Hidden Universe

Mystery and Magic Or Vice Versa

Hidden Universe

Mystery And Magic Or Vice Versa

When we live life alive, we do it as ONE with the Universe. We and the Universe arise together spontaneously. To occupy the roles indicated by social conditioning we fragment and compartmentalize; we play the fundamental magicians trick on ourselves. 

We confound ourselves with misdirection. While our attention is occupied in a partial way, by design, we miss the rest of what’s going on right before our diverted eyes, out of awareness. 

The magician as entertainer distracts us. We are stunned and delighted at the reveal. It plays as magic because we are unaware of the process. We don’t know how it was done.

We live as disappearing acts. Abracadabra! Here one moment, gone the next. Then back again. Ad infinitum.

Distracted. Dizzying. 

Take this common perceptual “trick’ for instance. What do you see?

From one point of view we see a duck, from another we see a rabbit. Can we take a wider/longer view to see it’s neither a duck nor a rabbit? It is a whole image that we, depending on our moveable point of view, see one way or another.

BTW: I’ve seen many magicians pull rabbits out of hats, never ducks. Doves get plenty of work. Never ducks. Why? 

As children we whirl and twirl to alter our consciousness as a form of natural play. We change our actual world views. We play with perception. As we ‘grow up’ our and become a certain somebody, our consciousness grows sclerotic. 

Where’d we go?  Did we meet rabbits? What happened?

If inclined to explore “altered consciousness” I suggest, “The Natural Mind,” by Andrew Weil. The same Andrew Weil that heads the Department of Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona and who is widely known in the health and wellness arena. 

We rarely acknowledge the extent to which we feel lost. On the contrary, we concoct elaborate belief systems to explain ’reality’ so we can tell ourselves and each other that we know where we are and what we’re doing. We hold on for dear life. We cling to an identity and an off the rack version of ‘real’ life.

To quell arising anxiety. 

To stave off insecurity.

To appear sane and commercially viable.

Not knowing exactly where we are nor what the hell is going on - ‘in reality’ - makes us, to say the least, uncomfortable. We want to know more or less who we are and what we’re doing. With a marked preference for ‘more’ not ‘less.’

Our vision excludes most of the Universe most of the time. We occupy a minuscule part of the available Universe.

Upon closer inspection - feeling less fear - we see that we ARE the WHOLE YOUniverse. Consider this mantra as a reminder:

YO Universe  YO Universe  YO Universe

Say it out loud. Allow the mantra to soften and internalize. Repeat until it echoes. Let it reverberate in your increasingly quiet mind.

“I used to feel like a guy experiencing the universe and now I feel like the universe experiencing a guy.”  ~Jim Carey

An offering and experiment: Kindly view the following from Alan Watts. It gets to the heart of ACTING HUMAN.

If you’ve been reading ACTING HUMAN from the first you will remember that it aspires to generate a community, an ensemble of HUMAN ACTORS that ‘rehearse’ together. How that happens, I suggested, would evolve from ongoing improvisation in the comments section, which is open to ALL. Unlike some other Substack newsletters, there is no paywall here.

Perhaps after seeing “You Are The Universe,” and having read this far into ACTING HUMAN, you’ll find yourself moved to respond, question, and express points of view.

I’ve enjoyed and valued the many kind expressions of enthusiasm for ACTING HUMAN. I will, undoubtedly get ‘yes, and’ energy from your exchanges in the comments section. 

Until next time,

Lights Up!