Sunday Stream (70) ~ The Enigma of Mystery

[mtmynd]

The Enigma of Mystery

Defined as - (n):

• #1. One that is not fully understood or that baffles or eludes the understanding; an enigma.
  #2. One whose identity is unknown and who arouses curiosity.
  #3. A mysterious character or quality.
  #4. A work of fiction, a drama, or a film dealing with a puzzling crime.
  #5. The skills, lore, or practices that are peculiar to a particular activity or group and are regarded as the special province of initiates.
  #6. A religious truth that is incomprehensible to reason and knowable only through divine revelation.

The mystery lies not in the observation but in the definition of that which is unexplainable. We all experience certain levels of mystery in our lives, many daily, wondering... how that works? why she said that? where does this piece of the puzzle go? how he made that object light up and move the way it did; when did life begin? who caused that explosion? 'Why, what, where, when who proceeds all mysteries - if we can't see it, express it, repeat it, if we don't know who did or does and we want to know... the mystery remains until we are able to answer our own question(s).

Mysteriously, mystery has been mankind's history for if it weren't for mystery we would have no need to answer... anything! We would know every thing and more.

But we don't. We do not. So solve mysteries we do. Some attempt to solve the mysteries of community living.. socialization. Others attempt to solve the mystery of dis-ease, the mystery of cures, the mystery of seeds and plants, the mystery of light, damn near everything begins with not knowing a damn thing about it.

Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christie, Earl Stanley Gardner... mystery writers worldwide imagine mysteries that could be written... and solved. They sell in the thousands. We love a good mystery! It's our history. And murder mysteries can appeal to a much larger audience than, say, the mystery of mankind's origins. Why? That in itself is rather mysterious... that and God... very mysterious.

We've read and heard Biblical stories of prophets talking to this God... and even doing what He asked - Kill him! Destroy that! Masses of people wiped out! No wonder the Bible is so popular - the murder mysteries run throughout. Everybody can relate to murder. And thankfully few murder themselves... but we may have a passing thought about murdering someone : "I'd like to kill that son-of-a-bitch!" If we all have given thought to murder is it no mystery why we would relate to murder mysteries? We all have a say-so, an opinion on who would do it, why they would do it.

Who-did-it mysteries are only scratching the surface of all the true mysteries that abound. The mystery of mankind..? How long have we (our present incarnation of human) been on Earth? Those that accept the challenge of that mystery are the archaeologists - intent on finding hu'man's origins, sifting through the sands of time, grain by grain, in heat and rain, piecing together answers for the brain...

Not many really care about that mystery. That too, is a mystery. But quite possible not as mysterious a question as why those that seek mankind's earliest origins struggle to defend their position over that of another's position. There are more questions than answers.

Some don't have time for other's mysteries.. they have their own to solve. We're like a community of detectives out to solve all our mysteries. Thank you, Bigger-Than-We-Are, for the mysteries we have been dealt! I don't know what we would be doing if we weren't solving all the mysteries of life? Can you imagine being complete and whole with no thing to do but enjoy life, free of mysteries, free from doubt, free from pesky questions, like mosquitoes, sucking bliss and ecstasy out of our systems?

But herein lies our fascination for Life, why we struggle to survive, why we call upon greater powers to aid us in that struggle - the mystery of what lies beyond mystery itself. At best, in the end, we can only be satisfied that mystery is as infinite as existence and knowing that is as close to solving all that mind will ever know.


Cecil
05 March 2006

_________
Enigma

[Artguy]

How I get up in the morning and drag my sorry ass off to this job thing every day is mystery enough for me.......the enigma of being enigmatic enigmatically...the enigma of the god thing is that there is a mystery as to why we keep creating one and recreating one...did'nt someone say if there was'nt a god we would have to create one..now there is a mystery....something to be said for the Orient Express........Who done it??? they all done it...........great human metaphor there ....we are all responsible for all the mysteries that keep us asking.....but I ramble..........love the painting Cecil....

[stilltrucking]

Trippy picture



Passing thoughts
captured in the bible
true believers living their doom

I am nowhere near as serious you think I am Cecil.

I enjoyed reading this.

I stumbled on a quote from Einsten, "either you live your life as if there are no miracles or live it as if evertyhing is a miracle"

I think it is both, it is what it is
for me now it is beautiful
for some it is not
Every breath i am aware of is a miracle to me
my behavior still invites catasprohe
so easy for geezers to slip away
suffering and desire
I don't ask why anymore


*that is paraphrase from memory, dont take my word for it, I never heard him say it, I just found it on a quote page

[Arcadia]

thanks for the stream, Cecil!
In today´s newspaper there is an article about famous literary detectives.

http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suple ... 03-05.html

But not all the misteries need professional help.
saludos,

Arcadia

[stilltrucking]

Cecil I have lived sixty five years and never killed anyone but I have had more than psssing thoughts. Maybe because my brother is a psychiatrist I don't think I need professional help. Desire and suffering Cecil took me years to understand. Litchicks I wanted to get into that writing work shop so bad, I sent my twenty bucks and got turned down. serves me write for wanting to right. They would send me nasty emails after a while telling me I needed professional help. I would write back asking them not to write me anymore and yes I agree I need professional help with my writing.

Do you remember the big hissy fit Crystal made about Jamelah and how mean she was to mark. SooZen comment on my Litchicks smart ass remark was No Commento which is good

no comment needed on this one cecil

our mysteries are different, we are our buddhas is that how you say it. I am a violent man Cecil. I have come to terms with that, That is what drew me to the quakers.

[stilltrucking]

I guess I would go out with a bang.

You delete any of this stuff, you know I would be grateful.

Trippy such a hippy dippy kind of nebuloous word. Hard to type with any accuracy because my fingers are slow to keep up with the snypapses, no time to gather thought between keystrokes.

but ther is a deifnition of trippy I ran across applied to movies, an non leinear narative movie, not sci fi or horror jpictures but just movies like Fargo
I don't really understand this question. Can you rephrase? I've seen bits of Moulin Rouge and I saw Harold and Maude a long time ago and I can't see that they have anything in common that could be defined as "trippy."

Is the trance-like state induced in the viewer? Are you asking for movies that are not filmed in a traditional manner? Uh, something like Welcome to the Dollhouse?
posted by Jim Jones at 2:08 AM PST on February 20



David Lynch's Eraserhead is going to come up here sooner or later. Good luck finding it.

Oh Stanely Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" I feel as if I've been talking this a lot lately. It has this weird narcotic feel to it, with the lighting overwhelms and the dialog slows it down. It has a weird, warm feel to it.

Apocolypse Now is probably the epitome of trippy movie for me. The whole thing takes on a weird mysterious feeling as they travel up the river, really peaking when they reach the bridge that gets blown up every night and rebuilt every day.
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/15396


as usual I loved the image more than the words, but the words were cool too. But the picture I just fell into, it spoke to me.


Traces did too, artman, Thanks, I wish i could bin there cause I would have bought it, if you dont mind rubber checks



then there is this one from music

Whatever. This is a collection of pretty sophisticated, beat-driven composition, heavy on the electronics. If you dig the Chemical Brothers, the Orb, or even first-generation electronic rock like Tangerine Dream or Material, let me be the first to introduce you to your favorite new band. The Magical Sounds glides from song to song, mood to mood, on a vast cloud bank of samples. One minute you're leaning into a tightly banked turn above Tibet, the next coasting over India. Kinda gives the word "trippy" a rather wholesome new meaning, yeah?

http://www.winexmagazine.com/3point5/swrr35.htm

[mtmynd]

artguy - bound by mystery we mysteriously go about answering each only to find but yet another mystery to snag us. Who knew the wheel of life spins its own web?

Arcadia, mi amiga! Si, Sherlock tambien. Muchos detectivos, muchos misterios... que vida loca!!

Jack - needless to say you are a mystery clothed in enigmas. From head to toe, bound mummy-like, you fight to set yourself free, only to find more of you you don't understand. But your battle is a valiant one and one most cannot appreciate. Mysteriously, there are some that do, for they also are sharing your fate. But fear not the calling truths which can be heard off in the distance... it is the voice of clarity that you've denied for so long. Peace, my friend and always invite humor into your life.. the refreshing breeze of gods sent to cool the heat from the brow of seriousness. (Pretty trippy, eh?)

[stilltrucking]

it is a gay science
there is no east and west
there is tragedy and comedy
there is life and death
light and dark
and a dam good cosmic joke on those few who do appreaciate not being distracted by right and wrong, truth and legend, myth and metaphor

I can hardly remember to breath Cecil. Every breath an orgasm, I am polymorphously perverse. Just call me a pecker head, I am all erogeous zone, just like a new born babe. Touch me any where it feels great, pat me on my back, rub my head for good luck, or kiss my ass, it all feels good

Thanks, you honor me with your words and art.

[Marksman45]

Here's a mystery: how the heck did you do that painting? Or any of them? They are always impeccably executed. I look at my own paintings, and I can see flaws, little patches where my discipline failed and the magic spell crapped out for a few seconds; but here I am looking closely at yours and I can find no such flaws. Sustained throughout, impeccably executed.

How do he do it?

[stilltrucking]

Language gets burned out, I hate the word trippy, so hippy dippy and drug culture sounding but I could not think of a better word to describe it mars. It pulled me into it, as if I fell into the painting. SO many thoughts and meanings, I can hardly stand to look at it to long. I may use it as a meditation mandala. Stare at it until all meaning is gone,

Sorry to butt in mars, you not talking to me I know.

[Marksman45]

Pffft. Butt in all you want. I have a standing policy of welcoming unheralded guests.

I've discovered that this is something of a rare trait. For instance, I love it when I'm at home and a friend stops by unannounced. I effusively bring them in and give them beers and conversation. Other people like their guests to be announced beforehand, but I like unexpected visitors to my ivory tower.

[mtmynd]

Mars..? Really?

Seriously (just for a moment), thanx for droppin' in. I often pop in a picture or photo at the end of a Stream, and seldom does it relate to the Stream, but in this case the name 'Enigma' was a must. So if the content of the Stream bores the hell outta someone then maybe they'd like a picture instead...

Mars, when I do a painting or ink work I try not to let time interfere with the creative process... not easy at times, given the fact that sometimes I just want to move on, but I conclude that there really is no rush to complete it... completion for me is when my self-critque of the piece has pretty well faded away and the name appears - bip! put the canvas away...

Thanks for the nice reply regarding the piece... I do appreciate it mucho.


And thank you, Jack, for your comments about the painting, too. Use it as you may for what other purpose is there for a painting but to enjoy or ...? I feel art is pretty non-utilitarian but useful for higher levels of consciousness.

[mousey1]

An enigma. Sounds like something I would like to be. An enigma with a twist, that would be me...an enigmaramus...why hell I'm half way there.

Good stream mt. Great painting. It would make a nice dress, the painting, not the stream...eye catching for sure. And there's flattery in that remark if you didn't guess.

Is God an enigma? A mysterious mystery never to be solved? Well, the story is being wrote and the ending oughta be a loo loo. Stay tuned folks...but what choice do we have really.

Thanks for the read and the eye popping picture.

[mtmynd]

mousey - good seein' your enigmatic face areound here!

"an enigmaramus"... that's a good 'un, kiddo... me likey. but I know better than that. You cain't fool me... no m'am-a-ree (whoops! should I change that one..? )

Glad you like the painting, really. It's 10 years old now and gettin' close to be able to go out on its own... I wish time would speed up a lilttle faster... this takin' care of these young paintings eats up space!! wow!

[stilltrucking]

I could right a thousand words about that picture and what I saw, just this much I will say now. Communication, That was my first thought at looking at it. This mystery of communication among sentient beings. Then I saw all those other critters, then I saw music and then...


Whatever art is, I suppose it is also a business. It blows my mind to try and figure out how an artist puts a price on his/her art.? Do you go in the studio and punch a clock, do you bill for time and materials.

Is God an enigma? A mysterious mystery never to be solved? Well, the story is being wrote and the ending oughta be a loo loo. Stay tuned folks...but what choice do we have really.

But I think we do have a choice. A Hobson's choice. A buck dancers choice.

I think we ought to have a Department of Scientific Mythology. Answers are on the way. We just don't have the science to provide them yet, a powerful enough computer, a large enough laser, a big enough cyclotron. Any day now science will tell us exactly how many angels can stand on the head of a pin or a bar stool.


Thanks Cecil, all i know is that it helps