[Dialogue] RE: ANONYMOUS--CONTINUED!

[Harry Wainwright]

David,

I am replying to you with this message and copying the Dialogue.  Let’s see
what happens.  Thanks for the alert.

Peace,
Harry

-----Original Message-----
From: David & Lin Zahrt [mailto:ch.bnb at longlines.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 10:18 AM
To: h-wainwright at charter.net
Subject: ANONYMOUS--CONTINUED!

HARRY,

I SENT THIS--AS TEXT--TO ICA DIALOGUE AND IT  DIDN'T MAKE IT. IT CAME OUT
BLANK. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO DIFFERENTLY?

IRON MAN (for Larry Ward -and others)

After yogi exercises, Iron Man sat down on an old backpacker's sleeping mat,
closed his eyes, and focused his mind on his breath. He had managed to get
himself to 'sit' today! It seemed rather amazing in some respects,
considering the amount of resistance he gave himself to the activity.
Iron Man's mind spun like the fruit cylinders in a slot machine down at the
LaundryLand Laundromat in Carson City. The payoff margin seemed to be about
the same; an 80% win rate at most, which in reality meant a steady loss of
20%. It seemed to be just enough to keep one interested in playing, as if
maybe the next spin would really hit big! Whatever part of Iron Man that was
in charge was little better than one of the local gambling zombies at
avoiding the lure of the game.
Iron Man returned his mind to his breathing: Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale,
inhaleŠ"And the front bearings are quite massive. 'Course we'll need a
puller to remove the axleŠand that jerk," Frank saidŠ"Man that chick is
strange, but then all of the people down there are weirdŠ.Wow, the wind sure
is blowing!"
Iron Man caught himself and returned his mind again to his breathing. He
liked the puppy training analogy: the puppy requires patience and commitment
to get it to sit and stay; it must be returned to the spot over and over
again until it catches on to what one wants it to do.
"Oh ooh," began Complainer-Man, "I think I've pinched my sciatic nerve
again. I just know my legs are going to fall asleep."
"Yeah really," added If-Only-Man. "If we were not sitting here we could go
find something to eatŠ"
"Oh-MI-God," continued Complainer-Man, "there is a small spider crawling up
my arm. Ackk"
"A-h-h yes, the arachnid" offered the Philosopher. "Most are quite harmless.
And with the spider it is just between you and him, unlike colonial insects;
large numbers of creatures controlled by forces unknown."
Iron Man listened for a moment and returned to his breath again. He caught
an urge to chastise himself and refrained. There was no point in chastising
himself for slipping off; there were years of training to overcome and self
chastisement was another thing that he had been trained to do. Screaming
abuse at a puppy was not Iron Man's idea of how to train a puppy (You are a
real bad dog!).
Iron Man's nose began to itch. It was the outer edge of the left nostril to
be exact, and the urge to scratch it was building up. Since Iron Man refused
to move, he took the opportunity to examine the rise and fall of the itch,
and the associated urge to scratch. What was this about anyway? How did he
know that this sensation required the associated action? This was the
interesting part of meditation for Iron Man; just watching what was going
on.
'What is going on' seemed to be the whole point of Buddha's message, if one
stripped away the fantastic jungle of mythology that had developed in the
two thousand five hundred years since the alleged life of the Buddha. Iron
Man would certainly not call himself a Buddhist. To do that seemed to be the
antithesis of the idea. Iron Man imagined a man meeting the Buddha and
saying excitedly, "Oh, I am so glad to meet you, I am a Buddhist!" Iron Man
could see the Buddha smiling at the man and asking, "Say what now, you
what?" (So okay, it was not Siddhartha, but a jive talking inner city Buddha
from Chicago. After all they come in all guises) to which the man could only
reply, "I, A-h-h, ErŠ"
Iron Man opened his eyes and gazed at the Jesus candle he had found at the
Ninety-eight-cent-store. It was one of those shrine candles that burned for
a long, long time, and a good deal at $.98. It was also amusing to Iron Man;
a Spanish-looking Jesus with placid eyes and the inscription: "Sagrado
corazon de Jesus Que. dijiste 'pidan y recibiran'Š Jesus was another cat
that Iron Man admired and whose message he felt had been obscured. If Jesus
and Buddha came back they would certainly be appalled by their so-called
followers. But that was not up to Iron Man to decide. He found truth in
Buddha's law of cause and effect, or as Jesus put it, "Ask and you shall
receive." Iron Man believed that people pretty much got what they asked for
one way or another; it was a law as simple as gravity that did not require
any kind of superior being to enforce.

Iron Man could not go for any kind of 'Ism'. Buddhism, Taoism, Zuluism,
Protestantism, CatholicismŠthey all seemed to be lacking. Their validity and
solidity had been dissolved in the Sea-of-Arbitrariness on which he had been
cast adrift as a small child. Waves of conflicting and confusing mythology
had battered his raft until they finally ran through it like pasta water
through a colander, occasionally leaving a tasty noodle caught in the grill.
On the one hand it gave tremendous freedom, but on the other hand it was a
tough life without the cozy 'horsey blinders' of some 'Ism' to block out the
frightening sights in one's peripheral zones, where terrifying monsters
loomed and an infinite number of intriguing trails intersected the path. For
years Iron Man had been lost in the Sea of Arbitrariness, but he felt as if
he were on his way to an 'Ism' of his very own. Strange, but vaguely
familiar, currents seemed to carry him along to some unknown destination.
Iron Man had become convinced that there was a way to move without fighting
the flow of the waters, and it required allowing the 'co-pilot of
sub-intellect' to operate without undue hindrance from above. Iron Man
wiggled a finger. He was very relaxed. He had managed to slightly subdue the
zoo in his mind. The simple act of stilling the body did still the mind.

It was really that simple for Iron Man; he was not concerned with concepts
like reincarnation, enlightenment, or heaven. He was concerned with the
reduction of suffering in this life only. Everything else, as far as he was
concerned, could take care of itself. For the moment Iron Man was closer
than usual to the moment-the Now-where time and mind stood still. With
practice he might actually get to remain there for longer periods with ease.
In any case it was amusing, and Iron Man certainly loved amusement!

Iron Man stretched his legs and let the numbness pass. Complainer-Man was
right about the pinched nerve, and it emphasized the point for Iron Man of
listening to and interpreting all of the voices inside. He made a note to
work with Complainer-Man and find a more comfortable position. And damn,
If-Only-Man was right too; Iron Man needed something to eat!