Enlightenment is where you find it.

It's interesting how many stops on the blogosphere remind me of this passage from The Illuminatus! Trilogy:

..."As for the rest of you - who can tell me, without uttering a word, the fallacy of the Illuminati?"

A young girl - she was no more than fifteen, George guessed, and the youngest member of the crew; he had heard she was a runaway from a fabulously rich Italian family in Rom - slowly raised her hand and clenched her fist.

Hagbard turned on her furiously. "How many times must I tell you people: no faking! You got that out of some cheap book on Zen that neither the author or you understood a damned word of. I hate to be dictatorial, but phony mysticism is the one thing Discordianism can't survive. You're on sh*twork, in the kitchen, for a week, you wise-ass brat."

The girl remained immobile, in the same position, fist raised, and only slowly did George read the slight smile that curled her mouth. Then he started to smile himself.

(Pages 429 - 430)

No, I'm not going to tell you what post on what site sparked this observation, because it's not going to make any real sense unless you understand what the above passage is driving at, and I have no intention of explaining what the above passage is driving at. You either get it, or you don't - and as the Church of the Subgenius points out, when it comes to enlightenment... if you think that you got it, you didn't really get it*.

Moe

*But I do recommend working it out: Robert Anton Wilson notes later on that understanding this passage will help the reader "understand most of the mysteries of all schools of mysticism", and he is entirely correct in that.

Comments

[nagoya ryan]

I'll try to remember this parable as best I can; it was always one of my favorites (I can't even remember the origin right now, arrgh):

A student came before his master to ask if there is such a thing as "foolish" and such a thing as "wise"... the master simply raised one index finger, saying nothing. Some days later, the master approached the student, asking the same question. The student responded in the same way, raising a single index finger. As a smile came to the student's face, the master produced a small scythe, and quickly cut off the finger. This occasioned a small enlightenment on the part of the student.

(I'm thinking this might have been Hui-Neng... damn my memory. Can anyone help me on this? I left my library in storage back in the states. A little google didn't help, there are so many variations on each theme in parables such as these.)

[Slartibartfast]

Hey, I've heard the ~truth directly from the mouth of the Reverend Buck Naked. So don't mess with me.

Bob Himself was repeatedly thwarted in his quest to reincarnate himself, returning variously as laboratory rats, sea monkeys, goldfish...you get the picture. Coincidence? There is no coincidence.

[rilkefan]

If the girl's family was in read-only memory, she probably was in fact enlightened.

[Anarch]

I know I don't really get it. Does that mean I'm now enlightened?

[Anarch]

The really horrible thing, btw, is that I feel compelled to extend that stupid joke I just made into a lengthy discussion on diagonalization and the Godel Incompleteness Theorems. Worse still: I might succumb!

[Casey]

I am a bastard, and bastards eat mustard seed for breakfast. What have I to do with you woman. Why have you forsaken me father. Forgive them for they know not what they do.--
Joseph and Mary walked through an orchard green "pick me one cherry Joseph for I am with child", "let him pick thee a cherry who brought thee with child" he said, from within his mothers woumb* the baby said "bow down now the tallest tree so my mother may have some".--
"The souls are threshed from their casks" Thats me misquoting Yeats who was misquoting Blake. "I come not into this world for peace but to turn brother against brother, and make war" Misqouting again. The kingdom of god is quick and nimble we must be quick like an assasin to catch it. Thats a paraphrase from the gospel of Thomas. Is their such a thing as misparaphrasing. Perhaps lying is better.--
All prophets lie. Muhhamed and Jesus were really high school chums. Thats what my godson told me.--
I am a Poppy that blossoms in full color. Whats the point of living as less then your self. "He who must be a man must be a non-conformist." I think thats a proper quote of Emerson*. Chop off my arm for your religion. But its not saved. My arm will not go to arm heaven. Gods vanity will not be appeased by my arm. Only my self would do. He can never have my self. Nothing you or I can do will change that. I am the full flower in bloom. This bloom will lead to tragedy and or triumph. The bloom is the question. To bloom or not to bloom. I keep my wits about me and glow like a castle. The triumph is in all.

*I cant spell
*I love Emerson when im not crazy.