Join us today at 5:00 PDT for Science Fiction Radio Theater Workshop at Gorby’s Place in the ashram (PVA). Basically we are here in this chamber sitting in a circle witnessing the lives of characters living out some purpose in these stories. Their roles are not questioned. But we, the listeners and readers, are at the level of being able to question. Talk of the Month (TOTM) #88 is the recording of David Franco questioning his situation. In this process he said that he felt the work was alive inside of him but not accessible in a practical way. In talking to E.J. Gold he said, “You’re compelled by an obligation .... you cant turn around from what youre doing. Im using the word compulsion in a non-psychological way. See online talkofthemonth/totm/totm088.html E.J. replied that he had a very bad day. But that didn’t keep him from enjoying it. David said, “But you’re on a train.” E.J.’s response was, “...But to be on the train is not automatic, even for me....” He admitted that there was a tremendous temptation to get off. David’s response was, “You see, there’s a purpose.... theres a purpose sitting in me, unrealized, uncalled forth. Yet its there. Undeniable. And I cant grab it. And yet it haunts me day after day.” And he said that there was nothing else to do but wait. “E.J. suggested to imagine yourself to be a character in a play. And if you werent on stage when you were supposed to be on stage, there wouldnt be anybody there in your place. And lets say that nobody comes to see that play. Nobody comes to see it, except for one brief fraction of a second, some time during that play. The play goes on for, lets say, 87 years. An eighty-seven year run. The play runs for 87 years, and during that 87 years, one microsecond of it theres an audience. Someone comes to see the play. All the rest of the time, theres no one there to see the play. Except yourself. And all youre playing is that one character. Youre sitting in that one character. All that time, 87 years, one fraction of a second is all that counts, in a sense. But what about the other almost 87 years, except for that fraction of a second? Maybe you have to do that in order for that fraction of a second to happen, David said. Right. If you hadnt done all the other, that fraction of a second might not occur. Might not. Now lets say, imagine this: imagine a character who – in effect, the audience uses that characters eyes to see the play. For just a fraction of a second. If that character were empty, devoid of your presence, then no one could or would ever come. There would never be an audience. There would never be any access. So lets suppose its your presence that provides the access, even for that microsecond. Is that enough work for you? The play itself is of no consequence.... So as far as purpose is concerned, dont look out there for a purpose. Dont look in the play for a purpose. The only possible purpose for the play is to catch the conscience of the king. Beyond that, there is no purpose. You wont find it out there. But your presence – that – for that there is a purpose. And actually several purposes. Get it, got it, good! is the essence of the Work. Suppose you were holding a big medicine ball that weighed 150 pounds, and the medicine ball was filled with nitroglycerin, 150 pounds of nitro. And there are 30 people sitting around – 29 plus yourself, sitting around in a small chamber, and the chamber is hermetically sealed. There is no way out of it. Nobody can run anywhere. Youve got this medicine ball. It weighs 150 pounds. Its filled with nitroglycerin. If you drop it, it will certainly explode. And if it explodes, things will get messy. Youre holding this medicine ball. You have to hold it in front of you with your arms and your legs. Youre sitting Indian fashion holding this medicine ball. Even in that position, eventually 150 pounds is going to start to take its toll. Its going to start wearing on you. The other condition is, you cant actually ask for help. Those around you, those with you, must intuit your need. Someone comes over and sits opposite you, and slowly takes – slowly, slowly, slowly, theres nitroglycerin inside – slowly takes the weight off you, takes the medicine ball from you, and sits there with it. So you say, Get it? and your relief says, Got it and you say, Good. Then you back away and sit in the circle close to the edge. After a while, you begin to see the one who relieved you starting to break out in a sweat. The eyeballs are starting to move wildly around the room, in some vague hope that someone will intuit, hasnt forgotten, hasnt fallen asleep. You look around and you realize that 28 others are sitting there, but theyve all fallen asleep. Theyre all snoring, and snoozing. Youre not permitted to wake them up. Youre not permitted to say, Hey! That one in the center needs help! Youre not permitted to do that. You happen to be awake. No one else is. Theyre all snoring, and snoozing. Youre not permitted to wake them up. Youre not permitted to say, Hey! That one in the center needs help! Youre not permitted to do that. You happen to be awake. No one else is. You just got relieved, for crying out loud. You just had a little breather. There are 27 others who could, but theyre conked. So you take a breath, let your breath out, a cleansing breath. You move into the center of the circle. You sit opposite the one holding the medicine ball, and slowly transfer the weight to yourself. This goes on for maybe three or four hundred million times. Now youre sitting out in the circle, its 397 million times later. Just the two of you, going back and forth with this medicine ball. The medicine ball is going back and forth between you. And you look around, and by golly, there are a few who are awake, and who seem to be aware whats going on, and seem to be getting a glimmer of the necessity. You wait and wait, hopefully. Meanwhile, in the center of the circle, one is holding the medicine ball. Again, starting to break out in a sweat, starting to grit the teeth, such as they are, starting to silently grunt and moan. Youre not allowed to, not permitted to go Uhh! You cant do anything. You have to sit silently and endure it. Thats the rule. More than a rule. Meanwhile the medicine ball gets heavier and heavier and heavier and heavier. Because as you know, anything you have to endure for a long time, even if its light at first, eventually gets heavier. A small pain which you might think is very endurable the first or second or third day, after the first or second year every day, that pain is not endurable. But if you cant get rid of it, what are you going to do? Anyway, you look around, and there are some who could conceivably do it. And they seem to be aware of the problem. They dont do anything. You wait and wait and wait until the last possible minute. Nobody else makes a move. What do you do? You get up, you go to the center of the circle, you take the medicine ball, you sit there with it. Do you feel like an asshole for doing that? Youve got to do it, David said. Yes. Whats worse, the one thats been trading off with you now has fallen asleep, predictably. Okay. The one you were depending on most, the only one you were depending on, has now conked out. Gone seemingly for the duration. You mustnt drop the medicine ball. If the medicine ball should happen to touch the floor, contact it in any way, even momentarily, it will of course explode. Thats not the real consequences, but that just gives you an idea of it – a real idea of consequences from a primate understanding. If you drop the medicine ball it will explode. If it contacts the floor it will explode. If its handled too roughly it will explode, and so on. Those are real things.” So let us continue our practice to sit in the circle. Sense and be aware of others in the chamber. And while actively participating in the reading and listening, inwardly spit off some of your attention for making efforts to invoke your presence here. The first story today is the Star Trek episode -- The Catspaw with character roles in order of appearance: Uhura read by Loralilah, Capt. Kirk / Captain’s log read by Vidadf, Spock read by Red Miguel, McCoy read by Lost Horizon, Korob read by Starananda, DeSalle read by Muspelspark, Chekov read by Grokkey, Sylvia read by Vadere, and the Narrator read by vettizon. For our second story we’ll continue with The Dragon Lady by Evelyn E. Smith with characters: Dragon Lady / the princess / Dipsy -- her dialogue and the narration will be read by Starananda, Prince Suleiman / Sol will be read by Billwh0, Fred Halbfranzband / Manfred Agidius Rudiger Wolfgang Bonifaz Humfried von Halbfranzband und zu Saffian will be read by Muspelspark, Prince Vsevolod will be read by Lost Horizon, and 3 minor characters -- a child, the crowd and a childs mother will be read by Vadere. The third story we may begin today is I Am A Nucleus by Stephen Barr. The story is written in first person narration with dialogue from the point of view of Mr. Alex Graham read by Red Miguel. Taxi Driver read by Vidadf, Card players read by Vidadf, Nat, the neighbor, read by Lost Horizon, McGill read by Grokkey and further characters to be announced. See you at Gorby’s Place on the Prosperity Virtual Ashram --maps.secondlife/secondlife/Prosperity%20Ashram/156/119/1603 Photo thanks to Vettizon.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 21:03:36 +0000
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