If I could, I would love to have a computer connected to my brain just to record everything that happens in there, because sometimes I'm not in complete control of all the random thoughts that occur. And ya know, some of them are just so damn cool too, yet I don't always get to remember them. These here will at least tide me over until I find more worth writing about.
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A while ago I wanted to re-open my studies of the Taoist philosophy, and thus went to discuss the information I had
gleaned recently, as well as that which I still remembered, mostly so that I could complete my religion section of this site, while
avoiding an offensive inaccuracy it my presentation. A friend of mine most aptly knowledgable of the eastern philosophies discussed
things with me for a while, and began trying to explain, and suddenly I quoted something I had found on a website (on topic), and he
agreed. He said that most definitely, Taoism is an experiential religion. So I responded, I see, so it's kind of like
The Matrix. If you can see where this is heading, you might want to hit that back button. Chuckle. Seriously though, "Unfortunately, no one can be told about the Matrix, you have to see it for yourself." The ever famous line from the movie here concised completely my understanding of the Tao as I had been able to research. Frustration is not by far unknown to me, and thus, I would get frustrated at such things. Knowledge and experience are two totally different things, and never the twain shall meet. Knowledge can be handed out in pamphlets to the crowd, but wisdom takes doing. So, can Taoism be understood without experiencing it? Maybe, on a knowledge scale. One can understand the focus, the meaning, and the facts, but one cannot understand what it feels like to have faith in the Tao, until they do. Similarly, Morpheus could have just said, "Dude, the Matrix is this heinous computer program that you are cerebrally jacked into, so that you believe you are in the society of 1999, and thus robotic machines can gain power to exist from your body heat, as well as the millions of other humans who are also thusly imprisoned." Of course we wouldn't have a movie to watch, but eh, that's besides the point. Yes, I tend to connect the dots within one realm, to the dots within other realms quite easily and frequently, thus The Matrix can seem like the Tao. Dune can help me understand Christianity, and Romantic Comedies can give me insight into the daily war between the genders. |
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Ever compared the cycle of life to a mini-series? It's rather amusing to try sometimes, and see that flow of time progressing
much in the same way a television mini-series does. Of course, I do this same connection with average television shows, as well as
divining the secrets of life from fantasy fiction novels. However, for the moment we will remain on the topic of the mini-series because
it helps simplify the whole thing. If one were to look at the orbit of the Earth around the Sun, we can see that it follows an elliptical
path. Or try doing a loop-de-loop with a yo-yo. We see a similar aspect in the mini-series. A starting point, describing the characters
we shall follow this dramatic tale. We present a conflict, however, it isn't always the complete conflict, it is only the first one we
know about. Things begin to speed up. We are heading closer to the Sun, and that yo-yo is recoiling back towards our hand. But we're
not there yet. We have to keep the people believing they see what's in store, but not completely let them everything. Suddenly we get a
twist, and that speed we've gleaned sends us whipping around the Sun with such force that we are reeling. That yo-yo just got flipped back
out to keep spinning instead of being able to return home to the hand. Now some of the conflict has become readily apparent, if not somewhat challenged, or even partially completed. But things have to slow down a bit, as the Sun becomes more distant, for we have to get the people to come back and watch the second episode. We once again start distant, away, knowing the path that will come, but not ready for it yet. The characters are known to us, but wait, we have a few we haven't met yet, so now we are introduced. Things speed up, and the hero is brought closer to the climax. Faster, faster, faster, and suddenly the yo-yo is back in our hand. Series over, conclusion found. Well, seriesly, where do you think the pattern came from? Did we invent this flow so that we could sell TV shows? Hell no. The pattern was there in life to begin with. This cycle has been around, described by Joseph Campbell as The Hero's Journey, and absorbed by life osmotically, and eventually placed into our daily dose of whatever entertainment we choose to subject ourselves to. A hockey game starts of the same, speeds up, speeds up, and suddenly it's going like a bat out of hell trying to reach its conclusion. The concept of coming full circle in one's own life is just the same. We experience things more and more and we draw conclusions from our experiences, learning and understanding, being able to grow and evolve. And then it slows down for a while, until we come full circle again. Movies, television, all contain the same basic qualities, suggesting focuses that in our own individual lives we may not have understood or even discovered, yet seeing them from someone else's point of view, we can suddenly see the clarity and truth. |