Saturday, June 08, 2013

Truth and Lies in a Material Culture.

Dog Poet Transmitting.......

May your noses always be cold and wet.

We so often tiptoe through minefields around here that we sometimes forget they are even there, until we step on one, of course. One of the things I have noticed in the alternative media, is how many writers play it safe to the advantage of their careers, however they perceive that to be. Some people can separate themselves from what they do. I cannot. My career is my life in a certain way and maybe I should call it a 'careening' instead of a career (grin).

Anyway, it comes down (in my mind) to whether you tell the truth or not. Following that, we have to define the truth and that, apparently is not the easiest thing in the world. Like Pilate asked, “What is truth”? Ironically he was addressing the truth at the time. I wonder how many people have captured the significance of that? I'm always getting unusual messages from the various scriptures. I don't read them anymore but they are indelibly imprinted on my mind. I say that they are unusual messages, because the usual translations I get from, 'the great out there' often doesn't resolve itself into what I'm picking up on from 'the wide in here'.

The truth is an elusive thing, almost serpentine at times. Then, at another time, it has corners and angles, reminiscent of some of Escher's work. On occasion, it seems to me like a shining light that is so bright one cannot see the form that encases it and this puts it past description and definition, except for something, like 'shining light'. In a world of lies, people inexplicably die for the truth and on many occasions it is not the truth at all.

One thing for certain, the truth, whatever it may be, is a hard commitment and the wise truthseeker has to learn to employ silence on occasion. Seeking the truth and furthermore, presuming to speak it, can put you at odds with almost anyone and even everyone at times but... the importance of risking this and following wherever it leads, is something to be determined by whomever is engaged in it. As we have seen, in this world, people's ideals and youthful aspirations are often sacrificed on the altar of pressing (real or imagined) material necessity. This comes about through the inevitability of challenges, as well as pressures, which seem designed to test and too frequently separate one from one's principles and beliefs.

One can assume that not everyone who becomes a doctor or a lawyer, is initially driven by self interest exclusively. However, it is one of the things that can come with the territory. As far as bankers and stockbrokers go, one can assume that self interest was always the main (de)generative drive to begin with. An argument could be made that occasionally someone gets into politics with the idea of helping people but... politics is the art of the deal and soon enough, integrity is gone in the process of further continuance. I'm not sure we've ever had such a collection of vicious sociopaths and bumbling clowns, operating in the political area, as we have today. It's hard to process the collective venality and herd instinct of the present American Congress, or their facsimiles in various other countries, joined together in mutual antipathy, against the Muslim people, for no other reason than that the single most dangerous creatures on the planet are driving them to do it. There is most assuredly a conspiracy to evil on this planet and anyone who doubts this is either complicit or a fool. We’ve no shortage of either.

It seems to me, in these days of maximum exposure, people are being given the opportunity to present themselves any way they want to. The results are, or will be, devastating at some point, or... the object of a guaranteed payoff, in some manner of speaking. It can take weird twists on occasion, like costing you your life and that not making a whole lot of sense in terrestrial terms but... we're only looking at half of the equation, aren't we? Many people don't believe in the other half of the equation and many that say they do don't either. Often the version of it they believe in does not exist. How that works out gets determined by the other half of the equation (grin).

In these times, when the force of material culture is so great, a goodly majority of the population, either believes in nothing but material culture and... that's really noticeable in The East because of the tragic-comic way it can look at times. We don't see the tragi-comic aspect here in The West because... because we are looking at ourselves. Then there is that significant portion of the public that does believe in some version of the other half of the equation and it is personalized to their tastes, with whatever real strictures might actually exist, being bent to the needs and desires of the one so engaged.

Truth places nearly unendurable requirements on us sometimes. Do we take the opportunities that life seems to give us and play along with the conditions on their terms, so as not to disturb the possibilities inherent or... do we test the conditions to see if they contain the necessary merit for us to continue in those conditions? Once again, that's a subjective and personal thing. We sort out the details of this in our conscience and it gets filed under, “What we can live with”.

If you're serious about the truth, it stands to reason that the truth will eventually get serious with you. I see this kind of thing in terms of inevitability because it's all there for the computation, in the proper application, of simple math. The same holds true for the other side of the equation, which, simplistically can be stated by the phrase, “as above, so below”. It really comes down to what one wants to be convinced of. When it comes to the other side of the equation, established religion can really screw up one's perspective on the truth because most established religion is absurd and no rational person can take it seriously, after a certain point. Religion is for people who still need to color inside the lines. It provides systems of behavior for people to operate within. It also holds out that hope of something after; beyond all the struggles of this plane that affect the majority of us. The priest class is aware of all of these things and quite often it constructs a variety of ways to milk the parishioner dry.

It is a rare bird indeed, who ventures forth and beyond the boundaries of organized thought, into the place where inspiration and revelation reside. It's like walking out of a city, through the suburbs and outlying areas and then into the vastness of a desert, in search of a rumored oasis; keeping in mind the near certain appearances of Fata Morgana and the usual deprivations of the course. You can look at the desert as a metaphor if you like. You can look at this entire posting as a projection because it certainly is. It's how I've come to view the thing itself.

“What is truth, indeed”? One thing I do know is that everyone is stuck with what they've come up with in terms of identifying themselves and everything around them. They come to these definitions based on their level of self interest. Whatever we believe has to accommodate what we want. Thankfully, within the vastness of existent creeds, scriptures, interpretations and whatever, one can find something suitable for however they need it all to look. If you're filthy rich, you can find all kinds of justifications and support for your fortunate situation. If you are poor, you can find all sorts of explanations for that and even an impressive hope for the future as well.

I want to go back to that bit about these times being times of incredible media pervasiveness, along with all of the communications devices, not to mention social networking. We truly are being given the opportunity to define ourselves, in ways and to a degree never seen before. At the same time, the infrastructure of all of our enduring institutions and systems are crumbling away. We're up against it, so to speak, or, like some, we are cruising through the wreckage, indifferent to the landscape or even our effect upon it; survival of the fittest, after all. It's what many of them believe. They're made to feel this way, or, let us say, the way they have been predominately disposed to feel, has been enhanced by the cosmos to see they arrive at their destined end. In reverse, the same is true for sincere seekers after the truth. You may be sure you will be tested to see if your commitment is real and not just another hot-tubbing, firewalking, Reiki seminar, with engraved certificates of attainment, suitable for framing. 90% of the aspirants are pretty assured of leveling off at one plateau or another and then claiming it to be the top of the mountain.

I see all sorts of things going on among my peers but it's not my place to analyze their motivations. That was for earlier times when I was less certain of my own. Truth isn't for everyone and when it comes to lies, we've got something well past Baskin and Robbins as far as selection goes. These days we're walking through a virtual automat; 'lies to the left of me, lies to the right of me, into the valley of lies, marched the clueless millions', to paraphrase a poet.

We're given a length of time to experience and to decide what life means to us. We're all going to find out something, or find out nothing, depending on who you believe and, as I have said ad infinitum, that all depends on what's in it for you, according to what you are after; what you value, what you hold dear, upon that rests your fate as well.


End Transmission.......

Visible sings: The Walls by Les Visible♫ The Walls ♫


There will be a radio broadcast tomorrow night.

29 comments:

PIERRE said...

Obama is the target NOW .
Listen to Webster Tarpley and use your brain .
Regards , Pierre Monplaisir

Visible said...

Hardly informative with no link or reference.

Chinese Sneakers said...

In fine form throughout this one.

A lot of swinging phrases.

A whole bunch of bobbin' in and out with metaphors.

As muse-ical as it was prosaic.

And the the truth got all laid out, too.

A real pleasure to read.

Much appreciation.

Pierre said...

For starters listen to his last intervention on World Crisis Radio , and read his last article on Press TV:
http://tarpley.net/2013/06/08/london-bashes-obama-to-extort-a-us-attack-on-syria/

On his internet site .

With my sympathy ,
Pierre

Visible said...

Thank you C.S. I actually feel pretty good about this one myself.

and thank you Pierre, that is much more helpful when has a more precise idea what you are referring to.

missingarib said...

vis, guess of all the blind men touching the elephant trying to describe it (John Godfrey Saxe's 1816-1887) version of the famous Indian legend,)


It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he,
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

MORAL.

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

one sniff and you've identified it
thank you for the smell test!

live long

Anonymous said...

oddly coloring inside the lines always seemed so...

well submissive and conforming

and like the little boy

[Chapin -Flowers are Red]

who wanted to use all the colors it was obvious to me the first day of first grade that guy that had 64 crayons and colored inside the lines was a real wuss...and a whole lot of fun was going to waste..fortunately he was willing to share..

truth beckons like a feast to a beggar...

thank divine providence for allowing us the opportunity to share the TRUTH with the unfortunate inhabitants of the stool sculpture deity cult compound...who could come out...

maybe that's why you're so talented at your special delivery "process" . . .

I'm appointing you chief counsel of the drone pizza delivery conglomerate of the near future with some really great {HEALTHY} dough...

BE STRONG

Davy

dneil said...

did an origami slip into the petri my brother? Putting the truth into words is a task I have failed, not because truth does not exist, but that I change so rapidly. This type of post is my favorite because it talks about the only thing that matters. you used a term the other day that I have considered since,"operational philosophy", we surely make accommodations for stuff we want. Kill a few brown people for cheaper gas, sure. Feed our children chemical cocktails because it is easier than planting, weeding, and loving the foods that sustain us, check. Church on Sunday so the rest of the week we can feed our black hole of desire, the one that is impossible to fill, yep. You are right in my opinion to declare,"I don't Know." because I don't either, quite possibly no one on this plane does, but small parts of the plan become evident for those who commit, and surrender to the stream of life. thanks for this one, a light in the darkness for my today.
dneil

Anonymous said...

"After we in this election, it's our turn.
Everyone not with us is against us and they better be ready because we don't forget.
The ones who helped us will be rewarded, the ones who opposed us will get what they deserve.
There is going to be hell to pay.
Congress won't be a problem for us this time. No election to worry about after this is over and we have two judges ready to go."

Valerie Jarrett, October 2012

flyingcossack said...

what you believe, is not true
what you do, is true

Anonymous said...

Elvis Anagrams:

Sleepy Livers
Spry Evil Eels
Reveilles Spy
Lisp Severely
Rye Lip Vessel
Spy Elves Rile
Very Ellipses
I Yell Vespers
Less Vile Prey
Pelvises Rely

Anonymous said...

The Bible contains some powerful and profound things which, if taken as they actually read, and pondered for a while, have heavy implications as to the nature of truth, reality, god and so forth. These things fly right over most churchgoers' heads because their pastors (handlers) have told them what to think or not to think about what is being said.

The church I came from taught the 'line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little" method of Bible study. In other words, stringing together a bunch of semi-disjointed verses (proof texts) and ideas from all over the place, instead of reading something in context and letting it sink in. According to my NIV version, the "line upon line" text (from Isaiah) actually translates as "possibly meaningless gibberish". The context seems to bear that out. Of course, as some faithful churchgoers proclaim, the NIV is a satanic translation. So there you have it!

David V

Anaughty Mouser said...

Fine post. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

As long as I can see the light.

But that's not good enough due to those demanding to remain in the dark and the perceived comfort they believe it provides.

All evil needs for it to prosper is for good men to accept the darkness and shadow of comfort they believe it provides.

How to swing the pendulum back to making the light more visible where it rightfully belongs is the question yearning to be answered.

Smyrna said...

"You can't handle the truth!" became a big saying after that Jack Nicholson/Tom Cruise movie. Some 'truth' can be wishy-washy, like herding a droplet of mercury.

Other truth is self evident like "My basic laymans comprehension of physics tells me I just saw two massive skyscrapers destroyed in a controlled demolition" or "The Zapruder film indicates JFK was shot at close range from his front and right, not by some schmuck 500 yards to his rear". Yet.......

Smyrna said...

I like the cut of David V's jib, Vis.

The Old Testament is good for when you run out of papers for rolling cigarettes. It's just some crazy Jew shit that has happened to attach itself to Christianity.
Proverbs and Ecclieastes are cool, the rest is tripe.

The New Testament is where it is at.

Take the New Testament and remove all the epistles attributed to Paul, and what you are left with is about all you need.

Toss in some of the 'Gnostic' scripture, Like Gospel of Thomas, that got left on the cutting room floor, and off you go.

Visible said...

Heh... Smyma, I would have said almost exactly the same thing, except for possibly including The Song of Solomon and I'd have to say that some excerpts from Isaiah and Jeremiah might also have some use (grin). Definitely Paul made some unfortunate additions but... there were periods of truly inspired poetical statements in the various books for which he was responsible. then again, there is no telling who wrote any of those things. there really isn't.

Smyrna said...

Yeah Vis, There is alot of Paul's writings that are sound and valid, but it is nothing revelatory. There might be alot of good shit in the Jew bible like Jeremiah; Daniel is fun, but I don't need it.

Where you and I might differ, Vis, is in regard to the Avatar 'Jesus'.

I understand and appreciate learned people who question whether there was ever an historical Jesus and so forth, and whatnot.

I'm here telling you Vis, and other readers here, that there was and is.

It blew my mind. Literally.

Telling truth fucks with peoples minds more than jiving,thesedays.

Visible said...

Nope, I think where we depart is in your memory of what exactly I said concerning Jesus (grin). I have NEVER said there was no Jesus Christ. In fact, I insist that there was. What I doubt is the historical record, of which, literally there is precious little anyway. I feel confident on that perspective simply because the majority of history is nothing but a pack of lies.

Anonymous said...

A digital ratfink keeping tabs on everyone:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/08/nsa-boundless-informant-global-datamining

L.V. the captcha says was nsamole bwahaha!

Smyrna said...

Sorry if I made out you said something you didn't, Vis. Or if it came across that way.

Jesus is the real shit. Not the FUBAR Jesus of the christian religion.

If I had the money or time, I would like to catch an aeroplane to Frankfart, then catch a taxi to your place and give you a piece of my mind.

Visible said...

Well, I am nowhere near Frankfart but no doubt you would find a piece of my mind there. I've left pieces all over the place.

Anonymous said...

Eclesiastes is, to me, the most important and least taught book in the OT. I have yet to hear anyone deliver a sermon on it, and I've endured many a sermon. Some really good stuff in Isaiah, about "you've got to change your evil ways" (sorry, I don't have the little musical notes). Paul said some heavy stuff, like travelling to the third heaven, "whether in the body or out of the body, I can't say". Sounds like an altered state to me.

Parts of Daniel and Revelation go hand in hand, if you're into the prophecy thing. Revelation predicts the rise of the Great Satan, i.e. the USA. Comes up like a lamb, speaks like the dragon. "And all the world wondered after the Beast, and said who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war against it?" I'll leave it to you to decipher who is the great whore riding on the beast's back.

Sorry, had to throw that in there. I have to agree: who really knows who wrote what, or what was added or deleted after-the-fact? And yes, the gospels are all you really need.

David V

JerseyCynic said...

well my wayshower.... AGAIN, I thank you for continually tying all of those "loose ends" (at the current moment) together.

CONTINUALLY being the key word here.
http://truthisconcrete.org/about/
“Truth is concrete” is what was written in big letters over Bertolt Brecht’s desk in his Danish exile – quoting Lenin quoting Hegel quoting Augustine. And in another corner there was – as Walter Benjamin writes in his notes – a little wooden donkey standing with a sign around his neck: “Even I must understand it.”

who do I get in touch with to add LES VISIBLE under the TRUE definition of ARTIST? oh hell - I don't need no stinkin' book of definitions!

Visible said...

You are very kind. I hope one day I actually merit such definitions.

Anonymous said...

the bible is equivicol and passive/agressive and so is jesus. It's also cryptic, repititious and boring. One windbag after another. Nietzsche made the statement in The Antichrist that the only person in the bible who made any sense was Pilate because he didn't want to get into the middle of it with a bunch of squabbling jews. And Pilate also asked Jesus, "What is truth?" A question Jesus did not answer. We gentiles just don't matter to Jesus. Not as much as jews, anyway. Early Christians were jews but St Paul made it so that gentiles could become christians. Lucky Us!! Yay!!!

However, the religious did build civilization and promoted math, science and art for better or worse.

McCob

neal said...

I think maybe the Bible is like most anything that gets attention after the fact. Cosmic warfare, transgenetic spyware, temporal incursions, and Avatars, seems like science fiction, except for the part that anyone remembers.

Of course, there is always snake oil, a little dab will do.

So, these three blind elephants decided to investigate the world of Man's wisdom. After a spell, they agreed that from what they had experienced, after roaming most everywhere, that the wisest of Men seemed very flat.

Anonymous said...

The TRUTH is in Here

Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job.
Franklin P. Jones

Oh God, you know what would be really good for me is a dog locater - it would save me the hours that I have to spend looking for my dog.
Tom Felton

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.
Mark Twain

Every dog must have his day.
Jonathan Swift

I can't imagine God not allowing my dog into heaven.
Rick Warren

You call to a dog and a dog will break its neck to get to you. Dogs just want to please. Call to a cat and its attitude is, 'What's in it for me?'
Lewis Grizzard

If a dog jumps into your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.
Alfred North Whitehead

Nobody's going to tell me that my dog doesn't love me. That's crazy talk.
Carrie Underwood

There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.
Maya Angelou

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Timothy 6:10 (King James Version)

Lack of money is the root of all evil.
George Bernard Shaw

Time is money.
Benjamin Franklin

The sum of wisdom is that time is never lost that is devoted to work.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?
Buddha

Mankind is not likely to salvage civilization unless he can evolve a system of good and evil which is independent of heaven and hell.
George Orwell

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things.
Steve Jobs

I love Dogs, I love Catz, I love Jobs
DCJ

Visible said...

A new Smoking Mirrors is up now-

The Pasto and the Anti-Pasto at the Apocalypse Cafe.






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