My friends and gentle readers, I am here to entreat you toward more amblings of the mind!

It has been sometime since last we spoke and a great many things have transpired. I, as always, remain antique and woefully out of touch with the modern day. Even these computer postings are being transcribed by helpful friends as I stand in Awe before those dread machines. But, my addled psyche is much more finely in tune with the great shifts in the collective unconscious. We have taken on so many tragedies as a species in these last few years. The virus, the social upheavals, the global climate crisis, the rearing of the ugly heads of autocracies fueled by fear, ignorance and confusion and the list goes on. It feels as though the very fabric of our world is being pulled apart at the seams. I have some good news; It is.

I realize this may not be the comforting folksy wisdom that you came here to hear. But not unlike my previously used Homophones, things are often far more than they appear. You see, we have scarcely left the (Plato’s) cave as a species. We, as a whole, still revert to watching the shadow play upon the wall and take it as the highest reality. They appear to us so readily that most people never have the need to see beyond them. They are content in this premanufactured world view and I for one, agree with them. The enormity of the world of the Forms is a vast and confusing place to the non integrated person. The only way to achieve that view is through the practice of dismantling everything you “know” and never taking another thing, person or idea for granted. This is a fear inducing proposition to most. You are pulling at the strings that hold your world together and questioning the entire structure of the individual as they see themselves. I cannot blame those who still marvel at the the shadow of reality. They trust in what they know even though it was wrought by others. They trust in past as prologue, and in the words of their families and neighbors. In this they hold no power over the world and therefore no responsibility for it.

So, we have lived our lives on this principle of a knowable and predictable world. We have built societies, Cultures, Religions, Sciences, Histories etc.. We have built endless cities and come to believe we know our planet better than ever. We have created technologies to help mankind and to satiate our curiosities. We have exerted our “control” over existence. These are all admirable feats of human intellect, ingenuity and industry. We found a coagulant of consensus upon which to bring people together toward a common goal. Our tribal lives expanded. Now, we have grown so far in these arts of materialism and in global population that we are all of us demonstrably interconnected. A problem arises. We as tribal groups (nations, among other examples) had been separated by geography as to be isolated from other ways of life. Our worlds were very small and almost unchallenged. But, now we are so many and so much of Gaia’s face is covered with her offspring that the inconsistencies of the different tribal ways of life are in direct opposition.

As is the way of our species, we begin to fight back. Every segment of the society that is touched by counter-cultural experience writhes in allergic response. Both sides convinced of their “right” and supremacy above the other. From economy to morality to governance to cultural psychology, all these pillars of the world to all parties involved are influenced by the others. Now add on top of physical contact, GLOBAL IDEOLOGICAL contact. In this age we have unleashed a truly destabilizing influence on the world, that of the Internet. The single most radical and chaos inducing item a culture in the cave has to contend with is a competing interpretation of the shadows on the wall. Now, not only is their limited understanding of life being challenged but, their physical/mental lives are so limited that there is no where else to go. So, humanity (our ego) fights back. We are above all, a resilient species. Our convictions can fuel us to the heights of valor or the depths of depravity. It is this power that we use to defend ourselves from these contending views that have so “misread” the values of life.

In response to this attack all those in the cave set off to diminish all other alien view points. In our earliest days these skirmishes are small and usually based around the proper set/ color of wooden blocks to build a castle out of. Our judgements of right and wrong are much more fresh in our experience and therefor extremely well defined. These disagreements are short lived and are usually remedied by a good game of tag. You see, we live much more immediately and presently in our childhoods. As time wears on, these slights hang on longer. We begin to know and entreat with our egos and identify more with our social personalities. So, judgement becomes a tool for safety of a non physical variety. It helps us stay within the parameters of our side of the cave. If we do that we are more easily accepted by the tribe. The whole of reality only exists in this cave and the only understanding of it is given to us by our tribe within the cave. We would of course then cleave to those that are older than us and that we imbue with wisdom. Our lives are framed for us. All we have to do is fill the canvas.

This is a life lead like any other. The goods and ills of life dictated by the experience of those that came before are fashioned into a guiderail to a “happy ” life. Its repetition and stagnancy is a blanket that they wear for comfort. Like Linus we keep that blanket near by at all times. We use it to do or fashion anything we would ever need. Since life only exists here in the cave, we have a finite set of uses/rules for that blanket. It always works because it was fashioned for and of the place it is being used. A perfect pairing with a finite world view. As we grow into adulthood, armed with our blanket and tribal wisdom we think our selves masters of living. We have the power of the knowledge of the cave and since that space is finite we have power over all of existence. Any other ideas from further down the wall of which we are shackled facing the shadow play are obviously heretical. “Those sub humans down the wall have entirely the wrong perspective. We all know that 15 degrees off center closest to the shadow of the rabbit is the only place to truly understand life. Something must be done about this dangerous idea.”

Now, as adults, the skirmishes of misunderstanding that we had as children are not forgotten or glossed over by the thrill of living. No, these inconsistencies fester. There is only a limited amount of room in the cave. Both physically and ideologically. Every person cleaving to their tribe fight and bicker and make plans to subvert the other. They begin to interpret the flickers of shadows on the walls as belonging to themselves alone and that the other tribes are unworthy. “It just makes sense! All must think as we do! How could they think or live any other way? It is Blasphemy against the shadows and the cave itself.” Disagreements boil over as the war for the ownership of “rightness” is waged.

Eventually one side cede their point to another. The fighting ends and “peace” resumes in the cave. Everyone feels calmer and safer as the hostilities have abated. Unfortunately for all of them this battle will only rage again and be calmed. Again and be calmed. So on and so on as they all still live in the exact same place they always have, chained to a wall facing the flickering of shadows on another. There is no room for growth in a finite space. There is no room for understanding with finite resources. There is no room for enlightenment with finite minds.

All is well and stable in this closed loop society. Until, one day some dangerously deranged member of the cave catches something strange in the patterns on the wall. Their section has begun to grow weaker in appearance. The Rabbit is dimmer than the other shapes upon the wall. “But, how can that be? The truth of the wall is eternal!? The people of the cave grow and change and pass away. The great images do not! This is the end of the world and no one else can see it!!” So they decide that even though it is a suicide mission and insane to boot, they will leave the cave to bring the Rabbit back to power in the world. Firstly, they break their chains. Secondly, they stand up. Thirdly, they turn around to their backsides. This is a wholly new action. No one of their tribe has ever dared to. But, the entirety of existence is at stake. Nothing in their lives has prepared them for what they witness.

Upon turning around, at once they are blinded and burned. A great heat and light is filling this other world, this parallel existence. As their eyes adjust shapes begin to appear. They are brand new and without reference. There, just a small distance away crackles a massive pyre. In front if it parallel to the wall are the shapes that they know so well. The Rabbit, the lion, the dragon, the eagle they are all there but are just rough hewn pieces of wood bound to stakes and pounded into the ground. They turn back and look down below where all the rest still sit in the place they left them. They pass a hand in between the wooden images and the fire. All of a sudden screams erupt from below as the peoples beloved animal images has been blotted out. Only moments later the prisoner removes their hand and cry’s of joy come just as emotionally as the screams of loss. Their world has been restored.

This pilgrim moves toward the fire now and the shape becomes more defined as their eyes adjust. Their minds start to work and inhale all that they have been shown. They move a piece of fire wood closer to the rabbit side and thusly bring back its prominence. Just then a flicker of light, of a different color peeks around the enormity of the pyre. The fire appears to be blocking an opening beyond. They begin to see the pattern of the different colors coming through the fire now. What if the enemy that attempted to blot out the Rabbit still lay beyond? The pilgrim takes as their sacred duty to find out the truth of it to protect their world. Backing up to the edge of the wall of the lower cave, they run at the fire flinging themselves through.

Such an action does not come without consequences. The pilgrim finds themselves bruised, singed and blinded once more. This time however the blinding seems to be reaching through their eyelids and straight into themselves along with heat but, a different heat. Completely without sensory help the pilgrim stumbles slowly toward the source of this new light and heat. Inch by inch they move onward and are met with deep rich smells and intermittent waves of cool breeze upon their skin. The sounds of life come into focus first, along with the smells. Then as the blinding glow of the new fire starts to be normalized by their eyes they catch a glimpse of something on the ground where they had been looking to avoid the light. “What can it be? Have I found the brigands that attempted to snuff out the light of the great rabbit?” Softly, first from the edges, the form of a rabbit appears. “Oh, you have appeared to me again!” they chuckle. The blinding is subsiding now and the 3 dimensional form of soft fur and tall ears and powerful legs coalesce. “What is this? It appears like the great rabbit but it is so much…. MORE.”

The pilgrim watches as the rabbit runs away down the hill into a massive valley below. They start to witness all that this newness offers. All that their senses can drink in. Like a new born everything is imprinted rapidly and vividly. Trees stretch far into the sky and they can even see the tiny warren that their great rabbit has fled to. All is bright and pregnant with meaning! “This must be the source of our life! The great Rabbit and the Eagle over head! The Rabbit moves quickly across the earth and the Eagle moves through the air! That is their way!” The Pilgrim creating and imbibing all this context. At that time they become aware that new feelings and thoughts and emotions are washing over them. Places their minds could have never conceived of before. “There is so much MORE! I must go back and tell the whole inside world about what I have found! They shall know more and deeply. They will have these new feelings and they will know their sacred animals so much the better.”

So, the pilgrim retreats back into the cave world. Sheer elation and excitement to share their newly found knowledge propels them forward. They can see clearly now into the tunnel from which they had come into the new world. It appears almost pitch black excepting the slight flicker of the fire beyond. They begin to climb down into the tunnel and are met with a new form of blindness. This one is very different than the ones that came before. The light brought with it heat, dryness and dancing movement. This dark passage brought with it cold and a bone chilling dampness. Having come from such brilliant light as was given by the giant ball overhead in the over-world, the descent into this under-world robs the pilgrim of their sight once again. They focus on the fire within and use their now heightened other senses to slowly make their way to the opening beyond.

Once they reach the fire opening they realize that a doorway and stairwell are cut to the right of the opening before the fire. They easily slip down the stairs but the light is so dim down there they are stumbling to find purchase on the steps. The pilgrim misses the last step and tumbles before the people of his tribe. They scramble to stand up but are effectively blind again. “Followers of the great Rabbit! I witnesssed the light of the great rabbit growing dim so i sacrificed myself to the mighty cause of bringing it back. Lo, I have succeeded. I have been beyond the wall and through the great pyre and beyond to the world of our origins! There I saw the true form of the great rabbit. It is their way to move very fast and jump very high! And you, the people of the Eagle! It is its nature to lift themselves off the ground and move through the air! Above me the sky burned blue as a fiery yellow orb lit it all! Massive sticks reaching to the blue from green earth! You must come and see! So much awaits us just beyond the fire! I have even found for us a way to traverse to this other place so that you will be safer than I! I bring you all of this and the expansion of our world!” All the while the pilgrim, blinded by the darkness of the cave waved their hands around wildly in manic gestures of the story telling but, also for their current impairment.

The people of the wall recoil in horror. At first in response to the rebirth of the madman. Then someone of the dragon tribe points out that the pilgrim is blinded! They are waving their hands about and had literally fallen into their view. Then the realization of the pilgrims words sets in. “Look at them! They have been blinded and hobbled not to mention driven insane! They speak heresy against the great Rabbit and Eagle! They seek to blind and drive us all mad along with them. The wall has taken care of us. It is our lives and inheritance and duty to protect it. This person will poison the wall and make it disappear. They have obviously come back to trick us into their fate. Well, I say we do our duty and banish them back to this world they love so much!” Many of the pilgrims own people begin to throw stones at them, cutting their foreheads. This onslaught drives them backwards up the stairs that only they know about. All the while the pilgrim is screaming “Why wont you believe me!? I have brought you all this so that you may find truth and happiness and a place for each of us to grow! I am no great one. It took me little effort to escape. I broke my chains just by attempting to. I stood up of my own accord and achieved this new vision under normal power. I have even found you an unimpeded route! All you needs do is want to come!” But still they jeered and hurled stones long after the pilgrim had begun to climb back into the over-world.

Once again in the effulgence of the outside, the pilgrim sat sadly staring down at the green earth. They were alone then. Their world had burned down in front of them. An Apocalypse. There was no home to go back to. This seemingly infinite world was all that they had left. As tears began rolling from their eyes, a familiar shape came into view. As the pilgrim looked up they found the rabbit they had seen before sitting there. Not just the one, but another large rabbit and 3 babies. All of them very close to the pilgrims legs. One by one they turned away back down toward their warren until only the first rabbit remained. The pilgrim started to see the rabbit more closely and seemingly by effect, started to see this new world more widely. Everything was new and vibrated with possibility as in a layer cake. Everything they laid eyes on brought to mind innumerable thoughts, feelings, questions and even answers. This world was as complex or as simple as the pilgrim as the pilgrim made it. The rabbit stared on until the pilgrim decided to stand up. A that time the rabbit began to descend to their warren but, slowly, stopping every few feet to look back. It appears to the pilgrim that it is wanting them to follow. So they obliged.

As they moved down the valley to the rabbits home, the sun began to set. Fearful of the dark the pilgrim shivered as they walked. Just as the sun went down more lights appeared on the ridges above the Rabbits valley. The pilgrim lifted their heads to see that these were almost identical caves to the one he had just come from and the lights were the soft glow of the fires inside. They kept following the rabbit right to its front door. There they said their goodnights and the pilgrim settled a bed for themselves. Having only slept on the rough floor of the cave they found the green earth a far superior substitute. As the pilgrim tilted toward sleep they looked up at all the cave openings above and thought, “Its only a matter of time until another emerges into this new world. I am not alone, only waiting.”

This is obviously a parable of my own making but I have made it as much for you kind reader as for myself. Leaning out of your seemingly predetermined lane is never easy. Reaching beyond what is given to you into the land of what is possible takes a level of irrational curiosity that is downright terrifying. That said, it is where the land of concepts exists. Ideas that are not native to your culture are accessible through the most powerful art of perspective. Allowing your mind to reinterpret anything and everything opens your perspective up to possibilities that always existed but our positions did not allow for. The physical/psychological movement of your mental perspective allows for an almost limitless reinterpretation of experience and conception. In other words, your mind and body have exactly as much ability to learn and grow and know as you allow them. I am not saying that there are finite ways to interpret those experiences. There is no “rightness” only your individual willingness to open yourself up to a new way of being at any moment in your life. Therefore the ends or losses of things do not mean their utter annihilation. They are only an opportunity to learn from experience and to create a new perspective on what it means for you to be alive.

Thank you once again dear reader for taking the time to stop by and sift through my pilgrims ramblings. I wish to you a fully experienced life and fair weather beyond.

P.S. “A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.” – Frank Zappa (Although there were others)