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Theatre of Life
Theatre of Life
“Life’s joke on itself”
The enlightened beings proclaim life to be a play of light and sound. The play appears as life’s theatre, and on its stage life projects its drama.
The mother of all dramas in life is ‘religion’. Religious drama stands model for all drama in life.
The drama of religion has been written by life, performed by life and viewed by life. Its show, so far, has been life’s biggest box-office hit.
Religious drama plays with the main elements a drama play contains: theme, plot, character and language.
The theme of religious drama is ‘good and bad’, and its plot tells the story of the battle between ‘good’ and ‘bad’, for good to win over bad and gain power for ‘man’.
The characters of religious drama are ‘God’ the protagonist, ‘devil’ the antagonist, and ‘man’ the tritagonist.
Since its appearance, religious drama is performed all over the world in as many languages as there are. Its battle hasn’t been settled as yet. Its show goes on and evolves and sophisticates.
Religious drama evolved into a more sophisticated drama, called: ‘science’. The theme of science drama is ‘research’ and its plot tells the story of the battle between ‘certain’ and ‘uncertain’, for certain to win over uncertain and gain power for ‘man’.
The characters of science drama are ‘scientist’ the protagonist, the ‘religious’ the antagonist, and ‘proof’ the tritagonist.
Since its appearance, scientific drama is performed all over the world in as many languages as there are. Its battle hasn’t been settled as yet. Its show goes on and evolves and sophisticates.
Over illusory time, the world also has become the battlefield between ‘religion’ and ‘science’, for science to win over religion to gain power for ‘man’.
But, now, even a more evolved and sophisticated drama than ‘religion’ and ‘science’, has occurred on life’s stage, and is to be understood as the ultimate drama, called: ‘mind’.
The theme of mind’s drama is ‘time’, and its plot tells the story of the battle between ‘real’ and ‘false’, for man to realise his true nature.
The characters of mind’s drama are ‘future’ the protagonist, ‘past’ the antagonist, and ‘present’ the tritagonist.
Since its appearance, mind’s drama is performed all over the world in as many languages as there are. Its battle hasn’t been settled as yet. Its show goes on and evolves and sophisticates.
Life makes man perform its own drama of mind in which man is at battle against life the director for a better script.
Indeed, a joke life plays on itself, for life including man, is already enlightened, something man is yet to understand.
The parable tells two men fighting and a child watching, while calling: ‘Daddy, daddy, daddy!’ A passerby asks the child: ‘Who is your daddy?’ And the child answers: ‘That is what they are fighting about’.
Life is one and not two. How then, could there be two men fighting, a third watching, and a fourth passing by!?
And how then could one life have four names, to be called ‘daddy’, ‘child’, ‘passerby’, or even ‘man’!?
Life’s illusion is such a mystery, and its play of light and sound is such a spectacular show, only to be admired through the mind, as an illusion and not a reality.
In life’s theatre, life is the magician and its trick is tremendously deceptive. The joke life performs, indeed on itself, is to be enjoyed by illusory man.
As long as the show is taken for real, the ego does not understand the joke of life‘s theatre. The ego‘s laughter is just about “others“ for they are supposed to be the doer, speaker and thinker.
Realising life to be an illusion is such a ‘joke’, makes the witnesser, a sophisticated ego, laugh until death, but the ‘laughter’ of life remains, of course, as an illusion.
This way the ‘cathartic’ activity of life’s theatre, all be it illusory, cleans man from the illusions of his mental script, and awakens him into life without a script.
Copyright: Paul Dekker 2011
www.acadun.com
www.evolutionofmind.org
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Response: Now it's your turn to clarify: If nothing is all there is, what could "Buddha" and "his disciples" be? And if they are nothing too, how come that there APPEARS to be something? HOW does nothing appear as something without existing at all? Does "illusory" really mean that it does not exist?
There is no need for any clarification on my part as all the clarification is there in your response itself.
How come that there appears to be something….you say …and you also put that APPEAR in caps!
And that is all the clarification that is.
It (Nothing) entirely and only APPEARS to be something …Buddha entirely and only APPEARS to be a Buddha, His Disciples entirely and only APPEAR to be His Disciples and Illusory entirely and only APPEARS to exist……for what else can each of them in reality be or can be except as what each of them entirely and only APPEAR to be (non reality)?
Response: Happy for you that you admit that illusory does not mean that it does not exist. Life is pure light reflecting itself as the illusory. With this understanding the article from Paul Dekker does not appear funny, but is understood to be the sharing of the deepest understanding of life's mystery.
The joke of life does not mean to laugh about the other's understanding of life, incomplete it may be, for everybody is right where he is as part of the sophistication process of life. A man of understanding, apparent and illusory though he is, does not laugh but share, if necessary, as best as he can.
Life then would be admired as how intelligently it manifests the illusion of individuals, actions, mind and a doer, as a play of light and sound. This understanding is the silent smiling of the witnesser, a sophisticated ego. This is meant by "laughter" about the joke of life's theatre. As Paul in the article puts it: "The joke life performs, indeed on itself, is to be enjoyed by illusory man."
Appearance does not mean it is real, appearance means that it will eventually disappear. real does not disappear. Therefore Buddha, Master or whoever are just an illusory appearance of reality. Enlightenment too is not reality but an appearance of reality.
I further SUBMIT this....
i further submit this because to me that above response asking for a clraification is very UNMARCISH.... either in the language(style) that was used or in the apparent depth of it. Not that i have any objection to it as such( for who am I ..mmm?) therefore i use now the word ..let me "submit" this to you who ever it might be...
I hope this clears things up and here is the submission for your consideration...
nothing does not mean something, somewhere...it simply is nothing( you can also find a similar message from Wei Wu Wei in his "ask the awakened") Nothing is...IS NOT at all or doesnt exist as you pointed out.
because nothing IS NOT ...something allways IS. are we ( both you and me dear friend) clear?
Therefore Something is the "function" of Nothing
IS is the IS(function) of the IS NOT.
being is the being of non being (wei wu wei)
something is the function of nothing means..that in reality there is nothing being this something or anything.
that is, in reality there is absolutely nothing being this something or nothing appearing as this something or anything ...therefore ...
Something is exactly what it is...an appearance...nothing!( not at all( like nothing is not at all?) real in reality or the non real in reality).
this is a dream(right now in its entirety) is waking up...waking up too IN the dream.
as long as the dream(life) features the one (dreamer) as the one who thinks that there is reality in the dream( that something is something even pure light etc etc ) the dream(life) has no chance of featuring the dreamer as someone who has awakened.
this is the what "really" meant by Ravi shankar.."consciousness is the first illusion"
or hui neng that "fundementally not a thing IS".
Response: Pure light which is the real cannot be perceived, only reflected light is perceived as an illusion. Pure light is nothing appearing as something (i.e. reflected light).
The dream features me Happy for you too.... that it features you admitting ... pure light is nothing appearing as something..like any other thing.
Have always mentioned and repeated that Pure light appears as reflected light which is consciousness, the first illusion of awareness or pure light.
the illusion of awareness means awareness is an illusion.
the non reality of reality means reality is non reality.
NOt TWo. NOt Two.
if the dream features you wanting to contend this , which is very likely ....please do so...
and thank you too for permitting this wonderful discussion.
regards sir, marcus
Response: This is just the knowledge that has happened to you as yet, but not the understanding of what is meant by the statement.
"Consciousness is the first illusion of awareness" does NOT mean awareness is an illusion. It means that ONE (awareness, the real) appears as TWO (consciousness, the illusory).
there is in reality( reality being the non real/dream/life) nothing that happens to someone or something including knowledge or understanding....for there is in reality no such thing as something or someone.That the dreamer is convinced it can is what the comedy of Life is about.
the illusion of awareness means .....
there is NO ONE( and not one) appearing as ONE or TWO or THREE therefore what is or all that is...
(ONE TWO or THREE...consciousness/illusion/non reality) t is only and entirely the so called appearance... ......There is absolutely no one in reality whose image is being so called .....reflected.Thats the supreme intelligence of life .....isnt it astounding...an illusion of a reflection when in reality there can be NO ONE or NO THING casting it or being reflected rather.
THATS what the illusion of duality is about. that this illusion is cast by or on something (awareness)...that is truth can be divided into what it is and what it is not.
Pointing to this illusion and also what constitutes waking up...masters say...."that is why advaita is advaita and not ekta(one)"...( Dr Vijay shankar)
Other masters) dreamers waken up in the dream/life) like Hui neng or Ravi shankar too remind us .....fundementally there is no thing appearing as someting only the non real is( or all that is is non real)...... is reality.
Therefore non reality is the non reality of reality and reality is the reality of the non reality which is the true meaning of NOt TWO....that reality cannot be divided into what it is and what it is not( appearance/non reality).
That This is a dream( in its entirety ) and that there is no reality outside the dream is waking up...waking up too in the dream.
regards
In the entirety of Buddhism there is only one Sutra which is attributed to some one else than Buddha....its the platform sutra of Master Hui Neng. No other Master than Buddha or Hui Neng has a Sutra.
The Platform Sutra contains a test which is given by the Guru of Hui neng to his disciples....the Guru comes up with a verse...
>>>
The body is a Bodhi tree,
The mind a standing mirror bright.
At all times polish it diligently,
And let no dust alight.
To this the Master (Hui neng ) replies....
Bodhi is fundamentally without any tree;
The bright mirror is also not a stand.
Fundamentally there is not a single thing —
Where could any dust be attracted?
It basically means that the "script" is not mans to be his script...nor any one elses therefore the script is no ones.
as there is no one scripting this script there is nothing scripted either...in reality....however as nothing cannot be scripted for being nothing ..this script is the script of nothing(the non script) and ALL that the non script ( life without a script) is or could be....is this so called script!
The reply or REsponse of the master also implies theres no such a thing as "man" in the first place let alone the so stated "cleaning" of the man...or the "death" of man....and tahts what the comedy or the real joke is about....that life is such a brilliant comedian ...that despite featuring a one as someone who has understood that life is an illusion feeatures the one at the same time as someone who still believes that there is a man who could be cleaned up off this illusion....NOW THIS IS FUNNY!..