The Little Purple Notebook On How To Escape From This Universe
Copyleft � 1998 by Maximilian J. Sandor, Ph.D.
Subscription Information: Maria Loren
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Website:
http://transmillennium.net/pnohteftu/
Structure and Method
If the goal is to wake up from limiting illusions in order to be able to
make self-determined choices about current and future relationships with
and within this Universe, there seems to be no other way than to gain an
understanding of at least some of the basic principles on which this
particular Universe appears to be built.
The amount of phenomena in this Universe, however, is so vast that there is
an 'infinity problem': it cannot be decided whether the number of phenomena
is finite or not.
Where, then, could be a starting point that would avoid getting lost in the
multitude of phenomena?
Gotamo likened this problem to the situation of someone who is suddenly
waking up in the middle of the night and finds himself in a house on fire.
Without doubt, this would not be a good time to start doing or thinking
about things which were not vital in getting out of the house alive.
On the other hand, it is helpful to know the floorplan of the house and to
be aware of the kind of material that is stored in there in order to find
the safest way out.
Should a person in such a situation try to remember how the house was built
in the first place? Or, starting from scratch, investigate it's basic
construction? Should it be attempted to fight the fire immediately or
should personal safety come first and care of the house later? What about
loved ones who may be in a similar situation?
The approach followed in this notebook, is to take a moment to look around
in past and present, assessing the actual damage and the available tools
for recovery. There are no assumptions made which issue is the most
'burning' or which route is the safest way out. However, the emphasis is
put on 'safest' rather than fastest. (The 'fastest way out' is most often
straight through the window. Who knows exactly how tall the building is and
what exactly is waiting down there in the darkness?)
Very often, an initial assessment of a situation already points the way to
a solution but certainty about the correctness of the solution may take a
much longer time. Sometimes, a solution is hiding behind piles of less
relevant data and it may take a considerable clean-up effort to eventually
unveil it.
Is there is a good place to start? Is there a sequence that is more
successful than others? How many solutions are there?
One of the few generalities that appear to be valid is:
'Everything in the Universe is connected to everything'.
If this is true, it does not matter where one starts. In the course of the
investigation, every critical issue will come up, sooner or later. It also
means that there is an unlimited number of ways to get from one point to
any other.
In our example of the 'burning house, one place to start could be to look
where it 'hurts' the most in order to initiate first-aid actions
immediately. However, the goal in the example is to leave the house alive.
The only fix-ups for now would be done in order to enable the person to
walk out of the burning house in one piece.
In a second step, a path of safe recovery could be researched under special
consideration of the invididual abilities of the person.
Everybody is likely to find him/herself waking up in a different house and
with different wounds. It would not help to prescribe tools that are not
suited for the task at hand. This would be like using a saw to slam a nail
into a wall.
The presentation of both tools and assessment utilities in this notebook
occurs in a truly random order. Every presented piece is put in its own
context and as such can be studied independently before connecting it up
with the other pieces.
It is up to the reader to examine the pieces in the sequence of his/her own
personal evaluation of importances.
It is also entirely up to the reader to 'put it all together'.
This is true in any case, no matter how careful and comprehensive and with
whatever other approach this subject would be presented to the reader.
Recognizing the content of a picture in a puzzle is a threshold process and
not a linear, predictable process.
The linear approach, the traditional way of writing a book, imposes the
rating of importances of issues onto the reader. The creator of a
traditional book expects the reader to follow the same exact sequence of
insights as the author, regardless how different the situation of the
reader may be. Such an approach also presumes the 'knowledge' of previous
chapters when presenting the current one. But the 'knowledge' of the reader
and that of the author is always different, no matter how well the book was
written.
Through their linear structure, most 'traditional' books implicitly suggest
that the subject at hand would be presented comprehensively. Because there
are no limits for neither phenomena nor for viewpoints observing the same,
this suggestion can never hold true.
The Little Purple Notebook is therefore explicitly an 'open' book; a book
without a beginning and without an end; a book that is never complete.
Words are mere pointers to a reality behind appearances. In its details
this reality will look different for every observer. The themes are
similar, however, and in order to escape the 'house on fire', they must be
confronted one way or another. Or, to use Hubbard's famous words:
"The only way out is the way through".
Interestingly, Gotamo, nowadays called the 'Buddha', accepted just one
rather abstract label for himself other than his birth name, and even that
one only very reluctantly. This label was: Tathagatho, literally 'someone
who went such a path'.
Words, concepts, ideas, wishes, and individual insights are great. But
going this path also requires action. Without action this book would be
utterly worthless.
In short, the path must be 'gone' and not just talked about.
Here and now.
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Copyleft � 1998 by Maximilian J. Sandor, Ph.D.
