Here is some more background to my thinking that prompted me to make these recordings, that I wrote in my journal early in Fall 2009:
my journal said:
This world, this matrix control system, wants humanity to be asleep. This condition is living in an illusion or a lie. People who become disillusioned with a dream that they have been living in, mostly move to another dream that seems better. They believe that they have woken up. However they are just as fast asleep. They may have learned some lessons and may have gotten some soul growth, possibly, and that is all. It is my opinion at the moment, that such soul growth is quite slow. Sometimes the illusion leads one to act in ways against the soul's nature and chosen path, and in effect, is detrimental for soul growth in the long term. Thus the matter can be of some concern, beyond the present life into other lives, even if one can be reasonably assured that traditional religious depictions of a eternal life in a Heaven or Hell are fabrications created for the purpose of fear and control.
So the General Law, (Mouravieff?) is ever present and ready to put humans back to sleep, should they ever start down the road to objectivity. There are human beings who do suspect that the world is not what it seems. Like the movie The Matrix, where everyone is plugged into a computer system with a wire in the back of their neck, the matrix is ok with people researching and learning new things as long as the knowledge about the real condition is not exposed very widely. True knowledge is dangerous. True knowledge spread widely is the most dangerous thing to the matrix.
Gurdjieff talked about needing alarm clocks to keep waking up. He talked about constantly inventing new alarm clocks because we will get accustomed to the old ones. He suggested that a group of people work together to make new alarm clocks for each other. He talked about having a group, to help each other stay awake.
So the work here is a collection of quotes, that are rich with meaning that can be used for this.
They can be pulled out when the General Law is putting one to sleep and one is being sucked into illusions that are ready to trap us by using our lifetime of programming.
In Search Of The Miraculous by Ouspensky said:
"There is also the possibility of being awakened by mechanical means. A man may be awakened by an alarm clock. But the trouble is that a man gets accustomed to the alarm clock far too quickly, he ceases to hear it. Many alarm clocks are necessary and always new ones. Otherwise a man must surround himself with alarm clocks which will prevent him sleeping. But here again there are certain difficulties. Alarm clocks must be wound up; in order to wind them up one must remember about them; in order to remember one must wake up often. But what is still worse, a man gets used to all alarm clocks and after a certain time he only sleeps the better for them. Therefore alarm clocks must be constantly changed, new ones must be continually invented. In the course of time this may help a man to awaken. But there is very little chance of a man doing all the work of winding up, inventing, and changing clocks all by himself, without outside help. It is much more likely that he will begin this work and that it will afterwards pass into sleep, and in sleep he will dream of inventing alarm clocks, of winding them up and changing them, and simply sleep all the sounder for it. "Therefore, in order to awaken, a combination of efforts is needed. It is necessary that somebody should wake "the man up; it is necessary that somebody should look after the man who wakes him; it is necessary to have alarm clocks and it is also necessary continually to invent new alarm clocks.
"But in order to achieve all this and to obtain results a certain number of people must work together.
"One man can do nothing.
What follows is the information about each of the three selections and the quotations.
Abstract-Improvises_nomad_quotes.mp3
Background music: collaboration between two members of the forum, Abstract, Nomad, in Nov 2009
Quotes in order of appearance:
1. Where you are is not important. Who you are is and also what you see.
[Quote by C's]
2. All there is is lessons. This is one infinite school. There is no other reason for anything to exist. Even inanimate matter learns it is all an "Illusion." Each individual possesses all of creation within their minds.
[Quote by C's]
3.Cut the quote and put rest of the quote started above:
Now, contemplate for a moment. Each soul is all powerful and can create or destroy all existence if [it] knows how. You and us and all others are interconnected by our mutual possession of all there is. You may create alternative universes if you wish and dwell within.
4. Life is religion.
Life experiences reflect how one interacts with God.
Those who are asleep are those of little faith in terms of their interaction with the creation.
Some people think that the world exists for them to overcome or ignore or shut out. For those individuals, the worlds will cease.
They will become exactly what they give to life. They will become merely a dream in the "past."
People who pay strict attention to objective reality right and left, become the reality of the "Future."
[Quote by C's]
5. ....the most important principles that the Cassiopaeans have given us are Free Will and Knowledge Protects. These two concepts are inseparable. The more knowledge you have, the more awareness you have; and the more awareness you have, the more Free will you have as to whether or not you will receive and disseminate lies or truth. With increase of knowledge, there CAN be an increase in awareness, but not always. A person can have a great deal of knowledge, but since he defines what he knows with the Juvenile Dictionary, he only can have Juvenile Awareness.
[Quote by LKJ - http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/ascension2.htm ]
6. Pretend that you have an advanced security system around your brain, and that every idea that wants to come in is a potential threat to your thinking. Before you let that idea in, you need to search it and x-ray it and ask it a lot of questions. Only when you are certain it is not dangerous, then you can let it in. But once it is in, consider it a guest, one who could be asked to leave at any time.
[quote by Galahad on forum]
7. Knowledge protects. "Knowledge application generates energy, which, in turn, generates light."
[Quote by C's]
8. There is no free lunch in the Universe and if you think there is, then you’re lunch.
[Quote by LKJ]
NOTE: for fun, and to kind of wrap up the selection, I lowered the pitch on this one on a sliding scale, so the voice gets deeper and deeper until the end. Maybe it was stupid. But I felt like doing it.
mkrnhr_guitar_quotes_added.mp3
Background Music: Guitar playing by Cass Forum member Mkrnhr 04:18
NOTE about the voice recording: these have heavy equalization applied so the voice has less presence and maybe sounds a bit like it is coming from an AM radio. This was intentional. My brother kind of critisized that it sounds like I am speaking from inside a can, but I left it alone because, I kinda liked it. Maybe someone else can comment.
Quotes in order of appearance:
1. ... the universe is merely a school. And, a school is there for all to learn. That is why everything exists. There is no other reason.
[Quote by C's]
2. ...Forevermore, the human race, will be poisoned by the very same problem which is reflected in several different ways: one is always seeking the truth through one pathway instead of seeking it through a myriad of pathways; and also believing in simplistic answers to very complex issues and questions.
[Quote by C's]
3."Access to knowledge requires courage, as it demands a special psychological effort from the Seeker: he has to accept the postulate that "the truth is out there, but it is very difficult - if not impossible - to find," while at the same time disregarding his own ideas and personal beliefs."
[By LKJ from http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/ascension2.htm ]
4."Wild Ways teaches people when not to act 'nice' about protecting their souls. The instinctive nature knows that being 'sweet' in these instances only makes the predator smile. When the soul is being threatened, it is not only acceptable to draw the line and mean it, it is required. ..."
From Pinkola-Estes
[This is in many places, but I got this from http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=14410.msg112027#msg112027 Re: Eíriú-Eolas - Guide/FAQ]
First_Initiation_pianobackground.mp3
The Quote
Salzmann quote said:
The First Initiation
You will see that in life you receive exactly what you give. Your life is the mirror of what you are. It is in your image. You are passive, blind, demanding. You take all, you accept all, without feeling any obligation. Your attitude toward the world and toward life is the attitude of one who has the right to make demands and to take, who has no need to pay or to earn. You believe that all things are your due, simply because it is you! All your blindness is there! ...
You live exclusively according to "I like" or "I don't like," you have no appreciation except for yourself. You recognize nothing above you-theoretically, logically, perhaps, but actually no. That is why you are demanding and continue to believe that everything is cheap and that you have enough in your pocket to buy everything you like. You recognize nothing above you, either outside yourself or inside. That is why, I repeat, you have no measure and live passively according to your likes and dislikes.
Yes, your "appreciation of yourself" blinds you. It is the biggest obstacle to a new life. You must be able to get over this obstacle, this threshold, before going further.
This test divides men into two kinds: the "wheat" and the "chaff." No matter how intelligent, how gifted, how brilliant a man may be, if he does not change his appreciation of himself, there will be no hope for an inner development, for a work toward self-knowledge, for a true becoming. He will remain such as he is all his life.
The first requirement, the first condition, the first test for one who wishes to work on himself is to change his appreciation of himself. He must not imagine, not simply believe or think, but see things in himself which he has never seen before, see them actually. His appreciation will never be able to change as long as he sees nothing in himself. And in order to see, he must learn to see; this is the first initiation of man into self- knowledge.
... If he sees one time he can see a second time, and if that continues he will no longer be able not to see. This is the state to be looked for, it is the aim of our observation; it is from there that the true wish will be born, the irresistible wish to become: from cold we shall become warm, vibrant; we shall be touched by our reality.
Today we have nothing but the illusion of what we are. We think too highly of ourselves. We do not respect ourselves. In order to respect myself, I have to recognize a part in myself which is above the other parts, and my attitude toward this part should bear witness to the respect that I have for it. In this way I shall respect myself. And my relations with others will be governed by the same respect.
You must understand that all the other measures-talent, education, culture, genius-are changing measures, measures of detail. The only exact measure, the only unchanging, objective real measure is the measure of inner vision. I see-I see myself-by this, you have measured. With one higher real part, you have measured another lower part, also real. And this measure, defining by itself the role of each part, will lead you to respect for yourself.
But you will see that it is not easy. And it is not cheap. You must pay dearly. For bad payers, lazy people, parasites, no hope. You must pay, pay a lot, and pay immediately, pay in advance. Pay with yourself. By sincere, conscientious, disinterested efforts. The more you are prepared to pay without economizing, without cheating, without any falsification, the more you will receive. And from that time on you will become acquainted with your nature. And you will see all the tricks, all the dishonesties that your nature resorts to in order to avoid paying hard cash. Because you have to pay with your ready-made theories, with your rooted convictions, with your prejudices, your conventions, your "I like" and "I don't like." Without bargaining, honestly, without pretending. Trying "sincerely" to see as you offer your counterfeit money.
Try for a moment to accept the idea that you are not what you believe yourself to be, that you overestimate yourself, in fact that you lie to yourself. That you always lie to yourself every moment, all day, all your life. That this lying rules you to such an extent that you cannot control it any more. You are the prey of lying. You lie, everywhere. Your relations with others-lies. The upbringing you give, the conventions-lies. Your teaching-lies. Your theories, your art-lies. Your social life, your family life-lies. And what you think of yourself-lies also.
But you never stop yourself in what you are doing or in what you are saying because you believe in yourself. You must stop inwardly and observe. Observe without preconceptions, accepting for a time this idea of lying. And if you observe in this way, paying with yourself, without self-pity, giving up all your supposed riches for a moment of reality, perhaps you will suddenly see something you have never before seen in yourself until this day.
You will see that you are different from what you think you are.
You will see that you are two.
One who is not, but takes the place and plays the role of the other. And one who is, yet so weak, so insubstantial, that he no sooner appears than he immediately disappears. He cannot endure lies. The least lie makes him faint away. He does not struggle, he does not resist, he is defeated in advance. Learn to look until you have seen the difference between your two natures, until you have seen the lies, the deception in yourself. When you have seen your two natures, that day, in yourself, the truth will be born.
Background music:
Artist: Matti Paalanen
Uses name "Frozen Silence" on jamendo.com
Helsinki, Finland
or see address:
http://www.mikseri.net/artists/?id=48150
He distributed his music under creative commons license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
In short:
You can copy, distribute, advertise and play this album as long as you:
-Give credit to the artist
-Don't use this album for commercial purposes
-Distribute all derivative works under the same license
1.Above_and_Below.mp3 --3m:27s
2.Glass.mp3 --6m:55s
NOTE: to make the first initiation sound a bit like someone lecturing in one room, while someone softly played the piano in a hall beside the room, I added a certain amount of reverb just to the music (not the narration) that would be suitable to emulate a small church or hall.
Technical recording and mixing notes:
I include some notes because I found the process of doing this was a learning experience.
Perhaps there are others on the forum that could give me some more tips in help me out in my recording.
Perhaps someone considering doing what I did might like to get some tips on how they might do it themselves.
1. Tried to use a decent microphone. I used a Samson Q1U USB mic, suitable for podcasting (supposedly). It was a choice I made a couple of years ago, and was an alternative to buying a professional XLR mic which then would require quality microphone preamp with a USB computer interface.
2. Put a pop filter in front of mic. (I made one from a stocking!).
3. Try to reduce room reflections. I eventually made a padded box to put the microphone stand in, so as to reduce reflections, but it does not work perfectly. I might improve on that eventually.
4. Effects: I think that it is true LESS is MORE. In general, one should not overuse audio effects and filters. Nevertheless, this is what I decided upon: I applied noise reduction to clean up the signal, and compression to reduce the difference between peaks and soft sounds of the narration. Further I applied equalization to reduce the booming of the low frequencies, raise some of the higher frequencies (usually only about 3dB more) to make it more "brighter", and eliminate unneeded high frequencies above the useful voice spectrum.
5. Used Audacity 1.3.9beta (open source) and mixed the sound tracks with an eye on reducing volume on the music when necessary to keep the narration audible. I tried another program (TrakAxPC) for Mkrnhr's selection and I found could not adjust the volume as flexibly.
6. I tried to find someone who speaks English fluently. I am the only one (a Canadian) that I know in my immediate vicinity so I did the recording myself. Besides, it is easier to arrange recording sessions with myself than with someone else. I was a little bit unsure about using my own voice, but it turned out that when I listened to it, I concentrated on the content and I forgot it was my voice. If I do it more, I could also try to improve my technique too, like learn what is the proper pace and inflection, so it is easier to listen to. I see that it all takes work and practise. There is no free lunch in the universe...
:)
