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Saturday, October 04, 2008

Stop, look and glisten: The Secret on estrogen

"Glow is an energy. It is an aura. It is a sparkle... You stand out when you glow. You illuminate. It is what differentiates the most successful women from those that WANT to be successful. The good news is, every one of us has it. We just need to learn how to tap into it."
~ Sandra Yancey, Founder & CEO eWomen Network, Inc.

"Horses sweat, men perspire, ladies merely glow."
~ One variation of an old proverb (which has nothing to do with this piece, but I just thought I'd throw it in)

Okay, so I'm a woman, and a business owner (or co-owner, anyway), and as such, I'm definitely in favor of organizations and web sites that offer resources for women business owners. I'm all for recognizing and celebrating the achievements of women – or anyone, for that matter – particularly if those people have overcome enormous obstacles in order to get where they are.

In the past, women had problems being taken seriously in the "man's world" of business. While we still have a way to go in the equality game, women have pretty much demonstrated that in the world of work, they can do just about anything a man can do.

But that's not enough any more, if it ever was. Now there's a whole new level to which women in the bidness world must aspire. Mere success is not enough. A truly successful and fulfilled bidness woman has to have... GLOW.

And just what is GLOW? The web site for the new Glow Project explains it all.

GLOW is a powerful word that is often used by women praising women who exude grace, confidence and strength. GLOW is unique in that, while it is invisible, women can see it, and while it can't be touched, women can feel it.
To spread the message of GLOW (which, more often than not, does indeed appear in all caps on the site), The Glow Project has created...yes, you guessed it... a powerful, inspiring and uplifting movie, in the grand tradition of The Secret, The Opus, The Meta-Secret, and numerous other offerings in the new genre of Hustledork Cinema. The big difference between The Glow Project movie and all those others is that this one features women only, which means, among other things, that Joe Vitale is not in it. And I suppose it wouldn't be entirely accurate to call it "Hustledork Cinema," because many of the women featured are not, strictly speaking, hustledorks (or hustledorkesses). Many have actually achieved something in the world besides producing a large body of self-promotional work.

Still, the format is very much like The Secret. And when you watch the trailer and listen to the opening narration by eWomen Network founder and CEO Sandra Yancey (who sounds and looks, quite frankly, as if she's punch-drunk on New-Wage Kool-Aid), you'll probably feel as if you're in awfully familiar territory.

It's not the Law of Attraction, it's not some miracle cure-all technique such as tapping, it's not some ancient secret recently "rediscovered" and poised to usher in a new era for humankind. But it's still a gimmick. It's... GLOW.

Click here to watch. But don't say I didn't warn you.

PS ~ My own RevRon just reminded me of another GLOW that predates this one by a couple of decades: Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling. Sylvester Stallone's mom Jackie was one of the main brains behind this franchise. (Here's more information.)

Oops.

89 comments:

  1. The spin for the Glow movie is nauseaous, the stories could be interesting--but if we've all got it why do we have to pay to be told, again, that we've got it? Duh, I smell a hustledork warming up for $$$eminars and briefcases in perpetuity.
    Jackie Stallone though, that's an old broad who's just gone way up in my estimation.

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  2. Who knows -- maybe the film will feature Josephine Vitalee.

    I just watched the trailer. It didn't do anything to inspire me. I was a bit turned off by the victimization angle.

    I've never been interested in women-oriented movements or groups. I simply prefer mixed company :-) I think it's too easy to go from one ditch into another.

    I completely respect and honor all the women who have fought, and are still fighting, for the freedoms we have today. But as you point out, it's the commercialization of GLOW that makes it suspect.

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  3. the more women stand on a soapbox the less rest of society will listen...maybe we can just do whatever we want and stop caring if it's breaking the stereotypes or not. These well-intentioned but ridiculous movies tend to trivialize the problems.

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  4. Oh for heavens sake not ANOTHER one! Incredible how late these people attempt to ride the wave of personal development success that has been. Fools who just hand money over for nothing more than HOPE.

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  5. Did you say Secret Estrogen?

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  6. I quite liked the 'victimisation angle' the point being, as I read it, that they used their pain to progress rather than indulge themselves as sympathy-worthy 'victims'. They didn't remain victims, they moved on. Do we need another secretronesque movie et al to hammer this home? Nah. We've already got it.

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  7. Chryeseis is a biologist (I just checked), and she's just peeing her knickers at my DNA joke. What's wrong with the rest of you?

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  8. What's wrong with me, HHH, is my eyesight! I had to download and blow up the graphic to see your handiwork.

    Clever, very clever :-)

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  9. Ellen,
    I love success stories and I'm glad these women prevailed. But you're right -- do we really need a whole industry built on something we already know? And is all around us, without the requirement to pay for it?

    They're making claims about GLOW being the key to true happiness and success. And only women have this powerful essence inside, hidden away until unleashed. Gimme a break!

    Maybe I'm just jaded from dealing with The Secret craziness.

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  10. O so sorry, Esteemed Professor,
    I'm so mired in the seriousness of it all that I might have missed the belly laugh you so kindly provided.
    I'd pee my knickers willingly but I don't wear any these days.
    As to the movie, its a shame all these birds are captains of industry now (instead of chickens with hands?) but you can't turn a buck glorifying the person next door who overcame problems, no dream to sell.

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  11. Are You A New Age Wuss Bag?
    Take this simple test.

    You go to a restaurant.

    1. Finding nothing appealing on the menu, you smash the table to peices, build a fire and spit roast a dog with your rune-etched sword 'blood drinker'. Soon you are having a fine time with the other diners, swapping tales of mighty warriors felled in battle and beautiful but evil sorceresses seduced.
    2. You order a steak and some beer. It tastes good. You drive home wondering what's on T.V.
    3. As you walk in you assess the feng shui of the place. Choosing the most harmonious table, you order a tofu cutlet, alfalfa sprouts and blue green algae wine. The constant nagging hunger you feel is surely a sign of your cells being detoxified.

    You are accosted by a mugger in the street who points a knife at you and demands your wallet.

    1. Raising your mighty axe above your head, you chase him fifty yards down the street bellowing your battle song. You fell him with one dread blow, cleaving his skull, before taking one of his teeth to add to your necklace, and kneeling in prayer to the war god.
    2. Scared but inwardly seething, you hand over the cheap wallet and photocopied money you keep for just such an occasion. Heh heh, you can't wait to tell the boys about that.
    3. You start to tell your assailant that infinite abundance awaits him if he just pauses a second to hear your amazing Secret. You wonder how you attracted such bad karma as you lay bleeding in the gutter.

    You attend a peak oil conference.
    1. You are well pleased. Men have grown weak and lazy because of their comfortable society. It is well for a man to live closer to nature, to his brothers the wolves and bears, to feel the rain on his skin and the wind in his hair. And live in a yurt.
    2. You think this is a load of boring treehugger bullshit, and can't wait to get home to watch monstertrux with a cold beer.
    3. You can't wait for society to collapse. A marvellous spiritual destiny awaits mankind when the dualistic exploitive scientific paradigm collapses. Mankind will awaken to the oneness of life, and a golden age will dawn- with you as one of it's leaders. No one will laugh at you anymore, and now EVERYONE will have to crap on piles of sawdust.

    You are invited to a day of paintballing with your buddies.
    1. Eschewing the paintball gun, you amaze them by teaching them how to make a bow from willow and horse tendons. Soon you are leading a war party against your foes. Catching their leader, you rip his heart out and hold it aloft to the ecstatic victory cheers of your new tribe.
    2. It's a hoot, running through the woods, like being in 'nam or something. Afterwards you all go to the bar for a cold one and chill out.
    3. Your companions wonder where the hell you went. They find you in your own newly built sweat lodge. You urge them to put down their paintball guns and join you in a vision quest to connect with the global energy grid. They shake their heads and urge you to see a professional.

    How did you do?

    Mostly 1. Mighty barbarian warrior, your deeds will be recorded in the book of the immortals!

    Mostly 2. Ordinary Joe, you wish your speeding offenses could be deleted from the records.

    Mostly 3. New age wuss-bag, your psychiatric records are, fortunately, confidential.

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  12. Forget about me Dr, what about you?
    Where are you on the scale? Dreaming Bear has had his chips if you live up to your literary promise.

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  13. ellen said...

    "The spin for the Glow movie is nauseaous, the stories could be interesting--but if we've all got it why do we have to pay to be told, again, that we've got it?"

    Ah, but the hook is the implicit promise that somehow the movie will show you exactly how to tap into that thing we've all got...or at least it will inspire you to do so.

    I agree with you about the nausea factor.

    (And I wonder if Jackie Stallone will end up filing a lawsuit...or if she'll at least insist on getting a cut of the profits (if any).)

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  14. LOL, Lana, re "Josephine Vitalee." I thought the victimization angle was a turn-off too, even though the whole point was that the women overcame the victim mentality. That message in and of itself is fine, but the format... well, it was all way too flowery in a New-Wage moviemercial sort of way.

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  15. Welcome to the party, Chryseis! I agree with you that by now we should be a little bit past the "women on a soapbox" thing... and yes, those moviemercials do have a way of trivializing, (and overly-commercializing) even the finest or most complex concepts. But that's the New-Wage way. It's a formula, and it's worked marvelously for a few folks, so hordes of others have jumped on the bandwagon.

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  16. Anonymous said...

    "Oh for heavens sake not ANOTHER one! Incredible how late these people attempt to ride the wave of personal development success that has been. Fools who just hand money over for nothing more than HOPE."

    And for the most part, not even *real* hope. Hope is a precious thing, but false hope is a commodity that increasingly is being repackaged again and again, and sold for inflated prices. Only a few hustlers get rich off of this practice; they're the ones buying Rolls-Royces (real or metaphorical) and then selling others a chance to ride in that Rolls (either literally or figuratively) for a little while. Those "others" are getting taken for a ride, all right...

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  17. Anonymous 7:44 PM said...

    "Did you say Secret Estrogen?"

    No, but that could be another idea for a product line... LOA HRT (LOL).

    ReplyDelete
  18. ellen said...

    "I quite liked the 'victimisation angle' the point being, as I read it, that they used their pain to progress rather than indulge themselves as sympathy-worthy 'victims'. They didn't remain victims, they moved on. Do we need another secretronesque movie et al to hammer this home? Nah. We've already got it."

    Exactly my point, Ellen. But just because the world doesn't need (or maybe even want) another New-Wage moviemercial, that doesn't mean the hustledorks (and dorkesses) will stop making them. They'll just keep churning 'em out...

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  19. Professor HHH MD, Phd, Fkd. Director Institute for Stupid Studies. said...

    "Chryeseis is a biologist (I just checked), and she's just peeing her knickers at my DNA joke. What's wrong with the rest of you?"

    Dr. HHH, I think the mystery is about to be cleared up...

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  20. Lana said...

    "What's wrong with me, HHH, is my eyesight! I had to download and blow up the graphic to see your handiwork.

    "Clever, very clever :-)"

    Once again I must take some of the blame here. Although I chose the largest display size allowed by Blogger, the graphic that appears in the post is still smaller than "life size." To view at actual size, simply click on the graphic. (This is true of all the graphics on my blog.) I should have mentioned this in the post, for the benefit of those who weren't aware of this feature. As soon as I finish writing my responses to comments, I'll go right in there and correct my oversight.

    Once again, my apologies to our visiting professor, Dr. HHH.

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  21. Lana wrote:

    "Maybe I'm just jaded from dealing with The Secret craziness."

    Ya think? :-) I confess to being a bit jaded myself. I'm just amazed that these "movies" keep being produced.

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  22. Lana wrote:

    "Maybe I'm just jaded from dealing with The Secret craziness."

    Ya think? :-) I confess to being a bit jaded myself. I'm just amazed that these "movies" keep being produced.

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  23. Ellen wrote:

    "As to the movie, its a shame all these birds are captains of industry now (instead of chickens with hands?) but you can't turn a buck glorifying the person next door who overcame problems, no dream to sell."

    That's exactly right, Ellen. Hype and extremes are what sells, not boring ol' everyday reality!

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  24. I took the test, Dr. HHH, and alas, I'm just an average Josephine. (I refuse to be a Joe!) Although crapping in piles of sawdust might be interesting...

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  25. Ellen, I think that as HHH... I mean Dr. HHH's star rises, Dreaming Bear won't know what hit him.

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  26. I'm stil a DB fan, though I wouldn't take any physics lessons from him. Does he manage those long poems without an autocue?

    Thank you for your kind words Ellen, though those words seem to have a familiar rhythm and disction to them. You wouldn't perhaps be a lady with, let's say, a facial hair issue would you?

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  27. OK, maybe the lady hasn't actually said she wee's her knickers at my joke's.
    I'm marketing myself. Fraudulently.
    'It's the latest thing, the thing every gal is peeing her knickers about, it's HHH's stupid jokes'

    Now remember, buried deep in your subconscious where you hold all those magical golden feelings of childhood, is the memory of peeing whenever and wherever you want.
    Associate that innocence, freedom and lack of responsibilties with my stupid jokes and suddenly I'm Mr popular.

    I didn't realise all that till just now.

    Has anyone done a survey of this?
    'Our survey shows a high emotional response among the general public to images of waterfalls, wet cloth, garden sprinklers. 25% of respondents say they associated such images with childhood and feelings of freedom. We have included such imagary in campaigns for clients including major furniture, automobile and small arms manufacturers- generating improved sales figures in each case. Our campaign poster of Barak Obama standing in front of 'Old Faithful' holding a baby is still in production but we will let you know the public response figures in due course.'

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  28. I'm so glad I can come here and still laugh while in the midst of the financial hurricane!

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  29. Dr HHH Slick Bull,

    You might have something there, perhaps you've cracked that cosmic egg--who knows?

    Just make sure you get a live chicken out of it, with or without arms. I've had enough of the scambled and fried variety.

    I'm a bit worried about your obvious penchant for bearded ladies, but hey, what do I know? Each to his own.

    A neat turn of phrase.

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  30. That scrambles my brain egg.

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  31. It's hard to scream like an idiot for Dr. HHH's obvious brilliance when Mojo gets distracted by Connie's making post titles out of song lyrics. Mojo gets an earworm and she's down for the count for DAYS. Mojo's tiny brain can only grasp one concept at a time, don'tcha know. Which must be why Conspicuous Enlightenment continues to elude me.

    I suppose it is mere coincidence--or did I *ATTRACT* it???--that I mention Bette Midler in my last comment (when I stormed out of here in a huff) only to have her come back and haunt me in the (okay, ALMOST but not quite) very next post.

    I think it's the opening song in Divine Madness...

    This is the story of a young girl
    Who was the hippest chick in town
    They call her Big Noise from Winnetka
    Miss Birdie's sure to get around
    Big Noise flew in from Winnetka
    Stole each fella's heart and then
    Big Noise flew in from Winnetka
    Big Noise flew right out again
    Stop! Look! Listen! Here comes the Big Noise!
    Stop! Look! Listen! Here comes the Big Noise!

    The best video clip I could find for this song is not Bette herself but, appropriately enough, a bad home video of a drag queen lip synching it:

    http://tinyurl.com/4c66sd

    For "heart" read "wallet" and for "Big Noise" read, well, whatever Secret Clone du Jour is happening at the moment. All you need to do then is change "Winnetka" to whatever geographic area you desire and presto! New Secret Clone!

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  32. Mojo,
    Now them's bearded ladies, singing their hearts (or wallets) out no less.

    I wonder if the vid warms Dr HHH Bull's cockles? (of his heart of course, far too saucy for a laydee otherwise)

    Dashed is my illusion that our Doc was a brutal warrior type. Shame. Dreaming Bear, come back, come back.

    Strange days

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  33. 'Conspicuous Enlightenment'

    What a fabulous concept--explication please. Maybe we could set up a scam, oops, brave new business venture, to bring our $$$$eminars and briefcases to the avid masses.

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  34. Niether my cockles or winkle.
    The only woman with the key to the door of my heart is this one
    http://tiny.cc/lw4wN

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  35. HHH: I think Dreaming-Bear should be an HHH fan, rather than vice-versa. Unfortunately, DB seems incapable of admiring anyone but himself.

    You may be onto something regarding the archetypal significance of urination. You could develop a seminar series from this concept...maybe even start a church. At the end of every service you would, of course, solemnly intone, "Now, let us spray."

    It's worth a shot.

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  36. Lana said...
    "I'm so glad I can come here and still laugh while in the midst of the financial hurricane!"

    I'm glad to be able to provide some "hurricane relief." Something tells me we're in for a rough time in the US... All I can say is that I picked a lousy lifetime to stop drinking.

    For now, I'm gearing up to watch tonight's Presidential debacle...er...debate. Tell me, o wise Dr. Lana de Banana, is it too late for Ron Paul to save us?

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  37. Ellen and HHH, I think you two ought to get together and have a cup of blue-green algae tea, or maybe something stronger. You're both in the UK, after all, right? I know, I know... that's like saying "You're both in Texas, right?"...when Texas is as big as a fair-sized country in and of itself. But at least y'all wouldn't have to cross the pond to get together.

    Have one on me. And maybe I'll make it "over there" some day!

    PS ~ Wow, HHH... a baron, too, to add to all of your other credentials and titles. Have you been knighted yet?

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  38. Mojo, sorry about the earworm...but I hope you're all better.

    What an inspiring video. Gawd bless drag queens!

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  39. Ellen... "Strange Days"... one of my favorite Doors album covers! (And one of my fave Doors albums too, for that matter.) I used to have such a monster crush on Jim Morrison... talk about a poseur! But at least he didn't try to couch it in "spirituality," a la our friend DB.

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  40. Lord HHH, that video was utterly chilling. Brrrrrrrr....

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  41. Ellen, I've been writing about conspicuous enlightenment for years, but have never really explained it, though the people I snark about are often good examples of c.e. But maybe you have a point... maybe it's time to turn it into $$$omething that will benefit someone else besides the conspicuously enlightened.

    There's also conspicuous altruism, which you can read about here, among other places on this blog:
    http://tinyurl.com/6fvrnk

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  42. Jim Morrison was pretty, way out of DB's class and the posing was de rigeur for chaps then. They were all a wee bit femme--we seemed to like them that way????
    Strange days indeed.

    I'm taking a pass on the tea, preserving my dreams of what might have been.

    Besides, Lord HHH Chillywilly is clearly a nob, while I am common as muck and get a pain in my neck.

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  43. Chocolate, I say. Which reminds me -- I'd better stock up before there's a famine in the land.

    No, it's not too late for Dr. Paul to save us. He and his supporters have started something that won't be stopped. Love those Texans!

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  44. Morrison had a decent voice, but I don't see any more merit in his work than Dreaming Bear's, though the tunes are catchy.
    In fact, I enjoy DB more.
    Would Morrison be famous if he didn't have rock'n'roll hype machine behind him, in which the mediochre is punded into peoples skulls to the exclusion of everything else? That's business, commercial warfare, not art.

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  45. Allow us our youthful folly, O Sheikh, pretty, prententious and ultimately risible, like the delectable DB.

    My own tastes ran to Hendrix and Janis for earworms, raw pain and consumate skill with an axe. Both came with a hype machine.

    Come in number 1, your time is up.

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  46. Dr Lana Banana,
    Try a Terry's Chocolate Orange, hyped, but guaranteed to transport you beyond any hurricane.
    Bliss in a Box.

    D*mn, that's been done before.

    Is there nothing left, nothing sacrosanct?

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  47. Thanks for the tip, Ellen. A UK friend used to recommend eating orange chocolates for 7 to 10 days to cure a cold. It works. Seriously.

    Hey -- what a great business idea, Connie. You write the copy and I'll build the Web site! Ellen and Professor HHH MD can provide the credibility factor.

    And we could have orange-filled chocolates that come in an orange vinyl briefcase shaped like an orange! I'm getting excited.

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  48. Dr Lana,

    Sadly, no credibilty left in my wardrobe.
    I could do you a nice rabid attack dog in the colour of your choice,(todays special) or some shifty looking tooled-up types in turbans.(buy one get one free) Might come in handy when the punters, whoops, congregation gets a wee bit disgruntled.
    After all, what's a prophet for if not to forsee future problems?

    One day we will all be together, as one, in chocolate orange nirvana.
    Yours,
    Cassandra.

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  49. OK then, Morrisons poetry.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    THE OPENING OF THE TRUNK

    Moment of inner freedom
    when the mind is opened and the
    infinite universe revealed
    & the soul is left to wander
    dazed & confus'd searching
    here & there for teachers & friends.

    Moment of Freedom
    as the prisoner
    blinks in the sun
    like a mole
    from his hole

    a child's 1st trip
    away from home

    That moment of Freedom
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    There we have the description in slightly poetic terms of a typical mystical/non-dual/ecstatic experience. Wether spontanaeous or brought about my some other means or potion is unclear. That seems to put him out of the league of pop crap and into a poetic arena. At least he has something to be poetic about.

    DB gives us
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Right now I am opening a wormhole of bewilderment, and willingness to surrender to your independent thought centre's overwhelming impulse of inocence, to do away with duality, break through barriers of separation and boundaries of what we're supposed to be...
    [etc.]
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    So he has pretty much the same source of inspiration as Morrison.
    He doesn't explicitly say 'I had a spiritual experience and it was like this', but he seems real enough about it to me. Of course that's no guarantee of character (and I don't have anything against him), but it won't have been for Morrison either. Or me.
    A lot of Morrisons lyrics suck, BTW.

    Sanai give us
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Mystic Chat

    My dear!
    You haven't the feet
    for this path --
    why struggle?
    You've no idea where
    the idol's to be found --
    what's all this
    mystic chat?
    What can be done
    with quarrelsome
    fellow travelers,
    boastful
    marketplace
    morons?
    If you were really a lover
    you'd see that faith and infidelity
    are one...
    Oh, what's the use?
    nit-picking
    about such things
    is a hobby for
    numb brains.
    You are pure spirit
    but imagine yourself a corpse!
    pure water which thinks
    it's the pot!
    Everything you want
    must be searched for --
    except the Friend.
    If you don't find Him
    you'll never
    be able
    to start
    to even
    look.
    Yes,
    you can be sure:
    You are not Him --
    unless
    you can remove yourself
    from between
    yourself
    and Him --
    in which case
    you
    are
    Him.

    Also
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    No tongue can tell Your secret

    No tongue can tell Your secret
    for the measure of the word obscures Your nature.
    But the gift of the ear
    is that it hears
    what the tongue cannot tell.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    But you weren't comparing their art anyway, you were comparing their looks. I can't say much about that.

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  50. Ellen wrote:
    "Besides, Lord HHH Chillywilly is clearly a nob, while I am common as muck and get a pain in my neck."

    Ellen, don't let the class differences keep you from what could be a most rewarding friendship. Besides, if you're nice to him, perhaps His Lordship would bestow some titles upon you, or at least loan you some of his impressive phony academic credentials!

    I agree with you about Jim Morrison...and talk about the ultimate narcissist! A self-destructive one, though, alas...

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  51. Lana wrote:

    "No, it's not too late for Dr. Paul to save us. He and his supporters have started something that won't be stopped. Love those Texans!"

    Encouraging words, those. I thought it noteworthy that Dr. Paul voted against a Hurricane Ike relief package, even though many of his constituents suffered significant damage from the storm. Yet the response was not across-the-board outrage; many supported his decision. Galveston's city manager wasn't any too pleased, and a few others weren't either, but many others believe, like Paul does, that (1) getting the government involved in things that can be done more efficiently on a local basis is a mistake; and (2) People in Arizona (and elsewhere) shouldn't have to pay for other people's decisions to build homes in vulnerable coastal areas.

    My understanding is that neither Ron Paul nor his office responded to requests to explain his vote about the Ike package, so I am going on what he said when he voted against a Katrina aid package a few years ago.

    Now, I acknowledge that there are major differences between New Orleans' situation with Katrina and Galveston's with Ike. One of them is that many of the people who own beach homes in Galveston are relatively affluent and their beach houses are vacation homes. And they're insured and will no doubt rebuild.

    Yet there is also a sizeable permanent population in Galveston and the surrounding areas, many of them middle- and working-class or poor. Their houses, whether on the beach or not, are (or were) their only homes. So many of them literally lost everything in the storm. And I'm sure that some government aid is in order. Paul just didn't want the bureaucrats in on the deal.

    Time after time on local news shows I have seen interviews with residents who looked around at the pitiful remains of their homes, and said things such as, "A lot of people had it worse than we did. We're not going to sit around and whine and wait for a handout. We're gonna rebuild."

    That kind of thing sort of gives you hope for the future. Maybe there's even hope that this country can be rebuilt after that financial hurricane you mentioned, Lana...

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  52. Sheikh HHH said...

    "Morrison had a decent voice, but I don't see any more merit in his work than Dreaming Bear's, though the tunes are catchy.
    "In fact, I enjoy DB more.
    "Would Morrison be famous if he didn't have rock'n'roll hype machine behind him, in which the mediocre is pounded into peoples skulls to the exclusion of everything else? That's business, commercial warfare, not art."

    Indeed, Your Sheikhness. But I had a crush on Jim Morrison when I was a teenager and susceptible to poseurs. If DB had come along then I might have had a crush on him. But my tastes are waaaaaay too sophisticated now for that.

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  53. Lana and Ellen/Cassandra: I think you may be on to something with the chocolate orange $cheme...I'm starting to get excited too; my hands are shaking! And I have a Buddhist attack dog who might help us out if we give him plenty of chocolate.

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  54. I wouldn't want to be in Dr. Paul's shoes. The role of the federal government has become so distorted that most people think it is SUPPOSED to run in and save everyone. It seems downright cruel not to. What a tangled mess.

    ****

    My whole body shakes with excitement when I think about all the expensive cars I'm gonna buy and tweet about! Oh the power of chocolate. How about a Chocolate Buddha?

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  55. Ah, more sophisticated. Like what?
    See, there are poseurs with nothing to say, and poseurs with something to say and Morrison was in the latter, at least for my own tastes. Maybe you missed what he had to say. I recommend regular meditation practice.

    Anyway, that wasaddressed to Ellen.
    Should make myself plain really.

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  56. Interesting question, who has the real experience. I'd say Morrison definitely, DB probably/possibly.

    What about this...'
    You've just told me some high spots in your memories. Want to hear mine? They're all connected with the sea. Here's one. When I was on the Squarehead square rigger, bound for Buenos Aires. Full moon in the trades. The old hooker driving fourteen knots. I lay on the bowsprit, facing astern, with the water foaming into the spume under me, the masts with every sail white in the moonlight, towering high above me. I became drunk with the beauty and singing rhythm of it, and for a moment I lost myself- actually lost my life. I was set free! I dissolved in the sea, became white sails and flying spray, became beauty and rhythm, bcame moonlight and the ship and the high dim-starred sky! I belonged, without past or future, within peace and unity and a wild joy, within something greater than my own life, or the life of man, to Life itself! To God, if you want to put it that way.'
    -Long Day's Journey into Night, act 4.-
    For an exposition as clear as that, I would be hard pushed to say it wasn't based in autobiographical experience.
    It would piss on my chips if I found O'Neill had just cooked it up!

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  57. Even better...
    http://tiny.cc/jhrVc

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  58. Rolling, rolling, rolling, rawhide.

    Shall I stay or shall I go?

    Off the wheel or jump back on it?

    Thats the problem with old-time religion, Venerable Ancient Mariner, always some-one elses words and experiences, second hand clothes, might keep the cold out but never a perfect fit.

    I had a similar experience on a ship, most sailors do.

    We'd sailed, a casino ship in 1977,from Portland Maine to Jacksonville then Miami, enroute to the Carib, hurricane season, and got caught in the storm for 10 days at sea. It was the relief, deliverance, that produced the mystic vision. 10 a penny those visions--go beyond, beyond.

    Dang!, its no fun being a prophet, always being right gets tedious, no fun at all.

    I prefer fighting/playing in the mists and fogs of the present, sharpens one, always the hope of the fatal blow to jack up the adrenaline, his or mine? mine or his? Dispells the boredom for a while.

    Maybe one day soon more of these humans will get the message and I might find a few worthy contenders to while away eternity with.

    My old buddy U.G. had no message for mankind, but I read some Greek and liked pandora's story of the smidgeon left in the box. I could do something with that, I thought. Even if I can't--its an excuse to get back on the wheel for a few spins, rub shoulders with the masses, maybe find a fight somewhere.

    How I miss those battles! Taught me what it means to be alive. The pain, the blood, the fear honed to impervious, pointed purpose, the sweet ache of every muscle and bone stretched to breaking point then growing, growing stonger.
    The neural networks forming too--such agony, such tortuous twisting, such blind thrashing in the dark. I never wanted it to end.

    Most seekers don't. My teacher was experienced, would not let me stay in the stupidity and comfort of seeking. I loved and hated him for it. But I chose him after all, chose my own fate. I met my teacher's teacher, 88 and invincible. Revelatory. I had no option to retreat with two such examples.

    But all things end, as every woman in labour knows, somewhere in the middle of the work.

    And this must end for me, I just do what I'm told and I am getting a definite Greek vibe forming. My priorities are shifting and I just follow.

    Do some digging you lazy landlubbers, don't get caught in the words or the mystic visions, your own or anyone elses--no matter how seductive. Maybe then if I'm back this way sometime, I can have a real fight, with a real contender.
    Pity old U.G. is forever off the wheel--but maybe he's right on that too--'If you knew what this was you wouldn't want it'
    It all palls in the end, terminal boredom.
    Gotta get my boots on, or shall I try sandals this time? Those Greeks liked a bit of physical/mental tussle.

    Pandora, you've got a lot to answer for, still......

    Might be a battle in it.

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  59. For you, Honourable HHHHHHHHHHHH.............,

    Since you like old poets, and I had that youthful folly once, too.

    Think thus of all this fleeting world:
    a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
    a flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
    a flickering lamp, a phantom- and a dream.

    Its all Greek to me, now. Now DIG you dumbells, that house of cards won't build itself.

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  60. Sheikh,

    Found your opening of the trunk vomitous on first perusal, but went back in a spare second--that tedium again.
    Still vomitous but could be honed somewhat. My suggestions, take or leave:

    Empty the trunk then dump the d*mn trunk--no baggage on this trip.

    Dazed and confused I like, I do a good D&C myself when the situation demands it.

    Soul? Teachers? Friends? Freedom?
    Forget all those, just meaningless drivel for milksops seekers and followers.

    I won't even consider DB's deplorable offering.

    Get off the teat, Sheikh, before you try to teach your grandmother to suck eggs.

    Morrison and DB both beneath contempt, no serious student would bother.

    Stick with the Persians, if you find a good Sufi teacher you might get somewhere in a lifetime or two, but this mad prophet will not be sticking around to watch that slow progress.

    I like them ready to cut their teeth, just a little nudge needed and I can go howling to battle.
    A tasty and promising proto-fascist in my sights but probably too young yet for harvest.

    Dig some ditches to fall into, the experience will repay itself endlessly.
    Bah! Boring, boring, boring.....

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  61. My apologies, Connie, for veering off topic and dragging the loonies out of the woodwork on your nice blog.

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  62. Hey, no need to apologize, your High Holy HHH-ness. We're all loonies here! I was rather enjoying the poetic silliness of it all. It beats the heck out of worrying over the financial mess and the election.

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  63. I learn something new every day.
    Maritime spiritual experiences are ten a penny- didn't know that.

    What are the figures for that?

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  64. I reccommend a Whirling Dervish for you HHH Mariner, spin forever in circles and get nowhere.

    My sword is double edged and my axe double-headed, a reminder that it always cuts both ways, no matter how skilful the wielder. I can live/die with that. My web has no weaver, I haven't lost my footing yet but the day will surely come. I can live/die with that too.

    This is not madness, this is far worse, this is the other side of madness, and no going back.

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  65. HHH

    Original research beats statistics, landlubber, go ask some sailors.

    Of course, being men, they may not want to admit to such nonsense to another man.

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  66. I don't really know what you're talking about. Double edged wotnots and all.

    You're the one making the claim about seafarers spiritual experience, you do the survey.
    In your experience, what sort of figures would you give for seafaring mystical experiences, and have you compared it with that of landlubbers?
    I've lived next to a dock for about 30 years, and I've not heard a peep about spiritual experiences from any trawlerman.
    Ten a penny my arse.

    Now you're saying you're an old soul on the path, past trivial little blips of ecstasy, and hinting that you can argue me to the next level of enlightenment, or that I am stuck and you are going to enjoy the show.
    Blah blah.
    You just seem like a bully to me.

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  67. Whoops,

    Trod on a toe, HHH?

    Who was talking about 'spiritual' experiences? not a word ever used in my lexicon.

    I like reality, grim, stark, painful stuff, beats the 'spiritual' every time.

    I prescribe a chocolate orange or two, dark, delicious, tasty and real.

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  68. Cassandra and HHH: I hope this isn't turning into a real fight or anything because there's really no reason for it. However, if it's intended to be a fake fight, carry on. I think you're both brilliant writers, by the way.

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  69. 'beats, the spiritual every time'?
    For you, not for me, vampire knickers

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  70. HHH,

    Dawn is breaking and I must away to my crypt, I've tarried too long this dark night.

    I couldn't find any sailor statistics for you--not my forte, I only count my drained husks.

    There is some science I like though, from Carl Sagan, The Demon Haunted World:

    http://tinyurl.com/5247pq

    almost as good as a chocolate orange.

    Guard those toes, only nine left, never know when I might fancy another nibble.

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  71. That's not science, it's critical thinking.

    You haven't removed any of my metaphorical toes, except in you're deluded mind.

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  72. Good night and god bless, Cassandra, try not to chew any more lead paint.

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  73. What is science, HHH, if not the art of rigorous, critical thinking applied to the phenomena of the natural world?

    Before Newton discovered Gravity, would the apple have stayed in the tree?

    Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

    Fancy a nice red juicy apple?

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  74. More pseudo cryptic mumbo jumbo

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  75. The link you gave for Sagan was not about science, and is not concerned with the natural world.
    It's about logical argument.

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  76. HHH
    Science is about applying logical argument to various hypotheses and experiments, including the weird stuff our brains produce in times of stress.

    It does not give certain answers but its the best we've got so far--and it inches forward day by day.

    Stick with your visions if you want to but remember that if you stare into the abyss the abyss stares back--you might end up like me--doesn't that give you nightmares?

    And by the way, I am a reasonably stable product of the process--you should see some of the casualties.

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  77. It's still not science, it's advice about applying reason in the scientific endeavour.

    Congratulations, you can misquote Nietzche, give yourself a GCSE.

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  78. 'Stick with your visions if you want to'

    Meaning what, keep reading poetry?
    Yup, reckon I will.

    'but remember staring into the abyss...blah blah'-
    Sticking with visions isn't staring into an abyss, so there should be no problem, whatever problem is implied.

    Yeah, nightmares, yeah.

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  79. Shame old Friedrich didn't take his own advice, might have avoided his final long sojourn in the loony bin.

    It would be logical and sensible to take notice of the results others have had.

    Knock yourself out, its your mind.

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  80. It wasn't gazing into an abyss that drove him mad, it was syphillis, and maybe his batty sister.

    There are things called books, available for free at public libraries. Go read some.

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  81. From wiki

    'General paresis, otherwise known as general paresis of the insane, is a severe manifestation of neurosyphilis. It is a chronic dementia which ultimately results in death in as little as 2-3 years. Patients generally have progressive personality changes, memory loss, and poor judgment. More rarely, they can have psychosis, depression, or mania. Imaging of the brain usually shows atrophy.'

    See, no monsters, no gazing into abysses, no whatever the F*^% you are on about.
    I should go and have a health check if I were you.

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  82. Poor old Nietzsche's fundamental flaw was that he placed power before truth.

    Alan Greenspan did the same by way of Ayn Rand.

    Second hand ideas are pretty much worthless when swallowed whole--indigestion invariably follows.

    Here's some second hand goods I like, but only because I have proved their truth for myself, from
    Basho, 1644-1694, probably misquoted due to the passage of time and translation:

    Seek not to follow in the footsteps of the wise.
    Seek what they sought.

    Gad, you're lovely when you're angry.

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  83. http://tiny.cc/H2dHN
    No, Nietzche's fundamental flaw was living in a time before brain scanners.

    You keep attributing mental disorder to the spiritual proclivities of folk, when they are more likely just disease.

    Then you keep attributing wisdom to yourself, based on these false assumptions.

    You're trying to fit the world into your template, and it doesn't work.

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  84. But wait, what is this blog commenter on Nietzche, an ex-sailor who thought Nietzche died of introspection.
    Look at the slightly incoherent writing, the metaphors.
    This person assumes that philosophers are prone to iatrogenic overdose (whatever that is), due to being, well, philosophers.

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  85. I read the abstract, HHH,

    http://tinyurl.com/3sw2t7

    Even the neurologists who conducted the study are less sure than you are:

    'CONCLUSION: We *suggest* that Nietzsche did not have GPI, but died from a chronic dementia, namely FTD.'

    Tell you anything?

    I'm off, this is tedious beyond belief.

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  86. H.H.H.

    Life is short.
    Move on, brother.


    http://tinyurl.com/2cfxls

    http://tinyurl.com/3wn5zk

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  87. Move on from something I enjoy?
    Tut.
    Wow, what a brilliant link, so meaningful, it's like you have a diploma in how I should live my life. Amazing.

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  88. You know, I have worked in one of these self help feel good movies! And I know how it works behind closed doors, and I'm telling you- it is dirtier than any other business I know! Behind all this positive vibes and inspirations, is a dark, scheming, deceitful industry out there to purposefully rob the people who are really searching. We all want peace and prosperity in our lives- and these people are out there to exploit it. It's scary- it's almost like working for the devil! The moment the project was done, I was so glad I got out of it. I still believe in positive thinking, but when people start labelling it and almost making it religion, I am disgusted! Maybe one day I can write a book about my experience in one of these New Wage businesses.

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