man_in_the_velvet_mask
The
Man in the Velvet Mask
alt="Illustration Copyright Michal Finegold"
title="Illustration Copyright Michal Finegold"
src="http://dailyskew.com/bestofskew/ds/prisoner.gif" width="500" height="500">
Waiting on line at the post office has to be the most boring
“activity” in the entire world, thought Denton
Morris. The 30-year old computer programmer stopped off at the mail
center during his lunch break (which would not be spent eating lunch).
Denton
was named after Denton True Young, more commonly known as Cy Young, the
legendary baseball pitcher. The “Cyclone” won over
500 games, a feat that will never be surpassed. Although the Denton of
today was not a superhuman baseball player, he was quite a successful
programmer in his own right.
He was on line (not
“online”) because he had to return a package
containing DVD’s back to the company. Denton had ordered the
complete second season of Quantum Leap, only to receive the complete
first season of Babylon 5. So now he had to wait on a long line, miss
his afternoon meal, and then hurry back to work on an empty stomach.
Oh, and he had to pay for the shipping cost.
Denton’s
mind wandered aimlessly until he finally began to scan who else was
suffering on line with him. There were 10 people ahead of him, but the
most important person was behind him.
Denton
nonchalantly turned around and saw an interesting character. It was
impossible to tell his age- he could have been 25 or 45. This man was
wearing a black beret, a black turtleneck, black khakis, and white
suspenders. Their eyes met, and the fellow smiled.
“I
could think of better ways to spend my mid-afternoon,” the
stranger laughed. “I work over at the Borders on Lincoln and
41st. I don’t have any breaks, and I work ‘till
eleven.”
“Yeah, I work at Simple
Network Solutions on Bedford Avenue. I am totally going to spend my
lunch break here. I can’t believe they only have two workers
here,” Denton responded.
“It
seems that every place is understaffed… Denton,”
the mystery man said.
“What? How did you
know my name?” Denton exclaimed.
“It’s
written on the return address on your package,” the man
smiled.
“Oh…heh.,.heh.,.sorry I got so
defensive,” Denton said embarrassingly.
“By
the way…my name is Dace.”
“Nice
to meet you, Dace.”
“Wow,”
Dace interrupted. “Take a look at that smooth velvet dress
that woman is wearing.”
All of a sudden a
rush of a forgotten memory invaded Denton’s body. He had
recalled a recurring dream of his, one that he had not remembered
because his alarm clock had awakened him.
Denton
replayed the dream in his head.
***
alt="Illustration Copyright Michal Finegold"
title="Illustration Copyright Michal Finegold"
src="http://dailyskew.com/bestofskew/ds/cell.gif" width="300" height="300">
I
was in a cell of an old prison, actually more of a dungeon. The room
was made of solid gray stones. The ceiling was ridiculously high, with
a window that could never be reached. Only a bucket full of my waste
kept me company.
A rusty iron door prevented me from
leaving. Thankfully, there was a section of metal bars that allowed me
to peer out of this hell.
I heard a commotion coming
from down the massive hallway. Although I could not see any other cell
doors, I was able to see a group of French or English guards leading
someone down the hallway.
This prisoner had his hands
tied in front of him with a rope. He wore a white shirt with long
sleeves. He wore no shoes or socks. His brown pants were ripped and
dirty. But his face…his face was covered with a purple
velvet mask.
His head was bowed down, looking at the
floor. I felt his pain. While looking at his covered countenance, I
felt compassion for the new prisoner.
The guards led
the man in the velvet mask past my cell. I saw the profile of the dark
smooth mask. Why keep his identity a secret? I thought. If someone
powerful did not want anyone to know who the prisoner was, or if he
held some royal secret, why not kill him?
Like all
dreams, logic was defied as suddenly the man was in my cell with me.
Looking at this enigmatic man was surreal. I slowly lifted my right
hand and placed it on the side of the velvet disguise. It felt silky.
Then
I quickly ripped the violet veil from his head, dropping it on the
floor…and saw the face of…an ape?
I
was obviously taken aback. Then I noticed that the ape’s face
was not quite right. So I pointed my finger and waved it back and
forth, like I was saying, “Nah, I don’t think
so.” Of course, being in a dream, how I knew that the
ape’s face was another mask is beyond me.
I
put my hand on the ape mask and ripped it off, dropping it on the
floor…and saw the face of…God?
Then
I woke up.
***
After Denton told
Dace the dream he thanked him for triggering his memory, and then
asked, “What do you think the dream means, Dace?”
“Dreams
are motion pictures that our subconscious plays every night for us. But
unlike some Hollywood ‘blockbusters’ these movies
have a deeper meaning. What does the dream mean to you?” Dace
asked.
There were only three people in front of
Denton now.
“Well, there are so
many emotions that are being evoked. But maybe the message is to not be
so curious about things?” Denton mused.
“Maybe,”
Dace said slowly. “Is there anything you have planned in the
near future, say traveling or a new job- something to that
effect.”
“No…”
the computer programmer responded. “The truth is that I am
not adventurous, spontaneous, or dynamic.”
“What
a choice of words, Denton!”
“Maybe
the dream is telling me to stop hiding from my true potential. Although
I am a very competent programmer, I could never take my abilities and
skills to the next level. I’m afraid, Dace. I’m
afraid of success.”
Now there was only one
person in front of Denton.
“What are you
going to do about it now?” Dace inquired.
“First,
I am going to ask for an increase…get a more responsible
role at work, maybe become a manager.”
“Well
that’s a great first step,” Dace smiled.
“I’ll be seeing you,” he said as he
started to leave the line.
“Where are you
going?” Denton shouted. Then he noticed that Dace did not
have a package to mail. He did not notice that before.
“My
work here is done, Cy,” the Dream Seeker said as he left the
post office.
Denton shook his head, as he was a bit
confused as to who Dace really was. However, he did feel a new sense of
confidence, something that he had not felt since his father died. It
was finally his turn on line, and he finally paid the postage.
***
Six months later, after Denton – make that
‘Cy’, as he was called now- was promoted, he wanted
to go on a trip to France with his new girlfriend.
Cy
and Lillian were standing on line (of course) at the airport, as the
security officers were checking bags. It was a necessary inconvenience
because of the threat of terrorism.
Lillian was a
petite Latina with long golden hair. She was no taller than five feet
and had a gorgeous tan. She had met Cy at a festival downtown, shortly
after that day at the post office. She was impressed with his outgoing
nature and stability.
“Lily,” Cy
said as he looked into her deep brown eyes, “These last six
months have been the happiest period in my life. I want you to know
that I have a surprise for you once we land in Paris.”
“A
surprise? I like surprises,” she laughed.
“Well,”
Cy said as his lips turned into a glowing smile,
“You’ll love this one,” he said as his
hand was fingering the wedding ring in his pocket.
Suddenly
out of nowhere, there was a commotion and screaming coming from behind
them.
A man’s voice was heard making
violent threats. Then multiple gunshots were fired. This resulted in
mass hysteria, as everyone started to run away from the scene or to
take cover. Cy was cautiously holding Lillian, trying to get a look at
what was transpiring. She started to get scared, as everyone else was
pushing and running in a state of panic.
Then Cy saw
the man causing all of the chaos.
Surrounded by the
bleeding bodies of three security guards there stood a man holding a
semi-automatic weapon. He was wearing white robes, and was wearing a
purple hood or facemask.
“Get to cover,
Lily,” Cy ordered. “I’ll follow you in a
second,” he said as he slowly walked toward the madman,
almost in a sleepwalking state. He had to see what the mask was made
of, and he was oblivious to everything around him.
His
suspicions were correct; it was a man in the velvet mask. Cy felt a
shock in his chest. It seemed as if time slowed down to a crawl. He
vaguely heard Lillian cry out his name several times.
In
slow motion he took his eyes off the man in the velvet mask and looked
down at his chest. He had been shot. His knees dropped to the ground,
and his vision began to fade into whiteness. The last thing he saw
before he died was the man in the velvet mask. Then everything went
white, and a feeling of peace permeated through his essence.
***
Around a week later, Cy’s family and friends attended his
funeral. Lillian seemed to take his death the hardest, as she was
practically crying non-stop.
Dace was at the
gravesite. He had seen the news about the tragedy at the airport. It
turns out that the lunatic was not a terrorist; he escaped from the
mental rehabilitation center in North Carolina, and purchased the
weapon at a gun show in Florida. The guards finally took him down after
six people were murdered, including Cy.
Lillian was
still holding her handkerchief to her face, still sobbing before Dace
finally approached her.
“Hi, I was a friend
of Cy’s,” the Dream Seeker spoke softly.
“Was Cy happy?”
“Yes,”
she moaned. “But that animal took him from me!”
“Lillian,
I feel your pain, and am sorry for your loss. But I am certain Cy is
still happy.”
“Why?”
she spat.
“Because he lived the last six
months of his life to the fullest,” he said as he held her on
her shoulder, close to his chest.
“And he
knew you.”
“But the last thing he
saw was that brutal animal…that vicious ape,” she
cried.
“No…no Lillian. The last
thing he saw was God.”
University of North Texas Music Library’s collection strikes chord with scholars – Dallas Morning News –
Dream Seeker –
Job Seeker Tip: You need to find out what motivates you in order to find your dream job. Stay tuned today to see…
BETH-EVER SINCE I MET YOU I KNEW THERE WAS NO OBSTACLE TOO BIG FOR YOU-AND YOU HAVE PROVED IT OVER AND OVER! WHEN YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE HEADED FOR THE AIR FORCE I KNEW IMMEDIATELY I KNEW BEYOND A DOUBT THAT YOU WOULD “SHOOT FOR THE MOON” AND THAT ONE DAY YOU WOULD BE AN ASTRONAUT! BETH-YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR HEART TO -YOU ARE ONE OF THE MOST SPECIAL PEOPLE I HAVE EVER KNOWN AND I AM PROUD TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WATCH YOU GROW UP AND BECOME A DREAM SEEKER IN EVERY WAY. AS I'VE ALWAYS TOLD YOU-I LOVE YOU AND WOULD BE PROUD IF YOU WERE MY DAUGHTER. KEEP FOLLOWING THAT DREAM WITH GOD BY YOUR SIDE-YOU ARE TRULY DESTINED FOR MORE GREAT THINGS-LOVE YOU BUNCHES-MARSHA
The Dream of Separation
All there is is No-thing Being Everything and what appears as part of that everything is the belief and experience of being a separate self — an apparent individual with its own free will, choice and ability to act. This happening is uniquely human and is called self-consciousness. To most people it is the reality.
That apparent feeling of being separate is at the root of the suffering, inadequacy and sense of loss that drives people to search for escape or resolution. It is Being dreaming that it is apart from itself, looking all over the place for that which is already Everything. It is the hypnotic dream of separation which, for the dreamer, is very real.
The dilemma for the dream seeker is that the feeling of separation drives the seeking for resolution, which further fuels the sense of separation.
The development of an intelligent understanding 'mind' apparently brings with it the ability to make choices and take actions in an attempt to negotiate with 'the world' lived in. These negotiations are not always successful and the individual seems to experience its own pain and pleasure. It also develops a great respect for the guidance and control apparently emanating from the understanding 'mind'. However, as long as there is a sense of separation, there is a sense of disquiet or loss and there is a seeking to dispel that sense. It seems logical that the much respected understanding 'mind' must be capable of investigating the cause of this disquiet and discovering ways of dispelling it.
The separate entity can only try to imagine or project an idea of what it must be like not to be separate. What is sought is the possibility of a future goal or state that can be realised and therefore, logically, must be approachable. Consequently, the function of seeking and the teaching of becoming locks the seeker into a state of continuously approaching something that it cannot comprehend. All of this is the expression of Being, arising as the good, old, dependable and reliable understanding ‘mind’ functioning as it can only function . . . in continual movement and anticipation. It is this activity of becoming which very effectively keeps the seeker in the hypnotic dream of reaching out for something it cannot grasp. Of course, Liberation can apparently happen despite all of this effort.
The only other hope for the dream seeker is to believe that another benevolent energy (say God, Consciousness or a so-called enlightened teacher) would be motivated to guide and influence the seeker along a path which would eventually lead them to fulfilment. All of these ideas of becoming, purpose and destiny arise in the dream.
But the paradox is that although Being appears as the dream seeker, Being is not a state that can be imagined, conceived of, attained or even realised by the seeking of it. Being requires absolutely nothing … it is the Nothing and Everything that is already immaculate fulfilment and wholeness. Nothing needs to be changed or attained, lost or found, for Being to simply Be. The appearance of separation is simply the expression of Being. The very idea of something needing to approach that which it already is, is wonderfully futile. Being is a comedian with an audience which never laughs.
The dream seeker feels a sense of loss and unworthiness, and so is very attracted to dream teachings which involve purification, hard committed effort, surrender, devotion and the development of renunciation and detachment. There is a kind of logical inevitability and worthiness about these ideas which resonates with the sense of lack. The almost endless path of striving happily ensures the continuation of the individual experience. These ideas seem to arise out of a very substantial and reliable history of traditional wisdom which surely must be respected, even though it is only available as words on bits of paper.
Two traditional ways which seek resolution, or escape, from the sense of separation are meditation and self-enquiry.
In meditation it seems possible, through apparent choice and guidance, to reach certain states of stillness or bliss which seem better than feeling separate. The belief is that continuous effort with meditation will solidify the state and eventually make it permanent. But these states are only refined personal experiences happening within the dream-story. So like all other time-based activities they come and go away.
Self-enquiry is a similar process in that the goal is for the individual to choose to take action or make the effort to reach a place called awareness which, its teachers promise, will bring personal peace of mind, happiness and the end of all suffering (?).
There is a great emphasis on the need for properly carried out investigation of thought processes etc, and the necessity for vigilance from “being distracted by self-centred thoughts”.
All of this activity is based on the principle of the enquirer “getting oneness” and maintaining personal possession of it.
The effect of the state of awareness is apparent movement into a place of detachment which at first feels very freeing, powerful and safe . . . rather like being in a glass box from which life can be watched without the watcher being affected. It is still a subtly dual personal experience within the dream-story of separation and so it is transitory.
Awareness of life happening is not 'Being life'.
Predictably the state of awareness (Buddhist mindfulness) is easily forgotten or mislaid, or it can be overwhelmed by dream thinking or any powerful emotional situation, for instance. The glass box shatters and the place you seemed to be in seems lost again. The dream seeker either starts self-enquiring again, for another boost, or it is realised that awareness is just another refuge from within the dream of separation. All of this is simply the expression of Being.
Another way for the dream seeker to avoid simply Being is to try to understand or develop clarity about its own nature. It is very easy to get stuck in ‘Advaita’ or ‘non-dual’ concepts. The singular and unrelenting reiteration of such ideas as “all there is is Being”, “everything is the expression of Being” or “there is no one” are an arid and simplistic form of communication. It doesn't address or illuminate the dream seeker’s apparent dilemma and it obviously ignores the primary energetic essence of the implicit aliveness of simply Being.
To continuously say that being awake or being asleep is not relevant because “Being is all there is” is like telling a blind person that it’s OK to be blind because “seeing is all there is”. This is pure idealism. Of course, there is no such thing as being asleep or being awake, but this is not seen until there is no one looking.
The Open Secret communication is not dependent on clear concepts, however much they may expose confused concepts. Speaking happens and words can only point to another possibility which is beyond verbal expression. It is the eternally new message which is hidden within the scriptures and either overlooked or rejected in the ‘mind’.
The idea of prescriptive teaching, guidance or the offer of any kind of help simply does not arise. This is a message without hope or comfort of any kind for the individual, but invariably the dream seeker will still believe that something is on offer … this is the function of seeking. It is also possible that all that will be left is nothing, and then another possibility could arise. However, there is no agenda or motive because nothing is for sale.
It is possible that clarity could arise, but absolute understanding is not liberation. Nevertheless, all of this conceptual communication is secondary to the primary element that is most illuminating. That primary element is energetic, impersonal aliveness … the implicit, vibrant wonder of simply Being. It is an energetic shift, apparently out of contraction into boundlessness. This boundlessness cannot be owned and so cannot be given. Its simplicity utterly confounds the ‘mind’, but what arises is an impersonal recognition that there is no-one and nothing to be liberated. All ideas of separation, individual suffering, free will, choice, meaning and purpose, destiny, hierarchy and tradition, are simply seen by no-one as the dream-play of Being.
It seems that the seeking ‘mind’ is fascinated by struggle and complexity. The whole fabric of seeking is full of stories of great edifices, seemingly arising out of simple beginnings. Buddhism, Christianity and so many other dogmas, arise and grow and fight each other over having better gods. Catechisms of sin and worthiness, degrees of awareness and levels of enlightenment are investigated, dissected and struggled over.
The mind loves the idea of enlightenment being some kind of distant, virtually unobtainable, perfect place of permanent bliss, free from suffering and full of omniscience, omnipresence and lots of other important ‘omni’s’ stomping around, shouting the odds and saving the world. And of course, because all this glory and specialness has to be attained, it seems there has to be a long haul through the dark night of the soul, endless past karmas, original sin, right-thinking, right action and preparation for the bardos. “It is a tale told by a fool, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Yet Natural Being is such an ordinary and gentle constant. When it is seen it is. When it is avoided it is. It requires no effort and demands no standards. Being timeless there is no path to tread, no debt to pay. When this is heard and confusion collapses, when the contraction of struggling to get something falls away and the vibrant energy of being aliveness becomes apparent, something else is seen, very naturally of course, because it is already all that is.
Tony Parsons
1st July 2006
Tragedy of thrill seeker Matt
It seems that competitive people aren't able to encourage others to realize their dreams because the dream-seeker might pass them up.
Mask Costume | Halloween Costume Accessories For Sale: Paypal US $9.45, white black velvet face…
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open, granite, stainless viking RT Q2What fills ur dream kitchen? Counter intel? Stainless seeker? plan? pls RT #homespachat
The Dream of Separation
All there is is No-thing Being Everything and what appears as part of that everything is the belief and experience of being a separate self — an apparent individual with its own free will, choice and ability to act. This happening is uniquely human and is called self-consciousness. To most people it is the reality.
That apparent feeling of being separate is at the root of the suffering, inadequacy and sense of loss that drives people to search for escape or resolution. It is Being dreaming that it is apart from itself, looking all over the place for that which is already Everything. It is the hypnotic dream of separation which, for the dreamer, is very real.
The dilemma for the dream seeker is that the feeling of separation drives the seeking for resolution, which further fuels the sense of separation.
The development of an intelligent understanding 'mind' apparently brings with it the ability to make choices and take actions in an attempt to negotiate with 'the world' lived in. These negotiations are not always successful and the individual seems to experience its own pain and pleasure. It also develops a great respect for the guidance and control apparently emanating from the understanding 'mind'. However, as long as there is a sense of separation, there is a sense of disquiet or loss and there is a seeking to dispel that sense. It seems logical that the much respected understanding 'mind' must be capable of investigating the cause of this disquiet and discovering ways of dispelling it.
The separate entity can only try to imagine or project an idea of what it must be like not to be separate. What is sought is the possibility of a future goal or state that can be realised and therefore, logically, must be approachable. Consequently, the function of seeking and the teaching of becoming locks the seeker into a state of continuously approaching something that it cannot comprehend. All of this is the expression of Being, arising as the good, old, dependable and reliable understanding ‘mind’ functioning as it can only function . . . in continual movement and anticipation. It is this activity of becoming which very effectively keeps the seeker in the hypnotic dream of reaching out for something it cannot grasp. Of course, Liberation can apparently happen despite all of this effort.
The only other hope for the dream seeker is to believe that another benevolent energy (say God, Consciousness or a so-called enlightened teacher) would be motivated to guide and influence the seeker along a path which would eventually lead them to fulfilment. All of these ideas of becoming, purpose and destiny arise in the dream.
But the paradox is that although Being appears as the dream seeker, Being is not a state that can be imagined, conceived of, attained or even realised by the seeking of it. Being requires absolutely nothing … it is the Nothing and Everything that is already immaculate fulfilment and wholeness. Nothing needs to be changed or attained, lost or found, for Being to simply Be. The appearance of separation is simply the expression of Being. The very idea of something needing to approach that which it already is, is wonderfully futile. Being is a comedian with an audience which never laughs.
The dream seeker feels a sense of loss and unworthiness, and so is very attracted to dream teachings which involve purification, hard committed effort, surrender, devotion and the development of renunciation and detachment. There is a kind of logical inevitability and worthiness about these ideas which resonates with the sense of lack. The almost endless path of striving happily ensures the continuation of the individual experience. These ideas seem to arise out of a very substantial and reliable history of traditional wisdom which surely must be respected, even though it is only available as words on bits of paper.
Two traditional ways which seek resolution, or escape, from the sense of separation are meditation and self-enquiry.
In meditation it seems possible, through apparent choice and guidance, to reach certain states of stillness or bliss which seem better than feeling separate. The belief is that continuous effort with meditation will solidify the state and eventually make it permanent. But these states are only refined personal experiences happening within the dream-story. So like all other time-based activities they come and go away.
Self-enquiry is a similar process in that the goal is for the individual to choose to take action or make the effort to reach a place called awareness which, its teachers promise, will bring personal peace of mind, happiness and the end of all suffering (?).
There is a great emphasis on the need for properly carried out investigation of thought processes etc, and the necessity for vigilance from “being distracted by self-centred thoughts”.
All of this activity is based on the principle of the enquirer “getting oneness” and maintaining personal possession of it.
The effect of the state of awareness is apparent movement into a place of detachment which at first feels very freeing, powerful and safe . . . rather like being in a glass box from which life can be watched without the watcher being affected. It is still a subtly dual personal experience within the dream-story of separation and so it is transitory.
Awareness of life happening is not 'Being life'.
Predictably the state of awareness (Buddhist mindfulness) is easily forgotten or mislaid, or it can be overwhelmed by dream thinking or any powerful emotional situation, for instance. The glass box shatters and the place you seemed to be in seems lost again. The dream seeker either starts self-enquiring again, for another boost, or it is realised that awareness is just another refuge from within the dream of separation. All of this is simply the expression of Being.
Another way for the dream seeker to avoid simply Being is to try to understand or develop clarity about its own nature. It is very easy to get stuck in ‘Advaita’ or ‘non-dual’ concepts. The singular and unrelenting reiteration of such ideas as “all there is is Being”, “everything is the expression of Being” or “there is no one” are an arid and simplistic form of communication. It doesn't address or illuminate the dream seeker’s apparent dilemma and it obviously ignores the primary energetic essence of the implicit aliveness of simply Being.
To continuously say that being awake or being asleep is not relevant because “Being is all there is” is like telling a blind person that it’s OK to be blind because “seeing is all there is”. This is pure idealism. Of course, there is no such thing as being asleep or being awake, but this is not seen until there is no one looking.
The Open Secret communication is not dependent on clear concepts, however much they may expose confused concepts. Speaking happens and words can only point to another possibility which is beyond verbal expression. It is the eternally new message which is hidden within the scriptures and either overlooked or rejected in the ‘mind’.
The idea of prescriptive teaching, guidance or the offer of any kind of help simply does not arise. This is a message without hope or comfort of any kind for the individual, but invariably the dream seeker will still believe that something is on offer … this is the function of seeking. It is also possible that all that will be left is nothing, and then another possibility could arise. However, there is no agenda or motive because nothing is for sale.
It is possible that clarity could arise, but absolute understanding is not liberation. Nevertheless, all of this conceptual communication is secondary to the primary element that is most illuminating. That primary element is energetic, impersonal aliveness … the implicit, vibrant wonder of simply Being. It is an energetic shift, apparently out of contraction into boundlessness. This boundlessness cannot be owned and so cannot be given. Its simplicity utterly confounds the ‘mind’, but what arises is an impersonal recognition that there is no-one and nothing to be liberated. All ideas of separation, individual suffering, free will, choice, meaning and purpose, destiny, hierarchy and tradition, are simply seen by no-one as the dream-play of Being.
It seems that the seeking ‘mind’ is fascinated by struggle and complexity. The whole fabric of seeking is full of stories of great edifices, seemingly arising out of simple beginnings. Buddhism, Christianity and so many other dogmas, arise and grow and fight each other over having better gods. Catechisms of sin and worthiness, degrees of awareness and levels of enlightenment are investigated, dissected and struggled over.
The mind loves the idea of enlightenment being some kind of distant, virtually unobtainable, perfect place of permanent bliss, free from suffering and full of omniscience, omnipresence and lots of other important ‘omni’s’ stomping around, shouting the odds and saving the world. And of course, because all this glory and specialness has to be attained, it seems there has to be a long haul through the dark night of the soul, endless past karmas, original sin, right-thinking, right action and preparation for the bardos. “It is a tale told by a fool, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Yet Natural Being is such an ordinary and gentle constant. When it is seen it is. When it is avoided it is. It requires no effort and demands no standards. Being timeless there is no path to tread, no debt to pay. When this is heard and confusion collapses, when the contraction of struggling to get something falls away and the vibrant energy of being aliveness becomes apparent, something else is seen, very naturally of course, because it is already all that is.
Tony Parsons
1st July 2006
Weird man in bar wearing chrome mask & red velvet robe like misplaced eyes wide shut extra. Allegedly there's some voodoo party theme.For 1.
The Dream Seeker (Hardcover) newly tagged "fiction" –
The Dream of Separation
All there is is No-thing Being Everything and what appears as part of that everything is the belief and experience of being a separate self — an apparent individual with its own free will, choice and ability to act. This happening is uniquely human and is called self-consciousness. To most people it is the reality.
That apparent feeling of being separate is at the root of the suffering, inadequacy and sense of loss that drives people to search for escape or resolution. It is Being dreaming that it is apart from itself, looking all over the place for that which is already Everything. It is the hypnotic dream of separation which, for the dreamer, is very real.
The dilemma for the dream seeker is that the feeling of separation drives the seeking for resolution, which further fuels the sense of separation.
The development of an intelligent understanding 'mind' apparently brings with it the ability to make choices and take actions in an attempt to negotiate with 'the world' lived in. These negotiations are not always successful and the individual seems to experience its own pain and pleasure. It also develops a great respect for the guidance and control apparently emanating from the understanding 'mind'. However, as long as there is a sense of separation, there is a sense of disquiet or loss and there is a seeking to dispel that sense. It seems logical that the much respected understanding 'mind' must be capable of investigating the cause of this disquiet and discovering ways of dispelling it.
The separate entity can only try to imagine or project an idea of what it must be like not to be separate. What is sought is the possibility of a future goal or state that can be realised and therefore, logically, must be approachable. Consequently, the function of seeking and the teaching of becoming locks the seeker into a state of continuously approaching something that it cannot comprehend. All of this is the expression of Being, arising as the good, old, dependable and reliable understanding ‘mind’ functioning as it can only function . . . in continual movement and anticipation. It is this activity of becoming which very effectively keeps the seeker in the hypnotic dream of reaching out for something it cannot grasp. Of course, Liberation can apparently happen despite all of this effort.
The only other hope for the dream seeker is to believe that another benevolent energy (say God, Consciousness or a so-called enlightened teacher) would be motivated to guide and influence the seeker along a path which would eventually lead them to fulfilment. All of these ideas of becoming, purpose and destiny arise in the dream.
But the paradox is that although Being appears as the dream seeker, Being is not a state that can be imagined, conceived of, attained or even realised by the seeking of it. Being requires absolutely nothing … it is the Nothing and Everything that is already immaculate fulfilment and wholeness. Nothing needs to be changed or attained, lost or found, for Being to simply Be. The appearance of separation is simply the expression of Being. The very idea of something needing to approach that which it already is, is wonderfully futile. Being is a comedian with an audience which never laughs.
The dream seeker feels a sense of loss and unworthiness, and so is very attracted to dream teachings which involve purification, hard committed effort, surrender, devotion and the development of renunciation and detachment. There is a kind of logical inevitability and worthiness about these ideas which resonates with the sense of lack. The almost endless path of striving happily ensures the continuation of the individual experience. These ideas seem to arise out of a very substantial and reliable history of traditional wisdom which surely must be respected, even though it is only available as words on bits of paper.
Two traditional ways which seek resolution, or escape, from the sense of separation are meditation and self-enquiry.
In meditation it seems possible, through apparent choice and guidance, to reach certain states of stillness or bliss which seem better than feeling separate. The belief is that continuous effort with meditation will solidify the state and eventually make it permanent. But these states are only refined personal experiences happening within the dream-story. So like all other time-based activities they come and go away.
Self-enquiry is a similar process in that the goal is for the individual to choose to take action or make the effort to reach a place called awareness which, its teachers promise, will bring personal peace of mind, happiness and the end of all suffering (?).
There is a great emphasis on the need for properly carried out investigation of thought processes etc, and the necessity for vigilance from “being distracted by self-centred thoughts”.
All of this activity is based on the principle of the enquirer “getting oneness” and maintaining personal possession of it.
The effect of the state of awareness is apparent movement into a place of detachment which at first feels very freeing, powerful and safe . . . rather like being in a glass box from which life can be watched without the watcher being affected. It is still a subtly dual personal experience within the dream-story of separation and so it is transitory.
Awareness of life happening is not 'Being life'.
Predictably the state of awareness (Buddhist mindfulness) is easily forgotten or mislaid, or it can be overwhelmed by dream thinking or any powerful emotional situation, for instance. The glass box shatters and the place you seemed to be in seems lost again. The dream seeker either starts self-enquiring again, for another boost, or it is realised that awareness is just another refuge from within the dream of separation. All of this is simply the expression of Being.
Another way for the dream seeker to avoid simply Being is to try to understand or develop clarity about its own nature. It is very easy to get stuck in ‘Advaita’ or ‘non-dual’ concepts. The singular and unrelenting reiteration of such ideas as “all there is is Being”, “everything is the expression of Being” or “there is no one” are an arid and simplistic form of communication. It doesn't address or illuminate the dream seeker’s apparent dilemma and it obviously ignores the primary energetic essence of the implicit aliveness of simply Being.
To continuously say that being awake or being asleep is not relevant because “Being is all there is” is like telling a blind person that it’s OK to be blind because “seeing is all there is”. This is pure idealism. Of course, there is no such thing as being asleep or being awake, but this is not seen until there is no one looking.
The Open Secret communication is not dependent on clear concepts, however much they may expose confused concepts. Speaking happens and words can only point to another possibility which is beyond verbal expression. It is the eternally new message which is hidden within the scriptures and either overlooked or rejected in the ‘mind’.
The idea of prescriptive teaching, guidance or the offer of any kind of help simply does not arise. This is a message without hope or comfort of any kind for the individual, but invariably the dream seeker will still believe that something is on offer … this is the function of seeking. It is also possible that all that will be left is nothing, and then another possibility could arise. However, there is no agenda or motive because nothing is for sale.
It is possible that clarity could arise, but absolute understanding is not liberation. Nevertheless, all of this conceptual communication is secondary to the primary element that is most illuminating. That primary element is energetic, impersonal aliveness … the implicit, vibrant wonder of simply Being. It is an energetic shift, apparently out of contraction into boundlessness. This boundlessness cannot be owned and so cannot be given. Its simplicity utterly confounds the ‘mind’, but what arises is an impersonal recognition that there is no-one and nothing to be liberated. All ideas of separation, individual suffering, free will, choice, meaning and purpose, destiny, hierarchy and tradition, are simply seen by no-one as the dream-play of Being.
It seems that the seeking ‘mind’ is fascinated by struggle and complexity. The whole fabric of seeking is full of stories of great edifices, seemingly arising out of simple beginnings. Buddhism, Christianity and so many other dogmas, arise and grow and fight each other over having better gods. Catechisms of sin and worthiness, degrees of awareness and levels of enlightenment are investigated, dissected and struggled over.
The mind loves the idea of enlightenment being some kind of distant, virtually unobtainable, perfect place of permanent bliss, free from suffering and full of omniscience, omnipresence and lots of other important ‘omni’s’ stomping around, shouting the odds and saving the world. And of course, because all this glory and specialness has to be attained, it seems there has to be a long haul through the dark night of the soul, endless past karmas, original sin, right-thinking, right action and preparation for the bardos. “It is a tale told by a fool, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Yet Natural Being is such an ordinary and gentle constant. When it is seen it is. When it is avoided it is. It requires no effort and demands no standards. Being timeless there is no path to tread, no debt to pay. When this is heard and confusion collapses, when the contraction of struggling to get something falls away and the vibrant energy of being aliveness becomes apparent, something else is seen, very naturally of course, because it is already all that is.
Tony Parsons
1st July 2006
コイツを焼いて食えばイイhttp://amzn.to/l9tkIF オヤツはコレhttp://amzn.to/mSRYGP ダメだ調子悪い
The Dream of Separation
All there is is No-thing Being Everything and what appears as part of that everything is the belief and experience of being a separate self — an apparent individual with its own free will, choice and ability to act. This happening is uniquely human and is called self-consciousness. To most people it is the reality.
That apparent feeling of being separate is at the root of the suffering, inadequacy and sense of loss that drives people to search for escape or resolution. It is Being dreaming that it is apart from itself, looking all over the place for that which is already Everything. It is the hypnotic dream of separation which, for the dreamer, is very real.
The dilemma for the dream seeker is that the feeling of separation drives the seeking for resolution, which further fuels the sense of separation.
The development of an intelligent understanding 'mind' apparently brings with it the ability to make choices and take actions in an attempt to negotiate with 'the world' lived in. These negotiations are not always successful and the individual seems to experience its own pain and pleasure. It also develops a great respect for the guidance and control apparently emanating from the understanding 'mind'. However, as long as there is a sense of separation, there is a sense of disquiet or loss and there is a seeking to dispel that sense. It seems logical that the much respected understanding 'mind' must be capable of investigating the cause of this disquiet and discovering ways of dispelling it.
The separate entity can only try to imagine or project an idea of what it must be like not to be separate. What is sought is the possibility of a future goal or state that can be realised and therefore, logically, must be approachable. Consequently, the function of seeking and the teaching of becoming locks the seeker into a state of continuously approaching something that it cannot comprehend. All of this is the expression of Being, arising as the good, old, dependable and reliable understanding ‘mind’ functioning as it can only function . . . in continual movement and anticipation. It is this activity of becoming which very effectively keeps the seeker in the hypnotic dream of reaching out for something it cannot grasp. Of course, Liberation can apparently happen despite all of this effort.
The only other hope for the dream seeker is to believe that another benevolent energy (say God, Consciousness or a so-called enlightened teacher) would be motivated to guide and influence the seeker along a path which would eventually lead them to fulfilment. All of these ideas of becoming, purpose and destiny arise in the dream.
But the paradox is that although Being appears as the dream seeker, Being is not a state that can be imagined, conceived of, attained or even realised by the seeking of it. Being requires absolutely nothing … it is the Nothing and Everything that is already immaculate fulfilment and wholeness. Nothing needs to be changed or attained, lost or found, for Being to simply Be. The appearance of separation is simply the expression of Being. The very idea of something needing to approach that which it already is, is wonderfully futile. Being is a comedian with an audience which never laughs.
The dream seeker feels a sense of loss and unworthiness, and so is very attracted to dream teachings which involve purification, hard committed effort, surrender, devotion and the development of renunciation and detachment. There is a kind of logical inevitability and worthiness about these ideas which resonates with the sense of lack. The almost endless path of striving happily ensures the continuation of the individual experience. These ideas seem to arise out of a very substantial and reliable history of traditional wisdom which surely must be respected, even though it is only available as words on bits of paper.
Two traditional ways which seek resolution, or escape, from the sense of separation are meditation and self-enquiry.
In meditation it seems possible, through apparent choice and guidance, to reach certain states of stillness or bliss which seem better than feeling separate. The belief is that continuous effort with meditation will solidify the state and eventually make it permanent. But these states are only refined personal experiences happening within the dream-story. So like all other time-based activities they come and go away.
Self-enquiry is a similar process in that the goal is for the individual to choose to take action or make the effort to reach a place called awareness which, its teachers promise, will bring personal peace of mind, happiness and the end of all suffering (?).
There is a great emphasis on the need for properly carried out investigation of thought processes etc, and the necessity for vigilance from “being distracted by self-centred thoughts”.
All of this activity is based on the principle of the enquirer “getting oneness” and maintaining personal possession of it.
The effect of the state of awareness is apparent movement into a place of detachment which at first feels very freeing, powerful and safe . . . rather like being in a glass box from which life can be watched without the watcher being affected. It is still a subtly dual personal experience within the dream-story of separation and so it is transitory.
Awareness of life happening is not 'Being life'.
Predictably the state of awareness (Buddhist mindfulness) is easily forgotten or mislaid, or it can be overwhelmed by dream thinking or any powerful emotional situation, for instance. The glass box shatters and the place you seemed to be in seems lost again. The dream seeker either starts self-enquiring again, for another boost, or it is realised that awareness is just another refuge from within the dream of separation. All of this is simply the expression of Being.
Another way for the dream seeker to avoid simply Being is to try to understand or develop clarity about its own nature. It is very easy to get stuck in ‘Advaita’ or ‘non-dual’ concepts. The singular and unrelenting reiteration of such ideas as “all there is is Being”, “everything is the expression of Being” or “there is no one” are an arid and simplistic form of communication. It doesn't address or illuminate the dream seeker’s apparent dilemma and it obviously ignores the primary energetic essence of the implicit aliveness of simply Being.
To continuously say that being awake or being asleep is not relevant because “Being is all there is” is like telling a blind person that it’s OK to be blind because “seeing is all there is”. This is pure idealism. Of course, there is no such thing as being asleep or being awake, but this is not seen until there is no one looking.
The Open Secret communication is not dependent on clear concepts, however much they may expose confused concepts. Speaking happens and words can only point to another possibility which is beyond verbal expression. It is the eternally new message which is hidden within the scriptures and either overlooked or rejected in the ‘mind’.
The idea of prescriptive teaching, guidance or the offer of any kind of help simply does not arise. This is a message without hope or comfort of any kind for the individual, but invariably the dream seeker will still believe that something is on offer … this is the function of seeking. It is also possible that all that will be left is nothing, and then another possibility could arise. However, there is no agenda or motive because nothing is for sale.
It is possible that clarity could arise, but absolute understanding is not liberation. Nevertheless, all of this conceptual communication is secondary to the primary element that is most illuminating. That primary element is energetic, impersonal aliveness … the implicit, vibrant wonder of simply Being. It is an energetic shift, apparently out of contraction into boundlessness. This boundlessness cannot be owned and so cannot be given. Its simplicity utterly confounds the ‘mind’, but what arises is an impersonal recognition that there is no-one and nothing to be liberated. All ideas of separation, individual suffering, free will, choice, meaning and purpose, destiny, hierarchy and tradition, are simply seen by no-one as the dream-play of Being.
It seems that the seeking ‘mind’ is fascinated by struggle and complexity. The whole fabric of seeking is full of stories of great edifices, seemingly arising out of simple beginnings. Buddhism, Christianity and so many other dogmas, arise and grow and fight each other over having better gods. Catechisms of sin and worthiness, degrees of awareness and levels of enlightenment are investigated, dissected and struggled over.
The mind loves the idea of enlightenment being some kind of distant, virtually unobtainable, perfect place of permanent bliss, free from suffering and full of omniscience, omnipresence and lots of other important ‘omni’s’ stomping around, shouting the odds and saving the world. And of course, because all this glory and specialness has to be attained, it seems there has to be a long haul through the dark night of the soul, endless past karmas, original sin, right-thinking, right action and preparation for the bardos. “It is a tale told by a fool, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Yet Natural Being is such an ordinary and gentle constant. When it is seen it is. When it is avoided it is. It requires no effort and demands no standards. Being timeless there is no path to tread, no debt to pay. When this is heard and confusion collapses, when the contraction of struggling to get something falls away and the vibrant energy of being aliveness becomes apparent, something else is seen, very naturally of course, because it is already all that is.
Tony Parsons
1st July 2006
It seems that competitive people aren't able to encourage others to realize their dreams because the dream-seeker might pass them up.
Damn, I wanted and to win the billboard's dream seeker awards!
<3
University of North Texas Music Library’s collection strikes chord with scholars
Dallas Morning News
DENTON – Morris Martin, while showing off the special collections room last week, paused to state the obvious. …
Fraps and Dream Seeker –
Tracklist:
Omar S – Busaru Beats
Mike Dehnert – Ke Me
Milton Bradley – Don't Phonk
Frankie Bones – The Strength To Communicate
Fumiya Tanaka – Drive
Tommy Gillard – Rogue Beat 2
Norman Nodge – NN 8.0
FSG – Applied Generics A
Peter Van Hoesen – Liss01
Outline Meets Surgeon – A2
Redshape – Plonk
Add Noise – Handwerk 1
SB Project – Beyond Binaries
Oliver Ho – Light and Dark Five
Rob Alcock – Inside The Dream
Seeker – Manifestation
Coopers – Mini(Melody Mix)
Peter Van Hoesen – Ito Mess
Fumiya Tanaka – For Set #1a
Eight Miles High – Drone
Cristian Vogel – Ninjah
FSG – Applied Generics B
Martin Mueller – Project 1.1
Luke Hess – Shalom Dub
Veil – Anaesthetic
Max Duley – Moving Mountains
Cheap & Deep Productions – Tight
Steve Bicknell – How Can We Know
Rob Alcock – Moto
um sweety. your title says Make Up Tutorial. You were suppose to show people how to do this make up since you advertised it to be a tutorial. Try again and no more false advertisements in the future please. Thank you.
Aigoo…Legend of the seeker..Dream concert…. *sigh*
Mute –
The Entrepreneur and Dream Seeker’s Creed –
White Velvet Mask with Pearl Embroidery on Stick – One-Size Rating: (out of reviews) List Price: Price: $ 15.29
Moisturizing mask ,Hydrates and repairs tired skin,Leaves the face velvety soft,Best for drier skin types in need of a serious moisture boost,
Black Mardi Gras Venetian Mask –