rumination, returned with, "And is this also the basis of history making past everyday men larger-than-life, heroic figures?" He then turned himself to pursuing this whole subject as regards how, more specifically, his own thinking dreamed of him.

As, when any particular physical exercise begins to hurt, you alter the way you're doing it, so too, when your mental activity is not bothering you, alter it to do so.

Just released statistics reveal that:

"Well over 90% of all mystics who persevere in their efforts past middle age do so on their yet held belief that something most spooky and mysterious still lies ahead." And a man, upon hearing this, pondered it for a moment, then said, "I was tempted to comment that if this is correct then it would account for certain temporal anomalies visible in the lives of those who pressed on with motivation other than the one noted...but, I guess, to what end?”

 According to a certain tale, there are intellectually active beings on one world whose conscious sense of self is not confined to their head...And a nearby star nudged itself in the ribs and said, "Did you hear that?"

And a viewer writes: "Who can I write to at The News to tell you that I'm not going to follow you any more?"

J.

Out on the Highway

The Mental Soccer League on one planet was dominated by two powerful teams: the "Tell-Me-All-About-It Tigers," and the "You've-Got-It-All-Wrong-Let-Me-Straighten-You-Out Seahawks." At one time there was a third team who battled for supremacy, but at the full league's urging, it was eventually banned from competition. They were known as the "Keep-It-To-Yourself Clamdiggers," and Sweet  Jesus--what a potent threat they posed! If only you could have seen them in their prime!

In one land, it was decided that no one could speak on a matter publicly in which they had an interest in the audience's response thereto.  It turned out that only a mystic could be allowed to speak publicly (and of course they wouldn't have much to say).

So mused another mystical stable hand:  "Why work to break a wild stallion when you can just turn him loose...with the same result in our case."

Those who know The Secret
are like men in glass houses
with glass houses inside of them.

If you can rouse a mystic from his sleep, he's no longer a mystic.

Out on the Highway:

The simple enjoy blowing their horns,
while the sophisticated enjoy reproving the simple for their horn blowing,
with the additional satisfaction of congratulating each other for
their enlightened condemnation.

 Moral:

If you're gonna’ tailgate somebody, get behind a man with no horn.

J.

Nothing

All great theories sound great,
but all small efforts are great.

Most of a mystic's audience is never seen,and cannot respond -- it is the future.

If you would like some reassurance in support of one of your suspicions:
Yes, life is staying extremely tight-lipped about one particular subject.

The picture of pouring oil on troubled waters as symbolism for a calming effect was swiped from knowing-the-secret.

In a land where metaphor threatens to absorb reality, and two and three flee in the face of higher dimensions, there is where the Few are always found to have made temporary camp.

The key word in reference to all transcendental travel locations is "temporary." (That and every other word uttered thereabout).

Nothing:

what you say when you care enough to say the very best.

J.

Once Upon Another Time

And now from our "Once Upon Another Time" storybook comes this little tale:

 Once upon a time there was a man who decided that he'd talk about another state of mental awareness potential in man to those so interested, but knew in advance that people would expect to be given some specific method by which to achieve the state, while also knowing quite well that no matter what directions he might give, and no matter their good intentions and efforts, few would ever succeed...So, that being the case he considered not offering any directions at all.

 And ultimately, there he sat, pondering which would present the least possible distraction: giving specific instructions, which they expected, and which he knew the limitations and high failure rate thereof; or telling them nothing in particular to do, and watching their irritated squirming lead to similar numbers of dropouts. De End Again.

Long ago it was said that, "Argumentation and disputation are proof of unclear thinking." But let me update and clarify it for you, "Thoughts are proof of unclear thinking."

One disarming talent of the mind is its ability to keep the reality of something at bay by a ceaseless "thinking-about-it."

J.

Lesser Uses of Consciousness

From a more expansive view:
thinking is one of the lesser uses to make of consciousness.

Blindness (at the transcendental level) is caused by agitation.

And it finally -- finally -- FINALLY -- struck one man:

"If I don't listen to myself, I won't have to talk to myself."

Common among those with an initial interest in faraway knowledge is to consume travel books, climb up into trees, get on top of tall buildings in Paris with telescopes to try and get a glimpse of the mysterious mountaintops arising in Istanbul, and of course join discussion groups with those of similar interests.

Past a certain point, a mystic tells he is making progress by the fact that such distinctions are less and less clear.

A man who knows what he is
 doesn't have to say what he is.

J.