I choose the red pill, in a very blue pill world
I'm lately digging through my old theological journals from when I was in the throes of religious studies, and there's some really good stuff in there! Mind you, it might end up succinctly portraying the title of my overall blog, as some of this stuff really is "musings of a madman." But I'm finding some real gems.
There is surely much that could be dismissed, argued, and even corrected. BUT, I'm going to start sharing some of these old writings, just to get the stuff out there. To understand this particular post better? Just watch "The Matrix." That'll give you enough grounding to understand where my thoughts were at the time -- as that movie played a major role in my master's thesis at UNCG. (Although the movie is not required watching if you just wanna sojourn through the deep, dark recesses of my mind without a seatbelt!)
Post from 8/26/1999? in Tate Street (Greensboro) Coffee House
Breathe deep. Prepare for the journey. Thinking lately along the lines of the whole "power of positive thinking" and "create your own reality" realms of thought. I have seen this manner of approaching the universe successfully put into action by others -- and was even recently finally converted such that I, too, was able to "create my own reality." Maybe there is something to all that hocus-pocus nonsense?
In class, one of my fellow students discussed the sudden emergence of faith that children experience when winter arrives; that magical expectation of the first snowfall of the year. Such that those who may not have an actively strong faith or prayer life find themselves praying to God, asking for the snow to come.
Is it possible to will the snow into being a reality? If one really wanted it to snow, can they make their own wishes come true? How much power is there in the human mind? In our consciousness? Can we create our own reality?
Lyall Watson, in "Gifts of Unknown Things," touches on this material, discussing the disappearance of trees which he witnesses first-hand. Sleight of mind? Hallucination? Exaggeration of truth? He writes, "And when I thought about it, it didn't seem strange that a child should be able to grasp the complex notion that reality is constructed by the mind. It is not a new notion . . . but it is something self-evident to every child. . . . Just that children hold it and know it to be true."
Once again, the power of belief ostensibly lies greater in children. So, can the children will it to snow, if they had some sort of a collective consciousness? Or need there even be a collective? What if one child can want snow bad enough to actually cause snow to BE? What if I can get in touch with that child within me, lurking behind the shadows of convention and control? If I can free myself from the mental slavery imposed by the scientific paradigm, which tells me I have no control over -- indeed, not even any connection to -- snow, or trees, or anything? To a certain extent, that imposed "reality" has even denied me control over myself. I am reckless and oblivious; trapped in "the Matrix."
My friend Heidi raises a good question: What if there are opposing minds or opposing wills? Such that one says "I will the snow into existence right now" -- but then another one is saying "I will that it will not snow"? The latter already has the advantage -- in the current absence of snow. However, which mind shall become victorious? Perhaps it depends on who has the stronger desire of will. If these two hypothetical minds duel, it may depend solely on who believes in themselves more. However, as previously stated, the latter mind has more chance of believing in itself, as it simply works with what is already established "reality."
So, the former mind has a harder hill to climb -- much more space to traverse towards manifesting their will. BUT -- what if that mind is up to the challenge? If its thinking/imagining/creating (divine creative power?) can fill the gap/space/void, thereby connecting two previously disparate notions -- that of reality as it is popularly perceived, and the other: the imaginal; the impossible (so-called); the mythical; if the void can be filled, then two disparate, distinct realities must encounter one another -- must enter into dialogue. Then, possibly anything is possible. Thus, with a childlike approach to what "reality" can be, maybe like Neo at the end of "The Matrix," I will finally be able to fly.
Observing a flock of seagulls in flight, or witnessing eagles spiraling in circles, smacks of some form of communication. Obviously, these sentient beings are not just stupid animals. Something very bizarre and intense and structured is going on; they are communicating. How can I perceive or understand their vocabulary? Their syntax? Must I learn to fly in order to understand them, or must I first understand them in order to fly? Or are these one in the same?
If I could escape my mental constraints, that scientific paradigm which precludes the possibility of flying, then perhaps I would allow myself to simply BE. Birds just BE, don't they? They don't have to worry about paying taxes or covering genitals or learning to read. And they especially don't have to worry about (A) what the other birds (or other animals) think about them, and (B) whether anything is possible or impossible. Thus, they fly.
As they have no need to think about "god," they simply are god. It is one of the purest forms of creativity -- or creation -- that humankind has ever witnessed. We attempt to mimic their flight; but ours is thusfar possible only via the realm of our self-constructed and self-perpetuated so-called scientific reality. Hence, only through blueprints, hypotheses, manipulation of natural (and economic) resources, scientific method, and trial and error are we able to achieve that which comes so natural to those who simply do what they feel to do.
Mind you -- it is simply amazing that humankind has the ability to fly, due to the existence of airplanes (and hang-gliders, etc). But, the question arises: if we have the pre-existent concept of flying, and we now have the palpably visible ability to fly, thus following through or giving creation to that conception (calling such flying into being) -- then why did we need the airplane in the first place?
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNExnS9mZ0p8XEVkc8QhmyVGKje8dQb1Ia_Y-c1
* Seagull pic taken in Barcelona. Church steeple video with birds interacting taken in Montfrin, France.
There is surely much that could be dismissed, argued, and even corrected. BUT, I'm going to start sharing some of these old writings, just to get the stuff out there. To understand this particular post better? Just watch "The Matrix." That'll give you enough grounding to understand where my thoughts were at the time -- as that movie played a major role in my master's thesis at UNCG. (Although the movie is not required watching if you just wanna sojourn through the deep, dark recesses of my mind without a seatbelt!)
Post from 8/26/1999? in Tate Street (Greensboro) Coffee House
Breathe deep. Prepare for the journey. Thinking lately along the lines of the whole "power of positive thinking" and "create your own reality" realms of thought. I have seen this manner of approaching the universe successfully put into action by others -- and was even recently finally converted such that I, too, was able to "create my own reality." Maybe there is something to all that hocus-pocus nonsense?
In class, one of my fellow students discussed the sudden emergence of faith that children experience when winter arrives; that magical expectation of the first snowfall of the year. Such that those who may not have an actively strong faith or prayer life find themselves praying to God, asking for the snow to come.
Is it possible to will the snow into being a reality? If one really wanted it to snow, can they make their own wishes come true? How much power is there in the human mind? In our consciousness? Can we create our own reality?
Lyall Watson, in "Gifts of Unknown Things," touches on this material, discussing the disappearance of trees which he witnesses first-hand. Sleight of mind? Hallucination? Exaggeration of truth? He writes, "And when I thought about it, it didn't seem strange that a child should be able to grasp the complex notion that reality is constructed by the mind. It is not a new notion . . . but it is something self-evident to every child. . . . Just that children hold it and know it to be true."
Once again, the power of belief ostensibly lies greater in children. So, can the children will it to snow, if they had some sort of a collective consciousness? Or need there even be a collective? What if one child can want snow bad enough to actually cause snow to BE? What if I can get in touch with that child within me, lurking behind the shadows of convention and control? If I can free myself from the mental slavery imposed by the scientific paradigm, which tells me I have no control over -- indeed, not even any connection to -- snow, or trees, or anything? To a certain extent, that imposed "reality" has even denied me control over myself. I am reckless and oblivious; trapped in "the Matrix."
My friend Heidi raises a good question: What if there are opposing minds or opposing wills? Such that one says "I will the snow into existence right now" -- but then another one is saying "I will that it will not snow"? The latter already has the advantage -- in the current absence of snow. However, which mind shall become victorious? Perhaps it depends on who has the stronger desire of will. If these two hypothetical minds duel, it may depend solely on who believes in themselves more. However, as previously stated, the latter mind has more chance of believing in itself, as it simply works with what is already established "reality."
So, the former mind has a harder hill to climb -- much more space to traverse towards manifesting their will. BUT -- what if that mind is up to the challenge? If its thinking/imagining/creating (divine creative power?) can fill the gap/space/void, thereby connecting two previously disparate notions -- that of reality as it is popularly perceived, and the other: the imaginal; the impossible (so-called); the mythical; if the void can be filled, then two disparate, distinct realities must encounter one another -- must enter into dialogue. Then, possibly anything is possible. Thus, with a childlike approach to what "reality" can be, maybe like Neo at the end of "The Matrix," I will finally be able to fly.
Observing a flock of seagulls in flight, or witnessing eagles spiraling in circles, smacks of some form of communication. Obviously, these sentient beings are not just stupid animals. Something very bizarre and intense and structured is going on; they are communicating. How can I perceive or understand their vocabulary? Their syntax? Must I learn to fly in order to understand them, or must I first understand them in order to fly? Or are these one in the same?
If I could escape my mental constraints, that scientific paradigm which precludes the possibility of flying, then perhaps I would allow myself to simply BE. Birds just BE, don't they? They don't have to worry about paying taxes or covering genitals or learning to read. And they especially don't have to worry about (A) what the other birds (or other animals) think about them, and (B) whether anything is possible or impossible. Thus, they fly.
As they have no need to think about "god," they simply are god. It is one of the purest forms of creativity -- or creation -- that humankind has ever witnessed. We attempt to mimic their flight; but ours is thusfar possible only via the realm of our self-constructed and self-perpetuated so-called scientific reality. Hence, only through blueprints, hypotheses, manipulation of natural (and economic) resources, scientific method, and trial and error are we able to achieve that which comes so natural to those who simply do what they feel to do.
Mind you -- it is simply amazing that humankind has the ability to fly, due to the existence of airplanes (and hang-gliders, etc). But, the question arises: if we have the pre-existent concept of flying, and we now have the palpably visible ability to fly, thus following through or giving creation to that conception (calling such flying into being) -- then why did we need the airplane in the first place?
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNExnS9mZ0p8XEVkc8QhmyVGKje8dQb1Ia_Y-c1
* Seagull pic taken in Barcelona. Church steeple video with birds interacting taken in Montfrin, France.
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