The OMASTERS - Television Series
The story of how Matt Wells, 48 year-old inspector for “Scotland Fields,” awakens to self-awareness through a process of integrating his anima, represented by four women (black, white, red, yellow) and the aspects of his personality represented by the 22 major arcana of the Tarot deck. On another level, the story of the impregnation of the State of California (and hence the United States) by the dolphin god; the story of the re-establishment of communion with the universe through the agency of the dolphins and the sperm whales, mammals who returned to the sea, that formal context within which life on this planet first seems to have emerged.
Matt’s personal quest is to find and integrate his anima, his shadow, this dream of what he is. He begins as the Fool, 0, Parsifal Pilgrim. He is always confused, because he is asleep. As he is dreaming, the entire series is Matt’s past archetypal “evolutionary” dream woven into the skein of the history of sentience, ie our own deep and primal taproot of memory. However, he is also a “G-Man,” and the series builds around his assignment from the “Grey House” to uncover the dolphin code, the key to communication with sea mammals and supposedly the secret of controlled thermonuclear reaction. The situations and people he meets on episodic missions are the Tarot keys, thus really aspects of his whole self.
One of these characters, Ahab McGaff, is also chasing whales, ostensibly to make money by selling whale flesh as a cheap meat substitute for human consumption, but actually because he too wants to unravel the record of communication with cetaceans for his own purposes. McGaff is Matt’s shadow. In the story he runs a gambling casino in Las Vegas, the Double Cross Saloon. Ahab is a Howard Hughes type, a recluse who hasn’t been outside his casino for 17 years, however possessed of and perhaps by unlimited resources of power and influence in the world of Samsara.
One dynamic principle of the plot line intertwines Ahab and Matt in their criss-cross quest for the dolphin cipher. Ahab appears the Devil, the 15th Tarot key. Therefore, though he and Matt are opposed in one sense, Ahab is not a villain. He is the shadow, his daimon in the sense of Greek tragedy, who has his role to play if only embraced. If he did not serve as a point of reference for Matt’s journey, like a lode stone, the whole trip would be without substance.
Matt’s path takes him into a labyrinth; the story itself is a labyrinth, and labyrinths appear throughout the story, meticulously constructed in various orders of experience and imagination. We have a map to the labyrinth—myth—which enables us to enter it at any space and time that we choose. In Episode 3, the labyrinth is a cave leading into Mt. Lassen, inhabited by a golden bear with a set of quartz crystal teeth; In Episode 4 the labyrinth is a cattle pen (spider web or net for fish, fowl or butterflies); in Episode 5, the labyrinth functions as a screen, allowing clever dolphins to swim into the laboratory if they desire, but keeping our the no-so-smart sharks. The labyrinth is studied as a specific clue to solving the dolphin cipher. Structured as a net, it reflects the method of constructing the story. The Tarot, numbers, colors, the I Ching, are all nets in which we trap chaos. The labyrinth is God’s scripot, the Ark of the Covenant—it is language. So the key to the treasure (the cipher) is the treasure.
Each step into the labyrinth, and the integration of each Tarot key, is determined for each episode by the throwing of dice (there are 21 possible ways of throwing two similar dice). The dice are one of the clues which Matt follows—clues laid for him by the other characters, who, however much they may seem to be opposing him, are actually helping him in his quest.
The four women who represent Matt’s anima are competing for the job of Empress—Tarot key 2, or, in the story line, President of the United States in 1976. They appear in various roles—as Matt’s three secretaries, as computer programmers at the Adamantine Research Co-op, or ARC, the think tank which is studying dolphins, as entertainers and dealers at the Double Cross casino, etc. He is not aware of their role, but they, of course, are aware of his, so they chase him--since Matt is to choose the winner, and will become her consort. These women (in one aspect, they are 13-year-old girls), are all daughters of Mariposa Nicholson, wife of the President of the United States. Mariposa is the present Empress, the 3rd Tarot key, and she, with the help of the High Priestess, is going to restore the matriarchy. The President of the U. S. (Emperor, 4th Tarot key) is Woody Nicholson. He and Mariposa tour the U. S. in a camper, making their summer capital in Lassen National Park, in order to get closer to the people.
Mariposa'a social secretary, Geranium Crane, is the High Priestess (2nd Tarot key) and a central character in the series. She also appears as the head of the all-girl security force at the Double Cross casino, and as Sasquatsch, Bigfoot, the yeti. She is the Cumaean Sibyl, the keeper of the key to the labyrinth, the Queen of the Night,
Sasquatch's opposite number is the Hermit, the 9th Tarot key; the Hermit is an enigmatic figure who is Matt's boss in Scotland Fields and his teacher in the dream story. He lives at the top of Mt. Lassen, where he meditates on Rainier Ale. This character also appears as the Hierophant, the 5th Tarot key: Dr. Lucius Fish, head of ARC, a role which he becomes a manifestation of Poseidon.
The foil to Matt is Mark Kreuz, "tanned son of Woody and Mariposa, a young front man, PR type, office boy, always playing with the girls, who drives a fancy Mark VII Jaguar, with a waterbed, a bar, TV set, etc., in the back seat. Mark is the 7th Tarot key.
The first Tarot key, the Magus, is Matt, who is given his magic tools by Ahab and the yellow girl, Pearl, in the first episode. So, from zero and 1, Matt goes on to construct his personality.
The story unfolds as musical comedy, political cabaret, magic show, soap opera, thriller, situation comedy. It is a totally positive, joyous telling of the myth of America. Technically, it exploits color TV creatively; we use the entire range of electronic tricks, including synthetic color, and we also use old film clips, still pictures, mandalas, sound effects, music, etc. All the information, the myths of the story, the secret information being made public, is presented in a form that can be accepted, enjoyed, and digested by a 10—year—old boy or girl.
Synopsis
Episode 1. Magus
Scene 1 - Office of Scotland Fields in the Grey House, in the capital of the United States, Las Vegas. Morning. Matt, somewhat hung over, in his grey aspect, with grey hair, wearing grey suit, tie, and socks, black shoes, white shirt, enters the office of his boss, Champ Shotten (played by same person who plays Ahab). Shotten gives Matt a top priority file, marked with an inverted pentacle and labeled "Godscript." The Grey House wants information on the research into dolphin speech that's being carried out at the Adamantine Research Co-op in La Perla, California. Matt, as the top inspector, is getting the assignment. However, money is tight, and so in addition to this new assignment, Matt is also expected to perform his regular task of keeping an eye on Mark Kreuz, the son of the President and Presidentess, who is currently acting as an escort for the Yellow Pearl, star of the Peking opera, which is currently (spring of 1975) appearing at the Double Cross casino as part of its tour of the U. S.
When Matt leaves Shotten's office, he goes to his own desk, takes out a bottle of Alka-Selzer, shakes two into a glass, carries the glass to the water cooler, and fills it. While the Alka-Selzers are fizzing, Matt's secretary, a black girl, sashays past him, sees he's hung over, and teases him: "Shake it up, baby." Matt automatically shakes the glass, looks into it, and sees that the Alka-Selzers have changed into a pair of dice, one blank, the other showing one pip. He shakes the glass again, and the dice go back to being Alka-Selzers. He drinks the mixture, sits behind his desk, puts his feet up, and stares into space. (Business-grey Matt starts turning psychedelic colors--shakes his head, goes back to grey, then colors take over.)
Scene 2 -Double Cross Casino . Pearl is onstage, Mark is sitting in the front row, his mouth wide open as Pearl demonstrates a Gung Fu flip which transfers energy from the 3rd to the 2nd chakra. Matt is sitting right behind Mark.
Ahab McGaff has been watching the scene from his office, over closed-circuit TV, while talking business with his henchmen. Ahab wants to catch some dolphins, ostensibly to cash in by selling dolphin flesh as a meat substitute, but actually to crack the dolphin code. Only trouble is, he can't find any dolphins. He figures that the Hermit, who is telepathically in touch with whales and dolphins, can help him; but the hermit, tipped off to Ahab’s plans by Clair Voyant, his toad companion, splits from his lakeside Chicago pad before McGaff’s men get there.
McGaff becomes so interested in Pearl's act that he cuts short his business talk to see her in the flesh. Even though he hasn't been out of his office for 17 years, he has racks full of colorful clothes in his office closet. Ignoring the color, he picks out a black panther suit, which he dons; he leaves the office through a secret panel and goes along a passageway to the prompter's box; when he appears, he so startles Pearl that she flips a little too hard and her jewel goes over Mark's head into Matt's champagne glass. (Business--dotted line on screen; then head-on angle, slow motion--Matt sees jewel coming, sees in it the face of the Hermit, a whirlpool, a labyrinth). He picks the jewel out of his champagne glass; it is a tiny crystal ball, in which he now sees a single die--once again, with a single pip showing. Then the crystal goes cloudy.
Scene 3 - same room, but Matt is alone, passed out. He awakens and starts to leave, but is met by the Panther, McGaff, and his head security guard Sasquatsch. The Panther asks Matt’s help in reaching the Hermit; he knows Matt can find him, because he's the best inspector on the force. Matt is interested in finding Mark and Pearl--they've split and he's lost them. The Panther gets friendlier and friendlier. He unzips his suit and reveals his face for the first time--he's Mick Jagger. He offers Matt a drink--Scotch. When Matt looks at the ice cube, it turns into a crystal, in which he can see Mark getting into a super-convertible, Jaguar Mark VII, with waterbed, TV, etc. Panther offers to give Matt the crystal if he will help find the Hermit. Matt doesn't want to take it, but he figures that he has no choice. Panther says that all he asks is that when Matt finds the Hermit, he give him the crystal. McGaff will be tracking it and will thus know where the Hermit is. He offers to put the deal in black and white. (Business—loses color--screen goes black and white.) Matt is reluctant to take the crystal, but he feels he has no choice. He grabs the crystal and starts to run with it--but Sasquatsch bars the way.
Episode 2. High Priestess
Scene 1 -Swimming pool at the Double Cross. Sasquatsch gets the four girls to throw Matt in. He's still holding on to his crystal ball and cube, so he's defenseless to them. Water ballet, in which Ahab and Sasquatsch watch through one-way mirrors around the inside of the pool, below water level. Sasquatch turns a switch and four dolphins swim into the pool. Mandala shot from above--dolphins and girls swimming around Matt. We see for the first time that the pool is in the shape of a toilet bowl.
Cut to Ahab, who turns a lever like a toilet tank lever, pulling a plug in the bottom of the pool. Girls and Matt go through whirlpool into a tumble-dry machine, and then the girls run outside and take off with Mark, who is waiting in his convertible. Matt is left with Sasquatsch.
Scene 2 -Interrogation room. Lavishly decorated. In the form of harassing Matt, Sasquatsch instructs him. She teaches him about lenses and mirrors, much to his bewilderment. "Up to now you've been a no-account--now, count!" she tells him. Then she hands him the lever which Ahab turned to empty the pool, and tells him to remember how it works; she makes it describe a 90-degree turn, and says "Cross!" Matt, totally confused, asks how he's supposed to follow her instructions. "It's all done with mirrors," she says. She gets him to hold up the crystal ball and cube, and shows him their reflection in a mirror: again a pair of dice, showing craps--a two and a one. "Paradise!" she whispers--and the scene in the mirror changes to show Mark and the girls driving past a sign that says Mt. Lassen--111 miles
Scene 3 - Matt, in his Leery jet, makes a pass over the rim of Mt. Lassen, where he see the Hermit meditating over his case of Rainier Ale, in the middle of a great caravan that is the presidential party. Matt is so eager to see him that he starts to bail out, but he decides instead to land at a nearby airport where he rents a car from Hertz and drives up to the parking lot on top of Mt. Lassen.
Scene 4 -Now that he's actually in the Hermit's presence, Matt is embarrassed about the crystal cube. He shows it to the Hermit and tells him what McGaff had asked him to do. The Hermit tells him not to worry, that the crystal cube has performed its function; then, in Matt's hands, the crystal turns black--a die with one pip on it. The Hermit tells Matt to look in the round crystal, in which he sees Mark and the girls arriving in the parking lot by convertible. "Look out, here comes everybody," he says.
The four girls make spectacular entrances to the picnic, the black girl arriving from the north, riding on an elephant that changes to a snow leopard; the white girl from the south, riding a dolphin that changes to a salmon that changes to a Trout; the red girl from the west riding a llama, festooned with coca leaves, that turns into a jaguar; and the yellow Pearl from the east riding a tiger that turns into a yak. Mark puffs up the trail alone.
Matt asks the Hermit for instructions, and the Hermit says, "Cast!." Matt: "Cast?" Hermit: "Cast a net!" (The red goddess, wearing a gypsy costume, appears clicking castanets.) Matt: Cast a what?" Hermit: "Die!" Matt: "Die?" Mark breaks in and grabs for the crystal ball, crying "No die for him, for he is but one!" Matt pockets the crystal and answers "All is one." The Hermit laughs, puts his arm around Matt, and leads him over to where a platform where the four girls do a song-and dance finale. Also in the audience, next to Matt, is Sasquatsch in her role of Geranium Crane, Mariposa's social secretary.
Episode 3. Empress
Scene 1 - Mariposa, the Empress, is visiting Lassen to purify herself during her period. She is throwing a huge picnic for all the thousands of people who stream up Lassen each Sunday. The tables are covered with red food--gazpacho, tomatoes, corned beef, pastrami, strawberries, radishes, Edam cheeses, cherry soda, etc.
Geranium brings Matt together with Mariposa, and she asks him if he's been taking good care of her little boy. She serves Matt some of her own home-made gazpacho and gives him the recipe while he eats it. Then she drags him around to the back of the camp to show him the compost pile she is building. Taking him by the hand and talking like Vera Vague she leads him down a path and into a field, where they walk through a cloud of butterflies. Matt is naturally uncomfortable about neglecting Mark and his mission to find the dolphin code, but he can't be impolite to a lady. Finally she leads him into a cave from which they are chased moments later by a bear.
Scene 2 - Night. Mariposa and Woody are walking back to camp, while she teaches him about astronomy and does his horoscope for him--"Now let's see, you're Virgo, with moon in Sagittarius and Gemini rising-- you're basically loving and kind, but very shy and hesitant. Yet you have enormous powers that are only waiting to be tapped." Then she tells him the story of Goldilocks and the three bears, as manifested in the stars, the Sun as Goldilocks, Ursa minor as Baby Bear, Ursa Major as Poppa Bear and—where's Momma Bear? Mariposa is crestfallen at her lapse of memory. The Hermit appears and tells Matt to look in his crystal ball. He does and sees Arcturus, the yellow star, alpha star in the constellation called the Herdsman. The Herdsman is Poppa Bear, the Hermit explains, and Ursa Major is Momma Bear. He leads them into the volcano and shows them the constellations through its blowhole, first as they are now and then as appeared 12,000 years ago, when Vega was our pole star. "This is a key to the measure of time," he says, "so mind your p's and q's."
Scene 3 - Back at the camp. A band of gypsies has arrived and set up booths and a stage. They have a dancing bear that looks just like the bear that chased Matt and Mariposa out of the cave. Woody appears and takes Matt into one of the fortune-telling booths.
Episode 4. Emperor
To be developed. Features Woody. Perhaps can start in gypsy tent.
Woody's plan to bring information to the people--hires a Navajo Shaman to do his act, along with a Julia Child cooking program, other how-to-do-its.
Final scene--Ahab appears, asks Hermit how to get in touch with the dolphins. Matt is present. Hermit tells them that most of his dolphin friends are working with the researchers at ARC in La Perla.
Episode 5. At ARC
Can use much material from old episode 1. Introduce character of Dr. Lucius Fish, head of ARC.
Episode 6
Union with the dolphins.
Notes--
Episode 9--Hermit does a patter song, describing how he can dip into the story anywhere and pick up the thread that leads him through the labyrinth. Video—Hermit mandala: Bon Po Mandala and Enneagram.
Episode 10--Ahab's tape - -his own story. Makes first public appearance in 17 years. Pink noise.
Episode 11--Stars Sasquatsch and the all-girl security force at the Double Cross. Hopi snake-antelope ceremony.
Episode 12--Culture Vultures...fall to Death.
Episode 13--Icarus, having fallen to his death in the sea, finds the secret of the Sun.
Episode 15--Ahab's Sealab.
Episode 18--labyrinth flooded.
Episode 19--Sun, cosmic egg, Mut(t)...Richard Mutt. Controlled thermonuclear reaction, key to dolphin code.
Episode ?--Isle Royal, Lake Superior, copper mined 1,000 years ago by Vikings.
The Screenplay
(The psychonaut's chair of the Gravity/Gracewarpship ADAMANTINUS: a low platform, upholstered in sable and covered by the loose skin of a snow leopard, upon which, wearing a red union suit and appearing somewhat uncomfortable in a full lotus position, sits PRIMO the Fool. Directly in front of him is the control panel and the bio-interface computer, a sparkling array of dials, meters, and screens, tastefully hung with ferns and flowering plants and including, in dead center, a red-topped, stubby, phallic, RCA 45 rpm record player. To one side is the Crystal Navigation Table, on whose surface is carved the signs of the Zodiac, and which bears a Tarot deck, a bundle of yarrow stalks and a copy of the I Ching, (Bollingen edition), Laws of Form, "Robert's Rules of Order" in a small red volume, and a copy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Primo's eyes are fixed upon the Tryptoport, a computer-generated display that presently shows a color video transmission. On screen is Ignatz FINE, the Chasidic Mandarin. He is sitting on a comfortable couch in a book-lined room, and as he talks, a young woman, JOYCE JAMES, massages his feet with black mustard seed oil.)
FINE
“My entire lymphatic system is blissed out.”
(He closes his eyes and settles back into the cushions. Primo meanwhile maintains the lotus and watches his breathing. The picture of Fine on the screen dissolves into a representation of the Cretan labyrinth, and we hear Fine's voice reciting phrases in three foreign languages. Then English, dry, pedantic:)
FINE'S VOICE
“There are three invocations—Sanskrit, Latin, and Antic—to the one God, to the one of Existence, to the one of Being, to the Whole. All is One, I am no thing, no thing is zero, zero is whole, like the Galaxy, or whichever way you like.”
(When Fine reappears on the screen, Ms. James has moved up to his calves, working under the loose-fitting silk pajama trousers worn by Fine. Without opening his eyes, he begins to lecture.)
FINE
“The Eisteddfod of '76! A competition in the tradition of the old Welsh bards, called by Woody Nicholson to restore poetry and music to the electoral process!”
(Onscreen we see WOODY, surrounded by well-wishers in a supermarket parking lot, signing autographs out of the back of his Winnebago. He wears a Western shirt and a turquoise-and-silver bracelet on each wrist. Secret servicemen in casual dress hand out nickel Woody buttons. The Presidential seal on the camper bears the black and yellow Hopi skunk emblem instead of the eagle. It's the biggest Winnebago you've ever seen, with a swimming pool on top and a television studio inside.)
FINE'S VOICE
“It was held on the Fourth of July at Chaco Canyon, the native American shamans of the Navajo tribe having offered this sacred site for an exercise of the national psyche. And one of the seven finalists was Ahab McGaff, proprietor of the Double Cross Saloon in 'Vegas, the richest man in the country, who had not been seen in public for 17 years!”
(Cut to Las Vegas at night, the sign of the Double Cross Saloon, a huge neon sign against the desert sky. Inside, focus on the spindle of roulette wheel, its golden tip gleaming in a single spot.)
AHAB'S VOICE
“The point, in the center of the labyrinth. In the stone before the high altar at Chartres Cathedral. Oh, there are so many ways you can have it, you see.”
(Camera pulls back and we see Ahab, dressed entirely in black, seated beside the roulette table. He is surrounded by his all-girl security force, the Kritiquettes.)
AHAB
“All the packages, a little bit of the brogue of the Irish priests from time to time. Or something of the clarity of the Scots intellect...or whatever way you want to have it, like the story of Jonah and the Whale.”
(Scene changes to the stage at Chaco Canyon, a hugh crowd, Ahab as a rock star in gold lame jumpsuit cooing into the microphone like the late Lord Buckley, while the Kritiquettes back him up with scat singing and a variety of dance styles. From time to time in the speech that follows, we see it being received in various surroundings--a neighborhood bar, a family living room, a TV salesroom, a bedroom while a couple makes love, a children's playroom--and, of course, the bridge of the ADAMANTINUS.)
AHAB
“I want to tell you about Jonah, the little cat sittin' down there on the beach, groovin' in the sunshine and partakin' of some of the bounty of the great, glorious Mother Earth, looking up into the fumes of the Spirit. Spirit of the Lawd come across Jonah and laid a rap on the can and said Jonah! He said Ye-e-ess? What is it Lawd? This here Jonah here, jus' sittin' in the sand, jus' pickin’ up on it, anything, yes suh, Lawd and Master.”
(Now Ahab appears in an expensive business suit, white shirt, and conservative tie, like a revivalist preacher. The Kritiquettes wear long blue robes and hum like a Black choir.)
AHAB
“And of course we know the history of Jonah, who, while traveling with some of his brothers over the storm-tossed sea, is looked upon as a marked man, a-bearing the Mark upon him. The ‘0’ mark, the ‘0’ scar, the scar, the circular mark of the Cyclops, the round mark, mark of the King, the Mark of Cain. The mark say, "Do not touch this man! Because he is a man of the Lord, he is a priest even after the order of Melchesadic.”
(Back to IGNATZ FINE, who has removed his silk pajama trousers and wears a yellow G-string as Ms. James massages the inside of his thighs.)
FINE
“You ever think about Jonah and the whale, Primo?”
(The Tryptoport begins emitting whale songs as Primo looks about the control room.)
PRIMO
“I think about how much longer I have to stay in this posture.”
FINE
“Well, let's see. Your routine is regulated by the computer printout. You program the computer through changes in your metabolism brought about by diet, chanting, and meditation. A perfect self-referential system. So apparently when you're ready to do something different, you'll instruct the computer to tell you what it is.
INTERCOM
“This is your Phantom Shrink not speaking. Continue your present activity. Exaggerate your posture. Now make a sound that expresses your feelings.”
(Primo, with some difficulty, pulls himself further into the Lotus. Then he emits a strangled gasp.)
PRIMO
“Urggh!”
INTERCOM
“Louder.”
PRIMO
“URGGH!”
INTERCOM
“Louder!”
PRIMO
“URGGHH!”
(He loses his balance and falls backward off the platform, into a nest of pillows.)
INTERCOM
“Excellent. You have cured yourself of an obsession to sit in an uncomfortable position. Therefore there will be no charge for this session and you get 30 seconds of Bilko as a reward.”
(Ahab appears in the uniform of Sgt. Ernest G. Bilko, haranguing the WAC typing pool, made up of the Kritiquettes.)
AHAB
“--Or perhaps after Cain, whose sacrifice to the Lord was accepted, and Abel his brother, whose name in Hebrew adds up to 44, which means the pool of blood, the pool of blood! The labyrinth, you see, is a whirlpool, and it's created by the tails, the flukes. The twin tails, like Fu-Shi, the Chinese emperor, the legendary creator of civilization.”
(Now Ahab is dressed as an Oriental servant, and talks in a sing-song voice:)
“Oh, Chinese Fu-Shi, create with double tail. Famous whale swim around, create whirl-pool, go two different direction, depend on what side the equator. A golden path, a yellow brick road, ah, follow me to Oz prease.”
(Now he's a professor, shirtsleeves and slacks, perched on a desk in front of green blackboard. Casually dressed students take notes. Some are asleep.)
“Suppose you took it like fantasy. Suppose you really wanted to have a little bit of French pastry medieval art history. Suppose you did it with a little bit of frosting and some of the sparklies that you know, you can really eat. Suppose you accepted it from the standpoint of, ah, let us project with all our intellects and history and science and analysis and understanding about, we know what the cosmos is, right? We've traveled through time.”
(Fade in on a mason setting stone into the floor before he altar in Chartres cathedral.)
“Let's go back down the spiral of the world, let's go back down to that pavement, at Chartres, when the mason is bending below what is to be the high altar, what already is the high altar. You see, he's doing the labyrinth. You know what that labyrinth is, that's the pool down through time. Oh, ah, and up through time. So at that point you can look forwards into the future and backwards into the past.”
(back to the classroom)
“You're in a transformation state. A really interesting thing being studied now is liquid crystals. Seventeen transformations for liquid crystals; there are twelve rotation transformations and five mirror ones, or is it twelve mirrors and five rotations, one or the other. And on the other side you've got crystals, and they're dead and they don't move, and that's like the past in time, and you can analyse it, and you can relate cause and effect. And there the ghost of David Hume is laid. In in the future, it's liquid, it's chaos, it's the waters of the ocean, and nobody knows what's going to happen five minutes from now or one minute from now or five seconds from now.”
PHANTOM SHRINK
“Five seconds from now isn't relevant. There's really only now. What's happening is, you're spending your now thinking about the future..”
AHAB
“Now! The bells may start ringing at any moment ladies and gentlemen. And no man, as the great poets--like Tibet's great poet, mystic, and saint, living and dying, the highest man in the world on the side of Mt. Everest, the name we call Mt. Everest, milarepa, Jetsun Milarepa, as recorded in the medieval Tibetan classic of Jetson Kapung, in Tibet; the life and times of the saint, one of the greatest saints in one of the greatest traditions, that no longer exists now, how do you deal with that one, backward in time? Jetsun says, Listen, no man can tell the hour of his death, ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. And since we can't tell from one moment to the next when our death may come, or how it may come, we might just as well prepare ourselves by accepting it all, whole, swallowing it whole, swallowing it whole. Taking it, sacrificing it into your body. Whatever you eat. You are what you eat; you know what Tiny Tim says, America's answer to Milarepa, one of them, one of the choirs of the angels--you are what you eat. Ah yes. And Abel offered meat, lamb, a piece of lamb, sacrificial lamb. Cain offered grain. Ca-in. Ca-in, corn, seed, grain, vegetable kingdom.”
Kurt von Meier
Walter (Clifford) Barney
1975