To be is not to pretend to be.

Recently I watched the film anonymous about Shakespeare which plays with the idea that Shakespeare was not who we thought he was. In other words someone had to pretend to be him, for his play and words to reach the people and the world. Not wanting to question whether this idea is true or not, it still brings me back to one of his main ideas. This idea was presented in the form of a question and it is clear this question was a spiritual one.

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To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;

As always these words are forever meaningful, but at certain moments those words are sharpened by the events that we suffer as individual and as a race. In every media we can see a lot of turmoil, which is only a reflection of what is happening in each country. We are all pointing our fingers at this and that but the truth of the matter is we are surrounded by pretenders. We are trained to be pretenders, so we can pretend and follow all the laws that the original pretenders have laid down for us and for themselves. Well perhaps not all of us, nor are we all total pretenders, none the less it is becoming more and more obvious that we are living in a false reality. A bit like a theatre play, but one that the story line gets updated by each and every one of us.
So it could be that our whole society is sick and that sickness has been brought on by pretence. Fundamentally that is a mental and spiritual issue.
To be what we are and not to pretend what we are not. To be truthful not deceitful, are we daring enough to take that next step or steps. To be is the only way forward for us and strangely enough that beingness is always right behind us, where it always has been. Only it is us that have turned our back on it.
Shall we change that?

I see a camel pretending to be a chameleon.

Can we change that?
We want to change that?

I'll answer you with a quote from Matrix

You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.

Originally posted by MarcellusWallace
I see a camel pretending to be a chameleon.

Well spotted ! I was wondering what that was.

Originally posted by WhiteHat
Can we change that?
We want to change that?

I'll answer you with a quote from Matrix

You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.

yes I get your drift, but the question is do they know how to protect it? Will the be a system left to protect?

Being truthful will get you killed. Persons in disguise are not fond of having the mask torn off, or those who refuse to go along with the scenario.

As for the possibility that one might be able to pretend to 'be'. There have been many like that as well, and they are able to fool some, for myself, the truth is like a bell, something inside me vibrates when I hear it, and when I hear a lie, I 'ring'. If that makes any sort of sense.

Does that mean it is possible to be 'fool proof'? Maybe, maybe not, but it means waking up is quicker.

Shall I act upon the urges that I feel or remain passive and thus cease to exist? To be or not to be that is the question.

It is a question of self expression vrs conformity. To be an individual or conform and become the masses. I think this question, either openly or subconsciously, is asked of themselves by every teenager as they come into themselves. I think it is, more often today, answered as conformity through individualism.

reply to post by ancientthunder


Hamlet, and the phrase that you quoted is among my favorites and is most inspirational to me. Great thread approach! S&F.

reply to post by Agarta

Shall I act upon the urges that I feel or remain passive and thus cease to exist? To be or not to be that is the question.

Excellent! I have nothing personal to add, as it seems you have said it perfectly.

I would add, for inspiration and in an effort to contribute to the spirit of thread; so, please let me quote another favorite of mine, from Dylan Thomas:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

reply to post by Iamschist

When you are in your being that is enough, its up to each person to take of their mask. You cant pull it off, or rather you can but you will become a scape goat if you do. Let the masks fall of their own weight, be amused by the masks. We all take masks so seriously and that is understandable because a mask can lie right in your face. But that is because we take it real personal, if you where a mask its your issue. Whether I want to where one also, is another matter. It seems by what you say, that you are not fooled anyway. So what would be the point in wearing one, at that point it is self deception. If one wanted to do that, you could just stay at home and talk to the mirror.

reply to post by windword
Yes it is a fine line, from to be or not to be we have to act or not to act. So what you are both saying (agarta & windword ) That if you are not ready to act you are truly being? Am I reading that right? Certainly Dylan Thomas was more than confident with his stance. I have found that some people are unable to deal with that level of expression, but the feeling is truly overwhelming and turbo charged life force is experienced.Thanks for your replies.

reply to post by ancientthunder

That if you are not ready to act you are truly being? Am I reading that right?

Yes, I think so.

For me, when I am at my lowest, defeated, jaded and looking for any excuse to give up, Hamlet allows for me to opt, "Not to be." However, Dylan Thomas' words make me feel guilty for being so weak and easily distracted from my true essence.

reply to post by ancientthunder


It has been argued by those smarter than me, that we are mirrors. So my question for you is. Is what we see in others a projection of our own mask, or ourselves without one?

Originally posted by Iamschist
reply to post by ancientthunder

 

It has been argued by those smarter than me, that we are mirrors. So my question for you is. Is what we see in others a projection of our own mask, or ourselves without one?

quick answer is yes and no.
But this is a really hard question to answer, one that I have pondered hundreds of times and debated with a few friends.My ideas on that are ever changing also, so I would say it depends where you are on your path. Or from where within yourself you are looking outwards from.On one level I would say absolutely everything is an expression of the self (not me Personality self ). Another perspective from the point of view of the true self,is nothing is me, everything is a distorted image which if I choose I can see inside myself.Thirdly the true self can be a mirror and because so can reflect illusions back to where they come from. Finally it would be good to propose a question, what happens when two mirrors are facing each other?

reply to post by ancientthunder


I am delighted with your question. I suppose the short answer , is they see infinity. Another might be that they see nothing. I have not pondered this, oddly. What are your thoughts? Also I am not sure I understood your original question, I would like for you to rephrase it if you would please. I'm not sure if it is about being, masks or politics?

reply to post by ancientthunder

"The hardest thing to do is to express one's self honestly."
~ Bruce Lee

And here's the kind of thing that he could do!

reply to post by Iamschist
haha yes these are the type of subjects that are best face to face and spontaneous as I dive in myself as if I was deep sea fishing for answers. My original is more a spiritual one of being your true self and not political or judgmental. But of course this can be done with a backdrop of politics,sports, relationships and perhaps even religion. That aside as I "think" windword is saying is from that spot you can embody and speak your truth passionately and to not do so means you are not alive. Stuck in a bubble!So we are talking about various level simultaneously.

reply to post by NewAgeMan
yes that is true and something that I admired about Bruce a lot and still do, he was a living example of being your true self in action. Especially with all the pressure he must of been surrounded by. I like when his wife was asked about conspiracy and she said something like " just let it be, let it rest and let his life speak for it self."

reply to post by ancientthunder


Perhaps I need a new definition of alive. The things I have read, speak of consciousness and unconsciousness, only a conscious person can have the will to be. Being is a truth in and of itself and so far as I know has no need to speak because there is an understanding that all is as it should be.? Am I diving to deep?

What if someone was a truly harmful person and they wanted to express themselves in a way that hurt others, would you still be promoting honesty?

What if an individual while being themselves do not care about others?


It's hypocritical, these ideas....


Acceptance is the most important thing - we should accept everything and everyone,
EXCEPT those who do not accept (believe like us)...

Compassionate is the most important thing - we should be compassionate to everyone,
EXCEPT to those who are not compassionate (believe like us)....


TRUTH is the most important thing - we should be honest and allow others to be honest...
EXCEPT those who do not care about other's honesty - free expression (believe like us)


Until you can find a VIRTUE that you can apply 100% without making exceptions it is not an ABSOLUTE.


If a virtue is absolute, there should be no exceptions...

Originally posted by ancientthunder
reply to post by NewAgeMan

 

yes that is true and something that I admired about Bruce a lot and still do, he was a living example of being your true self in action. Especially with all the pressure he must of been surrounded by. I like when his wife was asked about conspiracy and she said something like " just let it be, let it rest and let his life speak for it self."

Ironically however, the guy playing pinpong with his numbchucks appears to in fact be an imposter and someone only pretending to be Bruce Lee, although equally impressive if not ever greater were his feats of strength and dexterity "the one inch punch" as but an example - how's that for honest and direct?!