Barleywine
Here's a chance for some more fun . . .
First a quote from the Book of Lies (Crowley also mentioned the "Joke" in passing in "Magick in Theory and Practice"): http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/216860
"The Universe is the Practical Joke of the General
at the expense of the Particular, quoth FRATER
PERDURABO, and laughed.
But those disciples nearest to him wept, seeing the
Universal Sorrow.
Those next to them laughed, seeing the Universal Joke.
Below these certain disciples wept,
Then certain laughed.
Others next wept.
Others next laughed.
Next others wept.
Next others laughed.
Last came those that wept because they could not
see the Joke, and those that laughed lest they
should be thought not to see the Joke, and thought
it safe to act like FRATER PERDURABO.
But though FRATER PERDURABO laughed
openly, He also at the same time wept secretly;
and in Himself He neither laughed nor wept.
Nor did He mean what He said."
Next three commentaries I culled from one of the internet forums (attributions aren't important since they're representative of some commonly-held assumptions): http://www.occultforum.org/forum/topic?id=8989
The physical universe that we know does not exist. There is no "physical" in the universe just different forms and densities of energy.
The joke is what you see - because you believe it to be so.
The joke is that the common belief exists only because it is the common belief.
The Fool realises that the universe is a joke...those that fail to get the punchline are a different type of fool
The universe, existence, our consciousness, our world and our civilizations and everything that happens is the greatest joke ever put down.
We are a bunch of ants trying to understand the world of escalators and skyscrapers and automobiles that moves above us, and we sieze upon different words and paradigms to make ourselves believe them. Our existence is a gift, our Free Will the greatest thing in the world, and yet look at how The Masses squander it, and eagerly subvert it to the will of those in power.
If there is a God, and He created Us, he has to have a sense of humour, or else our perception of it would not exist. And oh how He must laugh as he looks down on us, with our self-importance and our self-delusion.
And if there is no God, then Man is free to do whatever he likes, within the limits of his own strength, and yet good men do nothing and wicked men prosper.
Of course it's all a joke. It's damn funny. Everything exists only to become unmade by the most singularly sickening of all of the so-called Laws of Nature. The three laws of Thermodynamics, you can't win, you can't break even, and you can't stop playing. Entropy always wins eventually, so we're all just on a train-ride to termination anyway. And instead of having fun, and learning, and growing, The Masses are content with their world of Illusion. We were given all the tools to be great and wise and smart and funny, and dropped in the largest and most diverse amusement park in the world, and all we've done with it is graffiti all the rides, clean out the vending machines and bitch about how boring things are and how 'stuck' we are.
Any thoughts, or any other instances of Crowley's use of this concept? Sounds like a Buddhist viewpoint to me.
First a quote from the Book of Lies (Crowley also mentioned the "Joke" in passing in "Magick in Theory and Practice"): http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/216860
"The Universe is the Practical Joke of the General
at the expense of the Particular, quoth FRATER
PERDURABO, and laughed.
But those disciples nearest to him wept, seeing the
Universal Sorrow.
Those next to them laughed, seeing the Universal Joke.
Below these certain disciples wept,
Then certain laughed.
Others next wept.
Others next laughed.
Next others wept.
Next others laughed.
Last came those that wept because they could not
see the Joke, and those that laughed lest they
should be thought not to see the Joke, and thought
it safe to act like FRATER PERDURABO.
But though FRATER PERDURABO laughed
openly, He also at the same time wept secretly;
and in Himself He neither laughed nor wept.
Nor did He mean what He said."
Next three commentaries I culled from one of the internet forums (attributions aren't important since they're representative of some commonly-held assumptions): http://www.occultforum.org/forum/topic?id=8989
The physical universe that we know does not exist. There is no "physical" in the universe just different forms and densities of energy.
The joke is what you see - because you believe it to be so.
The joke is that the common belief exists only because it is the common belief.
The Fool realises that the universe is a joke...those that fail to get the punchline are a different type of fool
The universe, existence, our consciousness, our world and our civilizations and everything that happens is the greatest joke ever put down.
We are a bunch of ants trying to understand the world of escalators and skyscrapers and automobiles that moves above us, and we sieze upon different words and paradigms to make ourselves believe them. Our existence is a gift, our Free Will the greatest thing in the world, and yet look at how The Masses squander it, and eagerly subvert it to the will of those in power.
If there is a God, and He created Us, he has to have a sense of humour, or else our perception of it would not exist. And oh how He must laugh as he looks down on us, with our self-importance and our self-delusion.
And if there is no God, then Man is free to do whatever he likes, within the limits of his own strength, and yet good men do nothing and wicked men prosper.
Of course it's all a joke. It's damn funny. Everything exists only to become unmade by the most singularly sickening of all of the so-called Laws of Nature. The three laws of Thermodynamics, you can't win, you can't break even, and you can't stop playing. Entropy always wins eventually, so we're all just on a train-ride to termination anyway. And instead of having fun, and learning, and growing, The Masses are content with their world of Illusion. We were given all the tools to be great and wise and smart and funny, and dropped in the largest and most diverse amusement park in the world, and all we've done with it is graffiti all the rides, clean out the vending machines and bitch about how boring things are and how 'stuck' we are.
Any thoughts, or any other instances of Crowley's use of this concept? Sounds like a Buddhist viewpoint to me.
