Poster Details Explained
“ This special poster was inspired by a personal experience (satori.) On a January morning in 1994 at about 6:30 I arose to get ready for a 7 a.m AA meeting. I dressed and walked from my bedroom thru the kitchen to the living room. As I entered the living room my eyes seemingly rolled to a 180 degree angle backwards... At that moment I got a look at the structure of my MIND... I consciously muttered, “That was different.”
While I sat in my car, I simply stared at the dashboard trying to make sense of it... the phrase “cosmic luck” occurred to me and then the phrase “universal empathy” followed... Putting the two together “Cosmic Luck and Universal Empathy” and you’ve got C.L.U.E. as in I need to get a clue regarding the universe and who runs it.
In the Tragedy of Coriolanus, Menenius chides his fellow senators, “Oh, that you would roll your eyes to the napes of your necks and take an interior survey of your good selves, oh that you could”. * That just about sums up the event as I recollect it.
*Act 2 Scene I”
What is the “me”?
The “me” is the center of the conditioned mind.. It has several characteristics such as (1) the pursuer of pleasure
(2) the pursuer of power (3) the pursuer of financial security (4) pursuer of beauty (5) pursuer of knowledge (6) pursuer of enlightenment....Seeker of leverage (power).... Survivalist, warrior, scholar, artist (writer, painter, sculptor, etc.), sybarite, party animal, monk, priest, miser, philanthropist, etc......
The aim of meditation is to break away from the “me” (if not dissolve it.....)
AWAKE:
What is Nirvana? What does being awakened mean? How does it manifest itself?
Nirvana means extinguished desire. If each desire is a candle then extinguished means snuffing the candle. This is an experimental method of visualization.
Being “awakened” simply means knowledge of self or mind by way of direct observation. This is what “satori” is about. It is a moment in one’s development that is truly unforgettable. Fragmentation, at least for that instant, falls away. One is truly “together”.
By the same token, the “sleeping” mind is basically in survival mode. Fragmentation is the key characteristic. This fragmentation is most likely caused by competing with other me’s for what are perceived as the goals of daily life such as capital, property, and prestige.
BREAKING THRU TO THE OTHER SIDE:
Can one truly “break thru” to the other side? My answer is “yes, but.”
The “but” means that one has to be very lucky as well as have the willingness to work on this. The positive is that progress is constant even if not dramatic. Yesterday is no longer desirable.
Nostalgia ceases. Tomorrow is just a mirage. It can definitely be called a “trudge”.