The Honest Truth

[Cramulus]

OP:

brings to mind this stanza from Kerouac's Mexico City Blues:


Got up and dressed up
      and went out & got laid
Then died and got buried
      in a coffin in the grave,
Man --   

      Yet everything is perfect,
Because it is empty,
Because it is perfect
      with emptiness,
Because it's not even happening.    

Everything
Is Ignorant of its own emptiness--
Anger
Doesn't like to be reminded of fits--    

You start with the Teaching
      Inscrutable of the Diamond
And end with it, your goal
      is your startingplace,
No race was run, no walk
      of prophetic toenails
Across Arabies of hot
      meaning you just--
      numbly don't get there


here's a version being read by johnny depp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpk1W8rymL4



footnote: kerouac mentions the diamond - he's referring to the diamond sutra, which might be up your alley as well. It's a quick read.

[Phox]

OP:

brings to mind this stanza from Kerouac's Mexico City Blues:


Got up and dressed up
      and went out & got laid
Then died and got buried
      in a coffin in the grave,
Man --   

      Yet everything is perfect,
Because it is empty,
Because it is perfect
      with emptiness,
Because it's not even happening.    

Everything
Is Ignorant of its own emptiness--
Anger
Doesn't like to be reminded of fits--    

You start with the Teaching
      Inscrutable of the Diamond
And end with it, your goal
      is your startingplace,
No race was run, no walk
      of prophetic toenails
Across Arabies of hot
      meaning you just--
      numbly don't get there


here's a version being read by johnny depp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpk1W8rymL4



footnote: kerouac mentions the diamond - he's referring to the diamond sutra, which might be up your alley as well. It's a quick read.

Interesting stuff there, Cram. I'll give the Diamond Sutra a look when I get some time.

[East Coast Hustle]

Translation: Thanks Cram, but I'd really rather not think too deeply about any of this. I'll never get around to reading that. Trying to educate me or inform me in any way that doesn't jibe with my preconceived bliss-ninny worldview is a waste of your time.

[LMNO]

Since this is in Or Kill Me, I'd like to discuss the contents but don't want to mistake an essay with a rant. The latter being something which I understand more as an outburst of emotion and therefore less subject to criticism. So please let me know which one this is.

Little bit of both really. The concepts here have been going through my head for years, but this particular iteration was written as an emotional outburst, sort of. In response to several things, the most important of which was the dream it mentions. I wanted to refine it to make it more essay-like, but screw it, here it is. And criticize away, I don't mind.

Okay. My criticism on the ideas is they are epistemologically waaaay below standards. You are arguing at once, universal ignorance /and/ omnipotence. That goes beyond simple solipsism, which is usually frowned upon via barstools around here.

Bumpost, because for me Kai strikes at the heart of the problem: PoD* isn't a sociopath, it's just that the terms are loose and contradictory.

It's like a jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces are identical... They might fit together, but that doesn't guarantee a coherent picture.






*I did that on purpose.