Category Archives: PICTURE POEMS

Picture Poems a poems written for, and pasted on, pictures, paintings or graphic art. The poem describes or emulated the picture in verse.

...and other stuff, 1001 THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU'RE DEAD, ART, FREE ADVICE, INSIDE THE BOOK, LIVES, PICTURE POEMS, POETIC NONSENSE, READING MATTER

FREE YOURSELF TO BE YOURSELF

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1001_Things_To_Do_While_You’re_Dead — An INTERVIEW with Lawrence R. Spencer

BE YOURSELF FOR A CHANGE.

“Relax. As a disembodied spirit you don’t have to hang around with people any more so you don’t have to try to impress anyone. In human society you are usually expected to look good, smell good, be good, do good and exhibit other behavior that may not come naturally to you.

For example, if you don’t take a bath for a few weeks your body will stink like a bag of rotten meat – which is essentially what it is. As a spirit you don’t have to shower, shave, brush your teeth, eat, go to work, pee or perform any of those nasty habits.

The 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860) said, “We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.”

So, forget all that stuff you were taught about “now I’m supposed to…”. Do what pleases you.”

_____________________

Excerpt from 1,001 Things To Do While You’re Dead: A Dead Persons’ Guide To Living, by Lawrence R. Spencer

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HUMAN SYMBIOSIS

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symbiosis

On a tiny, remote planet a Mythology has been conceived and taught that one relatively minor species of life form are “superior” to billions of others with whom they share the planet, and upon whom they depend for sustenance.  Factually, all life forms exist in a perpetual state of interactive interdependency called “symbiosis”.

Symbiosis comes from two Greek words that means “with” and “living.” It describes a close relationship between two organisms from different species. It is sometimes, but not always, beneficial to both parties.  Ironically, the life form that is NOT required for symbiotic survival on Earth, and without which the planet flourished for billions of years, is the species “homo sapiens”.

If insects or bacteria (two small examples) disappeared from Earth, most other species, including homo sapiens, would perish quickly.  However, if homo sapiens became extinct, nearly all other life forms would flourish, and return to a natural state of symbiotic abundance upon which the fragile, parasitic species of homo sapiens depends utterly.  With the exception of a few domesticated animals humans would not be missed on Earth.

It has been observed that the Microcosm (relatively small) is a reflection of the Macrocosm (relatively large) in the physical universe.  Human beings conceive themselves to be the “highest” form of life and most intelligent.  Yet, when viewed in the context of stars, galaxies and universes, homo sapiens are infinitesimally insignificant, except in their own minds.  This begs the question: “Are their beings in the universe for whom humans might provide symbiotic value?“   The final scene from the popular film Men In Black offers one example. Do humans exist symbiotically in an existential game played by beings who we make imperceptible by our Narcissistic Mythology?

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FOOLS WHO KNOW NOT

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I use following lines from the Rigveda as the introduction to nearly every book I write:

“We ask,as Fools who know not Our Own Spirit: Where are the hidden traces left by The Gods?”

— Rigveda, Book I, Stanza 164, Lines 5 a & b

I believe this states the current condition of human beings, as immortal spiritual beings:

We were gods who once created all that we perceive.

This universe started as a game to remedy the eternal affliction of gods: Boredom.

The curse of Immortality is the ability to know all, see all and be all of our own Creations.  Every move on the chess board is ours, unopposed.  Boredom is the definition of Hell.  The remedy is the ‘pretend’ not to know every detail, to see every outcome and to a powerful creator of space, energy and things.  Pretence is also a definition of Hell.  A two-sided coin: Know and Know Not.

Pretending Not to Be All Things, to Be All Beings, to Be all of Creation is a game you can lose. This is the origin of our isolation from each other, from other life forms throughout the universe, from spirits, from ourselves, from other times, places, realities, and universes.

Surprise! You’re in pain….   Surprise! You’re dead….  Surprise! You’re stuck in a fragile body made of flesh on the outer rim of a forgotten galaxy, pretending to be having a ‘life’.

Our choice to forget that we are the ‘gods’ relieves us from our deeds and misdeeds, theoretically, but not in fact.

It’s easier to blame some other “deity” for the cruel residue of our own crimes and creations than to undo what we’ve done.

Every crime committed against us, we have committed against others in some long-forgotten yesterday.

Memory and responsibility (not blame or regret) may set us free from the self-made misery of life in this universe.

To Know or Know Not are choices we can make to navigate through the extreme regions of Hell: Boredom and Pretence.

— Lawrence R. Spencer, 17 Nov 2001