Bill Hicks: It's just a ride!

[Eilias123]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUiwTubYu0
love this guy!

[Eilias123]

http://www.youtube.com/wa..._V44rAYs&feature=sub

[SelfHealedMadman]

~


 

The point of the ride is the ride.


 

~
My barn having burned to the ground,

I can now see the moon.

- Taoist saying -
~


 

Of course, battling past the ego to get to the truth has been at the heart of countless spiritual teachings in countless countries for countless centuries. Ego-death as a means to no-self-abiding nondual awareness-is what this journey is all about. That's the reason behind the devotion, the prayer, the meditation, the teachings, the renunciation.


 

Anyone headed for truth is going to get there over the ego's dead body or not at all.


 

There's no shortcut or easy way, no going under or around. The only way past ego is through it, and the only way through it is with laser-like intent and a heart of stone.


 

The caterpillar doesn't become a butterfly; it enters a death process that becomes the birth process of the butterfly. The appearance of trans-formation is an illusion. One thing doesn't become another thing. One thing ends and another begins.


 

And why do so few succeed in this greatest of all journeys?


 

For the simple reason that success, within the context of the dream, is pointless, whereas failure, or, at least, struggle, is very much to the point. Chasing enlightenment (or Nagualism!) holds as many lessons for the unawakened soul as any other pursuit in the dreamscape of ego bound reality-as any other ride in the park.




(Let's repeat that:   Chasing enlightenment (or Nagualism!) holds as many lessons for the unawakened soul as any other pursuit in the dreamscape of ego bound reality-as any other ride in the park. Put this in your pipe and smoke it, add it to you mundra, mantra, recapitulation exercises, etc., etc.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.)






The supposed mega-bliss of spiritual awakening is a carrot dangling from a stick no less than love or wealth or power.


 

In other words, actual enlightenment is seldom the point of the quest for enlightenment. And why should it be? Success in realizing one's true nature is absolutely assured because, well, because it's one's true nature. The greatest wonder isn't that you'll make it back, it's that you made it away.


 

Returning is the motion of the Tao.


 

Struggling to achieve truth is, in its own way, as preposterous as struggling to achieve death. What's the point? Both will find you when it's time. Should we worry that if we fail to find death, death will fail to find us? Of course not, and neither death, nor taxes, nor gravity, nor tomorrow's sunrise is as certain as the fact that every-one will end up fully "enlightened," regardless of the "path" they take.


 

Awakening to your true nature is like dying; it's a certainty, inevitable. You're going to get there no matter what you do, so why rush?


 

Enjoy your life, it's free. Cosmic Consciousness and Altered States and Universal Mind (don't forget Nagualism!) are the names of rides in this vast and fascinating dualistic amusement park. So are Poverty and Disease and Despair. 


 

Enlightenment, though, is not another ride. Enlightenment means leaving the park altogether, but why leave the park?


 

In the park you can be a saint or a yogi or a billionaire or a world leader or a warlord.  (or a Nagual!)  Be good, be evil. Happiness, misery, bliss, agony, victory, defeat, it's all here.


 

What's the big rush? When the time comes to leave the park, you'll know and you'll go, but there's certainly nothing to be gained by it.


 

This is just my opinion, no more authoritative than anyone else's, but it seems clear to me that there are many rides in this park; it's not all about the fun ones, and you can't get off until the ride comes to a complete stop. So much for freewill. You can jump out midway, but whatever made you get aboard in the first place will probably make you get aboard again.




A few quotes by Jed McKenna in regards to, "It's just a ride"!
The quotes were added by yours truly to quench that Nagualicious desire....to be desired.

[Guest]