They say that when it rains, it pours. Why is that? Why do bad things come in threes? Why do things go from bad to worse? Why does the universe always seem to kick us when we’re down? This time of year, when the days are short and cold, it can be easy to find yourself in a dark place. And that’s when the powers that be decide that it would be a perfectly good time for several of the following to happen all at once: Getting sick. Getting hurt. Getting into a fight. Getting into an accident. Losing your job, your life savings, your dreams, and finally, your mind. Why must everything hit us all at once? Is there any reason for it, and more importantly, is there any way to avoid it?
Nobody deserves to suffer. But perhaps we could all use some challenging times to help us grow so we might reach the next level. Maybe the universe is just breaking us down so we can be mended, nudging us towards a more united world. Perhaps this is all preparing us for whatever is to come in 2012 or beyond—the challenges that we may not be ready for now, but after several more beatings will be tough enough to handle. Let’s face it; we’ve become soft, spoiled, greedy, selfish, and lazy. We are just like the pompous Roman rulers before the fall of their empire or the snooty noble class before the French Revolution. In effect, we have become the bad guys.
When I first saw The Matrix back in 1999, I instantly became fascinated with its “virtual reality world” concept. At the time, and for many years afterwards, I saw the theme as a metaphor for the illusionary material world we live in—a world of time, space, and the assumption that we are all separate individuals. My belief, in line with what I had taken from kabbalah, was that in reality, we were all one united energy force. Call it God, the light, Buddha, Allah, the universe, sentient energy, whatever. The point was that this energy created our illusionary world in order to experience itself. After all, since it was an all-knowing, all-powerful energy, existence was pretty boring. This energy wanted to experience the one thing it couldn’t know: what it was like to not be it. So, it created an imaginary world of time and space and separated itself there into different material elements that eventually evolved into human beings.
What is definitely no joke is what happens to the world in the Layman book during this timeframe. While I began writing the trilogy in 2002 and finished the first draft (of all three) in mid-2005, there is a lot in the story that is eerily prophetic of today’s situation: a collapse of the world economy, the emergence of the green revolution with a focus on reusable energy sources to replace oil, world floods, food epidemics and shortages and more. There are also a bunch of things in the books that are too fantastical to even speculate on. To be honest, when I originally wrote them, they were meant as more mythological metaphors, not really to be taken literally. Now, I’m not so sure. (Actually, around the time of Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean Tsunami is when I became unsure.) Whatever happens though, whether it be tomorrow, in 2012, or if ever, I feel like the messages I received today are letting me know that it’s going to be all right. And I just thought I’d share that with all of you.
Something’s coming. Something big. I think whatever it is, if we…
Hello fellow fans of the mysterious universe!
So much has happened since my last Layman*/Lost** update, I don’t know where to begin. I guess that’s because for the first time since I began these updates back in January 2006, I now actually have a published book I can talk about! In typical Lost fashion however, let’s take a flashback first…
Greetings to you—my loyal Layman/Lost Update readers!
After two years of talking about it, THE MYTH OF LOST is finally here!!! At last, you can read the book that offers a fascinating solution to the mysterious television series and reveals how the show contains startling hidden insights into the mysteries of life!
That’s right, THE MYTH OF LOST: Solving the Mysteries and Understanding the Wisdom is now available at Amazon.com in soft and hardcover versions!
Click here to check it out!
As those of you who had read my last update in March remember, in honor of Desmond’s time traveling abilities, I conversed with both my past and future selves. My future self back then is now my current self. So, let’s see how I did and why I may have fabricated certain answers to my (now) past self.
One of the recurring themes of Lost, involves a character named Desmond who is able to jump his consciousness around to the past and future of his life. Last season, Desmond’s mind traveled back in time with his memories in tact. This enabled him to predict everything that would happen as he remembered it. Last week, the consciousness from Desmond’s past jumped into his present, and had no idea what was going on. If you think this is confusing, I’m only scratching the surface of this episode.
Like the writers of Lost, I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of being able to communicate with the past and future versions of ourselves.
What if you were the only real person in this world and everyone and everything else was just some kind of simulation created to help give you the experience of your life? There has been at least one Twilight Zone based upon this premise, and the movie, The Truman Show, also explored a similar concept. I wrote about this quite a bit in Layman* and contrasted it to The Matrix myth where everyone is sharing the simulation together. In Layman, the protagonist decides that the world isn’t real, but he can’t decide if it’s all just his dream, or the dream of the entire world. I won’t give away the conclusion he comes to, but I will say that I get the feeling that we’re all sharing a collective dream with bits and pieces that are unique to each of our lives.
There’s a great scene in The Matrix that really reminds me of what’s going on in the world right now.
MORPHEUS
This is your last chance. After
this, there is no going back.
You take the blue pill and the
story ends. You wake in your bed
and you believe whatever you want
to believe.
The pills in his open hands are reflected in the glasses.
MORPHEUS
You take the red pill and you stay
in Wonderland and I show you how
deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Neo reaches for a pill but stops as MORPHEUS breaks the silence.
MORPHEUS
Remember, all I am offering you is
the truth. Nothing more.
Neo opens his mouth and swallows the red pill.
MORPHEUS
Follow me.
They say that when it rains, it pours. Why is that? Why do bad things come in threes? Why do things go from bad to worse? Why does the universe always seem to kick us when we’re down? This time of year, when the days are short and cold, it can be easy to find yourself in a dark place. And that’s when the powers that be decide that it would be a perfectly good time for several of the following to happen all at once: Getting sick. Getting hurt. Getting into a fight. Getting into an accident. Losing your job, your life savings, your dreams, and finally, your mind. Why must everything hit us all at once? Is there any reason for it, and more importantly, is there any way to avoid it?
