: It is wonderful, is it not, that we all do have our own points of view?

: Cheers! Andrea

Aaaah You're inviting me to agree with you there, are you not! Have you read the Barefoot doctor this week?

Barefoot Doctor
Sunday November 25, 2001
The Observer

When you watch a movie, you're actually watching a succession of still frames moving along seamlessly to create the illusion of unbroken action, at a rate of 24 frames per second - just fast enough to trick the eye (and brain). If you stopped to ask one, a Taoist would suggest that this so-called real life we're all so busy living and defending, if seen from an enlightened perspective, is itself of no more solidity or validity than a movie. It is, they would say, a mere trick of the light - a series of still frames or momentary mindsets, running past you fast enough to trick the eye (and brain) into a sense of real-time continuity.
If you bothered to engage in the necessary rudimentary calculations (I used my mobile phone till it ran out of memory), to multiply 24 frames per second by the average lifespan of say 70 years, it comes out to around 53bn frames. Roll that around your brain for a moment - 53bn still frames give or take a few billion. Imagine it in pounds, Euros even. Doesn't it fill you with an overwhelming sense of abundance?

Even assuming you've been riveted by 20 to 30bn of the little monkeys already, you still have an enormous amount of wealth left - certainly enough to see you through to old age. I say wealth because ultimately you can only measure true wealth by the amount and quality of frames at your disposal.

So now you know, what are you going to do with it all? What kind of movie do you want from here on in? Think about tone, texture, coloration, plot and storyline, dynamics, style of co-star and supporting actors, locations, lighting, angles, philosophy, tension levels, type of ending, comedy, suspense, mysticism and violence-factor levels, shoes, clothes, hairstyles and that sort of thing.

This is because, as any budding bohdisatva will tell you, it's entirely up to you what kind of reality you inhabit. You as an individual create your reality according to the beliefs you choose to follow. When you can vision it strongly enough it will manifest. That's the basic tenet of every religion, occult system and spiritual path since time began. The world around you will in time reflect the vision you hold to in full 'sensaround' with Dolby and the whole works.

This even includes whether the world is at peace or at war. The awful destruction we've seen in recent weeks is Hollywood's worst vision made manifest. So how about a vision of the entire human race finally transcending the cycle of violence and retribution, evolving beyond this infantile need to always be and, more importantly, always be seen to be, right.

And yes, I know Bertrand Russell assured us we never would achieve such a state, but maybe he was really just a negative old sod and his thinking a product of a negative time. So let's drop all limitations on our collective imagination now and envision a world where everyone from every culture, nation and creed has evolved beyond the deranged ape stage. Maybe it will require that every person learn t'ai chi or any other non-aggressive martial art from childhood onwards. Maybe we'll need to spray super-concentrate mdma powder over everyone so they all give each other a hug and go home to chill (the hippie version of chemical warfare). But maybe, just maybe, if enough of us can regularly and steadfastly hold to the vision of an entire race not governed by the constant need to be seen to be right, a race more concerned with kindness than violence and greed, and a race able to discuss, negotiate and above all have the maturity to agree to disagree with those holding opposing views, maybe the vision will materialise out here on the planet just in time to prevent the current wave of twisted darkness taking hold of and putting a premature end to our collective destiny.

This is an amazing planet. Our existence here is an utter miracle. To waste it and to waste the lives of others in the name of a mere ideology represents the most stupid move the human race has made since agreeing to believe in religions in the first place. Let's leave the past and reverence for it where it belongs now - in the past. Let's drop this absurd reverence for the words of men long dead, however inspired they were 800 or 2,000 years ago. There've been a lot of frames under the bridge since then. Let's drop the past now and start afresh with a new storyline based on ideas we make up ourselves. And let those ideas include tolerance, wisdom, kindness and global consciousness.

This may help the more conspiratorial visitors to this God send of a website, over to you Gene...???