Mark's Personal Philosophies (I guess?)

The Ego is our programming. We have (what I call) a Survival Ego which is biologically hardwired into us and we have a Duty Ego that is pushed on us by parents, peers, society, religion, etc.. So, from birth, we are externally programmed and your job, as an awakening individual, is to realize that you are programmed, realize you are not your Ego, that you are not that programming, and then to begin the very hard work of reprogramming your Ego internally.

Your Ego is your supposed to be your protection device. It is either your greatest enemy or your grandest ally in this tough world. Program it from within and it will be the best friend and tool you can have for navigating this life.

My first thought - from a spiritual perspective - is to remove the “negative” label from the emotion.

Emotions are neither positive nor negative, they just are. You have them and you need them. They are tools to aid you throughout your life.

Am I correct about emotions being neither positive nor negative?

Well, our Western societies tend to consider “happiness” as “positive” and “sadness” as “negative” (for simple examples). But is this true? Is this always the case?

What if you are happy about the downfall of another? Wouldn’t sadness be more appropriate, more empathetic in that situation?

Should we be happy when our country goes to war and “wins” against our supposed “enemy”? Should we be joyful and dance and celebrate that we “won”? Should we not mourn in such a situation?

Our so-called “negative” emotions inform us that something is going wrong or that something has gone wrong. Our anger tells us that maybe we haven’t protected ourselves appropriately, our sadness gives our hurt an outlet, our fear prevents us from recklessness.

Of course, it’s absolutely true that these emotions can really damage us if given too much time at the control panel (seriously, go watch Inside Out and Inside Out 2), but our “positive” emotions can harm us as well if not kept in check - people with bi-polar disorder are a prime example. They are tortured by the extremes of their “positive” and “negative” natures.

So, my long-winded answer boils down to: remove the “negative” label from that emotion you’re feeling and get to the core of what that emotion is trying to tell you or what it is covering up or what it is trying to protect you from.

Emotions are the gateway to your spiritual centre. Igniting your emotional core is the key to growth and change. Finding that Dark/Light Goddess within you (regardless of your gender) and allowing Her to burn through you to find and embrace your True Self is the real “awakening” you’re searching for.

While non-duality or Oneness (I've seen Oneness and it cannot be expressed or explained or described) is what all things are from, physical existence is Duality. You cannot have a thing without a complementary thing. Once you are born into physicality, you cannot transcend Duality until you're dead. You do not physically exist without drinking and eating and peeing and pooping.

If you can't trascend shit, you can't transcend Duality.

It's a cosmic joke and it's who you inherently are. You are enlightened, I am enlightened, everyone is enlightened. You already are Buddha, you (most likely) haven't realized it yet.

Consider yourself lucky if you haven’t Realized your own Enlightenment yet. Once you Realize it, it’s kind of disappointing. All the searching, all the practice, all the striving…it will feel like it was all for nothing (it wasn’t) because you’ll feel like the dog who chased its tail and caught it. Did you catch the tail or did you catch yourself?

Ignorance of Enlightenment is Bliss. Knowing Enlightenment is not Bliss.

You’re alive. You physically exist. You’re aware of this predicament.

You already are Buddha.

Enlightenment changes nothing about your existence, it simply changes your level of acceptance of the way things are.

We are human and we are supposed to have “bad” and “good” thoughts and feelings - that’s all part of the human experience and to deny any thoughts and feelings is to deny the human experience, but having the human experience is the entire “reason” for being.

Enlightenment is a joke. Don’t chase it, you already are it.

Are we the worst species? In what way? Specifics, please.

Let’s see, we’re not great swimmers - definitely not as good at it as fish or whales or snakes - but we got giraffes beat in that department.

We can jump better than elephants.

We’re pretty good at running long distances, but our speed and reflexes are mediocre. However, lots of slower animals out there too - I’m lookin’ at you sloths!

I don’t recall ever hearing about any animals other than humans that are good at tennis. I could be wrong though.

I read a book written by a bear. It was fucking terrible. So, not the worst there either.

When I tally it all up in my head, I think we’re pretty middle-of-the-road. Not the best at any particular thing except for human-things and not particularly the worst at things except for the whole breathing-underwater-thing. Yeah, we’re really bad at that without special gizmos.

Look, when enough millions of years go by, we’ll have evolved into a very different species or we’ll be extinct and a new species will running around in our Nike Airs and mining plastics out of our old landfills and floating islands.

Chill out. None of this is going to last.

Regardless of whether you believe in reality or not, regardless of what “reality” is or what it is not, you are experiencing something.

You asked a question here. I assume you experienced writing that question on a phone or a computer. You typed it in. You felt the keys or screen under your fingers.

Was it “real”? Does it matter? You experienced something while doing it.

Your interactions with other people - you’re experiencing something, they’re having the same experience from a different perspective.

Does it matter if it’s “real”?

You’re feeling, touching, tasting, loving, hating, watching, expressing, wondering…

…something is happening and that is the entire point of what we call “living”.

You can spend your whole life wondering if it’s “real” or not and thus miss the entire experience of whatever it is.

I don't believe either of those options are accurate.

Movies/TV/Novels (fiction in general) are Mythology. Mythology is not old, it is now. The purpose of Mythology is to mysticize and conceal deep truths within itself and then to reveal those deep, psychological truths symbolically.

Mythology is a living, breathing form of Oneness, but the moment we cram it down into a story we choke it to death - and this can't be helped, it's just the nature of duality.

Stories cetainly can contain agendas by authors/directors/producers/etc.. ALL stories have an agenda in their telling - maybe to simply make you laugh, maybe to make you think about issues, maybe to sell you a stupid product.

However, I believe most stories (maybe all) have a deeper meaning. A hidden agenda, not put there consciously, but unconsciously, subconsciously, and maybe by some Other force that we have yet to fully comprehend.

I believe that most stories (maybe all) are psychological dramas - reflections of your (our) inner workings. Maybe it’s an entire film that manages this, maybe it’s one scene.

Is Gravity only about a woman lost in space in a dangerous situation or is it much more about how we can break out of our stuck-loops of “just driving” after pain and loss and open ourselves to Life once again?

Is Hellraiser (the original) just a gross-out horror flick or is it a representation of how guilt gets its hooks into you and tears you apart?

Is The Shallows only about a woman’s battle with a crazed shark or is the shark a living embodiment of Existential Nihilism?

Is Hulk only a superhero film or is it a lesson of how to deal with generational trauma?

Is Soldier only a war/action movie or is it about healing one’s inner child?

Is Cars 3 only a silly cartoon for kids or can it actually teach us to let go of perceptions of our Self that no longer serve us and then how we can mentor the generations that follow?

Is My Dinner With Andre just a boring conversation between two people or is it a timeless piece, relevant today, that is utterly about the core of being human?

Is the Kung Fu Panda movie series just another set of silly cartoons for kids or can they actually teach us to let go of our pride and arrogance, heal our trauma(s), attain inner peace, teach others without lording ideology over them, and to let go of the labels that we think define us?

Yeah, silly Panda movies will teach you all that. Plus how to realize Enlightenment. If that’s “brainwashing”, I’ll take it.

PS: You have to take Art (movies/books/shows/paintings/music/etc.) in with your emotions. Don’t analyze the Art, analyze how the Art makes you feel.

I don't care, I gotta get to work and you're standing in my driveway.

(the mathematics for satellites are based on numbers required for those satellites to orbit a round'ish planetoid, so stop being contentious for the sake of being contentious and join the rest of 21st century humanity)