Life,Death and the Universe

[StrappingYoungLad]

Power rest on the kind of knowledge that one holds.What is the sense of knowing things that are useless?They will not prepare us for our unavoidable encounter with the unknown.
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We hardly ever realize that we can cut anything out of our lives,anytime,in the blink of an eye.
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Nothing in this world is a gift.Whatever has to be learned must be learned the hard way.
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To be angry at people means that one considers their acts to be important.It is imperative to cease to feel that way.The acts of men cannot be important enough to offset our only viable alternativeur unchangeable encounter with infinity.

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Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy and vain. To be a warrior one needs to be light and fluid.
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A warrior lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what he will think when he has finished acting.
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Only the idea of death makes a warrior sufficiently detached so that he is capable of abandoning himself to anything. He knows his death is stalking him and won't give him time to cling to anything, so he tries, without craving, all of everything.
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The spirit of a warrior is not geared to indulging and complaining, nor is it geared to winning or losing.The spirit of a warrior is geared only to struggle, and every struggle is a warrior's last battle on earth. Thus the outcome matters very little to him. In his last battle on earth a warrior lets his spirit flow free and clear. And as he wages his battle, knowing that his intent is impeccable, a warrior laughs and laughs.
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Death is our eternal companion.Death is the only wise advisor that a warrior has.Whenever he feels that everything is going wrong,and he's about to be annihilated,he can turn to his death and ask if that is so.His death will tell him that he is wrong,that nothing really matters outside it's touch.His death will tell him,"I haven't touched you yet."
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A warrior must learn to make every act count,since he is going to be here in this world for only a short while,in fact,too short for witnessing all the marvels of it.
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Acts have power.Especially when the warrior acting knows that those acts are his last battle.There is a strange consuming happiness in acting with the full knowledge that whatever he is doing may very well be his last act on earth.
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A warrior must focus his attention on the link between himself and his death.Without remorse or sadness or worrying,he must focus his attention on the fact that he does not have time and let his acts flow accordingly.He must let each of his acts be his last battle on earth.Only under those conditions will his acts have their rightful power.Otherwise they will be,for as long as he lives,the acts of a fool.
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A warrior knows that his death is waiting,and the very act he is performing now may well be his last battle on earth.He calls it a battle because IT IS A STRUGGLE.Most people move from act to act without any struggle or thought.A warrior,on the contrary,assesses every act;and since he has an intimate knowledge of his death,he proceeds judiciously,as if every act were his last battle.Only a fool would fail to notice the advantage a warrior has over his fellow men.A warrior gives his last battle IT'S DUE RESPECT.It's only natural that his last battle on earth should be the best of himself.It's pleasurable that way.It dulls the edge of his fright.
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A man,any man,deserves everything that is a man's lot-joy,pain,sadness and struggle.The nature of his acts is unimportant as long as he acts as a warrior.If his spirit is distorted he should simply fix it-purge it,make it perfect-because there is no other task in our entire lives which is more worthwhile.Not to fix the spirit is to seek death,and that is the same as to seek nothing,since death is going to overtake us regardless of anything.To seek the perfection of the warriors spirit is the only task worthy of our temporariness,and our manhood.
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The art of a warrior is to balance the terror of being a man with the wonder of being a man.
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From "The Wheel of Time" by Carlos Castaneda.

CC has been my most profound influence.He has provided me with "a cubic centimeter of a chance"to be free of the numbing effects of socialization,which are so automatic,so taken for granted,that they are hardly noticed,let alone examined.I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to live the strong,good life of a warrior.Thank you,Carlos...

[Spook]

Some things are totally unavoidable in life I suppose. A friend witnessed a death yesterday that he could not change. A semi hit an 81 year old man yesterday on a 275 ramp in Northern KY. The man was knocked out of his shoes and my friend had blood splattered all over his car because he was behind the semi truck. I've seen some gruesome things, but he hasn't until yesterday. I won't go into any details, but my friend was in tears from the moment he ran out of his car to check the body for a pulse. There was no point to check for a pulse but he did anyway. My friend cried yesterday thinking that he should have been faster to the punch to stop this accident from happening. He would have not known this would have ever happened unless he was omniscient.

My friend lost his innocence of life and death and I do feel terrible for him, but nothing could have changed at all that could be within his power. I thought about telling him that I have seen things that would pale in comparison to what he witnessed, but it would not have mattered at that point. He was a basket case. All I knew to tell him was that there was absolutely nothing he could have done to change the situation and to not plague himself with what is impossible in hindsight to change. I talked to him some, but today he is still rattled some, but better than yesterday.

Sometimes I see life as things happening that cannot be avoided or changed no matter what, and there must be a way to accept that inspite of terrible pain. Sometimes, I myself am totally lost in situations and have on idea what to do.

[StrappingYoungLad]

Originally Posted by Spook

Sometimes, I myself am totally lost in situations and have on idea what to do.

When things are uncertain,a warrior thinks about his death.That is the only thing that will allow enough detachment to see with clarity.If you don't know what you are doing ask yourself,"If I knew FOR SURE that I was gonna die,what would I do?"Because none of us have time.

[Mr.X]

This post makes me "think"

X