Monday, January 22, 2007

Dreams of Reason and the Reason of Dreams

Been having these intense dreams lately. Two nights ago I woke up at around 2:00AM after the most intensely blissful dream of my life. Small catch though. I couldn't remember what it was about. All very vague. However, the overwhelming feeling -- even a whole-body feeling, if you know what I mean -- was, Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay. Like the inverse image of fear or anxiety. I don't mean on a personal or short term basis, but in the cosmic and eschatological sense. As if in the end, it all works out somehow.

While I was struggling to remember the details of the dream, I fell back asleep, only to have the same dream, which is very unusual. But once again, I couldn't remember what it was about. I was just left with the "residue" of eschatological bliss. Which is not chopped liver. Still. Be nice to know the details.

Something similar happened several years ago. I've told the story of how, after I finished writing the Coonifesto, I went through a bit of a mini-crisis, wondering if I had done a bad thing -- if I had offended against heaven, so to speak. Because I had no desire whatsoever to publish a book that would lead people away from essential Truth or sow confusion. In that case, I had a dream in which a certain spiritual figure well known to me reassured me with words to the effect of, Don't worry. You have the protection. Protection? What protection?! Come back! Details! But it did ease my mind.

In psychoanalytic therapy, one will often have a dream about what came out in the previous session. Something in the unconscious is provoked during the session and then "worked over" by the night logic of the dream, which you then bring into the next session, and so on.

This happened to me last night, in which I had a dream that was clearly a comment on yesterday's post. I was given my own radio talk show, but it was in another city, so I had to move. I drove somewhere south to an apartment I was to rent. I looked up and there was a huge billboard with my face on it. However, it wasn't a friendly billboard. Rather, it was "anti-Bob." It was put up by a certain relative of mine who quite passionately detests me, very much in the manner of the trolls with their wild accusations. The two of us do not speak, at his insistence, even though my feelings toward him are essentially neutral. In any event, under my picture on the billboard it said "GASBAG BOB." Then, under that (referring to the radio show), "Talk is Cheap. You Get What You Pay For."

So now I have trolls in my dreams.

Regarding my teleological dream of eschatological harmony, I do sometimes wonder how even the best afterlife imaginable could compensate for, say, the horror of being prematurely separated from my son. If it weren't for him, I think I could say, "okay, I've lived long enough." By the time a man reaches 40, he's pretty much seen it all... unless he's a bit of a loser. But I had a nice, slack-filled childhood. Then I got to taste beer. When I grew up and had to get a real job, I was at least able to purchase a very cool sound system. I got to fall in love and marry the prettiest girl in graduate school. I got to see Kirk Gibson hit that home run off Eckersley in the '88 World Series. What else is there?

What there is is my son's life, for which I am now responsible. Schuon makes reference to one of Andersen's fairy tales, in which a mortal is granted a glimpse of heaven: "only for a moment does the heavenly rapture last, and already several millennia have passed by on earth. In union with God there is no longer time nor change. It is the highest freedom; only our earthly heaviness could possibly see in it immobility or something else comparable with general earthly conditions." This would imply that upon the moment of one's death, one is more or less instantaneously reunited with loved ones and with everything else, so fleeting is terrestrial life from that perspective. I guess I'll buy that. My dream implies it. Still, I want those details. A Raccoon does not speculate.

Back to the question of scripture. Yesterday a reader (HT: Bryan) sent me a link to a website that discusses a new book by a certain highly regarded Orthodox theologian, Fr. John Behr, entitled The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death (the book looks quite good, by the way; it's in my pipeline). The reader mentioned that he thought Behr's approach to scripture had certain similarities to mine.

Now this is most gratifying, especially coming from an Orthodox standpoint, which I regard as the most kosher. I love when this happens -- and it happens often -- that is, arriving at the same Truth through an entirely different route. For it proves the objective reality of the Thing we are both dreaming, but from slightly different angles. Plus it shows that Christian truth embodies Objective Truth, and vice versa, even if the human vertex -- our angle of intersection -- inevitably both distorts it and cannot possibly contain it. It shows to me that our souls are indeed proportioned to the divine reality, and that we can ascertain universal metaphysical truths -- or the realm of that which cannot not be -- through the veils of religion, which simultaneously veil and reveal (or reveil, as Petey likes to say).

As I mentioned yesterday, the non-religious person cuts himself off from essential Truth by falling back upon the lesser modes of empiricism and rationalism. In so doing, he tethers himself to the herebelow and I-solates himself from both God and himself. He no longer stands in the source of his being (O), but outside it. He then attempts to understand his existential situation "from the outside," as it were, which is a fool's errand if ever there were one. To a priori reduce subjectivity to objectivity and then try to comprehend the miracle of subjectivity? It makes no sense. To close the door of subjectivity is to bar the very door to heaven -- the hole in creation that gives the human being access to the Infinite and the Absolute. To borrow a metaphor from Schuon, it is as if the atheist "crystalizes" man's fall and lives under a thick sheet of ice.

Is it possible not just to think about God, but to think in God? Absolutely. For this is one of the mysterious properties of scripture, which provides the divine archetypes with which to "think about" eternity -- or to think outside the specific limitations of our human circumstance. This is what it means to believe in order to understand. The operative word is understand. And this is why I say that scripture is one of the four epistemological modes available to humans. And although it is "objective" in one sense, it must be "lit up" from the inside through intellection, which necessarily has some degree of subjectivity.

So while our subjectivity is the miraculous channel though which God flows, it is also where "error" creeps in. Because error exists -- indeed, cannot not exist by virtue of the very nature and conditions of existence -- materialists throw out the entire axis of revelation-intellection as "unscientific." That it is. But most of what we know is unscientific, strictly speaking. There is no scientific explanation for why you prefer a particular tie, let alone how Gibson hit that home run with two permanently crippled knees. We are thoroughly plunged into a mystery, but some of us try to convince ourselves otherwise by gripping tightly to the scientific method. Madness!

Metaphysical truth is convergent. Imagine a mountain with many trails leading to the top. At the base, the trails will be at their widest distance from one another. But as one ascends the mountain, the various trails will begin to converge. Now, the other day, a truly benighted troll chided us for suggesting that this blog is intended for "spiritually advanced individuals with a thorough grounding in esotericism and traditional metaphysics," as if this were an egoic boast as opposed to a mere description of the terrain we share -- "the ecology of Raccoons," as it were. Our little transdimensional niche in evolutionary hyperspace.

Again, there are no regular readers who need to be reminded that none of us are masters, but all of us are servants who just happen to love and be attracted to the same thing. Our love draws us closer to that object, but in so doing, closer to one another. Thus, we all have our different angles on the Absolute. The miracle -- and it is a miracle -- is that our visions are so similar despite vastly different routes in arriving here. This is why we can always tell when a new Raccoon has arrived on the scene. It is as plain as day. No one is policing anybody. The Raccoon will be someone right over there, on that trail across the way. Welcome to the den! On the other hand, the troll, or sub-Raccoon, annoys us with his weather reports from base camp, where he sees nothing but a cloud cover concealing the mountain.

Subjectivity is another word for experience. Thus, for humans, God will be an experience of God. As such, as pointed out by our Unknown Friend, "all superficial, incomplete, and false experience is bound to give rise to superficial, incomplete and false conclusions... in a direction parallel with the experience from which they are the outcome." Therefore, it must be concluded that our intellection "on the one hand is in no way infallible but on the other hand is qualified to lead to the discovery of essential truths. Its effectiveness and value depend on the fullness and exactitude of the experience upon which it is based."

Now, the development of spontaneous "Coon vision" is only possible as a result of the acquisition of "long experience" and the accumulation of "the teachings which it requires." However, the long years of work actually end in the ability to play in the mischevious Raccoon manner we know so well, for as the Master put it, "Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a baby raccoon shall not enter it." Or as Schuon expressed it, the integral state of the fully mature Raccoon "keeps, in equilibrium with his wisdom, the qualities of simplicity and freshness, of gratitude and trust, that he possessed in the springtime of his life." Holy innocence, as it were.

This state represents the attainment of "harmony and equilibrium between the spontaneity of the unconscious and the deliberate action of the conscious" (Meditations). It is none other than O-->(k), or subjective intellection within the constraints of objective revelation. It is somewhat analogous to "theological mind jazz," in which you spend half your life learning what to know, and then half your life unknowing what you have learned, so as to spontaneously compose the Song Supreme.

Or, as Joni Mitchell sang, "something's lost, but something's gained, in living every day." Death and rebirth at the razoredgeon of day to day existence. In living the dream of this perpetual death and rebirth, we also know that everything is going to be okay.

Wanting to believe only what they see, scientists condemn themselves to seeing only what they believe; logic for them is their desire not to see what they do not want to believe. --F. Schuon

38 comments:

NoMo said...

"On the other hand, the troll, or sub-Raccoon, annoys us with his weather reports from base camp, where he sees nothing but a cloud cover concealing the mountain."

Since for the troll there is no mountain, he is offended at raccoons apparently ascending upward through nothing and deems it his civic duty to pull us crazy 'coons "back to earth". But, it is his fear OF us not FOR us that really drives him.

Anonymous said...

I like your metaphor of a network of trails ascending a cloud-veiled mountain, with spiritual travellers hailing one another from their different but converging routes to the top.

Everyone shall "summit" in their own good time.

This finally places the "troll" on a footing that makes sense; she is the soul that remains down under the clouds and mist at base camp, standing at the trailhead or just starting the journey up.

The troll too shall summit, after multiple births if necessary. Someday each troll shall be the racoon, and each racoon shall soeday ascend to somewhere in the empyrean, just as a new crop of trolls starts up the misty trail from below.

Like children or amateurs, trolls can be annoying. Yet, they are not intrinsically bad or evil. They are simply less developed.

This is Keat's "vale of soul-making" transmorgrified into a mountain of soul-making.

I like it.

robinstarfish said...

the world keeps turning
this road we're on leads onewhere
deja deja vu

Anonymous said...

Now you've gone and done it, how dare you! The coon-envy is going to be massive after this post.
We're going to hear calls for coon equalization vouchers from the new Democrat Congress and brace for the deluge of base camp weather reports to come.
After all, coon vision, like prosperity, is an entitlement everyone should have, even when people clearly don't want it by their fighting it off with every fiber of their being.
Simplicity, trust, freshness and gratitude? You've got to be kidding, no? ;)

NoMo said...

I don't know, Hoarhey, they may just legislate that all mountains be flattened and that all 'coons be rounded up and interned.

NoMo said...

Dr. Spock's Lab Assistant -- aka Integralist?

Lisa said...

Funny you should mention strange dreams. I just had a strange experience last night and I'm not sure if I was awake or asleep or somewhere in between. I usually fall asleep on the couch around 10 and sleep for a few hours. Last night I woke up around 1 and went to bed. Ipod set for shuffle, I just usually drift off to sleep. Last night, I lay wide awake for what seemed the entire night. I'm not sure if this has to do with the magnetic mattress because I do not feel tired. Instead, I feel quite rejuvinated and almost bursting with energy. I actually have a hard time sleeping in that bed for more than 6 hours. It is quite the adjustment because I have always enjoyed sleep and dreaming states. It's not like I can even really complain because I am waking up feeling great! It does seem to be a different kind of sleep, not so heavy. It's more like a floating feeling dare I say, womblike sleep. Haven't been remembering any dreams lately. My waking life seems more like the dream. At the risk of sounding like the slow coon in class, Is this normal?

Anonymous said...

Bob, about your dream - could be the Divine letting you know He has everything under control and there is no need for you to fear- altho, on the surface with Hillary or ANY of the democrats running having a good shot at the WH and our liberties having the appearance of disappearing one by one with another earth shaking rise in fascism, and Democrats in govt. wanting to wipe their asses with the Constitution, it IS scary for those of us who understand how important liberty is to spiritual growth and decent life. Especially being concerned about what kind of world and society your son will inherit as an adult.

I had a similar dream a few weeks before 9/11 when I saw it coming and everyone else I knew and told about it thinking I was just being crazy. I had a dream in which an Angel, who appeared in a perfectly good mood, told me not to worry it has to happen this way before things can get better. Sometimes I have to remind myself that God really is in control and everything really is going to be okay when it's all said and done. And when we have a connection to the Divine, He reassures us when we need it.

Anonymous said...

"....they may just legislate that all mountains be flattened and that all 'coons be rounded up and interned."

Even if this does happen, I'll bet they still hand out the free coon-consciousness-equalization vouchers.

Anonymous said...

From the the cow in the corner of the den wearing a coon mask trying desperately trying to look inconspicous. Name tag: Rookie. "Does this explain global warming"?

Anonymous said...

Graphics geek liked your dreams.

Plus

useful description of reading sacred / transformative material, accompanied by Mexican feather icon illustration.

Anonymous said...

G-BOB: Here in Reality where+when your dream material & your life interweave, not just one layer but on many, you'll get a heavy sense of deja vu when your dream imprint's alerted. Imprints stay w/you in memory deeper than Dreamer is conscious of knowing or accessing. When dream memory & Cosmos connect intrinsically here, details you are forgetting, not seeing & are temp hidden ("can't remember details of dream") will become Known instantly, hence all will be well for you, whole body & soul.

Put another way: When your Will, Mind & Heart memories Cosmically connect w/Reality, its like hitting "777s Jackpot" on the slot machine. You'll remember this dream fully not only the Emoto-residue but the mysterious details will be uncovered/remembered.

Will, Mind & Emotions all have their own "interwoven memory steams" (like superhighways) but at times we have partial views (as opposed to whole-system-GPS or complete soul-maps). Limited RAM is open & available tho more is stored. We are conscious of partial pathways - certain familar roads, exits, on-ramps, highways that intersect, etc. More connective expansive Cosmic Highways await within to be traveled & Known; hence some are temporarily shrouded from your view. Seen from the Drivers angle you can only see & remember so much road; seen from a Helicopter/BirdView you can see much more Up the Road/Vertical. Both are necessary in order to Be Balanced.

Your concerns are evidenced by the Billboard & "Don't worry" aspects. The blissful sense of well-being tells you you are on the Right track Cosmically despite any concerns arising as you Navigate the Highways of life which is where you see signs & read billboards & that you're not lost so all is well.

Speculation: Dreams reveal details to you, then they are "not remembered" - put in storage - the Reverse of how trauma-responses operate, except this occurs as "good" trauma experienced Up the Vertical. Prophetic / future knowledge can be traumatic in impact-ability upon us; self or God may find it necessary to shroud some details at times, yet it's "already in there" stored, waiting to be connected at a later date & "discovered" as we never truly forget & memory itself lives layered within us. It's the reverse of what trauma patients experience: They must go Back/down to uncover past memories; we must go forward into memory (Destiny) that Already Happens; so of course we are uncovering the Future up the Vertical which is prolly traumatic for the best of us; hence our mind selects parts to remember & parts to shroud until it senses we're ready to handle it. It will "snick & click together" as neatly as a zipper zips together later & you'll remember this Dreams details. Metaphysically & Altered states of consciousness point to this being true.

Dr Spocks lab rat: You forget the corresponding Mountain on the Downside of the Vertical - not all Trolls Ascend up the Vertical; many more choose to become lower than they already are & take Downward paths into Evil, moving into true Orc-dom. No Troll starts out neutral, either.

To view half a pic & humanistically assume "Trolls are not intrinsically bad or evil" & call such obvious errors truth is hardly worthy of a true Raccoon, much less even Dr. Spock. Question in true Raccoon-style where such half-truths in you originate & why they aren't better balanced. Examining your self leads to being able to see & confront the flaws in your process as illumined by God's revelatory process. Do you have that coonVision going on? Its doubtful as you clearly missed catching your humanist heresy.

Shadows are best seen in the Light of the Son. Then you'll be ready for Base Camp. Until then...don't make the mistake to think you're a Raccoon when you're really just a Possum wearing faux-fur.

NoMo - Good Coon Vision! :D

- PrincessSpirit -

Anonymous said...

Interwoven memory STREAMS, that is. -PS-

Anonymous said...

>>This would imply that upon the moment of one's death, one is more or less instantaneously reunited with loved ones and with everything else, so fleeting is terrestrial life from that perspective<<

I think one need not wait for material death to have such a perspective, at least have it to whatever degree is possible in the material plane. Of course, some measure of "separation anxiety" is the price we pay for the privilege of material existence. And there's a beauty in that anxiety, the beauty of "human-ness".

To understand that beauty, to fully comprehend it, is, in a sense, to accept the fact that we must suffer the pangs of loss, and perhaps worse, suffer the fear of loss and separation while we are in the material world. If we can accept this fact, we have transcended the world even while still inhabiting it.

Gagdad Bob said...

Hmmm.... I just looked up this antibiotic I'm taking, and it seems that many people report intense dreams, usually very bad ones, such as:

"Psycho dream that I was kidnapped by a cult in the middle east, and they were going to cut off my hands with a machete - SO REAL!!!"

I don't really understand how an antibiotic could cause vivid dreams. Now I guess I'll have to keep taking it to try to reproduce my blissful dream state and extract the secret of the cosmos.

I don't know about the dreams, but it certainly seems to cause flushing in the ears and nose.... Weird.

Anonymous said...

"Welcome to the den!"

From comments here, I don't think I'm alone in the rejuvination I get from a daily visit here just being in this space all of you have created. A true fellowship of the one thing to which each brings something to the table.

And now another book to add to my list - still working through Polanyi!

Lisa said...

Will says, "To understand that beauty, to fully comprehend it, is, in a sense, to accept the fact that we must suffer the pangs of loss, and perhaps worse, suffer the fear of loss and separation while we are in the material world. If we can accept this fact, we have transcended the world even while still inhabiting it."

That is so true and kind of relates to something I have recently been pondering. The idea that in order to help or have God gift you with the ability to heal people or however you want to look at it, there is usually an aspect in your life somewhere that you have to hurt others- karma, past lives/ relationships. That duality we were talking about and perhaps an evening out in cosmic perspective.

NoMo said...

Bob - Now you just need to find the drug that addresses the side effects of the other drug, etc., etc.

I wonder if they use antibiotics against parasites. Hmmm.

Remember -- a raccoon's dreams are a troll's nighmares.

Meade said...

"By the time a man reaches 40, he's pretty much seen it all... "

All but his grandchildren's children, an experience, I am told, profoundly filled with the sense that everything is going to be okay.

Anonymous said...

"I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours." - Bob the First

My wife has had to endure powerful antiviral meds for the past several months. One of the side effects is terrifying vivid dreams. Many a night have I had to "rescue" her back to a waking state. I don't get much sleep myself as a result.

The meds are slowly eradicating the virus that is intent on killing her. However, they also eradicate most of her healthy cells in the process. They call that a side effect. The trick is to knock out the deadly viral load before the meds knock her down. This all shows up in her dreams as a variety of violent global warfare and hand-to-hand combat scenarios. We make a point to treat these particular types of dreams as purely internal messages. Nobody wants to hear the world will explode in a fiery ball next Wednesday!

The odd thing is though that she also has the occasional transcendent "don't worry, all is okay" dreams as well. In the midst of her suffering she is given that deep understanding that she is in the palm of the hand of God and that all is being taken care of. So where do those dreams come from? Not from her own damaged tangle of nerves and fiber, certainly.

So on one level, your antibiotic may be acting as a temporary amplifier and your cellular intelligence is giving you feedback that it's working. Because you are merely in a weakened state, and none of your healthy substructure is being compromised, you are 'protected.'

Badgers and voles would say, "Nice dream, that settles that so let's go truffle hunting." But it doesn't explain cosmic bliss to a raccoon.

Is there is a reason for Fearless Leader's illness, perhaps to produce a weakened state, as would a vision quest, that filters out the distracting volume of the world just long enough to allow a glimpse of the infinite eternal? Since you've done the Quest work for so long, your weakness prepared you to see Over There without the need for the Richard Harris (A Man Called Horse) flesh-hooks in the chest. You just weren't allowed to bring back all those great pictures you know you took.

Which is how it should be. Nobody would believe you anyway. Or worse, they would, and start a new religion around you. Billboards would follow close behind. :-)

Anyway, thanks for sending the "wish you were here" postcard.

"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on tv."

Anonymous said...

Bob,
was that antibiotic that you were taking Cipro, by any chance? If so, it also caused me to have intense nightmares while in the hospital in 2005 for that emergency colostomy surgery. I dreamed that I was in a burning building and that burning timbers were falling down all around me, cutting off my escape. Woke up literally in a cold sweat and shaking, was afraid to fall asleep again. May have been the pain killers I was on, but that info about your antibiotic peaked my curiosity. Perhaps a glimpse into the way that chemical substances can, rather than speed us up the mountain,pull us down into a subterranean cavern of unimaginable terrors, where only demons and muslim jihadists dwell, and the entrance pit of which leftists and postmodernists are witlessly marching towards, attempting to lure us mountainers with them.

Anonymous said...

Cosa,

Just beautiful thoughts, there. Thanks. Sending up prayers for your dear wife, well, for both of you.

Anonymous said...

If your psychic gates are open, any illness and/or drug is going to have a telling impact on your dreams, on your consciousness in general.

I happen to think gates are opening world-wide.

Reliapundit said...

do you get paid by the word, and is do you get a bonus for stringing together a sentence of esoteric multi-syllable words?

i think your thinking and your sentences and your paragraphs and your blog and your life would benefit from simplicity and directness.

Here's an example: "Regarding my teleological dream of eschatological harmony..."

Is this really the simplest way to say whatever it is you are trying to get at?

God did not make the Universe using complicated sentences; He said, "Let there be light." And there was light. You on the other hand - no doubt because you were brainwashed by post modern academics - seem to revel in making things more complicated than they are.

I know many people like this; your blog traffic attests to it. But I think it's very tiresome.

The Golden Rule is simple. Most right things are. In my opinion, convoluted gibberish - jargon, if you prefer - is the hallmark of a confused mind or one trying to appear to be something it is not.

I think that part of you realizes this - as revealed when you write something like this: "We are thoroughly plunged into a mystery, but some of us try to convince ourselves otherwise by gripping tightly to the scientific method. Madness!"

Well, doc' most of what you write her at this blog - though absolutely well intentioned and thoughtful (overly so!) is just that: your effort to try to convince yourself that most of the scientific jargon you learned i grad school is useful for what aches you. You are gripping it.

LET GO.

all the best!

Reliapundit said...

look at it this way:

Leave to Caesar what is Caesar's.
Leave to science what is science's.
IOW: The realm of faith should not be put on a couch, nor saints put under a microscope.

you seem to love to do that. okay, but I feel that it's as foolish as literally weighing the Bible for insight, or of trying to describe the Pythagorean Theorem by only using poetic metaphors.

Leading a good life in the Cosmos are really rather simple: Love God. Give thanks. Do what is right in His eyes. Treat others as you would have others treat you. Don't treat others as you would not be treated by anyone yourself. Try not to give in to your evil inclination. Think of the implications of your actions for your own future and the future of others - of the generations to come.

Try to get others to ignore their evil inclination. Defend the sanctity of life, and our God-given liberty and rights.

ALL THE BEST!

Anonymous said...

Years ago I had a very vivid dream like this. I was in heaven, and there was a tremendous sense of mirth, that everything really was OK. The laughter is difficult to describe, it was like I was being "let in" on the cosmic heart of humor. When I feel most spiritually conncected, I hear the echo of that laughter.

Van Harvey said...

reliapundit said... "... you were brainwashed by post modern academics...Leave to Caesar what is Caesar's. Leave to science what is science's..."

Ah, nothing like a little humor from the clueless to end the day.

Keep it simple sophie, just leave.

Anonymous said...

ALL THE BEST
Hmmm, I'll have to add that one to the list of classic sign offs along with Namaste and Peace.
And I guess Bob can look forward to another mass exodus of readers moving onward and upward to another, better blog. ;)



Hey, where's Petey been lately?

Anonymous said...

Reliapundit-
You are mistaken if you believe Bob's posts are new age garbage.
You should read more before making foolish subservations.

Trollish behavior doesn't become you.
Why did you come here?

Anonymous said...

Who is that staring at me through all the stars in heaven and all the creatures on earth?

Cover your eyes, stars and creatures; do not look upon my nakedness. Shame torments me enough through my own eyes.

What is there for you to see? A tree of life that has been reduced to a thorn on the road, that pricks both itself and others. What else-except a heavenly flame immersed in mud, a flame that neither gives light nor goes out?

Plowmen, it is not your plowing that matters but the Lord who watches.

Singers, it is not your singing that matters but the Lord who listens.

Sleepers, it is not your sleeping that matters but the Lord who wakens.

It is not the pools of water in the rocks around the lake that matter but the lake itself.

What is all human time but a wave that moistens the burning sand on the shore, and then regrets that it left the lake, because it has dried up?

O stars and creatures, do not look at me with your eyes but at the Lord. He alone sees. Look at Him and you will see yourselves in your homeland.

What do you see when you look at me? A picture of your exile? A mirror of your fleeting transitoriness?

O Lord, my beautiful veil, embroidered with golden seraphim, drape over my face like a veil over the face of a widow, and collect my tears, in which the sorrow of all Your creatures seethes.

O Lord, my beauty, come and visit me, lest I be ashamed of my nakedness—lest the many thirsty glances that are falling upon me return home thirsty.

Anonymous said...

Realipundit ~

You say "Try to get others to ignore their evil inclination."

So, I will.

Why do you come here with malice in your heart? You come in sheep's clothing that almost covers the bared fangs, not quite.

Relax, go in peace and keep in touch with yourself. Resist evil and mischief.

Van Harvey said...

the drive-by poet "...lest the many thirsty glances that are falling upon me return home thirsty. "

Hmm. Dreaming dreams indeed.

Anonymous said...

unreliapundit,
It's those graceful, complex, metaphysically pregnant, and humorous sentences that keep me coming back.
Try this for simplicity: Get Lost!

Anonymous said...

Bob-
I've had some dreams like that, on rare occassions.
Since Heaven, according to Jesus, is better than we can imagine, it's no wonder that we can't recall the specifics of a taste o' Heaven.

It's beyond our imagination and thus beyond logic, or clarity.
We know it, but we don't gno it, yet.

Tamquam Leo Rugiens said...

The real evil of the Trolls is not that they stand at the bottom of the mountain yammering about weather reports. The real evil is that they stand at the bottom of the mountain, rope it off with crime scene tape and try to prevent those whose hearts are moved Summitwards from ascending. "No mountain here folks, just move along please!" "Madness lies above, keep away! Keep away!" "Only fools climb these hills. Here, have a cheap, tawdry distraction. Now THIS is reality!" "Hope, peace, joy and such like are self-wrought illusions. Why seek what is not? If you value our invaluable regard, regard what is below. Only this is real!" Thus the self appointed gatekeepers beguile and befuddle many a cub. May they be requited.

Sal said...

drive-by poet: lovely!

I'm contemplating the "One Cosmos" poetry anthology. But I worry that robinstarfish's work would lose its perfect timeliness removed from the threads. We'll see...

Cosa-prayers for you and yours, as well

Anonymous said...

The drive-by poet wishes me to inform all dear readers that in posting the poem above the real author was inadvertently omitted. The poem is from the collection "Prayers by the Lake" by St. Nikolai. We apologize if there was any confusion on authorship.

The drive-by poet also wished me to inform you that further drive-by's may occur if, and I quote, "the troll-bangers start invading our turf and dissin' the coon gang. Gotta keep it slackedelicaly luminous ya know.", end quote.

Ben said...

I'm not a raccoon but base camp serves a function. Just like ground control can be useful to astronauts. Imagine if Houston was resentful of the astronauts and tried to tell them where they were didn't matter!

I'm grateful for a chance to be able to come here and watch the raccoons play.

I think if the trolls "LET GO" and just watched the raccoons play too they'd get more out of the blog, or at least have more fun.

Bob, to extend the metaphor under what circumstances, if any, do cosmic raccoons bite?

Theme Song

Theme Song