Message To/From the TOURS #23 The New Neural Net
by nielskunze on December 8, 2014
Let’s begin with a new visual depiction. It is within the realm of the Collective Consciousness of humanity.
For eons of time, the place where all of our individual minds meet, where we establish agreements about our shared Earth reality, we have been held in a place of preternatural darkness. It has long been something more than the mere absence of light. We gathered in this place within Earth’s dreamtime in a state of disunity consciousness; we were in paradoxical agreement to explore our disconnection… together.
As I visited this place, falling into the shared dreamtime, I saw it as an infinite cavern within the body of Earth’s dreaming. The preternatural darkness characterizing this cavern had certain qualities beyond its obvious relationship to light. The darkness had a palpable density; it was thick and tangible, hanging like curtains, keeping the light disconnected.
The individual human beings making up the collective I saw as candles… at least those waking up to the state of our protracted disunity. Despite the many candles in the dark, the cavern itself was never illuminated, never defined. Millions of candles– disconnected, each still shining in solitude– could not dispel the accumulated density of our conditioned divisiveness… Curtains still hung in between.
The candles are gone! Upgraded. They’ve been replaced with fibre optics. There is a new neural net. A spiderwork of connections has slashed through the curtains, leaving them in tatters and heaps. The darkness no longer defines (or undefines) the cavernous space of our shared dreaming. The new emerging light configuration is completely overriding the entrenched darkness!
Think trauma-based mind control… and its eventual healing. Humanity’s Collective Consciousness has existed much like an abused child. Through a litany of endless trauma, the collective mind was fragmented and compartmentalized. In such a schizophrenic state, it was possible to dominate and control– rather easily, actually.
But slowly, over time, the disparate pieces began to become aware of each other… and their undeniable kinship; we are One. Unity is a higher order than our agreement for disunity; its re-establishment, therefore, was inevitable. But what is this new neural network?
It is Gaia higher mind… Sophia… or more accurately, Sophia’s correction. Sophia is reawakened (reassembled); the Earth’s true consciousness– and full remembrance– is online! And we are in full partnership now. These bodies are neurons in a higher mind. Collective goals now take precedence over personal achievement.
Have you felt the profundity of this shift– this 180 degree reorientation? It kind of snuck up on us in our dreams… and now that it’s here, we can feel a bit perplexed as our former dreams and aspirations don’t quite seem to fit anymore. What was once very natural to desire for ourselves has been replaced with a concern toward and striving for our collective wellbeing. We’re not so quick to jump aboard solutions that are merely good for us but leave many others out in the cold. We’re beginning to resonate with solutions that work for everybody instead.
It’s a big shift, and we’re still very much in the transition. But this report is about establishing the fact that the basic structure of the group mind has fundamentally changed… and it’s setting its sights on a future we can barely conceive in this moment.
Please bear with us as we bare ourselves to ourselves. Myriad revelations are forthcoming…
(A Q & A session will follow very soon.)
The Daily Forest Report December 6, 2014 Blessed Relief
by nielskunze on December 6, 2014
I don’t know how you people do it!
Circumstances had conspired to keep me away from the Forest and cooped up in the house for five days… and I nearly went bat-shit crazy!
Thankfully, all is now back to normal– within the greater context of the ongoing apocalypse, of course.
(Blessed Relief by Frank Zappa from one of his 1972 albums The Grand Wazoo)
Astrologers, intuitives, channellers and the like all have been reporting a marked intensification of energies in recent weeks. A strong wind is blowing through humanity’s collective right now.
Off With Their Heads!
As for myself, I definitely felt out of sorts… kind of like a mountain who’s lost its head. For five consecutive days I felt restless and generally uncomfortable. My body felt like it was suddenly a couple of sizes too big… and I was rattling around inside it wondering whether some part of me had shrunk or whether the whole world had just gotten bigger. I suspect it’s a bit of both. All of the old ways of relating to the world around me have changed or simply dropped away. There’s suddenly more space in the world for forward thinking… and doing. Something sinister has finally lost its stranglehold. (Will the cosmic grand jury also fail to indict? *shrug)
Getting back to the Forest– or as I like to call it, the Real World– was exactly what I needed to integrate this latest energetic fluctuation. I’m still amazed at how a long walk in the woods can unfailingly set everything aright. If you’re struggling, I strongly suggest you make every effort to connect with the natural world in any way you can. Feeling kinship with the Eternal Beauty sustaining all life in perpetuity brings unparalleled contentment.
We’re catching clearer glimpses now of the path ahead. Only by fixating on unsustainable systems as they crumble and fall in our backward gaze may still lead us astray. Staying within the power point of the moment we are able to take action– often improvised– in order to step into the heartfelt longing of our soul’s true purpose.
Grieve not for that which passes… and realize that the devil is still in the details, but his old familiar haunts lie exposed now. The lion has awakened, and the mouse barely merits attention. The devil has always been but a mouthful: either endless conniving words going in circles, or a tasty little snack to swallow, digest and fertilize tomorrow’s garden…
New Glasses; Same Rose-Coloured Eyes
by nielskunze on December 3, 2014
New Goggles
Is everyone going through tough times right now? It sure seems like it! Comfort and ease are scarce when absolutely everything is in flux.
So, a few days ago, I was driving back home from Sunday breakfast at my parents’ house, which is just five minutes away from where I live, when I encountered a little mishap. I was driving on the highway just under the speed limit, beginning the ascent of the final little hill before arriving home, when the back end of my truck tried to pass the front end of my truck. The back end pulled out into the passing lane, perhaps not realizing that it was rigidly affixed to the front end of the truck and really rather obligated to follow it. I steered into the swerve, avoiding even touching the brakes– like any good Canadian would. (We don’t much like the ice, but we respect it.) The back end swung the other way like a pendulum, now trying to pass me on the shoulder. Crazy fucker! If you’ve ever watched a driver fish-tailing on ice, it’s really quite amazing how much frantic steering can be crammed into every nanosecond. My second overcorrection landed me in the ditch.
It was a pleasant ditch, as far as ditches go… not too steep or rocky, and just wide enough to admit a small Toyota truck into its trenchiness. I still don’t think I ever touched the brakes, but the deep snow in the ditch helped to slow us down before the tangled shrubbery on the far bank grabbed us and held us fast. Yes, ‘us’; Sitka was riding in the cab with me. She got thrown into the dash sideways and was far more surprised by the ordeal than hurt by it. (Dogs disdain seat belts, by the way.) As I unwrapped her from her awkward encirclement of the stick shift, she looked up to me with eyes that clearly asked “Dad, what just happened?”
“Demons,” could’ve been my answer. I was travelling, after all, below the speed limit on a relatively straight section of highway. There was really nothing to precipitate the incident as far as either of us could discern. (Sitka still looked at me suspiciously as though it might’ve been something I’d done.) Nope, a demon pushed me; I swear to God! And God said– in a strangely Quebecois accent– “Fuck dat! It was me!”
Or, at least, that’s how I choose to view it.
I read a lot these days about so many good people being attacked by unsavoury forces, attacking them for nothing more than the expressions of their goodness. Seems legit.
I’m pretty weird though; it’s the way I’m wired. There’s just something in my brain that is forever fixated on silver linings. I immediately set about finding the good in everything ‘bad’ that happens. I think crazy thoughts like “What might’ve happened if this incident hadn’t occurred and I continued on my merry way, along my habitual trajectory?”
A few things quickly come to mind. First, the truck was in desperate need of an oil change, and with the free BCAA tow to the service station in town, I didn’t even have to pay for the gas to get it to the shop. Somehow, in my complacent nature, I could never quite make the time for something as trivial as an oil change; every day I always found much ‘better’ things to do instead.
Next, I had to consider my tires. I’ve never sprung for the cost of switching seasonally to winter tires before. I certainly don’t drive much, but when I do– in winter– it’s often a bad rendering of the Ice Capades– minus the talent and the costumes. I’m all over the place! It’s mostly fun… but definitely dangerous! And I frequently have to rely on the kindness of others to help push me out of my minor winter predicaments.
Yup, I’m getting the winter tires now– studded even. Can you imagine if I’d have had the three dogs in the back of the truck– like I do almost every day– when I kissed the ditch? That could’ve ended very badly! Or what if there had been other traffic on the highway in the vicinity of my rebellious back end? I’m a danger to myself and others. I don’t like that. And with the current road conditions, I was afraid to go into town to retrieve my truck; I was scared to drive it again. And I really don’t like that!
Nope, I can’t give up my daily forest walks; they’re the only thing keeping me marginally sane. From now on, the truck will be properly outfitted for winter. And sadly, this is a conclusion I was unlikely to reach on my own… without a little nudge from that crazy french separatist God with his outrageous accent… or demon; whichever you prefer.
So, in conclusion, not only is it all good… now it’s even better!
Mystical Masters Collaborative for the Week of November 26 to December 2, 2014
by nielskunze on December 2, 2014
The topic presented to the “Masters” this week is Ascension and/or Unity Consciousness.
Scaffolding of the Sun
Come explore all the perspectives at Mystical Masters Facebook Group.
Here is my contribution:
Twenty years ago I began to obliquely write about ascension and unity consciousness. I didn’t know that’s what I was doing at the time, but now– and thousands of written pages later– I feel competent to tackle such issues head on.
The conversation which follows is an excerpt from my Muse Trilogy, specifically from the third book, Liquid Immortal: The Seed of God, which is still currently under construction/discovery. The main speaker, the boy from the Children’s Collective, is attempting to instruct the gathered adults on the basics of unity consciousness.
This is a long and heady discussion, but I will provide the link to the narrated version as it appeared in my free monthly Newsletter, the February 2014 edition. You may listen or read as you feel motivated. The narration is approximately 12 minutes long.
Discussions At the Round Table Part 2 (Audio Link)
“Unity consciousness is an integration. As such, it requires integrity. Transparency is the benign enforcer of integrity.” The teenage boy representing the Children’s Collective knew that he was merely sketching a rough outline through this discourse. The path toward unity consciousness could be a difficult one, particularly for adults whose habits of perception were already significantly entrenched.
“The main obstacle to transparency is shame. Everyone has skeletons in the closet, aspects of themselves and isolated instances from the past which they wish to remain hidden. There is a strong conviction that these ‘unsavory’ aspects are not true representations of the total person. Therefore shame is justified and supported. It seems logical and necessary to suppress them.
“What needs to be understood about unity consciousness however is that these ‘shameful’ incidents and aspects do not exist in isolation. In fact, they cannot be separated out from the whole. They are every bit as much a part of the total person as are the more refined and desirable attributes. All of one’s attributes serve as context and balance for each other. You cannot take just a portion of yourselves into unity consciousness and leave the rest behind. Perhaps you can see the obvious contradiction?
“At the moment of total transparency, when the soul becomes consciously unitive, the very concept of self-and-other is transformed. Whatever shameful admissions you may bare to the collective are instantly perceived as belonging to the collective– along with all of the reasons and context, all of the thoughts and the feelings surrounding such shame.
“From your current habitual mode of insular perception, judgment seems almost natural. If we were to go around the circle right now, asking each one of you to share your most embarrassing moments, you would resist and feel uncomfortable. However well-articulated and thorough your recounting, you would each still fear that your justifications for acting in a shameful manner would come across as inadequate. Your own memories are unable to fully justify your past actions to yourselves, so you would naturally find it impossible to justify those actions to others. Therefore, you instead choose to keep them hidden.
“The special quality of unity consciousness however is such that the shared unitive mind which has been created through full participation is able to exercise a new holistic perception. All justifications are intrinsically understood in an instant. What this essentially means is that there is no judgment, for there is nothing to be corrected or forgiven. Forgiveness as an actionable choice is a precursor to unity consciousness. Once unity has been achieved there is no longer anything to forgive, for all aspects of what is are equally valued… and cherished.”
“You make it all sound so easy,” said Colette, “and almost inevitable.”
“I would choose the word ‘simple’ instead of ‘easy.’ And yes, it is inevitable… because we are One. That is the ultimate truth of our condition in this existence. All paths lead to integration; all roads lead to mind fusion.” The boy glanced over toward Mi-Fu in the corner, but the others seemed incognizant of the oblique reference.
It was Joseph who took up the conversation next. “I’m very intrigued by this idea of a whole new mode of perception coming online through unity consciousness. You’ve already expressed that it’s as though a completely different world of experience becomes available. And I must admit that all of the children here– immersed in unity– seem very much unlike my experience of children any time previously. Can you tell us more about the world of your newfound perception and experience?”
“Certainly.” The teenager smiled broadly. “Your whole stance in this existence– as you are now– is fundamentally oriented and dedicated toward demarkation. You habitually divide your experience into distinct and discreet chunks to be processed in a linear understanding. Linearity is simply a mode of perception which takes time as its foundational attribute. You define yourselves as being separate and distinct from your environment, from time, from your perceptions, from your experiences. You pour energy–continually and habitually– into the illusion that these things are not you.
“But… you are a fractal of the universe. You are completely and precisely a universal fractal. There is nothing I can point to that belongs to the universe and not simultaneously to you. You are it, all of it. In this moment, you are a point of awareness that is unaware that you are already all of that which you may choose to experience. Your point of awareness– the self-aware you that consciously knows you as you– is like a candle, able to illuminate a small space surrounding your limited self-definition. You may choose to move the candle around in a linear trajectory, exploring novel experiences of yourself in a sequential manner, creating stories, lifetimes. It is what you have done countless times already. Or you may increasingly choose unity as time approaches… absurdity.
“Unity consciousness burns like a star, reaching to the far reaches of the universe, knowing itself to be the expression of light of the entirety, concentrated in a singular point of focus. Martin– and now I am referring to the disembodied spiritual entity– exists somewhere between these two modes of perception. He shares both in aspects of the perceptions of the Children’s Collective as well as the traditional perspective of an individual, insular human being. My advice to you in this moment, Mr. Dexter,” and now the boy was speaking to the seeming empty space beside the kitchen, “is that no matter where you desire your further explorations to take you, always keep in mind that it is you moving through you, that it is you experiencing you. All of space and all of time from eternity to infinity is your own body. Claim it and then know it… through whatever experience you desire.”
“I’m still confused,” insisted Colette. And even Chandra nodded in agreement. “How can we all be having these many different experiences– experiencing each other– and it’s all really just ourselves experiencing ourselves? I mean, how can Chandra truly be me and me truly be Chandra when neither one of us is actually having that experience of the situation? Do you get what I mean?”
“I do. A year ago I wouldn’t have even begun to understand your question. And it may not seem like I’m answering your question now, but if you’ll indulge me a moment it might make things clearer… eventually.
“The objective universe does not exist. There is no part of ‘it’ that may be separated out and held up to scrutiny. We are each of us– and there are trillions of souls here– having a subjective experience of ourselves. Your insular perspective imagines an objectifiable universe. That is the basic nature of the illusion which even your greatest scientists have sought to capture and define. It is a ghost or an artifact of misperception.
“The reason why the misperception persists is that the trillions of souls embarked on this journey of subjective exploration keep finding commonality among themselves. Our experiences overlap; we find places and points of agreement. Our shared agreements about perception and experience present themselves as an objective universe; they are not. Does this help any?”
Colette sighed. “I’m afraid not. Now you’re talking about trillions of souls… yet we’re all one… what gives? I don’t even know what a friggin’ soul is! Are we one, or are we many?”
“We are both.”
“Somehow I knew you were gonna say that!”
“Let me take you all back to the beginning… before our experience of this universe began. The many– our existence as individuals– is sourced outside of this universe. Before all this began, we were each Eternal Essences within the omniverse. We were not created; we cannot be destroyed; each of us is unique and eternal. At some point, one of us– let’s call him God– invited us all to partake of a specific universal journey. God had set up the conditions within himself to facilitate a unique subjective experience of his own Eternal Essence in equal partnership with each of our Eternal Essences. Souls are the expression of this partnership and the vehicles of this exploration. Your unique soul in this universe is an equal blend of your Eternal Essence and God’s Eternal Essence– fifty-fifty. Every traveller here is half God and half Self, moving toward greater self understanding.
“Our experience here in this universe is all one. We are all one within the body of God– literally. At the completion of our universal journey we return to multiplicity in the omniverse. From our vantage in the omniverse, this universe is an objectifiable reality… able to be viewed from the outside. But while we are immersed in this universal experience in complete and equal partnership with God, all is subjective– a cumulative experience of God and ourselves. Do you understand?”
It was Joseph who spoke as the others scratched their heads. “So… originally I came from outside of this universe– which is the body of God. God invited me in to have a unique experience within his particular bounded infinity. In order to do that, I had to temporarily become a soul which is an equal blend of God and my Eternal Self. This soul is able to experience whatever it chooses within the body of God… as God and Self. God is the oneness aspect of this universal journey, whereas Self is the multiplicity aspect which transcends this universal experience. How am I doing?”
“Quite well,” assessed the boy. “Continue to ponder the situation of our universal juxtaposition and many more insights will be forthcoming. And eventually in unity consciousness it will become so very clear. I think we should abandon this discussion for now, as I perceive a bit of burnout in the candles around this table.”
“Agreed.”
And then the next voice to speak was wholly unknown. It had never been heard before inside Martin Dexter’s cabin. It spoke from the shadows… in the corner. “Regrettable. I was so enjoying this discussion… to which I can well relate.”
It was Mi-Fu! The android was awake!
The Daily Forest Report December 1, 2014 Equanimity at the Extremes
by nielskunze on December 1, 2014
Sometimes life gives us lemons…
Happy Camper
…and those prone to seeking balance, inherently love lemonade!
Tangled Arch
It was a weekend of extremes… but that definitely seems appropriate to these times. Events are tending to push us to the extremes of our human experience; certain things become clearer outside of our middle-way comfort zones. Even so, we are called upon to maintain a certain poise and equanimity through it all.
Erste Richtiger Schnee!
Right before our first real snowfall of the season the pendulum swung to the opposite extreme. A very warm south wind blew for a day, melting and clearing all of the ice which had formed in the previous weeks. The landscape was soggy and puddled.
Then, in the span of mere minutes, the wind suddenly came from the north and the temperature plummeted. An accumulation of about eight inches of snow fell in a couple of hours! And then quickly the cold really settled in.
Out of the Snow Cave
Nevertheless, the extreme beauty is still undeniable. Our walk after this first real snowfall was like tunnelling through a snow cave… so much snow was still caught up in the trees. The muffling of the forest sounds had us exploring a giant labyrinthian igloo… until we re-emerged under the power line.
The Cutting Edge
Our experience is pretty cutting edge now. Those handling change and the attendant challenges poorly are falling ever deeper into the ‘I’m-right-and-you’re-wrong’ paradigm, even over the most trivial of matters… while others are effortlessly rolling with the punches to see where this is all leading, confident of the outcome.
Yesterday, I put my truck into the ditch while travelling along a nicely polished icy highway. It could’ve been much worse. Sitka and I were forced to walk home in twenty below– but the point is that we walked away… and the truck’s not dead yet either.
Tucked Away
There’s something positively beautiful lurking behind even these trivial mishaps. It can only be denied by an insistence upon our own petty agendas. I’m without a vehicle for a few days, but the boys at the shop have already fixed her and changed the oil (long overdue) and they’ve got some used winter tires they’d like to discuss with me when I get into town.
It’s all good! Tasty lemonade!
Photos of the Year
by nielskunze on November 28, 2014
(excerpt Into The Lens by Yes from their 1980 album Drama, sans Jon Anderson)
Most of these were taken with my Canon; a few were taken with the GoPro. They were selected either for their artistic merit or the interest of the subject matter. All of these have now suffered post-production. The originals can be found within the Daily Forest Reports.
I’ve tried to give these interesting names.
Blister
Reaching The Edge
Dance Electric
Neon Lights
No Fly Zone
Intertwangled
The Purple Cliff
The Mall
Mountain Luck
Smoky Whisky
Over The Shoulder
Riverbend
Hiding
Underhang
Grandmother Lurking
Bending Over Backwards
Taunto
Caged Tiger
Left Field
The Road To Freedom
Onlookers
Not Mush Room
Silverberry View
Mossy
BiggerSquatch
Upon Further Reflection
BigSquatch
Visitor
Almost Spring
Puppy (Pre-Op)
Figures eh?
Sunspots
Dinner Table
Neither Here Nor There
Munky Dunky (Monkey in a Dog Suit)
Scaffolding of the Sun
Captive
Fish Eye View
Mud Lunch
Quenched
Painted Leaf
Three For Thistles
On The Path
Arch du Tree Umph
Half Full
Bald Eagle
Turkey Vulture
Dragon Skull
Mid-Big-Bang
Joking
Pardon Me
Stranded
Thanksgiven
Balance Beam (Osprey)
Itchy/Scratchy
Rodney
Conspicuous
Hold Still
Pine Cones & Baby Birds
Thirsty
Follow Me
What?!
Tiger Town
Discreet Bull
Burning A Hole
Perfectly Haiku
Yaldabaoth
S-t-r-e-t-c-h
Silhouette
Yonder
Looking Home
The Hugging Tree/Tibetan Trail
Hugs & Kisses
Determination
Looking High
Mariposa Lily
Charge!!
Centre of the Universe
Evening Camp on the Mesa (New Moon Concert for BigSquatch)
Remember, if you suddenly find yourself in Fairmont Hot Springs, BC, Canada… you’re welcome to come along. Email: niels@nielskunze.com
The 36th Edition of the Monthly Newsletter
by nielskunze on November 27, 2014
There will be only one more Newsletter before the end of the year. We’ll call it the November/December Deluxe 3rd Anniversary Extravaganza… just cuz.
It has undoubtedly been the Monthly Newsletter which has led the charge into 6-figure monthly readership for at least the past year. We’ve actually been a bit over 200,000 readers a month for the past several months now.
In three years I haven’t taken a break, and each Newsletter has been about 8,000 words of all-original content. Two complete (and free) novels are embedded in the back issues… along with some other essential reads. I decided to cut myself some slack and combine November and December for two main reasons: 1) There is a glut of material right now which I feel compelled to comment on before year’s end. 2) I’m beginning to reorganize the blog so that the “essential stuff” is easier to find, and newcomers will be able to quickly orient themselves to the basic points and themes.
I am anticipating many newcomers in the new year. As we begin to collectively tear the mask from The Devil publicly in 2015, more and more people will want to catch up on the lighter side of what’s happening with this Slow Apocalypse. That’s my specialty. And I’m sure that even longtime readers will appreciate the new organization of materials as the most poignant articles will be reshuffled as separate blog posts, suitable for sharing/teaching. I’ve written literally thousands of pages of material in the last three years and I realize that it’s very difficult to locate favourite pieces on my blog as it is, especially from among the Newsletter back issues.
I will try to get this 3rd Anniversary Edition out sooner rather than later.
The Daily Forest Report November 26, 2014 Beyond the Quiet & Into the Silence
by nielskunze on November 26, 2014
Tumultuous, tumultuous world…!
After a snowfall, the Forest grows quiet… especially when thick curtains obscure the views of familiar horizons.
Yet the trees seem to know something… something we haven’t quite grasped yet. I envy their stillness…
“But growth is a form of movement,” answers Larch. “Slow and deliberate, it is a reclamation of the Silence.
“In your disquietude you presume that we are stationary, immobile, unmoved… yet our every moment of life reaches into the infinite Silence beyond the mere quiet of the absence of noise. We are the girders and scaffolding of the Shining World.”
“What do you mean by ‘the infinite Silence beyond the mere quiet of the absence of noise’?”
“The noise of Life is the variation of your own fleeting emotions; they shout, trill, murmur and scream… but all is couched in Love. Love is the Silence behind the noise… the theatre of e-motion.”
“You are trained to discern the action, and not from whence it came. The eye of the predator seeks movement; his ear is entrained to noise. But if the predator is true to his conditioned nature, he must devour himself inevitably… and miss entirely the Source of his unquenchable hunger.”
“Where have you come from? A frozen place within you… bathed in warm-blooded aspirations? Or somewhere entirely beyond the fray?
“Your participation is needed, utterly required… But participate in what? you ask.”
“In the identification of enduring Beauty… behind, beyond the obvious violence. There is no denial here– just choice. What will you choose to see… for yourself?”
“Yes, you will have to see for yourself. I have no eyes to lend you. There is only the infinite Silence we always share– the Unity in which I abide… the forgotten place where you circle and cringe, reacting to the noise. Hear it for what it is: your surrounding, your depth, your full potential… to listen well beyond these words…”
Mystical Masters Collaborative for the Week of November 19 to 25
by nielskunze on November 24, 2014
Our topic this week is symbology and symbolism. For many more delightful and insightful perspectives from our Masters, please visit the Mystical Masters Facebook Group and/or the Mystical Masters Facebook Page. This is my contribution to this week’s gargantuan topic.
A Handful of Sand
We all surround ourselves with symbols, some of our own choosing, many not. Each of us participates in a reality where things, people, places and events are both exactly what literally “is” and figuratively something else entirely. It is a natural consequence of the subjective nature of our current Earth experience.
I am reminded of a very old song by Donovan (of Mellow Yellow fame) who insightfully sang “First there is a mountain; then there is no mountain; then there is.” It’s an old Zen thing. On one level, it seems blatantly nonsensical, but with accrued experience, it yields a deeper and perfectly valid understanding of our complex human experience.
You are ever free to live within the literalness of the world, taking everything at face value and denying any deeper hidden meanings. Most of us consider such a perspective to be unnaturally shallow… and for good reason. Who among us has never taken on the symbolism of a particular movie representing a pivotal time in our lives, or a TV show representing a simpler youth, or a song representing a deeply felt emotion or cherished relationship? Songs in particular come to represent so much more than their meager constructs, both culturally and individually.
Today, I would like to present to you one of my own favourite compositions. This song is called “Handful of Sand,” and lyrically I consider it among my best. The recording which follows has never been officially publicly released; this song has only ever been heard at our live shows.
Throughout the years of its existence, I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of people who have heard this song and immediately recognized the specific inspiration it was based upon. “Is that song about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance?” Yup. That iconic, culture-bearing book by Robert Pirsig really grabbed me by the throat early on in my heavy-duty seeking days. It brought the concept and discussion of “quality as opposed to mere quantity” into the western mind in a very compelling way. I was already deeply disillusioned by our relentless culture of acquisition, and was looking for an inroad to leading a more poetic life. Perhaps this song was the beginning of something beautiful…
Link to SoundCloud audio version
Handful of Sand
The loneliness of being just one
Always looking for the two
Infinity opens for the few
Who try to cast away themselves
And live in the stillness of their minds
And know that the endless shore’s just a handful of sand
That represents a world
As long as you try and touch it all
It slips through your fingers so fast… this handful of sand
The blood of the sun falls down
The wind licks the tears from the sea
Time knows nothing of the past
So we stand apart from it all
As children through the hourglass fall
Crying for a new handful of sand
That never can be found– and Gods never raise a tired eye–
They cast their doubts to the sky in a handful of sand
The beach stretches miles to the West
The East is a drawing in the sand
The artist turns his soul to the Land
And he finds that his canvas hasn’t dried
He pines for the memories left inside
And knows that the world is just a handful of sand
Like a treasure growing old, he prays for the dust to turn to gold
But Silence stops the scream with a handful of sand!
(I’ve presented the lyrics here as they were originally written, not as Shane sings them. The last line especially, “Silence stops the scream with a handful of sand,” is a departure from the recording, but it was my nod, or tribute, to one of my favourite bands King Crimson. Crim fans will understand.)
The Daily Forest Report November 23, 2014 Compression Breakthrough
by nielskunze on November 23, 2014
What a difference a day makes! (I think I’ve said that before.)
(Breakthrough by Atomic Rooster from their 1971 album In Hearing Of)
Just as it felt to me that the internal pressure was finally easing up… something burst! You may have noticed that for the past year and a half I’ve been kinda sitting on the proverbial edge of my seat, expecting something noteworthy to burst upon the world scene, grabbing headlines, garnering international attention. In my state of unbending anticipation I had always kept one eye on the global financial situation. I’ve even written articles specifically about the Global Reset and Currency Revaluation, as this was the most likely place we’d see the first real cracks in the dam.
Yesterday’s Forest Report was a bit of a departure from that because I had finally felt as though there wasn’t quite so much mounting pressure as before; it didn’t feel anymore like something was about to pop any second. The slow apocalypse was still proceeding according to plan, but now without the need for any overt drama. Even the latest Zap Report (financial stuff) reluctantly informed us that the Reset and Revaluation wouldn’t be announced until January 2015; things had been put on hold once again– much to the utter frustration of those following such events– or non-events, as the case may be.
But in the span of less than 24 hours the whole scene changed again. Unexpectedly, another Zap Report was issued… quelling the immediate frustrations. Locally, our weather shifted dramatically… and what happened down by the river– well, we’ll get to that in a moment…
Eagle came to reassure us, overflying our position beneath the power line for several minutes.
Clearly, it’s a Bald Eagle– the true spirit of American freedom. As I’ve said, his presence was a quiet reassurance.
As we got to the Mesa, the closest mountain looked stunning, even in the overcast gloom, with its lightly frosted cap.
But once we got down to the river– an adventurous journey down the Tibetan Trail– it was immediately clear that everything had drastically changed overnight.
Liquid emerald and pristine sapphire blues had been replaced by iced cappuccino.
It was NOT a gentle transition! The ice shelf which piled up in this bend of the riverbank was four to five feet high!
Ice boulders had been flung well beyond the immediate banks of the river.
Newly-downed trees had been tumbled and stripped bare, gathering in brand new logjams.
So there seems to be a bit of a dual message here. For those keeping pace with the subtle– but very real– changes, it’s a comfortable dawdle now. For those denying the changes, insisting on business as usual, maintaining the status quo, things are getting catastrophically violent. Seems legit: those accepting change with the grace of understanding the true necessity of it, are at ease with it, while deniers who remain oblivious of any need for fundamental change are being/going to be rocked to the core.
Personally, I’m glad to not be poised on the edge of my seat anymore; my legs were falling asleep! I’m happily reclining in my easy chair… watching the show!