a short converstation between a dear friend and i

he says:
What do you do with yourself?

What do people do with themselves?

Are you on your way to your house on a beach?

What do people do?

I don't know anymore.

i say:
HAHAHA
rhetorical questions?

he says:
You said,

HAHAHA
rhetorical questions?


No, they were real questions. I don't know why I'm throwing them at you, though.

Actually, I abridged the questions in general. The original question, the question that interests me, is "What do enlightened people do with themselves?"

Everyone wants to be enlightened, right? But I don't know anyone -- including myself -- who can give an answer to this question that is better than rote dogma chewing.

The most popular answer is, "They devote their lives to helping other people become enlightened."

I don't trust this answer. It doesn't ring right. It doesn't come off smart or realistic.

I mean, imagine a truly enlightened person: They've seen the illusions for what they are. They now give to each thing its proper place. They've made contact with essential material. And it wasn't easy to get there. They had to be the right kind of person. They had to be willing to sacrifice all of their own knowledge and every form of distraction and pleasure, to get there. Properly speaking, they could not expect necessarily to achieve what they were looking for. But then, they are there.... And how did they get there? How did they make it? Was it because someone helped them? Or was it -- more likely -- because they were determined to achieve it?

Anyway, let's suppose they get there. They achieve enlightenment. What then? Do they rush back into the world and start evangelizing the masses? Or do they evangelize by appointment, operating from a small tent or apartment in Nepal, and blogging with little teaser missives designed to keep the influx of potentially enlightened seekers siphoning through?

Do you think it's possible that the actually enlightened people naturally keep their distance from the whole mess?

Naw. Well, maybe some of the cave-dwellers do that. But there'd be no point to being enlightened if it meant being afraid of society. Or being afraid of anything. They would know better.

So, supposing there's an enlightened person, and they're not afraid to get out there and have a normal life of a type.... What do they do? I mean, does an enlightened person have dreams about a career? What do enlightened people want to do?

Realistically speaking, what would be a meaningful human life for an enlightened person?

Forget life after death. Forget spirits and ghosts and religions. If you stood above it all, and saw it all for what it is, what would you do with yourself?

Personally speaking, I'd keep trying to find new sources of pussy, because it's pretty, and I like the taste. Intimacy is the only thing that I really like about life. I also like espresso ice cream, long walks, afternoon coffee, shit that makes me laugh, and science... but I really, really like some wine and a warm pretty body to screw for about an hour in the morning, and someone to share a view of the scenery. Nobody knows what the fuck I'm talking about anyway, when I talk about all this deep stuff. They're like, "I heard Buddha said agoidngae eaaspaepe blah blah blah".

I just laugh. These days, I laugh like crazy. Everything makes me laugh. I love it. It's so pointless. I laugh and laugh and laugh. I appreciate the pussy and everything else makes me laugh: all the people taking themselves so seriously; all the people needing their little games to be played out. I read the news and laugh. I watch movies and roll on the floor at how much energy was spent on creating scenes of violence. I hear lies from official sources and laugh.

Humanity is a pool of assholes, but I appreciate my lovers, and I laugh at everything else, because I know that in fifty years nobody is going to remember even one shave of my life. It's all going to be gone, and I'll either be up there spoiling with the gods or else lost to eternity as one more dead body.

Maybe this is what enlightened people do: They die laughing. They laugh at the screaming people.

So, back to the questions... What do you do with yourself? What do people do with themselves? I can't remember...

Are you having fun yet? No? Still too serious? Join me. We'll have fun. Crazy crazy fun. I'll help you reach enlightenment. I'll give you so many orgasms you won't care what planet you're on anymore. If that's not enlightenment, I don't know what is.....


i say:
well, i'm not enlightened and i don't know what it means.
i always thought it was a way for people to describe having an epiphany without justice.
meaning...
you realize something without it really meaning anything.

i don't know that everyone wants to be enlightened. i think most people who search for it don't bare the burden of having to deal with real life on any substantial level. you have time to search for enlightenment? sorry, i was working in the fields all day trying to feed my kids.

not that i don't have that privilege. i do. but i also work my ass off when i need to.

what i see when i "think" about people being enlightened is a familiarity with the obvious. something you always knew but had to be reminded. so it's nothing spectacular. i guess i would keep doing what i did, only with more understanding. there is no "way" for them to have gotten there, no understanding. it just happens. but why would anyone keep his distance from the "mess"?

we are all a part of this world, with something to contribute. nothing makes any one person more valuable. more "enlightened". i believe we were are all created equal, and not for religious purposes. we all have something to teach and something to learn. let's do it.

hmm. if i had to sit above my body and contemplate, it would be no different from me contemplating my dreams every morning. some things make no sense. and i'm okay with that. they don't need to. i don't need that closure. there are some things in the universe that are mysterious and i accept that my brain is not big enough to comprehend it. i don't look for answers that either are not there and that aren't approachable. call me a dumb dog.

to call yourself enlightened is assuming you have some superior ability over the minds of men. you are still a man.

and why would you be so afraid of society if you were above it all?

be a part of it. the only difference between humanity and animals is awareness.

said in the wise words of my grandfather, the only reason we are here is to fulfill some niche in the animal kingdom. where is the enlightenment in that?