musings about the oook inside

[Ari]

oook it boomed again with a deep growl.
i told myself i'd have made it up in my head. like the long high-pitched beep that would come and go in either or both my ears.
as the cat came back from the door it caught a glimpse of my watergrass curtain, and there it was, plain as day. a quick pounce, the long line twirling away, swinging back, brushing by her head and instantly came the next pounce. half a jump later, rolling around on the back, she was frantically pouncing at a piece of straw with a mad expression in her face, eyes wide-open, hindlegs shaking. all that grace and intelligence i always attributed to these lovely feline creatures, gone in an instant when the beast showed its face and took over all her doing.
like two nights ago, when of my best friends turned absolutely vile in the face of increasing ethanol in his bloodstream. it got so vile i left the gregorian festivities early without another word.
we meant to fight together for a better world this year, where more bipeds would become critically-thinking, kind humans and stop the monkeyish bickering we seem to love so much in our current days. yet now i sit here and wonder.
oook. there it was again. the primal rage within. the old core from deep within the cave with the urge to claw off the skin of its enemies and gorge on the hearts of man and beast alike.
and yet, my friend, my master, my apprentice, my father and brother - he behaved in such unnecessary destructive ways, undoing the ideal he meant ot strive for. dis-illusion, i guess that's what the process can be called.
two days later i watch this cat which isn't even mine tumble out of her usual mind, following the road of the beast inside, completely lost in reaction and instinct.
and i wonder. are we not the same? us mangnificient bipeds with a brain the size of a cabbage? one way or another, sooner or later, we tend to go down the dirty road and let out the primal scream. oook. there it is again. fueled by raw, fiery emotion, stringed on cold, pragmatic steel, ooook.
and ever since i stopped taking my daily dose of pills it grows stronger. or maybe it has always been there and i never heard it? maybe it was there yet manifested differently?
i'll have to make my peace with it though. it's here to stay. maybe some day i will figure out its purpose, until then i can still harness its powers. especially when dealing with those deaf bipeds, the ones that know neither words nor reason. the vile creatures that only thrive on destruction. for noone shall stand between me and my freaky fun.
that much i have learnt.

~Planeswalker
oook She roared, and wandered off to the fridge to bite a massive chunk out of a big piece of raw bacon

[Cramulus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgeGd6IzPtA



The easy part

is quieting the mind,

the automatic urges

shutting down the robot



the hard part----------
But then your phone rings
          and the robot answers



(the trick,
I think,
is to program the robot with awareness of itself
            mindfulness in every thing)

[Slurrealist]

The easy part

is quieting the mind,

the automatic urges

shutting down the robot

I wouldn't say that this is the easy part. By quieting the mind, you bring to a stillness the part of about which you are aware and which exist at the present moment, but there's a lot more to it: emotions, unconscious reactions, unconscious like/dislike attitudes, memories, the imprinting of past experiences, non verbal reactions toward certain objects in the world, and so on till the primal urges (certain schools of thought, and many seekers of spiritual experience, include even past life experiences in this list).
After all, ascetic orders exist for a reason, in my view.
Also, I believe that once you have stilled the mind, and started to use it in everyday world, the hard part will resolve itself. The more you free your mind, the more you are aware of your robotic reactions, therefore the more control you have on them.
Everything written above is an attempt to rise an emotional negative reaction.

To the OP.
I think the answer is non attachment. The emotions will still be, no matter how far will you go down the path of enlightenment, however your reaction may change. If you feel anger arousing, just watch it like an external observer and let it go freely, without further thought about it.
Animals, IMO, live in their emotion. For them it's not a matter of thought; they just respond automatically to the environment around them. The human animal, however, can think:
"I am angry."
He is aware of his own emotional state, he is also aware of its cause, and he also can choose to react to it or not.
The written above is the result of a dickhead trying to look sophisticated, despite knowing nothing about everything.

[navkat]

Jesus, Cram. Waking from a dream inside a dream about a dream you had once about getting Déja Vu when you were nine.

[navkat]

The easy part

is quieting the mind,

the automatic urges

shutting down the robot



the hard part----------
But then your phone rings
          and the robot answers

NEWSFEED PLS.

[Kai]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgeGd6IzPtA



The easy part

is quieting the mind,

the automatic urges

shutting down the robot



the hard part----------
But then your phone rings
          and the robot answers



(the trick,
I think,
is to program the robot with awareness of itself
            mindfulness in every thing)

I think you have it right. You can't get rid of monkey mind, but at least you can teach it somewhat.

[navkat]

Every time the organ grinder plays, the monkey gets the itch to dance.

[Ari]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgeGd6IzPtA



The easy part

is quieting the mind,

the automatic urges

shutting down the robot



the hard part----------
But then your phone rings
          and the robot answers



(the trick,
I think,
is to program the robot with awareness of itself
            mindfulness in every thing)

I agree, awareness is key.
And in the beginning the doing may fall back into the robotic.
Sometimes the tiniest trigger will suffice.
But even then, we can still choose to stop a program that has started running instead of letting it run its full course.
Continued practice will make it easier over time. As with most things in life.
The hard part is making it through that initial phase of transition, when old programming still lingers and the new one is still buggy.
Mindfulness is a wonderful thing, just like cheerfulness. I find them both absolutely crucial for a steady positive-constructive trip.

Great clip as well Cram. Is the whole movie recommended?


As for non-detachment; i find it a hard thing to uphold once you link your life with other humans and plans are made and worked on. At least in its pure form.

Every time the organ grinder plays, the monkey gets the itch to dance.

That's going on the next batch of stickers.

[Cramulus]

Great clip as well Cram. Is the whole movie recommended?

if you liked that clip, I think you will definitely like the whole movie. It's in my top 3.

As for non-detachment; i find it a hard thing to uphold once you link your life with other humans and plans are made and worked on. At least in its pure form.

Man, I have the opposite problem -- I'm too detached 

How do you start giving a shit about things again?

Every time the organ grinder plays, the monkey gets the itch to dance.

I like the word "organ grinder" here, it suggests biology. Like when your emotions form your reactions, and your body gets swept along for the ride, that's the organ grinder.

[LMNO]

Synchro-net.

I do believe I referenced this movie when I tried to rant about Handcuffs.  "How can I not by myself?"

[Ari]

As for non-detachment; i find it a hard thing to uphold once you link your life with other humans and plans are made and worked on. At least in its pure form.

Man, I have the opposite problem -- I'm too detached 

How do you start giving a shit about things again?

Ah fuck, that question has been staring at me all this time. And an answer didn't come.

I slept over it, and still... I don't really know how it happened. Maybe I never fully stopped giving a shit, what with my youthful ignorance?? I should have left this screen hours ago, but the question stares at me and demands an answer, or at least - an opinion.

"Things" in general I can stay detached from, or detach myselves from if it seems like it will drag me off course. Same with people, especially my family and its endless chase for material things.

And I don't give a shit about that golden carrot the machine dangles in front of me. I see the string, the pole it hangs from, I know we are not meant to reach it, just chase it. So I stopped giving a shit about it, which alienated me from the majority of people. And then it's easy to stay detached from them.

It's even necessary in the face of all the - but there's so many fantastic things out there still, including the last remaining humans.

How could I not give a shit about these great things in life?
As an example: When i jump through the forests here, off the normal paths... ending up at the beach to stack stones on top of each other, writing weird shit into the sand and then waiting for the sea to come back to claim it all. That's when I rekindle with my love for this planet. And it's hard to witness how humanity as a whole treats this planet, willingly or not. I can't give too much a shit about it, but can I give no shit at all?

Yet words are wind. Our doing defines our existence (Carroll really did a number on my headspace it seems). If I don't give a shit about all, I don't give a shit about myself. And I've been down that road, it's no fun and leads to self-destruction sooner or later. And I like fun, so I give a shit about myself. And if I give a shit about myself, I also gotta give a shit about this world and the people I meet for it's all a reflection of the internal too. And who's to say I can't do some good deeds here and there. Take all your given, give everything you can, yadda yadda.

To paraphrase a wise spag:


The easy part

is not giving a shit

about all the shit you cannot change anyways.
                   

the hard part----------
is learning the difference
      between accepting the things you cannot change
               and doing something about the things you can change.
                     



(the trick,
I think,
is to start doing
            cum amor et hilaritas, in omnibus)

[Cramulus]

            cum amor et hilaritas, in omnibus

You're right,
It's time to take another walk in the woods and touch base with the ghosts of past and future.

Maybe throw some rocks at them.

[P3nT4gR4m]

The beast is relentless. It wants to play, it wants to rage, it wants to smash things and throw shit and it will not be denied. Sure you can fight it. You can deny it but know that it'll never give up until it gets what it needs and if you plan on denying it forever it will become increasingly hard to keep control. So don't.

Give the monkey what it wants. Throw the dog a bone. But do it when it suits you. Loose the leash just enough to pacify it. If you fight then it's a contest. One of you will win. One of you will lose. It's not about fighting. It's about the smart one taking control and establishing authority. Punishment and denial may not be the key to success in this endeavour. Maybe try reward based incentive.

[Ari]

The beast is relentless. It wants to play, it wants to rage, it wants to smash things and throw shit and it will not be denied. Sure you can fight it. You can deny it but know that it'll never give up until it gets what it needs and if you plan on denying it forever it will become increasingly hard to keep control. So don't.

Give the monkey what it wants. Throw the dog a bone. But do it when it suits you. Loose the leash just enough to pacify it. If you fight then it's a contest. One of you will win. One of you will lose. It's not about fighting. It's about the smart one taking control and establishing authority. Punishment and denial may not be the key to success in this endeavour. Maybe try reward based incentive.

Well put, well put indeed.

Ooook has its/his/her (in the following male for simplification during personal reflection, yet still meaning all three) place on the grand council of doing.
We value his input & his powers, just like we'd do with any other member of this council.
For a time he was ignored, and lashed out when he could - mostly at us since we denied uncontrolled outbursts towards the external world. We were treating him like a lowly beast, and that didn't work out either. For deep within, as you said Pent, he won't be denied, at least not for long.
These days, we came to embrace him and love him.
Often we focus on the destructive sides of Ooook, but he's also a giver of great physical strength in times of need, guardian of personal space in the face of threats and a passionate lover (or so we heard), among other things.
There's an infinite side to every coin.

~Planeswalker
enjoying a deepening of understanding

[Triple Zero]

Thanks for taking part of this thread guys, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts.

I don't have that much to add, but let's see ... writing in the sand and waiting for the sea to wash it away? Why? It's probably really metaphorical for all kinds of "impermanence" related whatnots, but I already do so many useless things ... Or do you write really embarrassing things? Or is it maybe something that you just happen to like for no reason and I don't have to get it?

Maybe if I wrote it sideways so the sentence goes into the sea and it spells "THE BODIES ARE BURIED AT T..." ?