Monstaville Book II. Chapter 9

9

“When I can’t deal with someone, I just look the other way.”

- Iggy Pop (on why he titled a song ‘Look Away,’ the last song on ‘Naughty Little Doggie;’ Gimme Danger: The Story of Iggy Pop by Joe Ambrose, Omnibus Press, London, U.K., 2002, p.264).

“The light is a mighty and invincible power that is far greater than any force human beings ever created. Therefore, no matter what danger you find yourself in, that power can liberate you from it.” - Archangel Michael (in a book on angels).

Buddha, of course, shone spiritual light at the person who was having a go at him. It is powerfully negating and transforming, making up for and also overwhelming the other person’s dark energy so it becomes exhausted and all that remains is the light. Consequently, the other person enters the light or leaves.

“Where there are people there are flies, and also there are Buddhas.” - Issa.

20 September 2003.

Have this gentle, peaceful feeling from tai chi today (during and after) and the same last night during the class. Since I learned a few refinements to my form, I have practised more slowly, especially today. The effect is this sweetness. And, today, I figured, the essence of the assault and intimidation from Pigsy Monster is that I am a nervous person and should not expect myself to be able to defend myself physically. I shouldn’t even consider it. The essence is that I am a nervous, shy dreamer with a reflective disposition. My wandering attention has a tendency to focus inwardly rather than outside of myself (which is a struggle until I have practised tai chi) living with a violent, alcoholic nutter upstairs. I am becoming a light and darkness finds a way to test and pressure me through such volatile, ignorant brutes. That’s how you become brighter, by illuminating the darkness. Where you resist darkness is the area in which your light is weak and needs to grow in strength. It can only achieve that in the dark soil where it can put down fresh roots and rise above the ground. It has to push down before it can ascend.

Caine (David Carradine): Master, I am troubled. We learn to make powerful the force of our bodies, yet we are taught to reverence all against who we may use such force.

Master Kan (Philip Ahn): When your life is threatened, or the innocent life of another, you will be prepared to defend them.

Caine: Being best prepared, better than others, should I not always stand and fight?

Master Kan: Ignore the insulting tongue; duck the provoking blow; run from the assault of the strong.

Caine: Are these not the actions of a coward?

Master Kan: The wild boar runs from the tiger, knowing that each being well armed by nature with deadly strength may kill the other. Running, he saves his own life and that of the tiger. This is not cowardice, it is the love of life.

                - Kung Fu (Season 1, Episode 11, ‘The Praying Mantis Kills,’ 1973).

The dastardly crime is that Pigsy, knowing that I practice tai chi to relax my nervous system because I am a nervous person, is deliberately bullying someone he is sure cannot fight back, which was always the case. I could write and tell his mother all about it! [A package arrived for him one day and his mother’s return address was included on the back]. So, he is no big shot. In fact, he’s just a creepy coward.

Bullies have to have some power to use that gives them an advantage. They rely on alcohol, brute force, ignorance, extreme violence and threats thereto. Yet, ‘we’ can use the power of will, mind and spirit to defeat them. We can increase our awareness in order to stay safe. Avoid dangerous places, look alert and confident, be observant and have your wits about you.

“The crafty rabbit has three different entrances to its lair.” Also translated, “The cunning rabbit has three bolt-holes.” - Feng Xuan, Warring States Period (The Little Book of Chinese Proverbs. Compiled by Jonathan Clements, p.125).

1. Find out if there is anything you can do (internally and/or externally) to minimise your own suffering; i.e. the three rabbit holes stratagem. One Daoist practise is as follows: don’t be there! When the attack arrives, I’m not there because I have anticipated it and got out of the way quickly. I have moved into a different space. We can accomplish this mentally, not just physically.

2. If someone is not respecting you or your space, why should you respect theirs? You don’t need to do anything except stop being so responsible and considerate towards them. For example, I always took my shoes off when I got home because the floor is wooden and noisy. At the moment I can’t be bothered. I prefer to wait a while before taking them off and I may have to go to the fridge or kitchen a few times and cause an annoyance to them. Tough! (Although, if you have thin walls and two neighbours, above and next door, one of whom you do not wish to upset, you need to tread carefully!).

“Here I go with the timid little woodland creature bit again. It's shameful, but...ehhh, it's a living.” - Bugs Bunny.

 

Retrospective inserts.

I have learned to ignore someone’s deliberate attempts to disturb me using aggravating noises. I don’t allow myself to react in thought because they may sense the effect psychically and think they’re on to something. I remain invisible to them. They are unable to sense where I am or where my head is at. I don’t give them a chance to sense weaknesses whether real or imagined. If they make such noises I become quieter both physically and even in thought. If they persist and I find myself giving them any attention whatsoever then I usually go and do something in another part of the flat, or go out into the garden to practice tai chi. The same applies to negative words intended to press my buttons and play on any insecurities. I respond in the opposite way to which they want. It is using a naturally rebellious instinct.

Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins): “”Why is the rabbit unafraid?”

Styles (L.Q. Jones): “Because he’s smarter than the panther.”

                - The Edge (directed by Lee Tamahori, 1997. This is a great film about courage, survival and personal transformation, about facing our fears (the bear that must be slain) and about having the wisdom and fortitude to show compassion for those who seek to harm you).

Monday, February 26, 2007. Why the Smoking Rabbit...

“For any of you who have seen The Edge with Anthony Hopkins and remember the scene with the oar, you already know. For those who haven't or don't remember, the oar had the Cree Indian symbolism of the predatory panther on one side and on the other of a pipe-smoking rabbit. And why is the rabbit smoking a pipe? He is unafraid because he knows he is smarter than the panther.

                During the course of the movie, we see how the rabbit (Anthony Hopkins) is smarter. He reads and is curious about what he sees...Nothing needs to relate to anything at the moment - that will come together as time rolls along. He reads what he needs to know to prepare himself for any possible changes that may be coming about. He reads to know what he needs to do to provide food, shelter, clothing, trust, integrity, leadership, compassion for all those around not just himself... and to be humble about it all. He seeks to bring out the best of everyone - even when one of them threatens his own life...

Here, we aim to make ourselves like the smoking rabbit...” (www.smokingrabbit.blogspot.com/2007/02/why-smoking-rabbit.html).

The Teachings of Chuang Tzu. Attaining Unlimited Life by Taoist Master Hua-Ching Ni (The Shrine of the Eternal Breath of Tao, CA., U.S., 1989).

p.111. When Confucius went to Shang and Chou, people made trouble for him. And now, at Ch’en and Ts’ai people have surrounded him: ‘Anyone who kills him will be pardoned; anyone who takes him prisoner will not be interfered with. Yet he keeps on playing and singing.’

                (Confucius went without properly cooked food for a week and his face grew thin from fatigue).

                Tzu-Lu told Confucius, ‘I guess you could say that we are all blocked now because the local people have barricaded us in here.’

                Confucius said, ‘What are you saying! When a person breaks through to Tao, it is called ‘breaking through.’ When he is blocked from Tao, it is called ‘being blocked.’

                ‘I choose the ways of benevolence and righteousness; unfortunately, we are in the midst of trouble because of the disorder and confusion in the world. But we do not need to find ourselves ‘blocked’ because of that.

                By cultivation of the inner being, Tao is attained; with Tao, when danger comes there is no loss of virtue. It is the coldness of the frost and the snow of winter which reveal the luxuriance of the pine and fir trees. I regard it as a blessing to be in this situation.’ Then he went back to his playing and singing.

                The ancients who attained Tao were equally happy in times of success and failure, because their happiness had nothing to do with good or bad fortune.

Thus, it should be the same with me. Pigsy and my job are temporary obstructions to my relationship with the world, to my external freedom. But that should not hamper my inner freedom or block my relationship to my own Self, to the Tao. Externally, I am enduring these forms of incarceration both at home and out in the world. But, internally, I should continue through this winter to express my joy and enjoy my creativity. I should continue to do the things that inspire me, including writing my book. The bitter cold snow of harsh external influences brings out the beauty of the pines of my unchanging spirit, my eternal Self. It demonstrates that my spirit survives the cold winter without it being affected by external forces. The pines and firs of my Being show no signs of withering or faltering under the snow of external strife. They are strong and enduring. My spirit is indestructible and, by ignoring the external assaults and enjoying my inner strife, no harm comes to me. I simply struggle a bit externally and compensate by expressing my creative nature and applying my attention to the joy of my spirit. I shelter myself from those who wish me harm and by not paying them heed, not fearing, resenting or reacting to them, they never reach me. I remain where I am, simply celebrating the spirit within me. 

The truth is that those people - Pigsy, the other neighbours and people at work - all rely on weakening my spirit. They wish to crush and destroy me but cannot achieve that unless they can break me down. Actually, what happens is that they apply some pressure with negativity and observe my response. If they get a reaction - even in thought, even if they can get my attention - then they can take things a step further. They cannot afford to act too forcefully all at once without provocation, for then they will look bad and it will be known that they are destructive. They rely on me reacting so that they can point the finger at me and declare that I am the demonic one! They try to push my buttons. If they can drive me mad, they might get me to act stupidly and aggressively, and then they can pounce on me and feel self-righteous about it, justified in attacking me to protect themselves.

“Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.” - Michael Pritchard.

They only need a slight reaction to feel threatened and justified in attacking me. And, as Pigsy has shown, they can simply make it up! If button-pressing doesn’t work, they can accuse me of something - anything - and see if I will react to that threat, that threat of violence in retaliation for something I’m accused of which they’ve simply made up! They can’t bear to have me around as I remind them of the Light and of their own spiritual immaturity. Rather than celebrate the spirit they sense in me and take an interest in their own spiritual development, they fear it because they fear the struggle of their own growth through discipline and suffering to self-mastery. When you do not react to their fear and petty provocations, you demonstrate the power and beauty of love, of the gentle, impersonal warmth of the spirit, which is one’s perfect Nature.

“And on my cigarettes there would be a picture of a spider. And I always used to identify with a spider...You know, you know real when you see real. That’s the part of me that they hate. Because they don’t like me when they see the real, because they don’t like the real to be seen. Because most people like to hide the real, because the real is always what gets hurt. The real is what we don’t understand. The real is, you know, the real is what we push under the baby. You know, we put it over by the baby and leave it, you know. The real is difficult. The real is, it says this: ‘Surrender! Give it up! Every bit of it! I want it all!’” - Charles Manson (Dr. Michal Ben Horin interview, 1992).

The only way to deal with such people is to be quiet, patient and gentle externally and to shine the light of the spirit to them from within. That way, their temporal negative energy exhausts itself and peters out. If you don’t feed it, it never gathers into a truly destructive force. It’s just weak and harmless. Accept and ignore the weak and harmless levels of negative energy so you can ensure that the strong and powerful creative spirit within you remains a force to be reckoned with. If you react, and feed the negativity in others, your own strength of spiritual light is diminished and their negative power increases because you have fed it.

F.E.A.R.

I agree with Tarrie B (of My Ruin) that love and fear are a strong polarity.

“We’re either coming from love or were coming from fear. My observation is that most people, most of the time, and myself more than I would like to acknowledge, are coming from fear.” – Neale Donald Walsch (discussing ‘The Emotion of Fear,’ from a YouTube video posted by themanifestation, 28 August 2007).

“Every time I think that my joy is obtainable, or that I’m sourced with my joy, that my joy comes from some place outside of myself, I get into fear.” – Neale Donald Walsch (discussing ‘The Emotion of Fear,’ from a YouTube video posted by themanifestation, 28 August 2007).

“Someone once said to me that there’s a great acronym for fear: ‘Feeling Excited And Ready.’ I love that. I had a great teacher say to me one time years ago, ‘Call your fears ‘adventure.’ What a great thought…whatever you’re afraid of right now, realise a couple of things: 1. It’s not real. You’re making it all up. 2. If the thing you’re afraid would happen actually did happen you and I would still be here tomorrow. It really would make no difference at all. 3. If you can call your fear’s adventure, you’ll bring in an energy that will heal the fear – the energy of excitement, the energy of being inspired by life itself. Because life, you see, is a process that informs life about life through the process of life itself. If you live. Your life filled with inspiration and excitement, soon there’s nothing to be afraid of and it becomes the great joy it was always intended to be. That’s how I see it. That’s what my conversations with God told me about fear. I could be wrong of course about all of this…but I don’t think so.” – Neale Donald Walsch (discussing ‘The Emotion of Fear,’ from a YouTube video posted by themanifestation, 28 August 2007).

“So, fear of the unknown is impossible. And, really what fear is, is fear is letting go of the known, letting go of your comfort zone [the repeated thoughts]. Because, the truth of the matter is, repeatlessness every moment is fresh and new. Now, the acronym I use for fear - it used to be False Evidence Appearing Real, that’s what people use. That’s not true. It’s Fantasised Events Appearing Real.” - Joe Marshalla PhD (‘The Mechanics of Mind Control,’ a lecture recorded live at Brave New Books, Austin Texas, 9 October 2008. Source: Google Video).

“Drop the fear. The fear was taken up by you in your childhood, unconsciously. Now consciously drop it and be mature. Then the life can be a light which goes on deepening as you go on growing.” – Osho.

"If you can't make it better, you can laugh at it." - Erma Bombeck.

Monstaville Book II. Chapter 8

8

“Still, it is hard for a pure and thoughtful man to live in a state of rapture at the spectacle afforded to him by his fellow-creatures; above all it is hard, when such a man is placed as Marcus Aurelius was placed, and has had the meanness and perversity of his fellow-creatures thrust, in no common measure, upon his notice - has had time after time, to experience how ‘within ten days thou wilt seem like a god to those whom thou art now a beast and an ape.’”

(Matthew Arnold’s essay on Marcus Aurelius, 1865, from Marcus Aurelius: Meditations, Wordsworths Editions Limited, Herts, U.K., 1997).

(My favourite quotation RE: dealing with ignorant ruffians like Pigsy).

Pigsy can be compared to a volatile child running wild, a social leper (you have to keep away from) and a psycho-monster! There is little good there (this isn’t ‘Mr. Benn brings out the saint in hard man Smasher’!). That’s why he’s close to his mother: she reminds him of being loved for who is, his faults overlooked perhaps, as it was in the beginning, in childhood. So he can deny his faults. She loves him as she did when he was a child, so it frees him of his alcoholism and the monster he has become. He probably separates the two for his own convenience, shows only a good side, albeit a lie, to his mother and uses that persona in his job and when he needs people to trust him. It helps him to get by. Perhaps he just always ends up on his own and needs her because she is always there for him.

He is trying to engage, to interact with me, to get my attention because he wants to compete and demonstrate his power, like a child. An adult would pay little attention to a child doing this because the child is small and can do no real damage. You can observe and guide it, tell it off, tell it to stop, remove its toys. If it had a gun though it would be a different story. It is hard to reason with a child but it is not as conscious as you so you can display power and it may back down, concede without knowing why, just that the natural order of things is for adults to have more power and authority. The child doesn’t want to get into trouble. It won’t use the gun. Yet, it enjoys the power, if you believe it has power. But, also, it could get carried away, intoxicated by glory and power and lose self-control. And, BANG! It would regret the action but it would be too late. Pigsy is like a child with a dangerous adult body as a weapon and also alcohol and knives, bottles, etc. He can also cause physical damage and he is like a child with a gun. If you don’t call his bluff, catch him out, he will use the threat to control you and run riot as his childish, undisciplined nature wants. He lacks discipline like a child and is disciplined only when he feels fear and when boundaries are clearly presented to him. Then he’s just a baby.

So, what of a spiritual child? Is that a threat to a spiritual adult? A monster and an angel together. The monster attacks and the angel does nothing. The monster destroys all that is material and physical. The angel doesn’t care. Alas, I am no angel! No saint even. I need to hang on to my physical life and possessions, to protect my work, etc. I am in a physical body and therefore vulnerable, and my mind is vulnerable too through my body and senses, but not psychically. That is where my strength lies. Pigsy makes noises to remind me he’s there and is a threat and that I should fear him (so he can impress his girlfriend by showing what power he has).

"I heard an Angel singing
when the day was springing,
‘Mercy, Pity, Peace
Is the world's release.’
- William Blake.

19 September 2003. 00.54 a.m.

After Pigsy coughing loudly when he arrived home with his girlfriend (imitating my cough as he does regularly!) and the girls next door laughing loudly so late, I concluded: I will HAVE to move. I will have to discard my possessions, live without a garden, leave London perhaps and stop writing my books (no space) etc.

The fact that Pigsy hasn’t moved out shows that he is a bully. He’s looking for a reason to lose his temper because he enjoys the release of his pent up anger, his inner fury. It gives him and his girlfriend a thrill. So he winds me up to try and get a reaction so I am humiliated. But I don’t play ball. I’m no fun!

‘Oh, I have an alcohol problem,’ etc. Domestic violence: men want to take their crap out on someone else, someone who is unable to defend themselves. Then they go all innocent and soft to persuade the other person of their genuine remorse and innocence, etc. they then forget it all. It goes out the window. The monster tries to justify his behaviour by ignoring his own failings and expanding on yours, twisting them in any way possible to make you look bad - just full of bullshit, lies. [1]

“Any excuse will serve a tyrant.” - Aesop.

Pigsy felt inferior, an outsider, with me there all healthy and sane and stuff. He took offence at my comparatively puritanical judgements, my reaction to people winding me up, etc. his intimidation is designed to break up the established, harmonious energy of me and my flat, to make me more nervous and unstable, to crack. He is trying instinctively to make cracks in the energy I have downstairs. That’s why he may give up. He cannot be happy there because I remind him he’s an unhappy, sad old fuck-up. He can’t take it. Hence, he could only have a chat once he got on a sober wavelength and could feel some sense of dignity albeit based on lies. So, if the stronger pink energy remains, it will piss him off (psychically). Especially if he stays at his flat regularly. He’s going to feel it. So will his girlfriend.

You need to be a Superman, as in Nietzsche’s philosophy. You need to be greater than all of these problems in life, be bigger and more powerful than them. And view Pigsy as an ant or wasp or something. Just an insect that stings a little. No true damage. No serious harm.  You have to be a god, effortlessly dealing with everything in your life, not worrying, not being afraid, working internally to increase your consciousness, your energy, mind and expression. Be a light which people respect and recognise. They can see that you are not affected by much in this world because you are more than a human-animal.

“Troubles, like babies, grow larger by nursing.“ - Lady Holland.

This thing with Pig monster and the nasties next door is an energy thing: it is about keeping the energy here stable and harmonious so nothing kicks off. They need volatile energy to work with destructively. You have to compensate for his negative energy - manage your mutual space. Reign. You may even be safer here like this because you can control the energy. You know where he is, where he’s going to try things. So, it’s just here and you can create the energy here as you live here. If it was in a bar or at work or something, you couldn’t control the atmosphere or create the energy there totally.

Pigsy wants to feel big, to prove he’s a big man by making you feel small. He feels like a big shot and can impress his girlfriend by intimidating, poking fun at you, winding you up. If he can get your attention, then he can engage with you, pull you into his sick games, create a psychic tie, a union in which he can pour his negative emotions and lose his temper. He needs your input as one person’s psychic energy. And intent is not sufficient to create a light in which the conscious mind is pretty much overridden and all the anger and bad stuff in the deep unconscious is released.

“Drag your thoughts away from your troubles...by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it." – Mark Twain.

His power stands in relation to your fear. If you have power and not fear, he may then feel fear. That’s why he has to play psychological games. Perhaps he’s doing it because he enjoys the power of being possessed but needs negative input from you to make it hard for him to draw on deeper, darker reserves of power within and beyond him (negative forces). He has no power here so he’s using whatever means he knows to try to take power from me and establish and claim his territory in the whole house. That’s what he’s doing - like a dog. Perhaps he feels humiliated and powerless if he is not in control, if he is not feared. Unless he feels he has power over me he feels that he is not the powerful man he wants to be and whom his girlfriend can admire. So he avoids coming here. Or, perhaps it’s just the fact that I do not react and don’t play his dirty games.

Caine (David Carradine): You wish me to go?

(Someone frightened of the fact that Caine stands up for himself instead of just accepting what the bullies do): I wish you never had come.

Caine: A man cannot live his whole life in fear.

(Same man): What have you to fear? You're a Shaolin priest. If I had your strength...

Caine: You have. Only look for it.

                - Kung Fu (Season 1, Episode 3, ‘Blood Brother,’ 1973, quote taken from www.kungfu-guide.com).

Retrospective inserts.

ALight Packets which contain advanced information which is sometimes difficult to decipher are being downloaded to those who have begun the process of unifying the Sacred Mind and the Sacred Heart. In time, this will become a normal process; however, for the time being, you must allow yourselves time to turn inward and contemplate what is being given to you so that you can transform the knowledge into wisdom and integrate that which rings true to you. You must then put your newly‑found wisdom into action which will gradually enhance your Light quotient and will add a new vibrational pattern to your Soul Song. Ask yourself this question before your sleep time: What have I contributed this day to the human/earthly storehouse of wisdom and loving energy? Living in a state of harmlessness in the NOW moment is your goal. Remember, with greater gifts comes greater responsibility.

As you become more proficient as cocreators on the earthly plane, you must constantly monitor your energy patterns and seek to upgrade them. You must strive for sustained harmony and refined godly expression. You must liberate the power of the Sacred Fire within which has lain dormant for many thousands of years. You must learn to direct and focus your energy into the areas of your life you wish to change. By establishing and constantly upgrading your Creator Wheel of Life, you are planting the seeds of focussed change and you are supplying the Sacred Fire of Creation needed to manifest what you have envisioned. When you can do this proficiently, your personal world will become a wonderland, and you will become a beacon of Light for all to see.@

- Archangel Michael (channelled through Ronna Herman, >Passport to Ascension,= Archangel Michael’s May Message, 28 April 2009, www.ronnastar.com & ronnastar@earthlink.net).

‘Reactivity indicates the need for self-forgiveness’ by Jeshua (channelled through Jayem, The Way of Mastery, ‘The Power of Forgiveness,’ Lesson 3, Heartfelt Publishing, VA., U.S., 1997, p.35, www.wayofmastery.com).

“Rest assured, you will continue to project upon others what remains unhealed and unforgiven within yourself. Each time you react to another, you are being given a sign that there is some kind of energy that has been presented to your awareness that you have not forgiven within yourself. If someone is critical and you react every time they are critical, rest assured, you have not healed that part of your own being - that part of your own experience of being critical of others.

Whether it is occurring now, or whether it seems to be a pattern that you have interrupted and no longer do, you have still not forgiven yourself for having identified with that energy.

Use your ordinary experience in each day to observe what pushes your buttons. We will give you a very simple technique for doing so. If you will stay with it, it will reveal to you the energies that are in need of your forgiveness.

The technique is quite simple. As you go through your day, observe when you feel as  though you are in contraction. Are the muscles of the body tight? Is the breath very shallow? Does your voice become faster or louder when you speak about some energy in someone else. That is a sign that you need to do healing within yourself. When you recognise that these kinds of signs are going on - in other words, life has presented you with an opportunity to be disturbed - that is a sign that there is something that requires healing. Therefore, count it a blessing if you feel disturbed.”

“When a thing is funny search it for a hidden truth.” – George Bernard Shaw.

Footnote

1. Eckhart Tolle suggests that the ‘pain body’ is responsible for alcoholism and violence in men and that it is this which commits the violence. I’m not sure if he means density in the emotional body which is blocked by negative emotions associated with painful experiences and which need to be released.

Monstaville Book II. Chapter 7

7

“Humans fear what they don’t understand and they hate what they fear.”

(Wes Craven’s documentary, Vampire in Brooklyn, 1995).

 

People may wonder if I would avenge myself. The answer is ‘no, never.  I leave that to God.’ In other words, ‘justice’ is a karmic process and a human being can never take responsibility for another’s lessons. They will come in good time, even if the person must wait several lifetimes to grow in sufficient strength to take on the heavier stuff.

Bullying:

Low self-esteem results in a fight and competition to prove that you are better than others.

‘I’m going to take my anger out on you’ (because I can, because you’re a victim and won’t do anything about it).

‘You kiss your mother with that mouth?’ (The ideal thing to say to Mr. Pigsy-Misses-Mummy – if ever you fancy getting beaten up!).

“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.” - Thich Nhat Hanh.

Michael Carlin (Al Pacino): “Never hate your enemy; it affects your judgement.”

                - The Godfather: Part III (directed by Francis Ford Coppola, 1990).

The tiger gets very possessive and aggressive over its catch - its food. It growls to warn you off by instinct, regardless of whether you’re a threat or not.

Animals: the male may not desire females in the absence of competition. Too complacent. But when competition exists, the male attacks and sends it off, then mates with the female. Psycho Pig!

‘Love Your Enemies’ by William S. Burroughs.

Love your enemies.

It isn’t easy to love an enemy. This goes against your most basic survival instinct, but it can be done and turned to an advantage.

Let the love squirt out of you like a fire hose of molasses. Give him the kiss of life. Stick your tongue down his throat and taste what he has been eating and bless his digestion. Ooze down into his intestines and help him along with his food.

Let him know you revere his rectum as part of an ineffable hose. Make him understand that you stand and lick it off his genitals as part of the Master Plan.

Life in all its rich variety, do not falter. Let your love enter into him and penetrate him with a divine lubricant. Makes KY and Lanolin feel like sandpaper. It’s the most muscologinous, the slimiest, ooziest lubricant that ever was or shall be.

Amen.

The Little Book of Confidence by Susan Jeffers (Rider, London, U.K., 1999).

p.139. Remember the bright side. Train yourself to stop complaining and look for the blessings and beauty that surrounds you every moment of every day, despite what is happening in any particular situation in your life.

p.140. Affirm the abundance. Whenever you feel scarcity and fear - about money, resources, beauty, love or anything else - repeat this affirmation: ‘My life is rich and full. I am focussing on all the beauty within and around me.’

‘Thirty spokes hath the wheel’ but the hub is all-important [Daodejing]. If you project your will (in tune with your Higher Self) all else will fall into place. If you focus on the different areas of life, you will get lost in them. Drive your car at the wheel and sail your ship at the helm, otherwise the ride will be very rocky and dangerous. Be centred.

Everything is clear and simple. Stay centred in positive statements about each area of your life.

[First on the list] Pigsy: No problem - he is moving out. I’m dealing with him.

Pisgy: You’re a bully. You pick on someone you know can’t fight back and pretend they are aggressive. You make up stories to give yourself an excuse to bully them and justify yourself. You want to feel big and strong because you have an inferiority complex and you do it through perpetual lies and physical intimidation. Drinking helps relax you and make you feel good and that everything is alright, that you’re powerful so you never work on yourself to make any changes and grow. The toxins in your body from the alcohol add further tension and frustration, increasing your paranoia and making you feel angry. You have a lot of anger inside and alcohol releases it. You take it out on others and want to see them behaving angrily and aggressively to justify your fears and insecurities. So you can pretend they are the aggressors - or, ‘it takes two to tango’ - and your own violent behaviour is a justified response to attack. And, if they don’t react and get angry and aggressive with you, you make it all up anyway. It’s in your head and you then try to make them believe it.

Every time Pigsy comes here, it ruins the day, puts me on edge and disturbs my peace of mind. It’s unsettling and unhealthy.

Bullying vulnerable people who can’t fight back.

Stare people down. Show them you’re not scared. (Advice for stand-up comics, because if you are nervous and they overpower you the effect is lost).

"It is all over school that a seventy-six-years-old woman [Adrian’s grandma, after learning that he is being tormented by local bully Barry Kent] frightened Barry Kent and his dad into giving back my menaces money [she assures Adrian that Barry won't be bothering him again]." – Sue Townsend (The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, Methuen, London, U.K., 1984).

Retrospective inserts.

Derailed (directed by Mackle Håfström, 2005).

Charles Schine (Clive Owen) is set up by a vicious murderer from France and his girlfriend who extort $20,000 from him followed by $100,000 which is all the money he and his wife had saved up to aid their daughter’s illness. When Schine realises that Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston) is not who she claims to be, he goes after them when they pull the same trick on another hapless victim in the same hotel. LaRoche (Vincent Cassel) survives the bullet he took but his girlfriend dies from hers. Schine is then charged with embezzlement for ‘borrowing’ $10,000 of his company funds in order to pay someone to scare LaRoche (whom the latter subsequently shoots). As a former teacher, Schine’s community service is spent in a prison classroom and reads about the whole ordeal in an exercise book that has been handed in. The story ends with a statement that he is going to the laundry room...where he finds LaRoche who tells him he is going to fuck his life up completely. He forces him up against a wall:

Philippe LaRoche: You got put in the wrong fucking prison!

Charles Schine: LaRoche...I chose this prison.

Charles Schine then stabs LaRoche in the stomach with a knife, killing him.

‘To live by the sword is to die by the sword.’ This is not the way of eternal life. Emulate the Sun to overcome strife.

“When I went to school there used to be a bully. He took my goldfish. You understand me? In third grade, he took my goldfish. He took my motherfucking goldfish. I had it in a plastic bag. He looked at me and laughed and he stepped on the motherfucker. Yeah he did! I kept having to see this [guy] for three or four weeks…my home boys, between us…they whipped his ass and then I seen him again a week later and I whipped his ass.” – Snoop Dogg (in an interview with DJ Whoo Kid. I think he said that the adult thug mentality is similar: if you keep going with the testosterone, aggression turns into acts of violence.

Return of the Urban Warrior by Barefoot Doctor (Thorsons, London, U.K., 2001).

p.214. Unless you are a dictator of a well-armed country with the military in your pocket or just a plain thug, it is always wiser not to vent your frustrations through hostile, aggressive or violent behaviour towards others. You can, of course, use your anger as part of a strategy to protect human life (yours or someone you’re protecting) in the face of imminent physical attack - when not sufficiently trained in the art of self-defence to fight without anger...We all make mistakes. It’s an inevitable part of the ride down the great thoroughfare, but it’s obviously something you would wish, as a warrior, to keep to a minimum - especially in connection with the inappropriate expression of rage, if only to save valuable time spent in subsequent damage limitation exercises, custodial sentences or hospital.

p.216. ...that person is actually doing the very best they can according to their current stage of personal evolution and that there is no need for you to take the effects of that personally. Once remembered, start saying, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you!’

[Cut to grannies film, which opens with a pan across Bolton]

Voice of reporter: [Voice over] This is a frightened city. Over these streets, over these houses, hangs a pall of fear. An ugly kind of violence is rife, stalking the town. [Film of old ladies beating up two young men] Yes, gangs of old ladies attacking fit, defenceless young men.

[Film of four grannies walking aggressively along street, pushing passers-by aside]

First Young Man: [Voice over] Well they just come up to you and push you, like, you know, shove you off the pavement. There's usually about four or five of them.

Second Young Man (Terry Jones): Yeah, sometimes there’s three or four of them. It’s not even safe to go out down to the shops anymore.

[Film of grannies harassing an attractive girl]

Reporter: [Voice over] Grannies are no respecter of race, creed or sex. Theirs is a harsh, ruthless world, a tough world, a world in which the surgical stocking is king. But, what are they in it for, these senile delinquents, these layabouts in lace?

First Granny: [Voice over] Ah, the violence.

Second Granny: [Voice over] The prestige mainly.

Third Granny: The free gifts.

Fourth Granny: Putting the knee in the groin.

One of the grannies: We like pulling the heads off sheep.

One of the grannies: And teacakes!

All: Yeah!

Policeman: We have a lot of trouble with these grannies. Pension day's the worst. As soon as they get it they blow the lot on milk, tea, sugar, a tin of meat for the cat.

Reporter (Eric Idle): The whole crux of the problem, er, lies in the basic dissatisfaction, of these senile delinquents, with the world as they find it. They begin to question the values of their society. They see their sons and daughters growing up to become accountants, solicitors, sociologists even, and they begin to wonder, ‘Is it all worth it? Is it all...[Disappears down a manhole in the pavement] aaarggh!

[Shot of two grannies replacing manhole cover and then bashing passersby with their handbags as they flee]

Reporter: [Voice over] Another prime target for vandalism is telephone boxes. [Film of three grannies hauling a red telephone box off] But, mostly, they just live for kicks. [Film of three grannies riding off on motorbikes with ‘Hell’s Grannies’ on the back of their coats]

Reporter: [Voice over] But there are other kinds of violence abroad. Other gangs, equally vicious, equally determined, such as the baby snatchers.

[Film of five men in baby outfits carrying off a young man from outside a shop. Cut to distraught wife]

Wife (Rita Davies): Well, I left him outside for a few moments while I got some brillopads. When I came back he was gone. He was only forty-eight.

[Cut to vicar walking across a street]

Reporter [Voice over] And also, vicious gangs of ‘keep left’ signs.

[Two ‘keep left’ pillar signs attack the vicar]

Colonel (Graham Chapman): Right, stop that. It’s silly. Very silly indeed. It started off as a nice little idea about old ladies attacking young men but now it’s gotten silly. His hair’s too long for a vicar too. And you can tell those are not proper ‘keep left’ signs. [Turning round] Clear off the lot of you! [To the camera] You, come with me.

- Monty Python’s Flying Circus Hell's Grannies sketch (Episode 8: ‘Full frontal nudity,’ 1969, written by Monty Python, BBC TV).