Belief Takes Over When Thinking Comes Up Dry
The following recordings are from Jan’s final years, when his voice was diminished and he spoke in a low whisper. Some listeners may find these tapes hard to listen to, or difficult to understand. Thus, as another option, transcripts are being made and will be posted.
Otherwise, turn up the volume and enjoy! Those who carefully listened to Jan during this period consider that he spoke plainly and directly to the matter at hand, “pulling out all the stops,” as he understood that these were to be his last messages to his groups, and to posterity.
Summary = See below
Condensed News = See below
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Summary
9/22/04:
Notes by TK
The desire to believe arises out of the fear of death; fear of death arises from the ability to think about, have foreknowledge of death. The desire to believe can be seen as a form of desperation. Thinking about the problem of death never yields any satisfaction, or otherwise eases its inescapable reality; so consciousness activates another mode of itself: belief cum imagination. Presto! Life-after-death mythologies.
Belief takes over when thinking comes up dry. Consciousness can believe things that it cannot think about effectively, thereby making itself feel better. It’s effortless and available: how can it not be ubiquitous? (60:25) #3203
Jan’s Daily Fresh Real News (to accompany this talk)
THE OUTLIER KEEPS ON PLAYING AFTER
OTHER MEN’S EARS HAVE RETIRED
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The Only Music That Makes Sense To The Few
SEPTEMBER 22, 2004 © 2004: JAN COX
The Procedure.
In the beginning: if you don’t like it – you don’t eat it – and you criticize it.
Next: if you don’t like it – you eat twice as much of it, and you tell people
what you’re doing.
Finally: If you don’t like it – you don’t eat it – and you don’t mention it.
Some older thoughts gave some younger ones tips on handling the audience
of consciousness: “Always open by asking if everybody’s having a good time,
and if anybody is from Boston;
getting the crowd to cheer and applaud before there’s actually anything TO applaud
is a primo maneuver.”
(“Words indeed to live by,” mumbled an eavesdropping thalamus,
“IF that’s the kind of wordy directed emotional life you’re satisfied to live.”)
Even if you never check back to get the results,
as far as the lab which did your testing is concerned: The truth is known.
“(And this is supposed to aid me how?”)
After the umpleteenth spell of dizziness, a man’s consciousness said to his thoughts: “I’m getting off,” to which they replied: “Hey! – what do we look like –
a merry go round!”
Fairground Poesy.
Carny folk are funny folk;
carny folk are unreliable folk;
carny folk will drink too much and not show up for work;
carny folk won’t ever settle down in one place unless they’re in jail;
and carny folk are everywhere;
they’re in your shoes, in your pants, in your shirt, but mainly they’re in your head.
(“I’m getting’ off.”)
Although he identified the body as his self — he was pretty sure it wasn’t.
Those with a preeminent head life speak of history’s substantial importance
while men who run mostly on their physical hungers see it as a lot of nothing.
Who is correct? Ask a hungry man whose source of income is
the printing of restaurant menus.
(As the sales instructor said to the alligator: “You’ve got to know your audience,”
the gator thanked him for the tip, but wondered why it had been given to him?!)
Responding to other people’s ideas and answering their personal questions
is a heart chasing after a flying bullet.
(Good luck, though none is needed to succeed in this particular activity.
[“But you’re really talking about consciousness and not the heart, right?” asked the gator.])
A mortician (who moonlights as a priest) said to a son:
“You have to decide now – for yourself,
‘cause there will be no consumer protection groups in heaven.
Buy here – pay here.”
(Advice that stiffened the lad’s resolve [to do what, remained unclear.])
Men in the city say that great thoughts are their own reward, but in their circumstances: great thoughts are always someone else’s reward (in that):
it is by other people declaring a man’s thoughts great that they become so.
Only the nervous-system-rebel has great thoughts in isolation,
and ones which do reward him singularly and greatly.
(“One of the overlooked pleasures of being entirely on your own
is that there is no one to bitch about what you do except you.”)
On several worlds they have banned the Thank God For Little Things Society.
Medical News (By Way Of A Technical Confab).
“The world is divided into those who can hardly breathe
and those who breathe too much.”
“I’ve never heard of the second group.”
“They’re the ones responsible for the first group’s condition.”
“Okay?….but I’m not totally convinced that you’re really talking about breathing…”
In prison: if you know-what’s-coming-next – it’s not important.
The obvious & inevitable predictably rolls over everyone,
but only the ordinary squeal when it occurs.
A reader emails:
“I don’t mind allegories as long as I don’t have to take them literally, I mean, personally.
Sincerely,” etc.
“Pa pa: why do men put even the obvious into metaphorical form? –
it seems almost insane.”
“Where have you picked up language like that! – ‘almost’ – For shame!”
Useful Tip For Life In Prison.
If you’ll whine just before you hurt yourself, you’ll save bunches of time.
Creativity Where It Counts (For A Few).
When a man heard the comment:
“From whom shall a Shakespeare steal?” he mulled – then to his self remarked: “Being there first will not guarantee success,
but there is certainly no triumph for the second horse under the wire.”
(He and the rebellious segment of his consciousness always enjoy it when
he thinks about it — hey – if he doesn’t – IT doesn’t
[but most of you don’t like to get into that, so we’ll drop it for now].)
(Instead, we step into the middle of a city conversation):
“May I digress?”
“Do you have a choice?”
Power & Apparel.
One man has decided: “I would rather be naked than be king.”
(The understanding of what is really going on can produce curious sounding results
when put into a verbal form.)
The Director Of Very Public Relations for one city visits the elementary schools, giving lectures to the children in which the primary message is:
“Remember, boys and girls:
Sarcasm and cynicism are today’s seeds for tomorrow’s talents.”
(As long as cities thrive and civilization survives, such men will never want for employment.)
The only hearing the outlier finds acceptable is that which listens to itself.
A ventriloquist and his dummy were talking and the former said to the latter:
“Perhaps the easiest attitude to have toward man’s invented, intangible world
would be one of just not giving a damn,” to which the woody one replied: “Perhaps, but what is extremely difficult is comprehending what that actually means & entails.”
The origin of both improvisational music and the awakening of consciousness
was the time a rebel dropped his score but kept on playing
and discovered that it made no difference.
J