~
We were watching an episode of CSI: Miami. At the end of the show there was a military funeral. I’ve attended several, so I became identified with those that I perceived as ‘sad’ in the show.
What occurred was an instantaneous ‘thought’ of when I, myself, was in that situation, (In the 'Time' of 'Past' of course,) then relayed that to my body. This is a trigger that I’ve had since the first funeral I attended.
It’s an interesting ‘situation’ to view: the thoughts take over, digging up the past and placing them almost ‘into’ the show. There were two events occurring: My intellectual, my ‘own’ version of what occurred when I was in that situation, over-layed on the actual show that was being presented.
I was unconscious as Tolle would say, completely identified with my Mental Form.
Took me a bit to find the below listed comments, but worth it:
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"How does a man of knowledge exercise controlled folly when it comes to the death of a person he loves?" I asked.
Don Juan was taken aback by my question and looked at me quizzically.
"Take your grandson Lucio," I said. "Would your acts be controlled folly at the time of his death?"
"Take my son Eulalio, that's a better example," don Juan replied calmly. "He was crushed by rocks while working in the construction of the Pan-American Highway. My acts toward him at the moment of his death were controlled folly. When I came down to the blasting area he was almost dead, but his body was so strong that it kept on moving and kicking. I stood in front of him and told the boys in the road crew not to move him any more; they obeyed me and stood there surrounding my son, looking at his mangled body. I stood there too, but I did not look. I shifted my eyes so I would see his personal life disintegrating, expanding uncontrollably beyond its limits, like a fog of crystals, because that is the way life and death mix and expand. That is what I did at the time of my son's death. That's all one could ever do, and that is controlled folly. Had I looked at him I would have watched him becoming immobile and I would have felt a cry inside of me, because never again would I look at his fine figure pacing the earth. I saw his death instead, and there was no sadness, no feeling. His death was equal to everything else."
Don Juan was quiet for a moment. He seemed to be sad, but then he smiled and tapped my head.
"So you may say that when it comes to the death of a person I love, my controlled folly is to shift my eyes." I thought about the people I love myself and a terribly oppressive wave of self-pity enveloped me.
"Lucky you, don Juan," I said. "You can shift your eyes, while I can only look." He found my statement funny and laughed.
"Lucky, bull!" he said. "It's hard work."
We both laughed. After a long silence I began probing him again, perhaps only to dispel my own sadness. "If I have understood you correctly then, don Juan," I said, "the only acts in the life of a man of knowledge which are not controlled folly are those he performs with his ally or with Mescalito. Isn't that right?" "That's right," he said, chuckling. "My ally and Mescalito are not on a par with us human beings. My controlled folly applies only to myself and to the acts I perform while in the company of my fellow men." "However, it is a logical possibility," I said, "to think that a man of knowledge may also regard his acts with his ally or with Mescalito as controlled folly, true?" He stared at me for a moment.
"You're
thinking again," he said. "
A man of knowledge doesn't think, therefore he cannot encounter that possibility. Take me, for example. I say that my controlled folly applies to the acts I performed while in the company of my fellow men; I say that because I can see my fellow men. However, I cannot see through my ally and that makes it incomprehensible to me, so how could I control my folly if I don't see through it? With my ally or with Mescalito I am only a man who knows how to see and finds that he's baffled by what he sees; a man who knows that he'll never understand all that is around him. "Take your case, for instance. It doesn't matter to me whether you become a man of knowledge or not; however, it matters to Mescalito. Obviously it matters to him or he wouldn't take so many steps to show his concern about you. I can notice his concern and I act toward it, yet his reasons are incomprehensible to me."
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"Had I looked at him I would have watched him becoming immobile and I would have felt a cry inside of me, because never again would I look at his fine figure pacing the earth. I saw his death instead, and there was no sadness, no feeling.
His death was equal to everything else."
I've *seen* in this manner, but most of the times I'm indulging.
Zam
P.S. These comments above are in the midst of a great discussion concerning controlled folly, but, that's another discussion for another time
