Change for the better or worse?

[Andorion]

I haven't quite gotten this song... it's obviously related to Reflection, leading into it, but what's the point?

Reflection is about a realization, the weather improving, if you want to use that metaphore. What's the point of Disposition? What's the 'something, anything' refering to? Watch the weather improve, or worsen?

Any thoughts? =)

My best guess is this:

The 'This' spoken of in Disposition is the song and message of Reflection.

"To lift your spirits high, remember the lesson you're about to hear"

~Berj

[ShackledEidolon]

Ive always thought of it as referring to a meditation...opening up to whatever is to come. The weather seems to be a state of mind or way of thinking.

mention something mention anything...seems to be a plea for there to be something more out there and for whatever that something more is to reveal itself...which leads into reflections which seems to be that revelation

[undrtow17]

In Buddhist thought there is a parable of the way in which one can view the ego mind or the thinking mind
it is said to be revered as " clouds passing through the sky"
The clouds may momentarily cover the rays of the sun or cause different weather patterns. We tend to get lost in dark weather patterns and convince ourselves that they are permanent .

Realization of this nature of mind leads to an emptiness of the ego
and a merging of human consciousness and ultimate reality or 'Nirvana'
When we are attached to the weather even the slightest arisal of emotional can cause the weather to change.
even the slightest mentioning of any piece of information can push us from one incarnation to the next strenghtening the grip of the karmic wheel the drudgery of 'Samara' or illusory reality. The weather could also be connected with our desires or our fears which Buddha says are the source of all human suffering.

Hey,
I eat rice and do yoga but i am still an asshole
-Jordan

[ShackledEidolon]

Originally posted by undrtow17
In Buddhist thought there is a parable of the way in which one can view the ego mind or the thinking mind
it is said to be revered as " clouds passing through the sky"
The clouds may momentarily cover the rays of the sun or cause different weather patterns. We tend to get lost in dark weather patterns and convince ourselves that they are permanent .

Realization of this nature of mind leads to an emptiness of the ego
and a merging of human consciousness and ultimate reality or 'Nirvana'
When we are attached to the weather even the slightest arisal of emotional can cause the weather to change.
even the slightest mentioning of any piece of information can push us from one incarnation to the next strenghtening the grip of the karmic wheel the drudgery of 'Samara' or illusory reality. The weather could also be connected with our desires or our fears which Buddha says are the source of all human suffering.

Hey,
I eat rice and do yoga but i am still an asshole
-Jordan

Excellent post. I had been trying to elude to this point in a thread for The Grudge. It is interesting how so many of these songs seem to relate so intimatly with subjects as this. I have been wanting to read into the Buddist conceptions of the world but never had much of a chance...if you can recommend anything to read then I would appreciate it

[undrtow17]

When i first began to approach the teachings of Buddhism, it was hard to hear what the great eastern masters were saying because they spoke in such awkward and fixated terms for someone of our post modern ignorance to be able to digest.
Terms like "suffering" Karma" and "bodhisattva" end up being recieved as western knowledge (i.e. what we think these terms are or the popular opinions in our culture) for instance we might think of suffering as being kept from some intense pleasure like Sex, but buddhists might say that the real source was our desire to have Sex. Also we think of Karma as a two sided thing like "i have good kamra" or the other way around where as buddhists might think that karma is more like a wheel and when your attached to the outside or rim (good and bad karma) it always eventually leads to more suffering. and the aim is not to develop good karma but realize your place on the hub or axle of the ever turning wheel.
to state it shortly I believe that there are some western writers who do an excellent job in explaining what the eastern gurus are saying without very much of the dogmatic mush. breaking down the termological barriers if you will
Herman Hesse wrote "Siddartha"
and Steven Levine worte a guide to practice called "A Gradual Awakening" check them out and keep me posted
[email protected]
-Jordan

[ShackledEidolon]

Thankyou very much I plan on looking into that and hopefully bringing something else more meaningful to the conversation in the future

[TheHollow]

Funny everyone that's into meditation's on this "song-thread"...

Yeah I do Chinese yoga too, and I'm still an asshole too ;).

Well... Dunno what the lyrics really mean, but I DO know, that I've got into a nearly meditative state most of the times I've listened to disposition carefully. Be it lying in bed, or driving at night. Especially while driving at night, I feel totally "gone", yet totally responsive to my surroundings, and more in touch with my peripheral vision, which BTW is a yin sense. This indicates that I "step into the yin world" even if it's just for split seconds...

I think the tabla drumming and the piercing guitar does most of the work... Maynard's voice is also pretty helpful!



PS: Nice to see fellow Toolfans that do similar stuff as I do.

[Choler]

Have you ever thought that the song might have no meaning at all. Or Another thought could be a musical meaning. Try listening to the instrumental side of the songs for meanings.

[ragna16]

I see it as an attempt to seperate the body and mind. I think the breathing time sound, and the general meditative mood really does it.

[ShackledEidolon]

I think that the instrumental side of this song generally transmits the same concepts and meaning as the few lyrics. They are set in such a way as to slow down the conscious mind and allow the other parts of the mind to come to the forefront. Sort of like how losing one sight causes an increase in performance in other senses. After doing any kind of deep meditation or yoga there is certainly a complete calm and relaxation accompanied with an intense awareness of surroundings and personal motion. Allowing the conscious mind to glide beneath the other states and to take a more integrated stance rather then dominant stance allows for more accute awareness. Preperation for something more important to come.

[PRNinja23]

I believe this song is a promise in a sense, that when you stop overthinking and overanalyzing, you will come to a state of peace where you won't feel a need to think about the weather change, but rather like a child you will be content to watch it in wonder. In another way it's that you won't care about yourself, you won't be trying to protect what's yours or get what you want. This is the state that can be invoked by meditation, but more and more people are finding that it can be had most of the time, with whatever you are doing. I recommend "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle as a starter.

The disposition is the union of the body and the mind -- that you feel your body completely, all of your attention is on what you see in this moment, instead of thinking. It's a "familiar and overwhelmingly warm" feeling. You are not preparing for anything important because you realize nothing important ever happened outside of THIS moment.

I beleive he saying "mention anything" because "cold silence atrophies any sense of compassion."

How do you get to this disposition? "Give away the stone." Forgive everyone, especially yourself. Not an easy task, but only hard if you call it hard. I also recommend anything by Deepak Chopra. He has some good, concise writing on how to experience spirituality without using the G word.

I guess another weather analogy would relate to "storming" in your head -- a barrage of uncontrollable thoughts that seem to beat you down like hard rain. In this state, you realize there is nothing to be distressed about with regard to these thoughts -- that it is our judgement of our thoughts that keeps us in that state.

I think I understand the lyrics to most of these songs, and it gives me a sense that I'm better than everyone who is overanalyzing them, but "we're all one mind," and I'm not better than anyone else. When I think I am, it's because I'm subconsciously thinking I'm not.

From my experience, the best way to understand good music (true "art," not most of the re-packaged tripe out there) is to listen to it in that meditative state -- with your whole body, not thinking about what it might mean. My dilemma is that I sit and listen to these songs and *want* to undetstand them. However, the meanings almost always come to me when I'm listening casually, just watching the weather change.

[Metamorphosis]

i understand exactly what you mean when you say. "the best way to understand good music is to listen to it in that meditative state". because when you are more spiritually aware than normal, your perception of reality heightens, and everything seems to make sense... i suggest listening to third eye and pushit(live) while meditating (along with some external aids).