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Old 09-14-2011, 01:58 AM   #1
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A time for Reflection

I have come curiously close to the end, down
Beneath my self-indulgent pitiful hole,
Defeated, I concede and
Move closer
I may find comfort here
I may find peace within the emptiness
How pitiful

A man psychologically spiraling downward toward neurosis and perhaps eventual psychosis. However,

It's calling me...

I remember watching an interview w/ Maynard and he mentions how nature is "throwing you a bone" whenever a synchronistic event occurs and he says something about like when college kids happen to look over and notice their clock 11:11 and then they will notice a similar happening later on that same day and they say to themselves "weird" (although he doesn't mention synchronicity in the interview, it's a Jungian Theory and Jung speaks of it in his autobiography 'Memories, Dreams, and Reflections' which is, perhaps not so coincidentally, on the Tool Recommendation Book Reading List) SO NEWAYZ its an inward calling toward an outward expansion of the mind (toward wat has been called Christ Consciousness) which is to, as we will see later, crucify the ego (liberation), or, in jungian terms, to reach individuation. This is why Jung and i believe Freud also make death the point of life because death is the ultimate putdown toward ones ego and so when a person fully accepts his/her death the ego is thus crucified/dissolved and he/she is then awakened to the reality of living and eternal present moment. And since liberation can only happen to a living body and not a corpse, this must be done before You/I pine away!

And in my darkest moment, fetal and weeping
The moon tells me a secret - my confidant
As full and bright as I am
This light is not my own and
A million light reflections pass over me -------------->(don't forgot every atom in you/I body was forged in the stars so they pass over the moon just as they pass through us literally! lol just a side note not part of my interpretation!)

Its source is bright and endless
She resuscitates the hopeless
Without her, we are lifeless satellites drifting

And when all hope seems lost forever, a confidant using lightwaves to take the form of the moon (it must be stated here that G.I. Gurdjieff speaks of all organic life being 'food' for the moon and I'm quite sure the band has been influenced by G's system. After-all 'The Fourth Way' written by P.D. Ouspensky (G's pupil) is also on the bands reading list.) the moon here, I believe, is a metaphor for a mystical teacher/ guru/ magician whom points you toward the way of liberation though a series of upaya or 'gimmicks' for getting a person to prick the illusion of their own ego or perhaps the moon is an enlightened friend/relative whom reminds you that the 'source' of life is metaphorically bright and endless and she resuscitates the hopeless person in beginning of this song! She gives life to what would otherwise be a lifeless world. Now that is important because it's not a material-less world because as he say's in the song, the satellites are still 'there' but never 'here' in this moment. it's bright, and endless, and it's eternally now. The 'Source' of this moment he speaks of is then God, or The Absolute, or The Ultimate Ground of Being, call it what you will. It must also be said here that we first notice the moon is actually having a conversation with THE EARTH/Us! It say's "we" are lifeless satellites w/o her. Also Maynard by using the analogy of space and of God as a female he sets up opposite imagery of God and replacing the idolatrous image of God The Father. The story goes that their was once an astronaut whom went so far out into space he had a meeting with God and upon his return the ppl asked him "have you seen God?" the man answers yes and the ppl ask "well wat of him?" and the man responds "Well She is Black!" lol

And as I pull my head out I am without one doubt
Don't wanna be down here feeding my narcissism.
I must crucify the ego before it's far too late
I pray the light lifts me out
Before I pine away.

So crucify the ego, before it's far too late
To leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical,
And you will come to find that we are all one mind
Capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
Just let the light touch you
And let the words spill through
And let them pass right through
Bringing out our hope and reason ...
before we pine away.

And as I pull my head out (of the swamp) I am without one doubt (they say when you are enlightened you know who you really are...and their is no doubt about it, no inner trifling or a need for any outward stamp of approval)

And I pretty much explained the rest of it earlier... jus some more small things to keep in mind He recognizes his position of downward spiral and has a change of mind/heart saying he doesn't want to be "down here feeding my narcissism" picture perfect neurotic...

The way to "leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical" is to crucify ones ego by going "Toward the Light" or "Toward the Within" and uniting oneself, or i should say being availed (enlightened) of the ignore-ance of ones previously neurotic state resulting chiefly from a false notion of oneself (who you really are) .In the songs case we are The Earth, as we are in reality, plus a great deal more.

Also, And you will come to find that we are all one mind
Capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable. Seems at first to be a Bill Hicks reference however it seems to me to be slightly incidental (although you never know) because Hicks version is a little different, it's the part where the news is supposed to be doing a positive drug story lol and it's great!.. and the all imagine/coneivable is similar to the end of a Hicks performance when he talks of exploring outer space together i believe

P.S. Bill Hicks Biography on Nexflix baby! it's amazing watch it! I believe its called "American A Bill Hicks Story" or somethin like that!

Thank you for your time/attention... :)
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Old 09-14-2011, 02:31 AM   #2
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Re: A time for Reflection

BTW I forgot to mention that none of the above has anything to do with the "meaning" of the song Reflection for that is a meaningless question as music itself has no meaning. I am simply describing the "Story" of the song as when you tell someone about your life you are simply describing yourself as a story w/ your ego as the star of it but you wouldn't say that that description of your life was its meaning. The interpretation of the words of the song as being the MEANING of the (whole) song is as misleading and as ignore-ant as the interpretation of ourselves (the whole of us) as being only our ego (which we must crucify remember!) lol If there is any meaning to be found it is to be found in listening to the music itself!
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Old 11-26-2011, 05:21 AM   #3
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Re: A time for Reflection

Quote:
Originally Posted by AFX2W1N View Post

It say's "we" are lifeless satellites w/o her. Also Maynard by using the analogy of space and of God as a female he sets up opposite imagery of God and replacing the idolatrous image of God The Father.
i like your post :)
but i have to ask something: isn`t there a difference between "god", the all-being, the one ( with the assigned "male" qualities) or whatever you call it and "her", the mother (female energy)- i thought i read something about the goddess being the actual source of organic forms, a step "lower" if you want to but it that way but way more important for us earthlings and organic carbon-based lifeforms)...for example jesus (christ-consciusess) needed the help of a mother - a host (organic incarnation of the transcendental thought of the "one"), also in as the story goes buddhas (siddharta gautamas) mother also received a vision of an enlighted being coming to live... guess it was in a book of interviews with joseph campbell...i gues any being has the power to overcome the everyday-conscuisness and evolve into something more "enlightened" or whatever...this song- as you wrote- is (as many other tool lyrics) a kind of poetic explaination of the process of becoming one with the one ( the spiritual world)...of course there is much misunderstanding and the whole thing is much deeper than i understand...but worth spending some time with...

Last edited by dancingflame; 11-26-2011 at 05:23 AM..
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Old 03-28-2015, 01:56 PM   #4
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Re: A time for Reflection

"isn`t there a difference between "god", the all-being, the one ( with the assigned "male" qualities) or whatever you call it and "her", the mother (female energy)-"

Only in imagery..both being and non-being (father IMAGE/ mother IMAGE) arise mutually :)

Also, I used the word idolatrous wrong in my original post.

Last edited by AFX2W1N; 03-28-2015 at 01:58 PM..
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