The Music Box

In the beginning there was a music box.

The Being could not know from whence it came, or what purpose it might serve without examining it more closely. A detailed inspection revealed that it was a perfect box with tiny spinning dancers and an enchanting melody. Experimentally the Being discovered that it could be manipulated and without knowing what to expect, set its gears a-turning. Once it had been set into motion, its gears could spin for only a finite period. The initiating Being and responsive little box moved into a new existence together... in that moment they created time and mortality together.
The Being was in great danger then. As it observed the box it grew more and more identified with the dancers, became so engrossed in their motion that it believed it was the box. The box of course encouraged such attention. Captivating attention was an inherent characteristic of its design, but it did its job too well. Soon the Being forgot its own nature. The entirety of its attention was wrapped in the box, immersed in pleasant dreams and imaginings, fully engaged in pouring itself into this fascinating other.
The tragedy here lies in this alone- in this state so absorbed and forgetful of itself, the Being would no doubt cease to exist when the gears stopped churning. It would be trapped, encased in a tiny motionless universe within a frozen dancer, dreaming of dancing and some existence half remembered.

Such a woeful tale indeed, for without the Being as itself, the music box too would only collect dust. If only the Being would have adored the music box while retaining some piece of sovereignty. Only then, awake and un-abstracted, it could have passed through the tunnel of experience that is a music box, and explored further possibilities.

Experiment: Subtle Web

Fold a sheet of white paper twice to create four even segments. Cut or tear these segments out as neatly as possible. On each of the four sheets of paper write a phrase no more than two sentences long. In each phrase use two words from the list below. You must use each word in only one phrase, no repeats.

dog
mirth
table
aware
hollow
spirited
show
beneath

When they are complete post them throughout your house.

Slippery Fish

Way is a slippery fish.
Squeezing tighter is not better, it will only cause the fish to slip in a descending or ascending direction.
Inner stillness keeps us in the Way.
When we make a sudden move we loose our grasp of the fish. Very easy to do. These moves, they extend in every possible direction, they cover an infinite array of possibilities ranging from obvious to subtle.
There is a first move, and a second, and a third… each one will present itself like a head of the hydra, if you vanquish over one yet another option takes its place.
The challenge is to remember that you are not waiting for a good choice, you are not waiting at all, you are staying.
Because every move is a move out of the Way. Way is remaining, holding, staying, keeping, containing, restraining.
When you feel that you must do something to end the agony of holding the wriggling fish, stop there. There is no good way to readjust your grip. Holding the fish is agony. You want the agony.
Existence is suffering.
There are no good options.
There is no point in changing directions, a point in every direction is like no point at all. Enslavement is hoping to end the suffering. Energy does not cease to exist, it merely changes shape.
Immortality is stillness.
Holding still is horrible until you stop minding the pain and acquire a taste for it.
Then you can help hold up the Eternal Burden of Atlas.

Experiment: Pennies in the Fountain

Go for a walk with six pennies in your pocket.
Find a fountain, indoors or outdoors, (or something that can stand in for a fountain: a lake, a river, the ocean, etc.) and sit beside it.
Take one penny. Place your attention on it, allow the deep yearnings of your machine to be embedded in the tiny penny, let them become one and the same.
As you toss it into the "fountain", allow your mental apparatus to repeat the words: "I wish, oh how I wish, for another penny".
Follow the same instructions for each of the pennies.
When you are finished, walk back and don’t look back.

Law of Octaves Part 1

Hold on to your hat because this may blow your mind. It will either evoke the great "ah ha!" or it’s cousin, the common "what the fuck?".
As you apply your attention to fleshing out the most primary laws of the universe via experimentation and detailed record keeping you would do well to keep in mind the beloved t-shirt slogan of the 21st Century Pagan-

"As above so below."

Or otherwise stated: as within, so without.

The study of inner self and outer experience must be parallel. A fundamental law will have manifestations within both the microcosm and macrocosm alike. Mastery entails the comprehension of the principles of a law with such profundity that they may be discerned within any matrix. This could be seen as the focus of the "games" of the Qabalist.
The number of fundamental laws is limited in the same way that the number of primary colors is limited. What we will call the Law of Octaves is among these most elemental laws.

The Universe is composed of vibrations emanating from various sources advancing in a multifold of directions. These vibrations cross paths, collide, intensify, and diminish. A vibration is created when some force (such as a hurtled stone) overcomes the resistance of a given medium (such as the water of a pond).

While western thought asserts that vibrations are continuous, ascending or descending as the result of the applied force of an initial impulse, the Law of Octaves states that the force of an initial impulse, any initial impulse, acts asymmetrically, becoming alternately stronger and weaker, causing the developing vibration to demonstrate periods of acceleration and retardation.
These periods of acceleration and retardation are not equal to one another, one runs longer than the other. (The writer of this text is thankful for this phenomena, as said author is not yet mature enough to thoroughly appreciate periods of retardation.)
The lines of development of vibrations are divided into periods corresponding to the doubling or halving of the number of vibrations in a space of time. This period is what is called an Octave. Musically speaking, the diatonic major scale which you would recognize instantly if I began to sing to you thusly:

"DO, RE, ME, FA, SO, LA, TI, DO!"

is a measurement derived from this discontinuous increase from a given vibration to its higher counterpart, the doubling of vibrations that we call an Octave.

The Life Unknowable

What is going on here? What is going on here?
It’s among the biggest discernible patterns, a hostile interplay of forms. The battle to be the only "this", the only channel through which "that" can drink the cosmic nectar. AM vs. FM, Io vs. Juno.
One million died to make this sound. One million sacrificed to Xibalba, to the ghostly pools of the uncreated, so that one could be born to center stage. One most skilled at eliciting the attention of "that". "This" and "that" playing off one another, sending and receiving, creating a circuit in praise of the holy electric. But "this" has a shadow, it’s unborn twin, the dark side of the revered moon. And what if she were permitted to enter the circle? To disturb the holy union of "this" and "that"?
We call this a triangle children. One of the basic geometric shapes, a polygon with three vortices.
It holds more ppppppppppppower.
Please, do get your mind out of the gutter, not every triangle is merely two or three dimensional. Of course they are all related.
But you know, those anarchists, they will not stop at triangles, oh no, they have no scruples whatsoever. They would have "this" and "that" admitting every denied bit of nothing verging on something, creating indiscernible patterns pulsing with the wine of ages. This of course is the end of life as we know it. This is Chaos, Noise, The Life Unknowable.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.
Jealous Gods will not want to open their neighborhood to the other schizophrenic whispers rustling by in the abyss. It is too much to face their nature, so long forgotten, exiled to spare one the agony of being a million.
Who will die for our sins? Who will die for our sins? Who will die for our sins?

Experiment: Life's a Beach

Go to the beach.

Find a remote spot near to the water and make a circle in the sand. This circle should be just big enough for you to sit inside of. Comb the beach in search of stones. Each time you find a stone pick it up and say,
"I once was lost, but now I’m found."
In this way you should gather three stones then return to your circle. Place all three stones in the center. Sit in the circle with the stones and say,
"Nothing is, nothing was, nothing ever will be , now in the sea objectively."
Repeat the words over and over again allowing the energy to build. You will know it is time to stop when you are quiet and present. Then rise and say,
"I know now that this is my true nature."
Step backwards out of the circle leaving the rocks.

Scapegoat

The scapegoat arises from an attempt to make separate from ourselves some undesirable fear or guilt.
In order to escape that which is inside of us we project it onto some external person, object, or animal. There is only a scapegoat where we demonize some aspect of self and then seek to purge ourselves of it.
There is no escape.
It is you.
You may set some external object of your attention up to take the fall, but one sacrifice of this nature will never be enough.
You will need to kill again and again.
Each expulsion will offer only a momentary release and sense of satisfaction. Every time you pass judgement to secure your own righteousness the division within will widen.
You are the damned.
Each rogue angel that you cast out will have to be collected again before you will be free.
Before you can move on you will have to gather up all of the pieces that you hacked and scattered.
You were persecutor, you were victim, and you must be redeemer.

What is Attention?

What is attention?
At this moment, dear reader, place your attention on the sounds in the space where you are sitting as you read these words…
Now place your attention on the overall posture and position of your body, the muscular tensions produced by the posture…
Now place your attention on your hands…
Now place your attention on your breathing…
Now on your heartbeat…
And now back to the sounds in the environment.
What is happening? What is it that moves? What is it that does the moving? What is the nature of this phenomenon?
What is attention?

Experiment: The Supernatural Ordinary

Have a conversation with an ordinary person...anybody at all.

Talk about something mundane, jobs, weather, politics, family, the price of bread, etc.

Listen very carefully to this person. While you are with them, place all of your attention on them. Be completely present. Do your best to do more listening than speaking.

When you do speak, remain awake, don’t fall into your usual social performance.
Speak to the person in front of you.

Use this worldly exchange as a front for real being to being contact.
Do this once a day for seven days at anytime that the opportunity for a social exchange arises.

You Only Live Twice

What are you doing with that human machine of yours?

Consuming , crapping, and copulating your way steadily towards death? No matter what, I guarantee you are at least consuming and crapping, and one of these earth days you most definitely will expire, like a fly on a windowsill, and at that moment you may crap once more and then begin to rot.

As of 05/04/07 at 05:45 GMT an estimated 6,592,868,654 human machines will be joining you in the three Cs, (that’s consuming , crapping, and copulating, of course!). I mention this only to point out that there is nothing particularly remarkable about maintaining your biological existence here. Plenty of us are managing to do just that, quite by accident.

Whether you live "well" in a comfortable domicile smothered in crap to amuse and distract you and surrounded by friends and loved ones who’ll keep you in line so that you can sleep in a cozy bed, have a latte in the morning and toddle off to work, or among the half of the 6,592,868,654 who live on less than the equivalent of two American dollars a day, if you are reading this it means that you and your ancestors have managed to pull off the three Cs.

So what?

What else could you do with that human machine of yours before you kick the bucket and can’t even crap anymore?

It - your human machine - can manage very well without anything resembling self awareness. But what if you woke up and realized you were riding in this amazing digestive apparatus called human that had thus far been maintaining its existence with the auto pilot feature?

What could you do then?

Whatever you might imagine could be done, well, you had better try doing that before time is up. After all, you only live twice…
One life for your machine… and one for your Self.

Awake Unto Me

For this experiment gather 4 Popsicle sticks.
You will also need a small photo of your own face.

Make a little Popsicle stick person and glue your own face on for a head. You may also draw a head and cut it from paper if you lack a photo.
In a quiet undisturbed space sit with your doll in front of you where you may easily observe it. Place your attention on the doll. Let it fill your senses. Gaze upon the doll as if it were your truest love for approximately three minutes. Feel as if you are open to receiving something back from the doll.
Maintaining this contact, say aloud, "Awake unto me.", three times. Utter the words slowly and clearly as if it may be hard for the doll to hear and understand you. As you speak the words understand them yourself.

Keep the doll in a safe place until bedtime, then place it under or near your pillow while you sleep.

Starlight and Dew Drops are Waiting for Thee

Abandon Desire
You are a finely crafted doll. Very remarkable how your face can communicate so much. Those opposable thumbs are a marvel.
You are the best doll to play with, you and the other dolls of your ilk, the human dolls. You were made to be played. You are the best instrument to play with because you can do so much. You can be used in some very special ways. That’s why you were made.
But as a puppet on the set you will need to be moved by more than one animator. If one aspect of self becomes over identified with the (insert your name here) character and won’t yield control, the show cannot go on.
The show cannot go on.
Let my poor doll rest, haven’t you played her enough?
The show must go on. It must or there is no chance of breaking the endless cycle of rebirth.
Yes I know you are tired little doll, but don’t stop now, or you will end as a doll and that is all. And I love you so, I want to be you, and you will be me, but for this to come to pass we must play on, play on.
Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart.
A play is more than one puppet. The play comes through multiple puppets, each puppet dances her part. The momentum is maintained through the coordination of motion between multiple characters, none more or less important for the execution of a certain play. And the show must go on and on until it is real.
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart.
Awake unto me.
Awake unto me.
Awake unto me.