Judy: > > > > > OK. I think you're suggesting that it's something of an infinite regress, that one can be overshadowed by the desire not to be overshadowed. Akasha: > > > > No, thats not quite the angle that struck me as so funny. The deliciousness of the phrase is more a "mu" experience, a la "whats wrong with this picture."
Judy: > > > What's wrong with the picture of somebody not wanting to be overshadowed? You've got me curious--can you articulate it? Akasha: > > Perhaps. But not nearly as well as "getting the joke", not as well as laughter articulates it. Independent of your use of the phrase, just consider and contemplate for 5-10 minutes the phrase "I just don't want to be overshadowed." Without looking for it, see if within that time period, you have a "background/foreground" optical illusion type moment. Judy: > If that isn't the infinite-regress aspect I suggested, I suspect I'd have to not be overshadowed to get it, at least without more clues. A: Its not an intellectual exercise. No clues are needed. They may actually spoil it. Maybe not. Its like foreground/background paradoxes illustrated by various figures. Look at this linked one. Though the caption "explains it", unnecessarily so IMO, one can understand it intellectually. "Oh, I know, I have seen these, the figure changes when you stare at it. I get it". No, no no. You don't "GET" it until you see the picture change. Look at the linked figure until you see it switch. Its, for me, always a big "holy cow dung!" experience, no matter how often I have done it. http://www.neurosemantics.com/Stuttering/foreground-background.htm J: > When it's in words, "without looking for it" is inoperative for me, like "Don't think of an elephant." A: Yes, I knew I was digging a pit in sand with that one. But the idea is like TM, just approach it innocently. J: >My intellect can *sometimes* translate a linear expression into something mu-like, though, or at least get me close enough to the mu-level that I can make the leap. It happens just often enough that I'm inclined to press for intellectual clues when there's a mu-thing I'm not getting on its own level. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. A: But like the foreground / background thing, its not an intellectual thing. Its not like "seeing" the trick needed to solve a geometry proof or something. J: > "What's wrong with this picture?" is a good clue, but it isn't quite enough. A: It IS a good clue. hahha. And may be more than enough. But I suspect that you are simply taking 5-10 minutes to explain why you its not worth your time to actually do the 5-10 minute exercise that I suggested. (The "I just don't want to be overshadowed" one. Though you should stare at the foreground / background (F/B) one too until you see it switch. (no cheating by saying, "oh i have done that, i already get it." Just DO IT. Now. :) Getting to laughter with the phrase, above, is sort of a foreground /background thing. You say, "I suspect I'd have to not be overshadowed to get it", may be a bit true. But I think thats another dimension of this exercise. In a parallel way to the F/B figure, Pure Consciousness is always in the background, always has been. Its an "ah ha" experience when it magically swithches to the foreground. Just like the F/B figure "experience", its not an intellectual understanding, its a "holy cow dung" experience. Or not. Maybe its just a simply, "mundane" "oh that thing" recognition. I could try to explain the joke. I could articulate it. It would make a fine essay, given it has several levels. But, one, I am quite sure that is not necessary in order to "laugh". And, two, it may fool you into thinking you "get it", when you only intellectually "get it", like understanding the F/B figure has both a girl and an old woman in it, without SEEING it. You might read the explanation and go "Oh, I already know that. I learned that years ago. Is that ALL you were saying? Big deal. Lets move on." But if you "get it" you will do more, you will laugh. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
