01-07-2008, 12:00 AM
Interesting stuff, Bob.
The cult of candidates I've mentioned, values certain physical abilities some people have, and some people don't.
For instance, the type of "seeing" we teach to ourselves, can only be accomplished by someone who sneezes in sunlight.
If you don't sneeze in sunlight, you can't do it.
All Candidates have the ability to induce goose bumps on their flesh voluntarily. If you can't shrug up the electric feeling of "goose flesh", you can't be a Candidate.
I can imagine the confusion that would ensue if folks without these abilities tried to interpret the details of our gang.
Just like the kid in school who was double jointed. He could do things with his fingers no one else could do, but he was mostly chosen last when we chose teams for baseball.
The Candidates strongly suggest that these abilities are arbitrary, and not a result of spiritual development or evolution.
When I induce the electric feeling of tingly goosebumps in myself, I understand the metaphor of "stepping into an invisible stream".
I can also see how that description might be confusing to someone who needs expansive themes or inspirational music in order to feel "goose bumps".
There are some indication historically that the halo of Christian iconography is a carry over of the symbolic "solar disk" of pagan symbolism.
If you have no idea of otherwise, that can seem like a very naturalistic explanation for the common image of "the halo" we see in European paintings and statuary.
However, even if the halo can be traced historically through different cultures, it doesn't mean that it isn't actually available to some people as a perception.
It's thought that Money and Degas.. two painters known for their odd (and very beautiful) renderings, had eye diseases.
Perhaps they weren't being creative at all. Perhaps they were just rendering what they saw.
I know a fellow who joined the candidates about the same time I did, who can draw people and things with photorealism. He's very talented that way.
His renderings of the doings of Candidates make perfect sense to me, but I think they would be confusing to others.
I would think, that creating one's own map of what a human being is, might have value primarily for the act of "starting from scratch".
I believe that dropping all one's preconceptions and expectations about what a man is, could be, within itself, a productive and worthwhile exercise.
What you came up with as conclusions, might be as arbitrary and personal as anything anyone has found.
I also took interest in your lack of dreaming ability.
I'd like to post a technique the candidates use, that might be interesting to you.
I know we have a forum specifically for dreaming here, but I want to post this technique in this forum in the context of our discussion.
I'll have it soon.
The cult of candidates I've mentioned, values certain physical abilities some people have, and some people don't.
For instance, the type of "seeing" we teach to ourselves, can only be accomplished by someone who sneezes in sunlight.
If you don't sneeze in sunlight, you can't do it.
All Candidates have the ability to induce goose bumps on their flesh voluntarily. If you can't shrug up the electric feeling of "goose flesh", you can't be a Candidate.
I can imagine the confusion that would ensue if folks without these abilities tried to interpret the details of our gang.
Just like the kid in school who was double jointed. He could do things with his fingers no one else could do, but he was mostly chosen last when we chose teams for baseball.
The Candidates strongly suggest that these abilities are arbitrary, and not a result of spiritual development or evolution.
When I induce the electric feeling of tingly goosebumps in myself, I understand the metaphor of "stepping into an invisible stream".
I can also see how that description might be confusing to someone who needs expansive themes or inspirational music in order to feel "goose bumps".
There are some indication historically that the halo of Christian iconography is a carry over of the symbolic "solar disk" of pagan symbolism.
If you have no idea of otherwise, that can seem like a very naturalistic explanation for the common image of "the halo" we see in European paintings and statuary.
However, even if the halo can be traced historically through different cultures, it doesn't mean that it isn't actually available to some people as a perception.
It's thought that Money and Degas.. two painters known for their odd (and very beautiful) renderings, had eye diseases.
Perhaps they weren't being creative at all. Perhaps they were just rendering what they saw.
I know a fellow who joined the candidates about the same time I did, who can draw people and things with photorealism. He's very talented that way.
His renderings of the doings of Candidates make perfect sense to me, but I think they would be confusing to others.
I would think, that creating one's own map of what a human being is, might have value primarily for the act of "starting from scratch".
I believe that dropping all one's preconceptions and expectations about what a man is, could be, within itself, a productive and worthwhile exercise.
What you came up with as conclusions, might be as arbitrary and personal as anything anyone has found.
I also took interest in your lack of dreaming ability.
I'd like to post a technique the candidates use, that might be interesting to you.
I know we have a forum specifically for dreaming here, but I want to post this technique in this forum in the context of our discussion.
I'll have it soon.