Good Evening my fellow wanderers - I hope I find you all in fine fettle. Its taken a little while to decide which song to look at next but, as has often been the case recently, a song from my past came to me and had to be discussed: Bullet with Butterfly Wings by The Smashing Pumpkins. I was listening to the radio and Today by the band (which I'd also happily write a post about but for various reasons we'll go with Bullet) came on and it reminded me I'd not listened to my favourite song by the Pumpkins for years. One listen was all it needed to decide to write about Bullet.
1. The world is a vampire, sent to drain
Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames
And what do I get, for my pain
Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game
2. Even though I know
I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold
Like old Job
3. Despite all my rage
I am still just a rat in a cage
Despite all my rage
I am still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say
What is lost can never be saved
Despite all my rage
I am still just a rat in a cage
4. Now I'm naked
Nothing but an animal
But can you fake it
For just one more show
And what do you want
I want to change
And what have you got
When you feel the same
5. Tell me I'm the only one
Tell me there's no other one
Jesus was an only son yeah
Tell me I'm the chosen one
Jesus was an only son, for you
6. And I still believe that I can not be saved
************************************************
1. The modern world of scientific materialism, rampant consumerism and the all pervasive phenomenon of ego inflation has sucked the spiritual blood from our veins.
"Success" couched in this paradigm uses money or celebrity as the scoreboard for success - but it is precisely these things that burn the "real you" in the flames.
And what is the benefit of this pain? A piece of the game - some small part of the capitalist infrastructure: a house, or a car, a beautiful wife, or a rich husband? But deep down our society knows something isn't right - we start wars, Prozac and other anti-depressants are used indiscriminently, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
2. Deep down - even if we don't even realise it - we all know better than that. We're all philosophers and we all have the ability to understand that you can't take any of this material stuff with you and that ultimately material stuff is shallow, hollow and mostly spiritually vapid. Job (the title and principle character of the Old Testament book, also featuring in the Koran with the same story) was horrifically tested by "God" but never denounced "Him". So shrug off the "failure", "disease" and "unease" and spiritually man-up! Samsara is Nirvana
3. Getting angry or frustrated, blaming others for your discomfort, seeking salvation in money, success or drugs just reinforces the misapprehension that you are your ego. That is not your true self: Atman is Brahman.
Believing in eternal damnation is a truly horrific theology - one unilaterally adopted by the crudest forms of most major religions. And yet - the great irony - getting upset about this just reinforces the misplaced concept that your ego is real. So despite it being completely inconsistent that any God of Love could eternally damn anyone - this genuinely is not something to get upset about. We are all aspects of the Godhead and will be reconciled eventually. Until you realise this you will remain a rat in a cage or as Alan Watts describes it - an ego encased in a bag of skin.
4. So strip everything away. Pursue the road of what Aldous Huxley describes as "self-noughting". The ego will cry and scream that without it you are but a dumb animal but eventually over numerous incarnations the appreciation of who you really are is inevitable. So at some point your Buddhahood, or Christ consciousness is going to become overwhelming. Do you want to fake the importance of the ego, of separation for one more life - or are you ready to go home now? Then the penultimate test - you make the decision to completely surrender and then nothing changes!! Samsara is Nirvana!!
"Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment chop wood and carry water" Zen Proverb
5. I'm sure Billy Corgan is either being sarcastic here, or the actual lyrics are " Jesus wasn't the only son". Anyway a common misunderstanding is caused by those who have had catastrophic experiences of cosmic consciousness because the language and cultural milieu which they have access to are extremely ill-disposed to an explanation of what they have experienced. They are likely to say things like "I am God" which sounds as egocentric as you can get but it really isn't meant that way! Nonetheless - unless the ego has been completely superceded it can still latch on to that experience of cosmic consciousness. That is the last test of your journey to heaven otherwise known as a complete connection with the Divine.
6. If your starting point on this journey is that there is no spirit, no divinity, then you probably believe that you can never be saved. That theology follows the argument that our consciousness is just a fortuitous but somewhat wretched side-effect of a purely physical universe with no inherent purpose or real inter- connectedness. If heaven, nirvana, moksha and true peace are in the revelation that the ego does not exist - that our true selves is the universal divine then you actually arrive at the same conclusion !!! There is no "you" to be saved!!! Your already it!! Tat Tvam Asi !!
Before closing I should postface my comments with the admission that I've been attending an Alpha Course for the last two months. My genuine reason for undertaking such an endeavour was in a vain attempt to reconcile my love for the divinity of all things (and all the mystic paths that demonstrate this) with orthodox (small "o", not big "O") Christianity. The course has completely failed to do that because Mystic Christianity and orthodox Christianity cannot be reconciled without fundamental changes to the beliefs and doctrines of the latter. Its a shame, if for no other reason than the people running, and participating in, the course are mostly lovely (if confused). However on the plus-side the course has inadvertently encouraged me to re-read a number of books that I would whole-heartedly recommend to you my fellow seekers. These include: Mystic Christianity by Yogi Ramacharaka (that can be found in pdf format for free here, The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley, Return of the Perennial Philosophy by John Holman and Son of Man by Andrew Harvey. I thoroughly recommend all four. Until the next time my friends . . .
Saturday 23 November 2013
Thursday 17 October 2013
Feeling Good - Nina Simone
Hello Everybody ! I hope you are well today and loving life! I've been wondering which song to tackle next in the blog and haven't posted for nearly a month because none of the potential candidates were really grabbing me. I wasn't really feeling the love with any of them. Anyway I heard Feeling Good come through my iPhone this morning and knew straight away that it would be the topic of my next post!
Like a couple of the other songs we've discussed on the blog this song is so well known and so much part of our musical cultural heritage that I've been guilty of not really listening to the lyrics. I've heard them but never really listened properly. There have been so many versions in recent years from Muse, to Buble, to various X-Factor protagonists that I can't remember the last time I really listened to the seminal (if not original) 1965 Nina Simone version. Whichever version you like best though - these are the amazing lyrics:
Like a couple of the other songs we've discussed on the blog this song is so well known and so much part of our musical cultural heritage that I've been guilty of not really listening to the lyrics. I've heard them but never really listened properly. There have been so many versions in recent years from Muse, to Buble, to various X-Factor protagonists that I can't remember the last time I really listened to the seminal (if not original) 1965 Nina Simone version. Whichever version you like best though - these are the amazing lyrics:
Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel.
It's a new dawn, It's a new day, It's a new life for me yeahIt's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me
And I'm feeling good
Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree you know how I feel
It's a new dawn, It's a new day, It's a new life for me
And I'm feeling good
Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done that's what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world for me
Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
It's a new dawn, It's a new day, It's a new life for meAnd I'm feeling good
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel.
It's a new dawn, It's a new day, It's a new life for me yeahIt's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me
And I'm feeling good
Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree you know how I feel
It's a new dawn, It's a new day, It's a new life for me
And I'm feeling good
Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done that's what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world for me
Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
It's a new dawn, It's a new day, It's a new life for meAnd I'm feeling good
___________________________________________
The format is super simple verse / chorus / verse / chorus and the message in the lyrics that stands out to me is the connection that we can feel to all aspects of our reality, through all our senses. The fish, the river that the fish are in, and the blossom on the tree next to the river all know how I feel. They are not separate from me - but intimately connected.
The dragonfly out in the sun, and the butterflies having fun know how to live life and have much to teach us. Act natural and don't get too stressed! And when its time to sleep - sleep in peace without a care in the world.
The chorus takes up this theme that everyday is a new day, with a new dawn and an opportunity for a new life for every one of us.
Even the stars shining know how I feel, the scent of the pine too. I love the way the lyrics appeal to our different senses here: feeling, sight, smell, touch. And then - not only do all aspects of reality know how I feel, but through my experiences of reality I know how I feel - and I'm feeling good.
Its a truly beautiful message. We are instrinsically connected with nature - not separate from it. The universe cradles us, understands us and can even sympathise with how we feel. This overwhelming feeling of cosmic consciousness and shared experience is one that has recurred time and time again to people of all cultures through all time.
"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper" W.B. Yeats
"The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here, and you are out there" Yasutani Roshi
"To drop into being means to recognise your interconnectedness with all life, and with being itself. Your very nature is being part of larger and larger spheres of wholeness" Jon Kabat-Zinn
"Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better" Albert Einstein
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin" William Shakespeare
"Earth laughs in flowers" Ralph Waldo Emerson
Enjoy today and remember you have another chance tomorrow !
Thursday 19 September 2013
Megalomaniac - Incubus
For my 11th post I want to tackle a song that might allow us to highlight one of the major differences in outlook between the exoteric messages of the great monotheistic religions and their guarded, esoteric, mystical teachings reserved for the initiated.
Christianity has a rich mystical heritage through a long line of initiated adepts: sects such as the Anabaptists, Levellers, Brothers of the free spirit and the Quakers. Deeper mystical schools developed independently in the form of The Freemasons, Rosicrucians and The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
Judaism has most famously the Kabbalists but a great mystical heritage through the Essenes (from which both John the Baptist and Jesus emerged) to the Hasidic tradition still flourishing today.
Islam has the Sufi mystical sect most notably espoused by the illuminated poetry of Rumi.
For many years I struggled with the notion that an open, egalitarian religion such as Christianity (claims to be) should maintain a more secretive wealth of inner teachings reserved for the few. This seemed horribly unfair and I couldn't reconcile the words of Jesus "Do not cast your pearls before swine" Matthew ch.7 v.6. with his broader message of the equality of all human beings. Surely the inside knowledge or inner teaching should be available to everyone.
The song Megolomaniac by Incubus explains why the true (and near identical) inner teachings of the these three great religions are reserved for those who are able to deal with it. Incidentally as an Incubus is a mythical creature their inclusion in this blog seems entirely appropriate! Its a cracking song too, which is a further prerequisite for analysis here!
Here are the lyrics:
1. The most vociferous (and often fundamental) members of these religions tend to be the ones with the most primitive theology: think atonement (its basically saying human sacrifice is what God likes?), think Jihad (that a holy war is an actual war to be physically fought with violence rather than an inner spiritual struggle?), think circumcision (God for some reason wasn't happy with the way he created male genitalia?). These theologies are no better (and probably worse) than the theology of a childrens' playground.
Brandon Boyd the lead singer and lyricist for the band is not keen on such base theology and those that espouse it as virtuous and somehow enlightened. He eludes to every person's innate divinity that he would "cut off both your wings on principle alone" - we are all angels with the wings to fly through the spiritual realms - but those that are ignorant of this and subvert the true message of religion should have their wings clipped. After all we are all buddhas - we just don't know it . . .
2. And there in lies the danger of the esoteric message of these great religions - and why its plain dangerous to cast pearls before swine. The petty and small minded fundamentalist already deludedly believes that his small minded theology makes him closer to God - and the mystical message of all religion that we are already One with God (we just don't realise it all / most of the time) only makes this worse. It can genuinely turn people into Megalomaniacs. True union with God / the Universe / the Dao / Brahman or whatever else you want to call it (the ground of all being, Paul Tillich?) occurs with the dissolution of the ego and the humbleness of the true servant. So "step down" off the throne and lose the ego-trip.
3. Brandon here shows his frustration at these ego-megalomaniacs. Why can't they see how deluded they are? All of us are heaven sent - not just Jesus (or Elvis) - every single one of us. Jesus was not the only one. Mohammed was not the only one. Elijah was not the only one. To quote Maxi Jazz from my first post on this blog:
Because damn it, he didn't just give us the planet
And its wealth, deep inside your soul he left a piece of himself
The lord is in here.
His voice is small.
You keep lying and trying,
Denying the call From inside
Its a dangerous message but one I think we need to trust more people with in this age.
Christianity has a rich mystical heritage through a long line of initiated adepts: sects such as the Anabaptists, Levellers, Brothers of the free spirit and the Quakers. Deeper mystical schools developed independently in the form of The Freemasons, Rosicrucians and The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
Judaism has most famously the Kabbalists but a great mystical heritage through the Essenes (from which both John the Baptist and Jesus emerged) to the Hasidic tradition still flourishing today.
Islam has the Sufi mystical sect most notably espoused by the illuminated poetry of Rumi.
For many years I struggled with the notion that an open, egalitarian religion such as Christianity (claims to be) should maintain a more secretive wealth of inner teachings reserved for the few. This seemed horribly unfair and I couldn't reconcile the words of Jesus "Do not cast your pearls before swine" Matthew ch.7 v.6. with his broader message of the equality of all human beings. Surely the inside knowledge or inner teaching should be available to everyone.
The song Megolomaniac by Incubus explains why the true (and near identical) inner teachings of the these three great religions are reserved for those who are able to deal with it. Incidentally as an Incubus is a mythical creature their inclusion in this blog seems entirely appropriate! Its a cracking song too, which is a further prerequisite for analysis here!
Here are the lyrics:
1. I hear you on the radio
You permeate my screen, its' unkind but
If I met you in a scissor fight
I'd cut off both your wings on principle alone
On principle alone
2. Hey megalomaniac
You're no Jesus
Yeah, you're no fucking Elvis
Special, as you know yourself
Baby, just step down, step down
3. If I were your appendages
I'd hold open your eyes
So you would see
That all of us are heaven sent
There was never meant to be only one
To be only one
Hey megalomaniac
You're no Jesus
Yeah, you're no fucking Elvis
Special, as you know yourself
Baby, just step down, step down
Yeah
You're no Jesus
You're no Elvis
You're no answer
Hey megalomaniac
You're no Jesus
Yeah, you're no fucking Elvis
Special, as you know yourself
Just step down
You permeate my screen, its' unkind but
If I met you in a scissor fight
I'd cut off both your wings on principle alone
On principle alone
2. Hey megalomaniac
You're no Jesus
Yeah, you're no fucking Elvis
Special, as you know yourself
Baby, just step down, step down
3. If I were your appendages
I'd hold open your eyes
So you would see
That all of us are heaven sent
There was never meant to be only one
To be only one
Hey megalomaniac
You're no Jesus
Yeah, you're no fucking Elvis
Special, as you know yourself
Baby, just step down, step down
Yeah
You're no Jesus
You're no Elvis
You're no answer
Hey megalomaniac
You're no Jesus
Yeah, you're no fucking Elvis
Special, as you know yourself
Just step down
Brandon Boyd the lead singer and lyricist for the band is not keen on such base theology and those that espouse it as virtuous and somehow enlightened. He eludes to every person's innate divinity that he would "cut off both your wings on principle alone" - we are all angels with the wings to fly through the spiritual realms - but those that are ignorant of this and subvert the true message of religion should have their wings clipped. After all we are all buddhas - we just don't know it . . .
2. And there in lies the danger of the esoteric message of these great religions - and why its plain dangerous to cast pearls before swine. The petty and small minded fundamentalist already deludedly believes that his small minded theology makes him closer to God - and the mystical message of all religion that we are already One with God (we just don't realise it all / most of the time) only makes this worse. It can genuinely turn people into Megalomaniacs. True union with God / the Universe / the Dao / Brahman or whatever else you want to call it (the ground of all being, Paul Tillich?) occurs with the dissolution of the ego and the humbleness of the true servant. So "step down" off the throne and lose the ego-trip.
3. Brandon here shows his frustration at these ego-megalomaniacs. Why can't they see how deluded they are? All of us are heaven sent - not just Jesus (or Elvis) - every single one of us. Jesus was not the only one. Mohammed was not the only one. Elijah was not the only one. To quote Maxi Jazz from my first post on this blog:
Because damn it, he didn't just give us the planet
And its wealth, deep inside your soul he left a piece of himself
The lord is in here.
His voice is small.
You keep lying and trying,
Denying the call From inside
Its a dangerous message but one I think we need to trust more people with in this age.
Monday 3 June 2013
Wandering Star - Portishead
Good evening! I actively encourage those of you kind enough to read these posts to
comment and please do make suggestions for music that you think I should
be listening to - either in comments or on Twitter @mystmodmus. It is the dialogue and the connection that allows us all to grow. The inspiration for today's post comes from my anonymous friend who has been commenting extensively on the Radioactive - Imagine Dragons post. She / He recommended that I listen to Seven Stars by Air as it had helped her / him through a particularly tough time. Not only do I recommend that song to you dear readers but it prompted me to look at a song that might allow us to discuss one of the great mystical numbers: 7.
I have considered a number of songs for this task including: Seven Lives by Enigma, which is a great song to chill out to but lyrically unsophisticated; and, 7% by Sunna which is a stunning and mystically erudite song but isn't strictly anything to do with the number 7. In any case, they are both artists that I want to return to in future posts. The song I want to springboard-off into a discussion on the number 7 is Wandering Star by Portishead:
Please could you stay awhile to share my grief
For its such a lovely day
To have to always feel this way
And the time that I will suffer less
Is when I never have to wake
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Those who have seen the needles eye, now tread
Like a husk, from which all that was, now has fled
And the masks, that the monsters wear
To feed, upon their prey
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
(Always) doubled up inside
Take awhile to shed my grief
(Always) doubled up inside
Taunted, cruel...
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
*******************************
Its a pretty dark and moody song and is full of galactic foreboding but as with many such songs I can't help but focus on the silver lining around the cloud. You'd be quite entitled to ask, what on earth has this song got to do with the number 7? Well its a fair question and hopefully the answer will also shed some light on why 7 developed such mystical importance.
The title of the song is Wandering Star which is the literal meaning of the word now more commonly used: planet. In antiquity the planets were literally stars that wandered across the apparently fixed celestial background, and there were seven of them: The Sun, The Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The outer planets were not discovered until after the "invention" of the telescope at the start of the 17th Century.
And from this knowledge, the power of the number 7 has been reflected across almost all cultures and has worked its way into all walks of life. There are dozens of good websites that show he deeply this number has infiltrated our world, but it is commonly accepted that the number 7 represents divine perfection, completeness. It was the sages, wisemen, astrologers and adepts that had this knowledge and let it infiltrate the entirety of our modern world.
The many religious references to the number 7 are testimony to this, but the connection goes even deeper. Sure the days of the week are an obvious clue:
The Goths had 7 Deities from whom come the English names of week days; Sun, Moon, Tuisco, Wotan, Thor, Friga, Seatur, corresponding, of course, to the planets.
But what about the 7 colours, or the 7 notes in music, or the 7 directions? These would have been more difficult to artificially manufacture . . . unlike days of the week, names of Gods or references in scripture.
So for me - this song is all about the number 7, and the number 7 is a great (literally daily!) reminder of the divine immanent in all - the core of the mystical revelation.
I have considered a number of songs for this task including: Seven Lives by Enigma, which is a great song to chill out to but lyrically unsophisticated; and, 7% by Sunna which is a stunning and mystically erudite song but isn't strictly anything to do with the number 7. In any case, they are both artists that I want to return to in future posts. The song I want to springboard-off into a discussion on the number 7 is Wandering Star by Portishead:
Please could you stay awhile to share my grief
For its such a lovely day
To have to always feel this way
And the time that I will suffer less
Is when I never have to wake
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Those who have seen the needles eye, now tread
Like a husk, from which all that was, now has fled
And the masks, that the monsters wear
To feed, upon their prey
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
(Always) doubled up inside
Take awhile to shed my grief
(Always) doubled up inside
Taunted, cruel...
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved
The blackness of darkness forever
*******************************
Its a pretty dark and moody song and is full of galactic foreboding but as with many such songs I can't help but focus on the silver lining around the cloud. You'd be quite entitled to ask, what on earth has this song got to do with the number 7? Well its a fair question and hopefully the answer will also shed some light on why 7 developed such mystical importance.
The title of the song is Wandering Star which is the literal meaning of the word now more commonly used: planet. In antiquity the planets were literally stars that wandered across the apparently fixed celestial background, and there were seven of them: The Sun, The Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The outer planets were not discovered until after the "invention" of the telescope at the start of the 17th Century.
And from this knowledge, the power of the number 7 has been reflected across almost all cultures and has worked its way into all walks of life. There are dozens of good websites that show he deeply this number has infiltrated our world, but it is commonly accepted that the number 7 represents divine perfection, completeness. It was the sages, wisemen, astrologers and adepts that had this knowledge and let it infiltrate the entirety of our modern world.
The many religious references to the number 7 are testimony to this, but the connection goes even deeper. Sure the days of the week are an obvious clue:
The Goths had 7 Deities from whom come the English names of week days; Sun, Moon, Tuisco, Wotan, Thor, Friga, Seatur, corresponding, of course, to the planets.
But what about the 7 colours, or the 7 notes in music, or the 7 directions? These would have been more difficult to artificially manufacture . . . unlike days of the week, names of Gods or references in scripture.
So for me - this song is all about the number 7, and the number 7 is a great (literally daily!) reminder of the divine immanent in all - the core of the mystical revelation.
"To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour."
William Blake's Auguries of Innocence
Tuesday 28 May 2013
I Appear Missing - Queens of the Stone Age
This is a long one I'm afraid but please try to make it through! So far we've examined songs released as early as 1967 and as recently as earlier this year (2013). But for this post I'm going to break new ground and discuss a song that hasn't even officially been released yet! I Appear Missing will be released as a track on the new Queens of the Stone Age album (.... Like Clockwork) on June 4th. However, the album got leaked and the band decided to officially release a number of the promo vids to the public. The video is only 3 minutes long but you don't have to wait for the album to hear the full 6+ minute version - the live version is already out there!
1. Calling all comas,
prisoner on the loose,
description:
The spitting image of me,
Accept for the heart shaped hole where the hope runs out
2. Shock me awake, tear me apart
Penned like a note in a hospital gown
A prison of sleep, deeper down
The rabbit hole never to be found
Again…
3. Where are you hiding my love?
Cast off like a stone
Feelings, raw & exposed when I’m outta control
Pieces were stolen from me or dare I say given away
Watching the water give in as I go down the drain
I appear missing now
I go missing, no longer exist
Some day, I hope, I’m someone you’d miss
Shock me awake, tear me apart
Penned like a note in a hospital gown
The deeper I sleep, further down
The rabbit hole never to be found
Its only falling in love because you hit the ground
4. Dancing on wire both ends are on fire
Cut me loose
Nowhere to run, no more room to pretend
Wandering along the road in the summer night
I go missing, no longer exist
One day I hope I'm someone you'd miss
Shock me awake, tear me apart
Penned like a note on a hospital gown
The deeper I sleep, further down
The rabbit hole never to be found
5. Don’t cry—
With my toes on the edge it’s such a lovely view…
Inside—
I never loved anything until I loved you
Confide—
I’m over the edge, what can I do?
Sunshine—
I’ve fallen through…
I appear missing.
First of all it seems obvious to me that Josh was inspired to write this song by his near death experience after surgery complications in 2010. His heart stopped and had to be defibrillated. He was bed bound for 3 months which caused him to rethink much of his world view and personal priorities. He himself has said that the experience influenced much of the material that subsequently evolved into ...Like Clockwork.
Josh's near death experience was a wake-up call for him but shouldn't we be able to cultivate that balance, self-awakening and structure our life's priorities without a traumatic event of that magnitude? Of course we can !
Its known in Zen as Kensho and it means to experience an initial insight and an understanding of your true Buddha nature. The purpose of Zen techniques is to encourage Kensho at all moments, in order to bask in Satori - enlightenment. Two main techniques used in Zen are zazen (literally sitting) and koans (riddles). The moment of clarity when you solve a riddle, or crossword, or puzzle gives you the smallest hint of what Kensho feels like. More to come on zazen, in later posts - because for me, the title of this song is a koan. By the end of this post I hope "I Appear Missing" might mean something more than it did at the start !
1. The first verse reads like the transcript from police radio. In this case, the "coma police" who patrol us all and keep us imprisoned, dumb-downed and asleep. Once you begin to walk the path and have your first wake-up call (Kensho) you become "a prisoner on the loose". The prisoner has not yet escaped but he is on the run and has the potential to enjoy total realization.
Kongo Roshi: "in Zen the idea is to rise from the dead each moment. Most of us in our everyday waking lives are at least half asleep. Each moment of our lives we must wake up, wake up, wake up! This is the Zen idea. This is the Zen goal. Zen is a philosophy of the here and now, not the then and there. This moment contains everything"
Daubed in his blood, the protagonist in the video has "WAKE UP" written on his shirt . . .
2. Your first Kensho can be as violent as being shocked awake, and as we have already touched-on in earlier posts it can be a seriously disturbing experience. Your ego will howl and whine - feel torn apart. Worse still - as the Kensho fades - you fall back to sleep and you yearn to return to that moment of ecstatic harmony. When you can't return to that place through force of will you can feel even further away, never to be found, down the rabbit hole. And as soon as anyone mentions a rabbit hole we have to reference Lewis Carroll and his Alice stories, particularly Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. These so-called children's stories are great works of occult literature. Its not my place to rehash what other great scholar's have already analysed but see here for an easy initial trip down the rabbit hole that is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. And here for something much more in depth.
3. The ego is in a real bind now. It yearns to return to the source and be reconnected but it also suspects that satori will be accompanied by a withering to nothing of the ego. It drains away and the "I" that used to be so familiar is now missing - its not there anymore. But the yearning to be "someone you'd miss" it still there - satori has not been found. We'll need many more posts to tackle this thorny issue - but all along the path the ego only "appears" to be "missing". A clue for now will suffice - many schools of buddhism actually frown on those who achieve buddhahood - becoming a boddhisattva is the best outcome until all souls are freed.
The last lines of the 3 minute version of song come in the form of "Its only falling in love because you hit the ground". Yearning, craving (see Between Angels and Insects post ) can only end in pain and tragedy.
4. Time is now running out, the dance cannot continue forever. I love the lyrics here portraying impending catastrophe and a high-wire balancing act - so true to real life! Then BANG - it happens again: Kensho. It can happen anytime, anywhere - this time on a summer night's wander. But the yearning to be missed by you remains and back down the rabbit hole I go. “Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.” Alice to the White Rabbit
5. And here for me, is the sucker punch - the experience of waking-up is one that fills you full of love and compassion for all things. It makes it even harder to let go. The ego is playing a different role, a more subtle game and one that few people ever even notice. But our protagonist here, in this case takes the metaphorical leap, leaves it all behind and experiences the bliss (the sunshine). Something that Josh explicitly outlines earlier in the album with the refreshingly direct song, titled, "My God is the Sun"- perhaps a post on that another day . . .
But needless to say after all that - I Appear Missing
1. Calling all comas,
prisoner on the loose,
description:
The spitting image of me,
Accept for the heart shaped hole where the hope runs out
2. Shock me awake, tear me apart
Penned like a note in a hospital gown
A prison of sleep, deeper down
The rabbit hole never to be found
Again…
3. Where are you hiding my love?
Cast off like a stone
Feelings, raw & exposed when I’m outta control
Pieces were stolen from me or dare I say given away
Watching the water give in as I go down the drain
I appear missing now
I go missing, no longer exist
Some day, I hope, I’m someone you’d miss
Shock me awake, tear me apart
Penned like a note in a hospital gown
The deeper I sleep, further down
The rabbit hole never to be found
Its only falling in love because you hit the ground
4. Dancing on wire both ends are on fire
Cut me loose
Nowhere to run, no more room to pretend
Wandering along the road in the summer night
I go missing, no longer exist
One day I hope I'm someone you'd miss
Shock me awake, tear me apart
Penned like a note on a hospital gown
The deeper I sleep, further down
The rabbit hole never to be found
5. Don’t cry—
With my toes on the edge it’s such a lovely view…
Inside—
I never loved anything until I loved you
Confide—
I’m over the edge, what can I do?
Sunshine—
I’ve fallen through…
I appear missing.
First of all it seems obvious to me that Josh was inspired to write this song by his near death experience after surgery complications in 2010. His heart stopped and had to be defibrillated. He was bed bound for 3 months which caused him to rethink much of his world view and personal priorities. He himself has said that the experience influenced much of the material that subsequently evolved into ...Like Clockwork.
Josh's near death experience was a wake-up call for him but shouldn't we be able to cultivate that balance, self-awakening and structure our life's priorities without a traumatic event of that magnitude? Of course we can !
Its known in Zen as Kensho and it means to experience an initial insight and an understanding of your true Buddha nature. The purpose of Zen techniques is to encourage Kensho at all moments, in order to bask in Satori - enlightenment. Two main techniques used in Zen are zazen (literally sitting) and koans (riddles). The moment of clarity when you solve a riddle, or crossword, or puzzle gives you the smallest hint of what Kensho feels like. More to come on zazen, in later posts - because for me, the title of this song is a koan. By the end of this post I hope "I Appear Missing" might mean something more than it did at the start !
1. The first verse reads like the transcript from police radio. In this case, the "coma police" who patrol us all and keep us imprisoned, dumb-downed and asleep. Once you begin to walk the path and have your first wake-up call (Kensho) you become "a prisoner on the loose". The prisoner has not yet escaped but he is on the run and has the potential to enjoy total realization.
Kongo Roshi: "in Zen the idea is to rise from the dead each moment. Most of us in our everyday waking lives are at least half asleep. Each moment of our lives we must wake up, wake up, wake up! This is the Zen idea. This is the Zen goal. Zen is a philosophy of the here and now, not the then and there. This moment contains everything"
Daubed in his blood, the protagonist in the video has "WAKE UP" written on his shirt . . .
2. Your first Kensho can be as violent as being shocked awake, and as we have already touched-on in earlier posts it can be a seriously disturbing experience. Your ego will howl and whine - feel torn apart. Worse still - as the Kensho fades - you fall back to sleep and you yearn to return to that moment of ecstatic harmony. When you can't return to that place through force of will you can feel even further away, never to be found, down the rabbit hole. And as soon as anyone mentions a rabbit hole we have to reference Lewis Carroll and his Alice stories, particularly Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. These so-called children's stories are great works of occult literature. Its not my place to rehash what other great scholar's have already analysed but see here for an easy initial trip down the rabbit hole that is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. And here for something much more in depth.
3. The ego is in a real bind now. It yearns to return to the source and be reconnected but it also suspects that satori will be accompanied by a withering to nothing of the ego. It drains away and the "I" that used to be so familiar is now missing - its not there anymore. But the yearning to be "someone you'd miss" it still there - satori has not been found. We'll need many more posts to tackle this thorny issue - but all along the path the ego only "appears" to be "missing". A clue for now will suffice - many schools of buddhism actually frown on those who achieve buddhahood - becoming a boddhisattva is the best outcome until all souls are freed.
The last lines of the 3 minute version of song come in the form of "Its only falling in love because you hit the ground". Yearning, craving (see Between Angels and Insects post ) can only end in pain and tragedy.
4. Time is now running out, the dance cannot continue forever. I love the lyrics here portraying impending catastrophe and a high-wire balancing act - so true to real life! Then BANG - it happens again: Kensho. It can happen anytime, anywhere - this time on a summer night's wander. But the yearning to be missed by you remains and back down the rabbit hole I go. “Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.” Alice to the White Rabbit
5. And here for me, is the sucker punch - the experience of waking-up is one that fills you full of love and compassion for all things. It makes it even harder to let go. The ego is playing a different role, a more subtle game and one that few people ever even notice. But our protagonist here, in this case takes the metaphorical leap, leaves it all behind and experiences the bliss (the sunshine). Something that Josh explicitly outlines earlier in the album with the refreshingly direct song, titled, "My God is the Sun"- perhaps a post on that another day . . .
But needless to say after all that - I Appear Missing
Monday 20 May 2013
Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles
Afternoon All ! I hope all is well with you on this fine day. I'm in New York for a few days which is always good news. Its a town full of fond memories and pervaded with an enthusiasm for life that is quite infectious - on top of that my brother now lives here so I always have an excuse to come and visit in the future! Travelling here from the UK also, inevitably, means a little bit of jet-lag. That meant that I found myself taking a stroll through Central Park in the early morning mist at 6am this morning. I was walking with a clear head, the morning chorus ringing in my ears when I found myself in Strawberry Fields.
So no prizes for guessing which song I was inspired to look at today ! Strawberry Fields Forever was released by The Beatles in 1967. Being a child of the '80s I've never been into The Beatles, and have never really understood why they were so HUGE. I originally liked this song because of this - taste is in the eye of the beholder when you're 13 yrs old ! But to be fair, the Candyflip cover does capture the psychedelic origins of the song. Lyrically, the song is quite trippy but the cosmic consciousness that John Lennon was experiencing through his use of LSD and practice of transcendental meditation is explicit:
Let me take you down
1. 'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
2. Nothing is real
3. And nothing to get hung about
4. Strawberry Fields forever
5. Living is easy with eyes closed
Misunderstanding all you see
It's getting hard to be someone
But it all works out
It doesn't matter much to me
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
6. No one I think is in my tree
I mean it must be high or low
That is you know you can't tune it
But it's all right
That is I think it's not too bad
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
7. Always know sometimes it's me
But you know I know when it's a dream
I think I know I mean a "Yes"
But it's all wrong
That is I think I disagree
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
1. Strawberry Fields in Central Park, NY is named after the song and is a two acre site in west central park adjacent to John Lennon's apartment building, where he was shot dead in 1980. The song was so named, in memory of the location of a Salvation Army children's home in Liverpool, England. As a child, John used to go and listen to the Salvation Army band there, as well as playing with his friends in the woods at the bottom of the garden.
2. Memories of these times are not real, our perceptions are not real and if all we experience is our perceptions then nothing is real (this video is a must-watch on the implications of optical illusions) but that does not undermine the importance of the events of our lives
3. So maintain a healthy perspective - its very difficult to know when something is actually good or bad
4. A wish to return to the playful happiness of childhood - Matthew ch. 18 v 3: Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven"
5. Walking through life accepting the modern paradigm is the easy route. Taking the road less travelled is tougher but with the right attitude it all works out ok in the end.
6. To be "out of your tree" means to be crazy, deranged, intoxicated. John is concerned that nobody else sees the world the way he does. The overwhelming experience of cosmic consciousness makes it very difficult to dial back in to the "normal" world view. Once again however, this isn't something to get overly upset about "whatever will be, will be"
7. I'm struggling with this last verse. Maybe an update when I've figured it out !!
UPDATE!:
Feelings of universal love and interconnectedness naturally lead to a weakening of personal egocentric identity - but despite that John is asking to still be recognised as his own unique manifestation of spirit.
His ego believes it can tell the difference between a dream and reality.
Descartes' conclusion ("I think therefore I am") is the ground of this belief.
But John's higher self knows this is not a watertight proof - and ultimately John recognises he can never tell what is real or what is a dream.
"Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things. " Chuang Tzu
So no prizes for guessing which song I was inspired to look at today ! Strawberry Fields Forever was released by The Beatles in 1967. Being a child of the '80s I've never been into The Beatles, and have never really understood why they were so HUGE. I originally liked this song because of this - taste is in the eye of the beholder when you're 13 yrs old ! But to be fair, the Candyflip cover does capture the psychedelic origins of the song. Lyrically, the song is quite trippy but the cosmic consciousness that John Lennon was experiencing through his use of LSD and practice of transcendental meditation is explicit:
Let me take you down
1. 'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
2. Nothing is real
3. And nothing to get hung about
4. Strawberry Fields forever
5. Living is easy with eyes closed
Misunderstanding all you see
It's getting hard to be someone
But it all works out
It doesn't matter much to me
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
6. No one I think is in my tree
I mean it must be high or low
That is you know you can't tune it
But it's all right
That is I think it's not too bad
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
7. Always know sometimes it's me
But you know I know when it's a dream
I think I know I mean a "Yes"
But it's all wrong
That is I think I disagree
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
1. Strawberry Fields in Central Park, NY is named after the song and is a two acre site in west central park adjacent to John Lennon's apartment building, where he was shot dead in 1980. The song was so named, in memory of the location of a Salvation Army children's home in Liverpool, England. As a child, John used to go and listen to the Salvation Army band there, as well as playing with his friends in the woods at the bottom of the garden.
2. Memories of these times are not real, our perceptions are not real and if all we experience is our perceptions then nothing is real (this video is a must-watch on the implications of optical illusions) but that does not undermine the importance of the events of our lives
3. So maintain a healthy perspective - its very difficult to know when something is actually good or bad
4. A wish to return to the playful happiness of childhood - Matthew ch. 18 v 3: Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven"
5. Walking through life accepting the modern paradigm is the easy route. Taking the road less travelled is tougher but with the right attitude it all works out ok in the end.
6. To be "out of your tree" means to be crazy, deranged, intoxicated. John is concerned that nobody else sees the world the way he does. The overwhelming experience of cosmic consciousness makes it very difficult to dial back in to the "normal" world view. Once again however, this isn't something to get overly upset about "whatever will be, will be"
7. I'm struggling with this last verse. Maybe an update when I've figured it out !!
UPDATE!:
Feelings of universal love and interconnectedness naturally lead to a weakening of personal egocentric identity - but despite that John is asking to still be recognised as his own unique manifestation of spirit.
His ego believes it can tell the difference between a dream and reality.
Descartes' conclusion ("I think therefore I am") is the ground of this belief.
But John's higher self knows this is not a watertight proof - and ultimately John recognises he can never tell what is real or what is a dream.
"Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things. " Chuang Tzu
Friday 17 May 2013
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
Happy Friday tout le monde ! An extra post this week as I have a little time on my hands and I try to post when I'm really feeling a particular song. In recent days I've had cause to think about one of the great, consistent threads that runs through all mystical traditions: reincarnation. One of the great occult secrets is the recognition that the personal ego does not exist - it is phoney. We have individual traits but these are better understood to be different aspects (or incarnations) of what Hindus call Brahman - the player of all the parts.
Emerson in his essay 'Nature' (1836) summed up this experience more beautifully than I will ever be able to:
"We return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, -- no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite spaces, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God."
Meister Eckhart was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1328 for his 'herecy':
“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”
I've felt for a while that when we feel a strong connection to someone else, even when we may not know them well, it is a connection forged by this unity with all things, and across all time. And is it possible that the love we feel is an echo or harmonic of that relationship from a past (or even future) life? Its an explanation that I like !
So I was on a train this morning, listening to music and pondering these things as I often do when this song came on: Iris by Goo Goo Dolls. According to my iTunes I've owned the song since 2008 and I've listened to it over 50 times but for the first time, this morning, it completely blew me away.
And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
And sooner or later it's over
I just don't wanna miss you tonight
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in my lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
*********************************************
Originally released in 1998 it is a classic case of the slow-burn, sleeper, hit song. It certainly passes the all important live test and is currently at #37 in the UK chart having peaked at #5 in recent weeks. Certain of my ugliest prejudices were brought to the fore when I learnt that the reason for this re-emergence was a feature on Britain's Got Talent. You'd have to be very hard-skinned not to be moved by this performance though !
Finally - If you want to know who I am, or who you are, or who anyone is - this book is the best explanation I've found: The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are - By Alan Watts
Emerson in his essay 'Nature' (1836) summed up this experience more beautifully than I will ever be able to:
"We return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, -- no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite spaces, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God."
Meister Eckhart was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1328 for his 'herecy':
“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”
I've felt for a while that when we feel a strong connection to someone else, even when we may not know them well, it is a connection forged by this unity with all things, and across all time. And is it possible that the love we feel is an echo or harmonic of that relationship from a past (or even future) life? Its an explanation that I like !
So I was on a train this morning, listening to music and pondering these things as I often do when this song came on: Iris by Goo Goo Dolls. According to my iTunes I've owned the song since 2008 and I've listened to it over 50 times but for the first time, this morning, it completely blew me away.
And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
And sooner or later it's over
I just don't wanna miss you tonight
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in my lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
*********************************************
Originally released in 1998 it is a classic case of the slow-burn, sleeper, hit song. It certainly passes the all important live test and is currently at #37 in the UK chart having peaked at #5 in recent weeks. Certain of my ugliest prejudices were brought to the fore when I learnt that the reason for this re-emergence was a feature on Britain's Got Talent. You'd have to be very hard-skinned not to be moved by this performance though !
Finally - If you want to know who I am, or who you are, or who anyone is - this book is the best explanation I've found: The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are - By Alan Watts
Tuesday 14 May 2013
Between Angels and Insects - Papa Roach
Hola ! I thought for this post I'd try to expand on one of the themes that emerged from looking more closely at the second verse of the song from the previous post: Halo - Depeche Mode. Those lyrics touched on the aching we have in our hearts (dukkha) and how "all life's luxuries are there for you and me". To me this all resonates with the truism that "the best things in life are free!"
Many songs have expanded on this theme but I've chosen to look at Between Angels & Insects by Papa Roach - as much as anything to tackle a song from a completely different musical genre from those we've covered so far. Rock Music has long had an association with the occult, the mystic and even satanism - there's none of that here you may be glad to hear - just a very raw exposition of the 4 noble truths of buddhism !
****************************************
Strictly speaking buddhism isn't a form of mysticism - buddhists are nothing if not extremely practical realists, and you can't say that about many mystics ! But mystics do often pick-up many buddhic tendencies and as the Dalai Lama has said himself "Don't become a Buddhist. The world doesn't need more buddhists. Do practice compassion. The world needs more compassion!”
Its important to say that as far as I'm aware Papa Roach are not buddhists. However, by some means or other this song absolutely nails the 4 noble truths:
1. People suffer
2. People suffer because they crave
3. People can stop suffering
4. They can stop suffering by following the eightfold path
The eightfold path is: right worldview, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. As the lyrics above show, Jacoby Shaddix has some work to do on the "right speech" part but unlike Christianity's 10 commandments - the eightfold path is not a set of hard and fast rules. Rather they form the backbone of the "dharma" which in literal sense means "that which maintains the stability and harmony of the universe", but practically means the "mode of living" to be encouraged.
For anyone that wants to learn more I strongly recommend the following:
Buddhism Plain and Simple - Steve Hagen
Awakening the Buddha Within - Surya Das
There is a huge amount of wisdom in this message:
"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."
I'm not going to analyse the song line by line because for me when viewed through the lense of buddhism the lyrics have no hidden meaning - they are very explicit !
Many songs have expanded on this theme but I've chosen to look at Between Angels & Insects by Papa Roach - as much as anything to tackle a song from a completely different musical genre from those we've covered so far. Rock Music has long had an association with the occult, the mystic and even satanism - there's none of that here you may be glad to hear - just a very raw exposition of the 4 noble truths of buddhism !
****************************************
There's no money, there's no possessions,
Only obsession, I don't need that shit,
Take my money, take my obsession
I just want to be heard, loud and clear are my words,
Coming from within man tell them what you heard,
It's about a revolution, in your heart and in your mind,
'Til you find a conclusion, lost out in obsession,
Diamond rings get you nothing but a life-long lesson,
And your pocketbooks stressing,
You're a slave to the system, working jobs that you hate for that shit you don't need,
It's too bad the world is based on greed,
Step back and see,
Stop thinking about yourself, start thinking aboutâ?¦
There's no money, there's no possession, only
Obsession, I don't need that shit
Take my money, take my possession, take my obsession,
I don't need that shit
Because everything is nothing,
And emptiness isn't everything,
This reality is really just a fucked up dream,
With the flesh and the blood that you call your soul,
Flip it inside out, it's a big black hole,
Take your money burn it up like an asteroid,
Possession, though you're never gonna feel the void,
Take it away and learn your best lesson,
The heart, the soul, the life, the passion
There's no money, there's no possession,
Only obsession, I don't need that shit
Take my money, take my possession, take my obsession,
I don't need that shit
Money, possession, obsession,
Present yourself, press your clothes, comb your hair,
And clock in,
You just can't win, just can't win,
And the things you own, own you
No!
Take my money, take my possession, take my obsession,
I don't need that shit
Fuck your money, fuck your possession, fuck your
Obsession, I don't need that shit
Money, possession, obsession, I don't need that shit
***********************************************Only obsession, I don't need that shit,
Take my money, take my obsession
I just want to be heard, loud and clear are my words,
Coming from within man tell them what you heard,
It's about a revolution, in your heart and in your mind,
'Til you find a conclusion, lost out in obsession,
Diamond rings get you nothing but a life-long lesson,
And your pocketbooks stressing,
You're a slave to the system, working jobs that you hate for that shit you don't need,
It's too bad the world is based on greed,
Step back and see,
Stop thinking about yourself, start thinking aboutâ?¦
There's no money, there's no possession, only
Obsession, I don't need that shit
Take my money, take my possession, take my obsession,
I don't need that shit
Because everything is nothing,
And emptiness isn't everything,
This reality is really just a fucked up dream,
With the flesh and the blood that you call your soul,
Flip it inside out, it's a big black hole,
Take your money burn it up like an asteroid,
Possession, though you're never gonna feel the void,
Take it away and learn your best lesson,
The heart, the soul, the life, the passion
There's no money, there's no possession,
Only obsession, I don't need that shit
Take my money, take my possession, take my obsession,
I don't need that shit
Money, possession, obsession,
Present yourself, press your clothes, comb your hair,
And clock in,
You just can't win, just can't win,
And the things you own, own you
No!
Take my money, take my possession, take my obsession,
I don't need that shit
Fuck your money, fuck your possession, fuck your
Obsession, I don't need that shit
Money, possession, obsession, I don't need that shit
Strictly speaking buddhism isn't a form of mysticism - buddhists are nothing if not extremely practical realists, and you can't say that about many mystics ! But mystics do often pick-up many buddhic tendencies and as the Dalai Lama has said himself "Don't become a Buddhist. The world doesn't need more buddhists. Do practice compassion. The world needs more compassion!”
Its important to say that as far as I'm aware Papa Roach are not buddhists. However, by some means or other this song absolutely nails the 4 noble truths:
1. People suffer
2. People suffer because they crave
3. People can stop suffering
4. They can stop suffering by following the eightfold path
The eightfold path is: right worldview, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. As the lyrics above show, Jacoby Shaddix has some work to do on the "right speech" part but unlike Christianity's 10 commandments - the eightfold path is not a set of hard and fast rules. Rather they form the backbone of the "dharma" which in literal sense means "that which maintains the stability and harmony of the universe", but practically means the "mode of living" to be encouraged.
For anyone that wants to learn more I strongly recommend the following:
Buddhism Plain and Simple - Steve Hagen
Awakening the Buddha Within - Surya Das
There is a huge amount of wisdom in this message:
"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."
I'm not going to analyse the song line by line because for me when viewed through the lense of buddhism the lyrics have no hidden meaning - they are very explicit !
Tuesday 7 May 2013
Halo - Depeche Mode
Morning All - Namaste ! I hope this message finds you in fine form today !
I thought we'd head back in time a little for our next song - and what a classic it is: Halo by Depeche Mode. Originally released on the exceptional Violator album which included other songs of mystical reference such as My Personal Jesus, World in my Eyes, Policy of Truth and Enjoy the Silence, it is an eerie homage to the dukkha we all feel to a greater or lesser extent in our day-to-day existence. Halo was never released as a single but has gained even more of a cult following in recent years due to the exquisite Goldfrapp remix. Listen, enjoy, and we'll be back to look at some of the other songs from this album before too long!
I thought we'd head back in time a little for our next song - and what a classic it is: Halo by Depeche Mode. Originally released on the exceptional Violator album which included other songs of mystical reference such as My Personal Jesus, World in my Eyes, Policy of Truth and Enjoy the Silence, it is an eerie homage to the dukkha we all feel to a greater or lesser extent in our day-to-day existence. Halo was never released as a single but has gained even more of a cult following in recent years due to the exquisite Goldfrapp remix. Listen, enjoy, and we'll be back to look at some of the other songs from this album before too long!
1. You wear guilt
2. Like shackles on your feet
3. Like a halo in reverse
4. I can feel, The discomfort in your seat, And in your head it's worse
5.There's a pain
A famine in your heart
An aching to be free
6.Can't you see
All love's luxuries, Are here for you and me
7. And when our worlds they fall apart
When the walls come tumbling in
8. Though we may deserve it
It will be worth it
9. Bring your chains
10.Your lips of tragedy
11. And fall into my arms
And when our worlds they fall apart
When the walls come tumbling in
Though we may deserve it
It will be worth it
2. Like shackles on your feet
3. Like a halo in reverse
4. I can feel, The discomfort in your seat, And in your head it's worse
5.There's a pain
A famine in your heart
An aching to be free
6.Can't you see
All love's luxuries, Are here for you and me
7. And when our worlds they fall apart
When the walls come tumbling in
8. Though we may deserve it
It will be worth it
9. Bring your chains
10.Your lips of tragedy
11. And fall into my arms
And when our worlds they fall apart
When the walls come tumbling in
Though we may deserve it
It will be worth it
1. "Jesus did not spend a great deal of time discoursing on the trinity, original sin or the incarnation, which have pre-occupied later Christians. He went around doing good and being compassionate" - Karen Armstrong. The whole notion of original (ancestral / Adamic) sin sickens me. Many people in western society feel the weight of that cultural baggage be they religious or not.
2. That burden prevents people from thinking clearly and behaving naturally - it shackles them to a very primitive theology / world view.
3. An inverted (or reversed) Halo would be around the feet - like the aforementioned shackles. A misinterpreted spiritual message of compassion is subverted into guilt - the halo of enlightenement falls from behind the head to get snagged around the feet and impede the spiritual journey.
4. Being born guilty of a species-wide sin against a supernatural paternal deity is bound to make you feel uncomfortable. For those of us without that affliction it is painfully obvious how debilitating it is physically (in your seat) and mentally (in your head) - the two being intrinsically part of a greater whole.
5. This guilt, in combination with the fear of this life being a one-chance offer to secure eternal peace or eternal damnation has led many to steer away from the misguided major religions and into a vapid, consumer-centric and ultimately unsatisfying lifestyle. Often this is debt financed leading to debt-serfdom.
6. Whereas - when you truly open your eyes - all life's (or love's) luxuries are out there for everyone to enjoy now, if only they knew it! This is the mystical revelation: Union with the divine does not happen later, or in the afterlife, it can happen now. We just need to realise it ! "There is a voice that doesn't use words. Listen" - Rumi
7. Breaking free of the bonds of attachment and ego to experience enlightenment can be painful - and very hard. See St John of the Cross "Dark Night of the Soul".
8. But this is necessary to achieve - although ironically all sense of ego-driven achievement will be lost in the process !
9. Bring your shackles of guilt and,
10. your monkey-mind which betrays its presence in the things you say and the way you act
11. and put your trust in the loving embrace of the universe - you make the connection !
"So then, when you’re in the way of waking up, and finding out who you really are, what you do is what the whole universe is doing at the place you call here and now. You are something that the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is something that the whole ocean is doing… The real you is not a puppet which life pushes around; the real, deep down you is the whole universe.” – Alan Watts
Monday 29 April 2013
Radioactive - Imagine Dragons
Hello my fellow Mystics ! Before we start I'd like to say many thanks to any of you who have followed me on Twitter (@mystmodmus) !
I'm conscious that in the first two proper posts on this blog (allegedly about modern music), the songs I've looked at were released 14yrs ago (Reverence) and 5yrs ago (Black and Gold). I'd say its about time to look at a song currently in the charts!
Imagine Dragons are a Las Vegas based band who were formed in 2008 but really broke-out in 2012. As of today their latest song, Radioactive, has spent 22 weeks on the UK chart and is currently at #13 - which is nice! As with most of the songs we'll look at on this blog, first and foremost I like the song for its music and it has at least two really catchy hooks. The lyrics are certainly open to interpretation but I'll give you my read below, and the video is plain bonkers and definitely worthy of its own analysis ! Best of all the band play it live with real passion.
1. I'm waking up to ash and dust
2. I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
3. I'm breathing in the chemicals
4. I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus
5. This is it, the apocalypse
Whoa
6. I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
7. Enough to make my systems blow
8. Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
9. Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
10. I raise my flags, don my clothes
11. It's a revolution, I suppose
12. We're painted red to fit right in
Whoa
I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus
This is it, the apocalypse
Whoa
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
13. All systems go, the sun hasn't died
14. Deep in my bones, straight from inside
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
First of all - important to respect what the songwriter wants us to think it means !
This is what I think:
1. Waking from sleep each morning we face the transition from a dreamland to the physical reality of ash, dust, the seemingly irreversible increase in entropy in this universe
2. We are caught-up in this fall and can be made to feel like automatons - just machines with no free will ("We live in Newtonian world governed by Einsteinian physics, ruled by Frankenstein logic" - David Russell)
3. Not only a statement of fact (the air is made of chemicals!) but possibly a reference to the chemtrail conspiracy ?
4. Through meditation, research and opening your eyes to the evidence of what is really going on vs what we're told is really going on, its possible for everyone to recognise their own divinity. It takes practice and training but the mind habits that were your prison can be adjusted to provide your transport to freedom and enlightenment ("deluded people don't realise that their own mind is the buddha - they keep searching outside" - Gautama Buddha; "Behold ! The Kingdom of God is within you" - KJV Luke 17:21)
5. In contrast to popular understanding the actual meaning of apocalypse is not the end of the world ! It is actually a disclosure of knowledge, hidden from humanity in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e., a lifting of the veil or revelation
6. When the veil is lifted there can be no doubting it ! You feel it in the core of your being !
7. Some people can find this mind-blowing !
8. As you "wake-up" its like being reborn, or the start of a new age. Many attached to the "New-Age" movement believe this process is effectively logarithmic and that we are on the verge of appreciating a global consciousnes at the dawn of the new age of Aquarius. Those who experience the divine first-hand see the Godhead in everyone and know how close everyone is to this revelation. See Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth
9. I'm ALIVE !! "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter" - Yoda; "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience" - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. . Its also a statement of scientific fact !
10. I feel different and I want everyone to feel that revelation too, but day to day life still goes on ! "Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water" - Zen Proverb
11. It is a revolution - but not violent - and not what you might expect it to feel like !
12. To me this looks like a very cool play on a Dante's Inferno quotation "we are they who painted the world scarlet with sins." Often the enlightened buddha's of the ages are rejected, accused of the worst sins (blasphemy, solipsism, believing that you are God) and murdered. MUCH more of that topic to come in future posts !
13. Once you feel the awakening happening go for it ! The sun is still here / the son is still here. Again - MUCH more of that to come in furture posts . . .
14. The experience has not come from without but from within.
“I searched for God among the Christians and on the Cross and therein I found Him not.
I went into the ancient temples of idolatry; no trace of Him was there.
I entered the mountain cave of Hira and then went as far as Qandhar but God I found not.
With set purpose I fared to the summit of Mount Caucasus and found there only 'anqa's habitation.
Then I directed my search to the Kaaba, the resort of old and young; God was not there even.
Turning to philosophy I inquired about him from ibn Sina but found Him not within his range.
I fared then to the scene of the Prophet's experience of a great divine manifestation only a "two bow-lengths' distance from him" but God was not there even in that exalted court.
Finally, I looked into my own heart and there I saw Him; He was nowhere else.” - Rumi
I'm conscious that in the first two proper posts on this blog (allegedly about modern music), the songs I've looked at were released 14yrs ago (Reverence) and 5yrs ago (Black and Gold). I'd say its about time to look at a song currently in the charts!
Imagine Dragons are a Las Vegas based band who were formed in 2008 but really broke-out in 2012. As of today their latest song, Radioactive, has spent 22 weeks on the UK chart and is currently at #13 - which is nice! As with most of the songs we'll look at on this blog, first and foremost I like the song for its music and it has at least two really catchy hooks. The lyrics are certainly open to interpretation but I'll give you my read below, and the video is plain bonkers and definitely worthy of its own analysis ! Best of all the band play it live with real passion.
1. I'm waking up to ash and dust
2. I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
3. I'm breathing in the chemicals
4. I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus
5. This is it, the apocalypse
Whoa
6. I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
7. Enough to make my systems blow
8. Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
9. Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
10. I raise my flags, don my clothes
11. It's a revolution, I suppose
12. We're painted red to fit right in
Whoa
I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus
This is it, the apocalypse
Whoa
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
13. All systems go, the sun hasn't died
14. Deep in my bones, straight from inside
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
First of all - important to respect what the songwriter wants us to think it means !
This is what I think:
1. Waking from sleep each morning we face the transition from a dreamland to the physical reality of ash, dust, the seemingly irreversible increase in entropy in this universe
2. We are caught-up in this fall and can be made to feel like automatons - just machines with no free will ("We live in Newtonian world governed by Einsteinian physics, ruled by Frankenstein logic" - David Russell)
3. Not only a statement of fact (the air is made of chemicals!) but possibly a reference to the chemtrail conspiracy ?
4. Through meditation, research and opening your eyes to the evidence of what is really going on vs what we're told is really going on, its possible for everyone to recognise their own divinity. It takes practice and training but the mind habits that were your prison can be adjusted to provide your transport to freedom and enlightenment ("deluded people don't realise that their own mind is the buddha - they keep searching outside" - Gautama Buddha; "Behold ! The Kingdom of God is within you" - KJV Luke 17:21)
5. In contrast to popular understanding the actual meaning of apocalypse is not the end of the world ! It is actually a disclosure of knowledge, hidden from humanity in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e., a lifting of the veil or revelation
6. When the veil is lifted there can be no doubting it ! You feel it in the core of your being !
7. Some people can find this mind-blowing !
8. As you "wake-up" its like being reborn, or the start of a new age. Many attached to the "New-Age" movement believe this process is effectively logarithmic and that we are on the verge of appreciating a global consciousnes at the dawn of the new age of Aquarius. Those who experience the divine first-hand see the Godhead in everyone and know how close everyone is to this revelation. See Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth
9. I'm ALIVE !! "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter" - Yoda; "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience" - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. . Its also a statement of scientific fact !
10. I feel different and I want everyone to feel that revelation too, but day to day life still goes on ! "Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water" - Zen Proverb
11. It is a revolution - but not violent - and not what you might expect it to feel like !
12. To me this looks like a very cool play on a Dante's Inferno quotation "we are they who painted the world scarlet with sins." Often the enlightened buddha's of the ages are rejected, accused of the worst sins (blasphemy, solipsism, believing that you are God) and murdered. MUCH more of that topic to come in future posts !
13. Once you feel the awakening happening go for it ! The sun is still here / the son is still here. Again - MUCH more of that to come in furture posts . . .
14. The experience has not come from without but from within.
“I searched for God among the Christians and on the Cross and therein I found Him not.
I went into the ancient temples of idolatry; no trace of Him was there.
I entered the mountain cave of Hira and then went as far as Qandhar but God I found not.
With set purpose I fared to the summit of Mount Caucasus and found there only 'anqa's habitation.
Then I directed my search to the Kaaba, the resort of old and young; God was not there even.
Turning to philosophy I inquired about him from ibn Sina but found Him not within his range.
I fared then to the scene of the Prophet's experience of a great divine manifestation only a "two bow-lengths' distance from him" but God was not there even in that exalted court.
Finally, I looked into my own heart and there I saw Him; He was nowhere else.” - Rumi
Thursday 18 April 2013
Black and Gold - Sam Sparro
Apologies to anyone out there in the ether who has actually been waiting for my next post. As of August 2013 I'm going to have alot more time on my hands and will be able to commit more to updating this blog much more often than once per year !! An update every two weeks will be my target to start with and I also plan to be active on Twitter and other social media.
In the meantime, lets change the pace a little bit from the classic "Reverence" of the last post. I've long been amazed by the sheer breadth of musical genres that have been influenced by mysticism but before we launch into our first thrash metal example - lets take a look at what I would classify as regular pop music.
Sam Sparro was raised in a musical and gospel loving family. Its therefore not too surprising that his biggest career hit has a strong message. First of all - I LOVE this song - Black and Gold - just for its rhythm, melodies and groove. The fact that there is a great message of revelation and theophany in the beauty of the natural world is a great bonus. Others have argued that its a lyrical defence of non-Darwinian theories on the origin of species. I don't see that particularly, but it does strike me as a critique on scientific materialism. More importantly for me its a love song to the universal spirit and also a love song of devotion to a fellow human lover.
In the meantime, lets change the pace a little bit from the classic "Reverence" of the last post. I've long been amazed by the sheer breadth of musical genres that have been influenced by mysticism but before we launch into our first thrash metal example - lets take a look at what I would classify as regular pop music.
Sam Sparro was raised in a musical and gospel loving family. Its therefore not too surprising that his biggest career hit has a strong message. First of all - I LOVE this song - Black and Gold - just for its rhythm, melodies and groove. The fact that there is a great message of revelation and theophany in the beauty of the natural world is a great bonus. Others have argued that its a lyrical defence of non-Darwinian theories on the origin of species. I don't see that particularly, but it does strike me as a critique on scientific materialism. More importantly for me its a love song to the universal spirit and also a love song of devotion to a fellow human lover.
If the fish swam out of the ocean
And grew legs and they started walking
And the apes climbed down from the trees
And grew tall and they started talking
And the stars fell out of the sky
And my tears rolled into the ocean
And now I'm looking for a reason why
You even set my world into motion
'Cause if you're not really here
Then the stars don't even matter
Now I'm filled to the top with fear
That it's all just a bunch of matter
'Cause if you're not really here
Then I don't want to be either
I wanna be next to you
Black and gold, black and gold, black and gold
I look up into the night sky
And see a thousand eyes staring back
And all around these golden beacons
I see nothing but black
I feel a weight of something beyond them
I don't see what I can feel
If vision is the only validation
Then most of my life isn't real
'Cause if you're not really here
Then the stars don't even matter
Now I'm filled to the top with fear
But it's all just a bunch of matter
'Cause if you're not really here
Then I don't want to be either
I wanna be next to you
Black and gold, black and gold, black and gold
I wanna be next to you
Black and gold, black and gold, black and gold
'Cause if you're not really here
Then the stars don't even matter
Now I'm filled to the top with fear
But it's all just a bunch of matter
'Cause if you're not really here
Then I don't want to be either
I wanna be next to you
Black and gold, black and gold, black and gold
And grew legs and they started walking
And the apes climbed down from the trees
And grew tall and they started talking
And the stars fell out of the sky
And my tears rolled into the ocean
And now I'm looking for a reason why
You even set my world into motion
'Cause if you're not really here
Then the stars don't even matter
Now I'm filled to the top with fear
That it's all just a bunch of matter
'Cause if you're not really here
Then I don't want to be either
I wanna be next to you
Black and gold, black and gold, black and gold
I look up into the night sky
And see a thousand eyes staring back
And all around these golden beacons
I see nothing but black
I feel a weight of something beyond them
I don't see what I can feel
If vision is the only validation
Then most of my life isn't real
'Cause if you're not really here
Then the stars don't even matter
Now I'm filled to the top with fear
But it's all just a bunch of matter
'Cause if you're not really here
Then I don't want to be either
I wanna be next to you
Black and gold, black and gold, black and gold
I wanna be next to you
Black and gold, black and gold, black and gold
'Cause if you're not really here
Then the stars don't even matter
Now I'm filled to the top with fear
But it's all just a bunch of matter
'Cause if you're not really here
Then I don't want to be either
I wanna be next to you
Black and gold, black and gold, black and gold
******************************************
The first two verses ask the question: if Darwinian evolution is true why do people need God to set the big bang off and get the whole show going? A simplistic God of the Gaps theology does not stand-up to any substantial critical thinking. The spirit is immanent in all:
The first two verses ask the question: if Darwinian evolution is true why do people need God to set the big bang off and get the whole show going? A simplistic God of the Gaps theology does not stand-up to any substantial critical thinking. The spirit is immanent in all:
"God sleeps in the rock
Dreams in the plants
Stirs in the animals
And awakens in Man"
- Old Sufi Proverb
The line "and my tears rolled into the ocean" is a lovely emotional reference to the long established use of water as metaphor for many aspects of mystical experience:
"In the spritual marriage, the union is like what we have when rain falls from the sky into a river or fount; all is water, for the rain that fell from heaven cannot be divided or seperated from the water of the river" - Teresa of Avila
"The best of man is like water, Which benefits all things, and does not contend with them, Which flows in places that others disdain, Where it is in harmony with the Way" Tao Te Ching v8
"Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water, Yet nothing can better overcome the hard and strong" Tao Te Ching v78
Then the chorus (starting: 'Cause if you're not really here) tackles the question of the true reality of materialism. First of all the choice of "here" rather than "there" is really important. "you're" is referring to God and he needs to be "here" in space and time - not somewhere over "there"!!
The word play of "the stars don't even matter" is wonderful. The word "matter" being derived from the same root that gives us words such as: materialsm, metre, measure; but also the same root as Maya, Mary, mother, meaning etc. On top of that there is the other meaning of "matter" as something being important. If the spirit does not exist then how can a physical reality be percieved?
In the second part of the chorus I'm particularly touched by the line: "'Cause if you're not really here, Then I don't want to be either, I wanna be next to you". To me its a hope that the universe is not just a cold, physical reality and nor is it just pure spirit - it has to be inseperably both. Its time to cleave the Cartesian Split and recognise the unity of the whole universe: spiritual and physical. Layering over that meaning, the fact that Sam is gay gives the line "I wanna be next to you" added resonance. Many gay people have at best been rejected, and in many cases persecuted, by many churches and religions. I'm convinced that God / the Universe doesn't have sexual preferences for the human species!
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