Cinemorphics

METHOD AGING and the Infinite Game

2011-02-24T07:11:00.001-08:00

A new and expanded version of METHOD AGING and Improvisational Longevity entitled METHOD AGING and The Infinite Game is now available in paperback HERE and at AMAZON. It is also available on Kindle at Amazon, Nook at Barnes & Noble and at the Apple iBookstore. Other eBook formats are available HERE.

METHOD AGING and The Infinite Game

You are both very old and very young. Scientists say you are made of stardust, which makes you billions of years old. On the other hand, your emotional age in an unhappy state can be that of a screaming baby. Your functional age is defined as an interaction of the chronological, physiological, psychological, and emotional ages of "you". This is an approximation of your age based on what physical and mental activities you can usually perform on a daily basis. Your age is indeterminate…you are a verb not a noun…you have no fixed age. You can learn to think of your age as an improvisation…a spontaneous movement of your bodymind…not how many years you have been kicking around the planet.

The static "you" is a stubborn illusion. "You"… your self, persona, ego…who "you" are… is a dynamic assemblage that is formed by the interaction of genetics, imprinting, learning, culture, etc....a character description, similar in many ways to a character in a film or novel, a character description which can be changed once it is recognized as such. One significant part of your character description that can be effectively re-written and re-performed is your functional age. This is Method Aging - a Cinemorphic adaptation of method acting applied to daily life. Once you are successful at this and then ask yourself..."who is it that is reinventing this "me" I identify with?"...a new perspective may emerge, as well as a new perception of your relationship with time and your story. "You" are no longer a slave to your history. You may also see that "you" are not really playing what you now realize is the infinite game..."it" is playing you. And you both are a constantly whirling field of energy and potential...dancing with the Tao.

The TAO of AGING

2011-02-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

The paperback version of The TAO of AGING is now available HERE and at AMAZON. The Kindle version is available HERE and on Amazon U.K. The Nook version is available HERE. The Apple iBookstore version is available HERE. All other eBook formats are available HERE.

The TAO of AGING

As The Tao of Aging opens, we encounter a strange old, sage-like Chinese philosopher and raconteur who claims to actually be Zhuangzi (ChuangTzu) - the second most important originator of Taoist thought after Lao Tzu.

Zhuangzi now lives in San Francisco and is known simply as "Z". As it turns out, over 2000 years after his exploits in ancient China, "Z" is still rambling about the world - trickster to the bone - tinkering with the way we look at what we call reality. He insists that he is not some mythical Taoist Immortal whose condition is due to an alchemical elixir but rather an ordinary man who pays attention to the Laws of Nature.
"I am not the Zhuangzi you have read about in books...wallowing in the mud all day. Stuck in the mud really, if you believe what you read, which you shouldn't. There are those who will say that the ideas I am telling you about now are not those of Zhuangzi - that they are different from Zhuangzi's teachings - contrary even. But if they were not freethinking - even heretical - they would not truly be Zhuangzi's - MY - ideas...
...And so you ask about some Tao of Aging? First, there is no Tao OF anything...just Tao. And Tao is not a noun, Tao is a verb. But even Taoing is not Tao because Tao has no name, even though I have just named it. Then, look for yourself. What you call your body may change in a way you call aging, but do 'you' age? Does your awareness get wet when it rains? Does your awareness turn into wearoutness over 'time'? I think not! Just think of yourself as a constantly changing field of energy and potential...swirling and twirling with the Tao..."

Is "Z" the real thing? Our conclusion by the end of our encounter with him...MAYBE...

ACTIVE AGING and Acting and Aging

2011-01-27T20:50:00.000-08:00

The paperback version of METHOD AGING and Improvisational Longevity is now available HERE and at AMAZON. The Kindle version is available HERE, the Kindle, U.K. version is available HERE , the Nook version is available HERE and the Smashwords version (all other formats) is available HERE.

METHOD AGING...
YOU are a bodymind, not a body with a mind or vice versa. You are a verb, not a noun. You are fluid, constantly changing. The static you is a persistent illusion. You... your self, persona, ego...who you are... is a construct that is formed by the interaction of genetics, imprinting, and learning. You have little input into this process until after you have been thoroughly shaped by parents, peers and culture. Now consider that this you that you now seem to be is, actually, very much like a fictitious character that may appear in a novel, play or movie and may be re-written, re-produced and re-performed, using the techniques of those media. One part of your character description that can effectively be re-written, re-produced and re-performed is your functional age, which is defined as a combination and interaction of your chronological, physiological, psychological, and emotional ages. The Cinemorphic techniques discussed in METHOD AGING open the door to this transformation.

Cinemorphics At SAND

2010-11-24T01:50:00.000-08:00

Cinemorphics was well received at the 2010 Science And Nonduality Conference in San Rafael, California on October 23rd. Please enjoy the video of the presentation below...

Who's Asking? Notes On Cinemorphics

2010-04-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

WHO'S ASKING? Notes On Cinemorphics is now available online HERE.
If you are not familiar with Cinemorphics, I recommend checking out the "Doing Cinemorphics" post, below, before going to the Sourcebook...more entertaining that way...

DOING CINEMORPHICS

2007-02-15T00:27:00.000-08:00

Go to the Archives of this blog and click on October 2005. Scroll all the way down to the first post, dated Saturday, October 15, 2005 and work backwards through the FAQ, observations, exercises and notes to the present. Skip around...pick and choose...go out and try it...

At first, doing Cinemorphics is a lot like learning to ride a bicycle...a matter of balance, habit and confidence. Once you get the hang of it the world's a different place...

(Photo at right is of ALFRED JARRY (1873-1907), fanatical cyclist, playwright, poet, artist and freelance scoundrel, whose work prefigured theater of the absurd, Dada, Surrealism, Futurism and Pop Art. Among his other diverse accomplishments, Jarry was also Pablo Picasso's weapon supplier and the father of 'PATAPHYSICS.)

STORY FIELDS

2006-06-06T01:26:00.000-07:00

The STORY FIELD concept is very useful in thinking about the Cinemorphic manipulation of one's "reality"...the telling and re-telling of personal history...the creation of Tales of Power... An excerpt from a discussion of story fields is included below. This discussion itself as well as a very effective treatment of related ideas may be found HERE.

The Power of Story - The Story Paradigm

In the field of co-intelligence, stories are more than dramas people tell or read. Story, as a pattern, is a powerful way of organizing and sharing individual experience and exploring and co-creating shared realites. It forms one of the underlying structures of reality, comprehensible and responsive to those who possess what we call narrative intelligence. Our psyches and cultures are filled with narrative fields of influence, or story fields, which shape the awareness and behavior of the individuals and collectives associated with them.

Story-reality is the reality that we see when we recognize that every person, every being, every thing has a story and contains stories -- and, in fact, is a story -- and that all of these stories interconnect, that we are, in fact, surrounded by stories, embedded in stories and made of stories. When poet Murial Rukeyser tells us "the universe is made of stories, not atoms," she's describing story-reality. Ultimately, story-reality includes any and all actual events and realities, but experienced as stories, not as the more usual patterns -- objects-and-actions; matter, energy, space, time; patterns of probability; etc. Story-reality is made up of lived stories.

Lived stories are those real-life, actual stories that are happening in the real world all around us all the time. The actual unfolding events relating to any one actual entity or subject comprise that entity's or subject's lived story. Everything that exists has, embodies and participates in many lived stories. The way to co-intelligently engage in story-reality is to become sensitive to lived stories... to learn about the lived stories of people, places, things... to share our own lived stories... to discover how all these stories intersect, who or what is in the foreground and background of each other's lived stories. Ultimately, this provides the guidance we need to find our own most meaningful place in the universal story.

While analysis is good for control and prediction, story-sensibility is good for understanding meaning and role.

Narrative intelligence is the ability (or tendency) to perceive, know, think, feel, explain one's experience and influence reality through the use of stories and narrative forms.

Story fields are fields of influence or patterns of dynamic potential that permeate psycho-social space and influence the lives of those connected to them. They are made up of many mutually-reinforcing stories (myths, news, soap operas, lives, memories) and story-like phenomena (roles, metaphors, archetypes, images). A story field paints a particular picture of how life is or should be, and shapes the life within its range into its image.

The American Way of Life is a powerful story field, which includes everything from principles like freedom and the pursuit of happiness, to stories of cowboys and rags-to-riches heroes, to metaphors like the melting pot and the safety net, to images like the Statue of Liberty and the flag. It is communicated by movies, men in business suits, advertisements, college catalogues, and mall displays -- among many, many other things. It takes immense effort to resist or change it. Anyone or anything which doesn't live within this story-sea and move with its currents doesn't seem quite American.

Psychological, organizational or social transformation is usually preceded or accompanied by a change in the story field governing that system. It is therefore usually non-productive to try to change forms and habits without changing the story fields that hold them in place. Once the story field is changed, subsidiary patterns tend to realign rapidly. (This process is part of what has been called a paradigm shift.)

CINEMORPHICS BRIEFLY RE-STATED

2006-05-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

Your self, persona, ego…"who you are'…however named, is a construct that is formed by the interaction of genetics, imprinting, conditioning and learning. "You" have little input into this process until after "you" have been thoroughly shaped by your parents, peers, culture, etc.

Now consider that this "you" that "you" now "are", however, is similar to a fictitious character that may appear in a novel, play or movie and may be re-written, re-produced and re-performed as is the case in those media, using the techniques of those media.

Your framework for doing this may be aesthetic (make yourself into a work of art), as play (the "infinite game"), as counselling (I effectively wrote alcohol, cocaine and cigarettes out of my script), or as magick (use your imagination).

Cinemorphics transforms and adapts the motion picture and theatrical techniques of character development, scripting, method acting, fundraising, criticism, wardrobe, make-up, special effects, editing, promotion, marketing, etc. into a model, symbol and skill set, and mythology - a complete system - that is very powerful and effective when applied to personal reality shifting.

This blog suggests…instigates…tempts…points…
It is partly practical…partly theoretical…partly whimsical…

Ready to go into take a meeting…make a pitch…go into production…

Click HERE to contact us about Cinemorphic workshops and sessions.

DISROBE THYSELF!

2006-05-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Philip H. Farber re-tells this Nasrudin tale as part of a book excerpt THE PERFECTED SELF .
One wonders what would happen if the esteemed Mulla were turned loose in Hollywood.

A hermit came into town from the forest, where he had been wandering naked for a long time. In the forest there had always been enough to eat, and enough places to hide when the storms came, if you didn't mind squatting in a hollow tree, eating small rodents. But the hermit grew tired of his solitude and longed for what he remembered of the stimulating quality of human interaction.
The gravelly road on the outskirts of town was too much for even the calloused feet of the hermit. Fortunately the hermit could see a fine pair of shoes lying in the rocks beside the road. He immediately put them on. They were a bit tight, but the leather was beautifully worked and, most importantly, the hermit could now walk upon the road with greater comfort.
As he came into the center of the village, the hermit began to grow hungry. With no game in sight, the hermit sought out a soup kitchen. Just as he was about to push open the weathered wooden door, he realized that couldn't enter the soup kitchen without a pair of pants. Fortunately, just outside, the hermit found a fine pair of pants. They were a bit short, and not quite his style, but they were a much finer pair than anything he had owned before becoming a hermit. With that, he went inside and enjoyed the soup, which of tasted of beef, not rodent.
Back out on the street, the hermit thought to visit a bank and ask for a loan to set up a small shop, so that he could provide for himself. He realized, though, that he couldn't go into the bank without a shirt. Fortunately, lying in the street was a fine shirt. It was a bit loose on the hermit, and not quite his favorite color, but it got him into the bank, where he easily talked the manager into giving him a loan.
He began to shop in the marketplace for the things he would need for his shop, but realized that the merchants would give him no respect without the vest of a guildmember . Fortunately, in an alley, he spotted a fine vest. True, it bore the markings of the blacksmith guild, and the hermit had hoped to open a bookstore, but it got him the respect he needed and he was soon operating a respectable blacksmith shop.
The shop did well, but the hermit soon realized that unless he allied himself with one of the town's religions and was known as a pious man, he would never draw larger numbers of customers. Fortunately, he found the turban of a Mulla on the street outside his shop. He put it on, and while it wasn't the color of the sect he had belonged to before becoming a hermit, it was a fine Mulla's turban, and he was immediately given great honor by the other villagers.
The villagers plied him with tasty food, paraded their daughters before him in hopes he would take a bride, and attended his every word. At one gathering in his honor, a naked man was hanging back with the beggars and low- lifes . This naked man was none other than the esteemed Mulla Nasrudin, who had recently been seen to dash out of the blacksmith shop where he had earned his living, shouting, "And these damn shoes are too tight!"
One of the low- lifes recognized the Mulla. "Say, Mulla, isn't that your turban that the new Mulla is wearing?"
"It's no matter," Nasrudin said. "I just came back into town to tell my wife that she can have the donkey... I was in the wrong sect, I hated blacksmithing , I owed money to the bank, and everything costs too much money. I'm going to live in the forest! Maybe when I come back in a few years I'll find some better clothing."

Want A SECOND LIFE?

2006-04-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

SECOND LIFE is more even relevant to those interested in Cinemorphics than The Sims (see earlier post). You can check out the SECOND LIFE website HERE .

A VIRTUAL LIFE

A journey into a place in cyberspace where thousands of people have imaginary lives. Some even make a good living. Big advertisers are taking notice

As I step onto the polished wood floor of the peaceful Chinese country house, a fountain gurgles softly and a light breeze stirs the scarlet curtain in a doorway. Clad in a stylish blue-and-purple dress, Anshe Chung waves me to a low seat at a table set with bowls of white rice and cups of green tea. I'm here to ask her about her booming land development business, which she has built from nothing two years ago to an operation of 17 people around the world today. As we chat, her story sounds like a classic tale of entrepreneurship
.
Except I've left out one small detail: Chung's land, her beautifully appointed home, the steam rising from the teacups -- they don't exist. Or rather, they exist only as pixels dancing on the computer screens of people who inhabit the online virtual world called Second Life. Anshe Chung is an avatar, or onscreen graphic character, created by a Chinese-born language teacher living near Frankfurt, Germany. And the sitting room in which Chung and my avatar exchange text messages is just one scene in a vast online diorama operated by Second Life's creator, Linden Lab of San Francisco. Participants launch Second Life's software on their personal computers, log in, and then use their mice and keyboards to roam endless landscapes and cityscapes, chat with friends, create virtual homes on plots of imaginary land, and conduct real business.

To read the rest of the Robert D. Hof article click HERE .

Robert Anton Wilson's QUANTUM PSYCHOLOGY

2006-04-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

I recently re-read Robert Anton Wilson's QUANTUM PSYCHOLOGY. Wow! If the subject matter of this blog interests you at all, at all you must acquaint yourself (or re-acquaint yourself) with R.A.W. and his world. You can check out the book HERE and check out R.A.W. himself HERE. I have included some comments and a brief overview below.

Philip K. Dick, author of Blade Runner
Wilson managed to reverse every mental polarity in me, as if I had been pulled through infinity. I was astonished and delighted.

Publishers Weekly
Erudite, witty and genuinely scary

Tom Robbins
Dazzlingthe most thrilling tilt-a-whirls and daring loop-o-planes on the midway of higher consciousness.

Sounds, London
The mans either a genius or Jesus.

Ray Tuckman, Broadcaster, KPFK Radio
With his humorous rapier, Wilson pokes and prods our misconceptions, prejudices and ignorance. A quantum banquet.

John Gribbin, physicist
Does for quantum mechanics what Durrell's Alexandria Quartet did for Relativity, but Wilson is funnier.

New Scientist
What great physicist hides behind the mask of Wilson?

Book Description
Throughout human history, thoughts, values and behaviors have been colored by language and the prevailing view of the universe. With the advent of Quantum Mechanics, relativity, non-Euclidean geometries, non-Aristotelian logic and General Semantics, the scientific view of the world has changed dramatically from just a few decades ago. Nonetheless, human thinking is still deeply rooted in the cosmology of the middle ages. Quantum Psychology is the book to change your way of perceiving yourself --- and the universe. The book for the 21st Century, complete with exercises. Picks up where Prometheus Rising left off. Some say it's materialistic, others call it scientific and still others insist it's mystical. It is all of these --- and none.

About the Author
Robert Anton Wilson is the coauthor (with the late Robert Shea), of the underground classic The Illuminatus! Trilogy which won the 1986 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. His other writings include Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy, called "the most scientific of all science fiction novels" by New Scientist, and many nonfiction works of Futurist psychology and guerilla ontology. Wilson, who sees himself as a Futurist, author, and stand-up comic, regularly gives seminars at Esalan and other New Age centers. Wilson has made both a comedy record (Secrets of Power), and a punk rock record (The Chocolate Biscuit Conspiracy), and his play, Wilhelm Reich in Hell, has been performed throughout the world. His novel Illuminatus! was adapted as a 10-hour science fiction rock epic and performed under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Great Britain's National Theatre, where Wilson appeared in a special cameo role. He is also a former editor at Playboy magazine.

THE NEXT STEP

2006-03-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

As a guide in exploring "the next step" in our Cinemorphic look at the fictitious nature of ego/persona, I highly recommend
THE SCIENCE OF ENLIGHTENMENT by Dr. Nitin Trasi.

To give you a sense of where the Cinemorphics discussion is headed I have also included excerpts of an ARTICLE by Dr. Trasi below.

Who am I?
Nitin Trasi, India

"Who in the world am I? Ah,that's the great puzzle!"
Alice, in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Human beings can speak, and when a person refers to himself, he uses the first personal pronoun 'I.' But the faculty of human thought is extremely complex, and the "I" of the average man/woman is much more than just a label for referring to himself/herself. It is a complex conglomerate of several things, often little understood by the person himself. In Indian spiritual literature, the complex mechanism of the I (Sanskrit: aham) has been referred to as the "ego" (ahamkaara), and it is said to be lost upon spiritual Awakening (Enlightenment or Liberation).

But this is not easy to understand. How can a person function without the "I"? How will he see himself, or think of himself? How will he act effectively in this complex, intensely competitive world? Will he, indeed, be able to function in ordinary everyday activities and satisfy the demands of professional life, or will he perforce have to retire from it to the seclusion of the mountains, forest or a monastery? In other words, if spiritual Awakening is tantamount to loss of the 'I,' how is this compatible with daily life?

To solve this mystery, we will first have to understand what exactly constitutes the 'I,' what specifically is lost upon spiritual Awakening (and why), and what are the practical and psychological implications of such loss. Such a study will also give us an insight into the psychology of spiritual Awakening and Liberation.

I the label
The 'I' is of course first of all, very simply, a label useful to refer to that particular living unit. Let us call the I-used-as-a-label the I-L (I the label). This `I' is used both by the Liberated sage and the average person.

I the executive unit
But what exactly is it that the label I refers to? When a person says "I," he certainly means something more than just his body, or even his body-mind. The label does refer to an existing (though conceptual or notional), executive or working/decision-making unit, which we can call I-U (I the unit). Every animal is an autonomous unit that behaves and reacts in a certain way at a given point of time because of certain inherent reasons combined with certain external events. We call this "making decisions." Human beings, neurologically developed to the point of self-awareness, know this fact and refer to their own autonomous decision-making unit as 'I'. Thus there is an executive 'I' that functions in day-to-day life and acts and reacts in certain ways. This may be better understood if a human being is thought of as a corporation of several cells, just as a company is a composite of several individuals. I-L is the name of the corporation, and I-U the entity of the corporation itself. This entity, like a company or corporation, has a legal, economic and factual existence, but ultimately it is still a concept. In other words, it is a notional entity. In Buddhist literature, the monk Nagasena is said to have explained this to his king Milinda by using the example of the king's chariot. The chariot is a contraption consisting of wheels, horse and other items put together in a certain way. But dismantle that and where is the chariot? Thus, although the chariot (when so assembled) has a definite physical reality and existence, when dismantled it becomes clear that its "chariot-ness" is nevertheless a concept. So is it with the executive I (the I-U). It is this I that the sage refers to when he says, for example, "I did this." This is a mere statement of fact, not relevant to either claiming of personal credit or admission of personal guilt.

The I-U is thus an arbitrary (conventional), working classification, immensely useful in daily life. But because humans, like most other animals, are physically disparate, we tend to forget that this is so, and we consider people to be separate 'skin-encapsulated' entities. This distinction is less obvious say in a case of severely conjoint (Siamese) twins where it is difficult to say exactly where 'one' of them ends and the 'other' begins, or even, say in the much more common instance of a pregnant woman. Is the foetus part of her 'self,' or is it an 'other'?

I the mental image
Because we are thinking, self-aware animals, we also have a mental image of "ourselves." This too forms a part of the conglomerate I. This is a composite of past memories regarding ourselves (past experiences), what others have said about us, and so on. This is the I-M. In effect, this, as psychologist Ken Wilber has put it, is simply a "bag of edited memories."

It is the I-M that is spiritually significant, because it is the cause of self-centred thinking and mental conditioning, self-centred expectations, and consequently of much avoidable suffering. In spiritual terms, it is this that is referred to as the 'ego,' which is different from the use of that term in Freudian psychology. In Indian philosophy it is called ahamkaara. This is also the apparent doer of 'our' actions. The actual doer is the I-U (to put it more accurately, the I-U is, by convention, considered the doer of the action so that we do not constantly have to talk in the passive voice). The I-M is only the apparent, and not the real doer. It is actually no more than a mental construct or image, without substance, and has no real (physical or `spirit'-ual) existence. Thus the authorship of deeds is laid at the door of an entity which does not really exist, except as a mirage or a memory. This false sense of doership is called "kartruttva bhaava" in Indian philosophy. This error of understanding is at the root of all sense of pride, guilt and moral blame. It is this `I' which the ordinary man refers to when he says "I did this." It is a statement pregnant with pride or guilt, a statement in which one of these two is naturally immanent, inherent. Contrast this with the sage's meaning when he makes a similar statement (earlier paragraph).

The I-M which is ordinarily considered the doer, has no real existence. And the I-U is merely the notional doer, a figure of speech used for convenience of language. Deeds occur according to the fixed laws of Nature (the clear mirror, reflecting faithfully) and the inherent nature of the organism interacting with the environment (forms reflected).

The difference between the I-U and I-M may not be easily apparent at first glance. So let us elaborate a little. The I-U is a notional centre, location or locus where decision-making takes place, rather than an entity or a 'person' who "decides." It is a "where" rather than a "who." Psychologist B.F.Skinner said that we are "a place in which certain genetic and environmental causes come together to have a common effect" and that although we take credit for our ideas as if we created them out of an act of will, we are really just a "place where ideas happen." Ideas, he said, happen inside us much as an egg happens inside a hen 7.

At the end point of Final Liberation (see later), the "who" that appeared to make decisions (the I-M, a self-image) has disappeared, yet effective decision making continues to occur, because the "where" that decisions took place (the I-U) is unaffected. In fact, the process of decision-making happens more efficiently, untrammelled by unnecessary fears and anxiety about personal credit or risk (which was related to the I-M). At the same time, since there is no "one", no "who" to claim authorship for the action, there is none to take delivery of pride or blame either.

I the self or soul
Finally, there is the ultimate "realification" of the I. The final imbuing with life, in which a belief is superadded that this I is a separate entity by itself over and apart from all that we have just mentioned - something that will survive the death of the body and reincarnate in another body (or go on to enjoy an afterlife). This is I as the soul or spirit or self - the I-S - typified by the question "What will happen to ME after I die?" (If the me or I is dead, how can anything happen to it after that?). In Indian spiritual literature this is referred to as the jivatman (pronounced "jeevaatmaan"), the (apparent) individual 'soul' (see note at end of article). Even if the person does not believe in the soul or afterlife, there is still the conscious or unconscious belief in (and identification with) a `me' which exists during life, and which passes through the different stages of life - from birth to youth to old age to death. There is the belief in the continuity of a 'me' which is seen as going through time in a linear fashion.

The difference between the I-M and I-S? The I-S comprises the conscious or unconscious belief in the actual existence of the self. In other words, it comprises the identity of (and identification with) the presumed self. The I-M comprises its body or description - it describes the self (for example, as a businessman or engineer or doctor, with a particular life history, and so on).

Thus the I-S is the I-M (or self-image) further crystallised in thought and belief to the extent that it is mistakenly considered to be an independent self-entity, a 'me,' residing in the body, which passes through the different stages of life, and that, after the death and dissolution of the body, perhaps even survives into an after-life.

Enlightenment and Liberation
The proper understanding of the entire psychology of the I ultimately leads to the actual seeing of the I-S as false, as just a belief. The actual perception of (or insight into) this fact is Enlightenment. It is important to understand that when the actual recognition occurs, it is intuitive rather than intellectual, a matter of instant, intuitive perception and recognition rather than mentation or cerebration, a matter of insight rather than intelligence. As this is a shift in perspective, it happens suddenly (a paradigm shift). It may well happen in a series of small sudden shifts, but the classical description in spiritual literature is that of one massive shift. The shift is attended by a great sensation of relief, partly because of the sudden loss of a mental load, the spiritual baggage, partly also because of the sudden freedom from further spiritual self-expectations. This marked sense of relief has been likened to a man taking off a heavy burden which he has been carrying on his head, or of a man coming out of the scorching sun into the cool shade. Because of the nature of Enlightenment, further spiritual maturation (it is no longer seen as spiritual "progress") is seen to occur spontaneously rather than from directed efforts towards that end.

As a natural result of seeing the I-S as false, the spontaneous dismantling of the I-M is initiated (primarily because of lack of reinforcement of conditioning). This is the process of Liberation. At the ultimate end-point of Liberation ('Final' Liberation), the I-S has already long been seen as false, and now the I-M has practically vanished as well (except the spiritually insignificant bare minimum required for efficient daily living - see later). All that is left is the I-U (the notional executive unit comprising the body and mind) and of course the I-L, the label. The I-U is now able to work completely untrammelled by the burden of self-centred memory and expectation hitherto imposed by the I-M and the spiritual baggage and imposition resulting from the belief in the I-S. It is truly Liberated. It is also full of spontaneous love because it was the I-M which created the duality of the me and the other. Now, although the me and the other remain as executive units (I-U and O-U), they are merely technical, functional, day-to-day classifications for convenience. The "I-ness" of the I and the "otherness" of the you is lost and there is therefore no basis for alienation, enmity, blame, envy.

What exactly do we mean by the "bare minimum" of I-M required? A certain bare minimum of I-M will be necessary for any person for efficient daily functioning in his chosen vocation, whatever that may be. But the pertinent difference is this: Whereas the average man feels exalted by perceiving "himself" (I-M) as a "success" and crushed by perceiving himself as a "failure," the Liberated person may be pleased and disappointed respectively by the `successes' and `failures' in the particular individual tasks or enterprises that he undertakes, but he does not perceive or label himself [the I-M] as "a success" or "a failure." As a result, whatever the Liberated one may think himself to be or however he may see himself (insofar as it is necessary for his efficient daily functioning), this (his 'bare necessity' I-M) does not affect his happiness.

Another aspect of liberated living that is at least as important as valuation, is continuity through time. What the I-U adds to I-L is the notion of agency; and what the I-M and even more so, the I-S add to both is the notion of continuity. The Liberated person is liberated from the sense of continuity in time, meaning that he has understood, nay, seen, that this continuity is an illusion, much like the apparent continuity of the various stills of a motion picture when shown in quick succession. Bereft of this life-giving continuity in time, his I-S dies a quiet death, and the I-M is starved to exhaustion - practically vanished, virtually absent or spiritually insignificant. In the case of the average person, it is his warped sense of continuity that has him clinging to past or future (as "his" past or future, in relation to his I-S and I-M). By not accepting the past as past or the future as future, he does not allow his "whole" self to step into his own present. The Liberated one, on the other hand, does not cling to the experiences, but moves on. This is what is called living in the "HERE and NOW" and "dying" to the past, to every moment as it passes, as philosopher J.Krishnamurti repeatedly emphasised.

So enlightenment is not incompatible with a notion of `myself' (`bare minimum' I-M) as (apparently) continuous with time, but with (a) whether this valuation is taken so seriously that it affects one's happiness, and (b) whether there is clinging to past or future in a way that rips away attention from the present 9,13

Conclusion
There is in reality no individual in the sense of a spiritual "who" that will reincarnate and is morally answerable for 'his' or 'her' deeds, but there is a definite biological "where" in which (or where) decisions are made (volitional centre). The "where" is more of a scientific locus, as opposed to the "who" which is a religious or ontological concept or assumption. (Thus volition, or an appearance of it, may be said to exist at an everyday, conventional level in that sense. It is not really volition itself that is being denied, but rather the "who" that is supposed to "have" it).

Ironically then, Enlightenment is the very perception (seeing) of the absence of a real self or I (as is generally thought to exist) - and thus inevitably, of the absence of any I who could "be Enlightened." Ironically then, Liberation is being Liberated from the tyranny of the very I who seeks Liberation! In other words, it does not happen TO an I, it happens FROM an I!

And to whom does Liberation happen? Whom, indeed! Ironically then, when Liberation happens, the "whom" has disappeared!

The realisation of this truth has been likened to the peeling of an onion, where successive layers of the I are seen to be false. The I-S is the most false. It is just a thought or belief in the mind. The I-M is a concept which has an existence but only as a mental image, a "bag of edited memories." The I-U is a notional entity that has a definite and required existence as a working concept. The I-L is just a word, a label.

In the end, like the peeled onion, there is nothing - shunya. And yet this nothing is everything, for it feels a love and compassion which encompasses the whole of creation. Though it functions most efficiently in the proximate, everyday world, yet it sees no separation between itself and the rest of the world. For, how can nothing be different from nothing?

What exactly is this shunya, nothing or 'not I' that is left after Liberation? Let us try to understand this further. Whatever we think we are is ultimately a thought, and therefore the content of (`our') consciousness (however refined or subtle). But surely, if we go on eliminating thus, we cannot but reach the inevitable conclusion that what we really are can only be consciousness itself - in its human mode or manifestation, recognisable as aware-NESS. It cannot know itself, for whatever it knows is its content. In other words, whatever it is aware of is its content, so it cannot be aware of itself. Regarding itself, it can only be aware, period. Consciousness, though not "felt" in that sense of the term, is however identifiable (after Liberation) as the irreducible sense of anonymous presence (awareness of presence or pure presence) upon which all other phenomena (or sensations) are displayed (the content), like the screen upon which the pictures are projected.

Thus the experience of nirvana or Liberation is not something esoteric, otherworldly, magical or superhuman. It is simply the awareness that forms the background and basis of all our sensations. It is the elemental sense or sensation present and `felt' as an undertone to all other sensations at all times by the enlightened. It is present in the unenlightened too, but goes completely unnoticed by them in the hurly-burly and din of daily living. The difference in the enlightened is not in the manner of daily living, but in the inner silence that enables him to be keenly alive to this primal awareness that is the core and basis of his very being. This, the 'not I,' or the I-that-is-left, is then the same as what has been called Reality, Truth, or God:

What does it feel like? Although not an experience in the ordinary sense, the 'flavour' of this basic awareness or pure presence is described as a positive, benign, causeless, contentment. It is the ananda (contentment, peace) of Indian spiritual literature. It is the ananda (contentment of being, joie de vivre) inseparable from the sat-cit (true, core, basic presence or being), thus giving rise to the familiar Hindu description of consciousness as sat-cit-ananda.

...

About Enlightenment
It was promised earlier in this article that such a study of the 'I' would also give us an insight into the psychology of spiritual Awakening and Liberation. To reformulate and recapitulate, we can now easily understand the following the points about Enlightenment in brief:
The sudden insight into the real nature of the I results in a complete change of perspective on life. The hitherto strong ego-centric perspective of the average person changes to a softer, broader perspective which allows many more points of view and possibilities.

Such sudden insight into the nature of the I with its accompanying sudden change of perspective is termed Enlightenment in the Eastern spiritual tradition.

Enlightenment and its changed perspective lead to a process of de-conditioning from the effects of the earlier egocentric conditioning which had built up throughout life. This is the process of what has been called 'Liberation.'

As the layers of the I soften and dissolve, the obstructions decrease to the 'feeling' of the primal consciousness, the sentience (prajna) which animates the body and is our very being. The inherent 'taste' of this being-consciousness can be described as ananda, or causeless contentment or peace, the "peace that passeth understanding."

Paradoxically enough, daily life goes on even more efficiently than before as the executive-I functions untrammelled by the nagging botheration caused by the unreasonable anxieties, phobias, biases, and fears linked to the soul-I (I-S) and the ego-I (I-M).

What about the ordinary pleasures of everyday life? Are they lost? Or are they engulfed by an overwhelming bliss that is continuously felt after Liberation?

Neither. The daily pleasures are felt and enjoyed even more keenly, because they are enjoyed fully, wholly and whole-heartedly. But there is no clinging to them as in the average person. And the reason why there is no clinging is that there is constantly the intuitive understanding, insight or sensing that it is the consciousness upon which they are projected, and without which they would not be felt, which is abiding and important. It is intuitively known that the passing pleasures come and go, but the primal consciousness and its inherent taste, ananda, abides and is the basic necessary condition for them to be felt and experienced at all, anywhere, anytime.

Characteristics in Brief
Typical `average' person

* Thought: Restlessness (Nihilism to absolutism)
* Action: Confused (Over-control to impulsiveness)
* Emotion: Temperamental (Inhibition to emotionalism)
* Attitude/perspective: Self-centred
* Moods: Fluctuating, totally dependent on circumstances (external or internal)

Advanced seeker

* Thought: Emptiness (effortful or contrived)
* Action: Surrender (volitional)
* Emotion: Detachment or non-clinging (contrived, rationalised)
* Attitude/perspective: Un-self-centred (learnt, trained or habituated)
* Moods: Steadily composed, not fluctuating, not dependent on circumstances (external or internal). Result of training.

Final Liberation

* Thought: Mindfulness (natural, effortless, spontaneous)
* Action: Spontaneous (easy, appropriate, flowing)
* Emotion: Compassion (karuna) and loving kindness towards all (Buddhism: metta), both of which are natural, spontaneous - a result of dissolving of the me/other distinction.
* Attitude/perspective: Completely un-self-centred. Natural, not result of training.
* Moods: Easy, possibly fluctuating, dependent on circumstances (external or internal), but only on the 'surface.' Deep mood firmly anchored in the "inner peace" (ananda), which is the necessary sub-stratum of all sensations and hence always present.

References:
1. The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi In His Own Words edited by Arthur Osborne, 5th Ed., Ramanasramam
2. A Search in Secret India, Paul Brunton, B.I.Pub.,1970, reprint 1994.
3. Srimad BhagavadGita-Rahasya by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, English Translation by Bhalchandra Sitaram Sukthankar, 6th Ed., 1986, Geeta Printers, Pune.
4. The BhagavadGita, Gita Press, Gorakhpur, India. 5. The Last Talks, J.Krishnamurti, K.F.I., Pub.1989, Reprint 1992.
6. The Wholeness of Life, J.Krishnamurti, K.F.I., 1978.
7. Introduction to Psychology, Morgan, King, Weisz and Schopler, Pub.Tata McGraw-Hill, 7th Ed, p.595 *(B.F.Skinner).
8. The Science of Enlightenment, Nitin Trasi, D.K.Printworld (P) Ltd., New Delhi, 1999.
9. The Inner Rhythm of Enlightened Activism, Gary Schouborg, website: www.somawake.com Email: gary@somawake.com
10. The Bhagwad Geeta with the commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, English translation by Alladi Mahadeva Sastry, Pub. Samata Books, Madras, 1977 Ed., (1992 Reprint).
11. Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Swami Swarupananda, Advaita Ashrama, 1996, Calcutta
12. Sufism, William Stoddart, Suhail Academy, Lahore, Pakistan, 1981.
13. Enlightenment in Action: Somatic Feeling and Time, Gary Schouborg, website: www.somawake.com , Email: gary@somawake.com

CINEMORPHICS GROUPS

2006-01-16T21:32:00.000-08:00

Since I began publishing this blog in mid October of last year, I have gotten a lot of questions about the availability of private or group sessions and workshop/seminars in Cinemorphics. If you are new to Cinemorphics I recommend that you read the Cinemorphics FAQ (click on CINEMORPHICS FAQ link or go to October Archives of blog…Saturday, October 15, 2005 posting.) as well as the entire blog to better understand the rationale behind the approach described below, how the "actor" designation fits in, and what the result for the "actor" is likely to be. In short, we are all "actors" and as Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage…".

In response to this interest in Cinemorphics consulting, I am currently in the process of forming several small "actors coaching" groups (2-4 "actors" each). I am working with small groups rather than individuals because I have found that, much like in a play or ensemble film, this approach creates a dynamic that reinforces and enhances effective character development.

The method that I am using in the beginning stages of group formation relies as much upon the form of the actor-coach interaction as the content. The "sessions" do not occur on a set schedule in a particular place (office, stage, etc.) but, rather, occur in the "real" world (coffee house, park, hotel lobby, etc.) on a variable schedule of "odd" times. These "sessions" can almost feel like cloak and dagger meetings among operatives in a spy movie or a band of international jewel thieves planning their next caper. This procedure results in a "breaking of the mold"…the typical method of arranging a series of appointments at a common location, and a new "re-casting"…acting "out of character" from the very beginning. This primes the pump for the re-writing and re-performing of the personas of the actors (in any given small group) that will follow, as well as creating an atmosphere of real life game-like intrigue…a space outside of the ordinary day to day drone.

If you would like to become a part of one of these groups, email me at
cinemorphics@yahoo.com. Describe your interest and ask questions. I will reply via email and suggest a time and place for a first meeting, if appropriate.

YOUR LIFE IS A MOVIE

2005-12-29T21:43:00.000-08:00

Below is the opening paragraph of a piece by Nichloas Rombes entitled
YOUR LIFE IS A MOVIE, The Surveillance Culture as Entertainment which has interesting implications for the practice of Cinemorphics.

Today, a second-order reality threatens not to replace the Real, but to expose it as a threat. The final threat. We have been prepared for this by movies like eXinstenZ and The Matrix and Minority Report, which have helped to transform fear into desire. "Big Brother" is no longer a source of anxiety, but of fascination. The Department of Defense's central research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) maintains a web site that speaks of "truth maintenance" and "story telling." In an older version of the website, there was this sentence: "Total information awareness of transnational threats requires keeping track of individuals and understanding how they fit into models."

JOHN BARRYMORE QUOTATIONS

2005-12-25T09:31:00.000-08:00

John Barrymore is reported to have said the following:

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.

America is the country where you can buy a lifetime supply of aspirin For one dollar and use it up in two weeks.

Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him.

Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open.

I am thinking of taking a fifth wife. Why not? Solomon had a thousand wives and he is a synonym for wisdom.

I would like to find a stew that will give me heartburn immediately, instead of at three o clock in the morning.

In Genesis, it says that it is not good for a man to be alone; but sometimes it is a great relief.

Hollywood is like the seven headed sea monster from the Bible. Or maybe it’s the actors. Each has at least seven personalities. I know I do.

Love is the delightful interval between meeting a beautiful girl and discovering that she looks like a haddock.

My wife is the kind of girl who will not go anywhere without her mother, and her mother will go anywhere.

Why is there so much month left at the end of the money?

ANOTHER CLUE

2005-12-24T08:59:00.000-08:00

The HISTORY of acting…

The first recorded case of an actor performing took place in 534 B.C. (probably on 23 November, though the changes in calendar over the years make it hard to determine exactly) when the Greek performer Thespis stepped on to the stage at the Theatre Dionysus and became the first person to speak words as a character in a play. The machinations of storytelling were immediately revolutionized. Prior to Thespis' act, stories were told in song and dance and in third person narrative, but no one had assumed the role of a character in a story. In honour of Thespis, actors are commonly called Thespians.

Theatrical myth to this day maintains that Thespis exists as a mischievous spirit, and disasters in the theatre are sometimes blamed on his ghostly intervention.

A HINT

2005-12-23T09:47:00.000-08:00

JOHN BARRYMORE

A PUZZLE

2005-12-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

What do these images have in common?

EXTREME PERSONALITY MAKEOVER

2005-12-14T16:38:00.000-08:00

Below is an excerpt from a
WIRED article that somebody turned me on to. This stuff is way beyond Cinemorphics and the "Method"…edging into Nano Vogue, only not as changeable.

"Sick of your lazy, cheating spouse? Ready to dump your nagging girlfriend? Don't give up - they can be changed. A growing list of personality traits has been linked to individual genes, and scientists are finding ways to tweak them. Yes, this stuff is largely experimental, but someday DNA could save your relationship. So, young lovers, are you ready to skip couples counseling and go straight to gene therapy? Here are some behaviors ripe for reengineering…"

Check out the article via link, above…

NANO VOGUE

2005-12-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

An associate of mine reminded me of a futuristic TV series proposal that I wrote a number of years ago that included an episode summary entitled NANO VOGUE which hints at what a Cinemorphic technology might be like a hundred years from now (or maybe sooner). Here's the summary:

"A Parisian designer debuts his new collection. By using his cutting edge neurochemical/nano-shapeshifting technology the ultra-rich can select from his new generation of persona/body/sex design configurations, which enable physical and psychological malleability, changing these configurations as they would clothes. The world military and covert operations coalition attempts to suppress and commandeer the designer's innovation, but since, by this time, the fashion industry is more powerful than any government or military group, they loose."

Here are some excerpts from an ARTICLE that appeared last year:

Frederic Zenhausern, director of the Applied NanoBioscience Center at ASU, has joined with Ghassan Jabbour, a professor at the University of Arizona, to develop two prototypes of "biometric bodysuits" that contain embedded sensors, power sources, microfluidic devices and other gadgets not normally associated with the latest Paris fashions…

…The civilian one can monitor your heart or blood pressure, deliver interactive games or simply work as a wearable computer. You will even be able to download new colors and patterns from the Web to change your appearance…

…And it could all be made to look stylish by blending the electronics with high-fashion designs, he said.

Persona as fashion…

CHARACTER ADDICTION

2005-12-03T22:03:00.000-08:00

Notes:
Someone emailed asking if I have ever encountered what might be termed "character addiction", i.e. someone who either "falls in love" (love an addiction?) with a character they are playing in a movie or play or creating a new persona for themselves which may be addictive in an unhealthy way. I addressed this very briefly in an early post, CINEMORPHICS - Observations 1, in the October Archives. To elaborate a bit...

I know some actors REALLY like to play certain types of characters because of the attributes of these types. An example would be a powerful character, e.g. a king or a mob boss or cop. The power of the character being acted feels good to the actor and becomes very seductive. I "real" life, I can see how this could create problems. (This is not the same thing as creating a persona who drinks becoming addicted to alcohol. The addiction is probably to the alcohol, not the persona.)

If you create a persona that really "works", really "plays" it makes you feel good…in the groove. If this groove habituates and you find that you have to exaggerate the aspects of this persona to continue to make it "work", the persona could be creating a dependency. We are probably all "addicted" to our egos to begin with. The ego can be very demanding. It kicks and screams if not attended to properly. This is what could be considered one of the "subtle" or invisible addictions referred to in the excerpt below from the article DRUG ADDICTION VERSUS DRUG WAR ADDICTION. Interesting stuff…addiction to "reality"?

"Addiction comes in many forms, shapes and sizes. The major ones include: alcohol addiction, tobacco addiction, caffeine addiction, drug addiction, pornography addiction, sex addiction, gambling addiction, and computer addiction (including on-line gaming addiction). Then, there are the so-called "subtle" or invisible addictions, which include addiction to work (workaholics), addiction to power (megalomania), addiction to money (miserliness), addiction to approval ("people pleasing"), addiction to reading (bibioholics), addiction to spirituality (the "silent" or taboo addiction), addiction to beauty ("attraction"), addiction to obsessive thinking (rumination), addiction to emotion (anger or tears), and addiction to certain foods (chocoholics)."

HIATUS

2005-12-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

I will not be posting on as regular a basis until after the first of the year. I look forward to receiving questions, comments, criticisms, inspirations, etc. at cinemorphics@yahoo.com.

ART DIRECT YOURSELF

2005-11-30T00:59:00.000-08:00

NOTES:
As in planning and shooting a movie…locations…SETS…where you live and work…what bars and restaurants you hang out in. Your car. "Props"…cell phone, eyepod, briefcase…a cane? How you decorate and light your house/apartment...

All of these are extensions/expressions of character/persona/self, and should be taken into consideration…changed around as you re-write and re-act yourself.

In Cinemorphic seminars, groups or sessions skilled professionals in these areas collaborate with you in accomplishing these changes.

COLLABORATION

2005-11-29T08:39:00.002-08:00

Motion picture production is a collaborative effort.

There is great power in collaboration, between and among producer/writer/director/actor/cameraman/editor, etc.

This is not movie making by committee.

At its best, it can foster a potent alchemy of creativity and imagination…and the synergistic power of a "third mind" emerges. The movie just finds the groove…like jazz improvisation…and plays itself.

The same is true of the practice/play of Cinemorphics.

WILD TALENTS

2005-11-28T01:25:00.000-08:00

At this point we should probably ask an important question. How is it that human beings are even capable of using procedures like Cinemorphics? What "wild talents" do we possess that afford us this option? Too often these attributes may be taken for granted…until someone gives us a Zen-like whack on the head and wakes us up.

Indeed, cosmographer and speculative scientist Charles Fort (1874-1932) published a book entitled WILD TALENTS in which he does discuss the extravagant natural abilities of human beings, but, as enlightening and amusing as Fort can sometimes be as he whacks us, it is probably wise not to travel down that road in this discussion.

Instead, I suggest we take a long look at THE CREATED SELF, REINVENTING BODY, PERSONA AND SPIRIT by psychologist Robert J. Weber, who reminds us that we are now at a stage in our evolution where our self-awareness, imagination, intelligence and "wild talent" are developed to such an extent that we can go about consciously re-constructing ourselves.

Kenneth Gergen says of THE CREATED SELF:
"In today's culture, the self is considered largely a work in progress. Our bodies can now be altered and extended in ways previously undreamed of; our personas are constantly assuming multiple roles in the course of our daily lives; and we seek spiritual fulfillment in myriad traditional and nontraditional cultures, both sacred and secular. Yet as we constantly reinvent ourselves, how do we balance freedom and flexibility with integrity and unity? Using the insights of William James and evolutionary psychology as a springboard, the innovative psychologist Robert J. Weber explores the new, shifting self."

THE CREATED SELF (and other theoretical readings mentioned in this blog) opens the discussion about contemporary humans becoming equipped to self-consciously manipulate their bodies, personas and spirituality.

How this is accomplished operationally, as we have begun to sketch and will continue to explore, is another matter.

ROBERTA BREITMORE

2005-11-27T10:09:00.000-08:00

Check out the Sunday, November 27 issue of the NEW YORK TIMES for an article about artist Lynn Hershman Leeson, part of which deals with her notorious Roberta Breitmore project. I have included a brief excerpt from the article below:

"…she conjured up Roberta Breitmore, her most sustained character study. From 1974 to 1978, while Ms. Hershman Leeson was a wife and mother trying to make it in San Francisco as an artist, Roberta was a divorced woman new to town, trying to make it on her own. The artist brought her to life by wearing a blond wig, applying heavy makeup and adopting a set of rather depressive tendencies.

Other performance artists in the 1970's were also creating characters to untangle the knots of identity and gender, but Roberta was no one-act wonder. She had her own slumped posture, slow gait, colorful outfit, loopy handwriting, odd jobs and romantic encounters. In time, Roberta acquired a driver's license, two credit cards and her own apartment.

"Everyone thought I was crazy," the artist said. "But I rented Roberta an apartment across the street from my house. I just didn't feel her life would be complete without her own space."

Interesting take on bringing a fictitious character…or a new persona…to "life".

ACT NOW!

2005-11-26T08:21:00.000-08:00

Here's another very useful and practical BOOK, about which Talia Shire says,
"Destined to become the classic handbook for using acting techniques in everyday life."

DREAMING IN CHARACTER, cont.

2005-11-25T03:12:00.000-08:00

If you Google "dreaming in character" all sorts of interesting stuff turns up…lots of situations where actors start "dreaming in character" while doing a part, or gamesters start dreaming from the POV of their game character. Here's one example from an ARTICLE about the actor Peter Krause:

That Krause's work bleeds into his personal life is no surprise given how deeply he immerses himself in his roles. In the past he's been so preoccupied with Nate's plight in Six Feet Under that he's found himself dreaming in character. The strain of portraying these troubled souls has even manifested itself physically. "My lowest point was probably right before We Don't Live Here Anymore," Krause says. "I had this really bad case of hives all over my body from the stress."

DREAMING IN CHARACTER

2005-11-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

As part of the process of creating a new character for yourself try to dream as if you are that character. Meditate on this for a few minutes before going to sleep and see what happens. This is like learning a foreign language and dreaming in that language.

Here are some of the responses to the question "Have you ever dreamed you were someone else?" asked in a discussion group on BELIEFNET.COM:

"Many years ago, I had a dream that I was someone else...it has always intrigued me and I've wondered if it is a possible vision of a past life. Has anyone else dreamt of being someone other than yourself?"

"All the time. I am rarely myself in a dream. Usually it's completely made up dream-characters I identify with, sometimes I also change identification during the dream. It also happens that I dream I am a character from a movie or book, even non-human ones."

"Interesting...I have also dreamed that I was a character in a cartoon, but I was still me. The other dream was very bizarre because I knew it wasn't me physically, but I knew all the thoughts and emotions of this old woman. And I saw things through her eyes...like tunnel vision almost. Glad to know, though, that others have had similar dreams."

…etc. Check out the site for more and remember, as Willie Nelson said, "Be careful what you're dreaming…soon your dream'll be dreaming you."

UNIFORMS EXPOSED

2005-11-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

A significant piece of the puzzle when "trying on" a new character can be the way this new character dresses. What kind of "costume" should they wear to enhance and reinforce the presentation. Most people adopt some kind of habitual uniform whether they identify it as such or not.

UNIFORMS EXPOSED by Jennifer Craik explores the phenomenon of the uniform very effectively.

Book Description
There is nothing uniform about wearing a uniform. This one article of clothing has arguably had a greater impact on the world than any other. From fascists to fashionistas, Uniforms Exposed looks at this most extraordinary of ordinary garments and its cultural meaning in our everyday lives. Tracing the troubling connections amongst religious orders, the military, schools and fetish clubs, Craik shows how uniforms alternately control bodies and enable subversion. What does it mean to wear one? Why do certain professions require them? Do they really tell wearers how to act and others how to respond? Answering these intriguing questions and many more, Craik shows how the uniform inspires fear and love, conformity and subversion, and why it has continued to fascinate across cultures and throughout history.

TWO EXPERIMENTS

2005-11-22T10:27:00.001-08:00

1. Drop personal history and self-importance. Costume yourself in some beat-up old clothes and become a homeless person/panhandler for a day. Take notes on how this makes you feel. Don't just think about it…write it down.

2. Un-occupied and un-employed. Stand in a relatively busy place and do nothing. Be un-occupied and un-employed for ten minutes. Don't pretend to be waiting for someone, relaxing, "people watching", or the like, if someone asks what you are doing. That would be "doing waiting", "doing relaxing" or "doing people watching". You have no job and you are doing nothing. Take notes on how this makes you feel.

These two exercises yield very different results, but both begin to expose who "you" are. The first, although not exclusively so, is discussed extensively by CARLOS CASTANEDA in his books about his apprenticeship to the (interestingly enough, fictitious) Yaqui shaman Don Juan.

The second is included in Bernard McGrane's THE UN-TV AND THE 10 MPH CAR which I highly recommend.

ZEN PHYSICS

2005-11-21T07:20:00.000-08:00

When you create a new character for yourself and you begin to work with it, you will find that your old, habitual character/construct has a life of its own…does not want to be "killed off". Do not kill it. Set it aside. Use it.

But there can be sadness. You have "lost" a loved one…your old persona. There can be periods of grief the more the old you fades away. An intriguing meditation: Think of Cinemorphic change as death and reincarnation.

To take this one step further, check out ZEN PHYSICS by David Darling. Here's a description of the book from Publishers Weekly:

"With the catapult of logic, astrophysicist Darling (Equations of Eternity) lobs a barrage of scientific data against death's door. But he-and we-never quite gain access to the ultimate mystery. The title notwithstanding, Darling's prime ammo is psychology, not physics, and Zen enters his plan only in the endgame. His main thrust involves presenting cases of amnesia, multiple personality disorder and other afflictions, as well as facts of the brain-mind connection, to demonstrate that our sense of self is not steady, as is generally supposed, but fluid, even temporally discrete. Darling then announces a not quite convincing and emotionally unsatisfying theory of "reincarnation" based on this ever-changing self, in which successive incarnations of "me" retain no personal link from one to the next. With great elegance, he next uses findings of quantum physics to show that consciousness is primary to matter. This contradicts Western scientific orthodoxy, but Darling makes a strong case. Both the fluid self and the primacy of matter accord with Buddhist principles, which is where Zen comes in. Oddly, though, Darling's idea of reincarnation seems to veer from Zen basics, as it eliminates the possibility of conscious reincarnation. Likely, readers will finish this bold brief sensing they've peeked through death's keyhole, but have not opened the door."

The Mechanic & The Artist

2005-11-20T07:13:00.001-08:00

How extensive a change are you going for? Do you really need to drop one persona and adopt another? To what extent are you defined by a role?

e.g. if you work on cars and are known as “the mechanic” to what extent does this identity define you? Could the same “you’ also paint pictures and, at times, identify with the idea of being “the artist”. Are “the artist” and “the mechanic” mutually exclusive?

Are you so sick of being identified as “the mechanic” that this identity must be dropped? Is money involved? Will those around you allow you to not be “the mechanic”? Does this freak them out? What bearing does this have on you? Have you gotten to the point that you don’t care. To feel honest with yourself…feel “authentic”…is it important for your audience, i.e. your relationships, to embrace the new you?

BOOZE & BODYMIND

2005-11-19T08:51:00.000-08:00

A brief note on a huge and obvious topic…

I was in a bar the other night meeting some friends. It was later on in the evening and everybody was drinking pretty good. I was not…anymore. (see "Birth of Cinemorphics" post.) Something I am very well aware of, and is certainly not new news, really grabbed me for some reason on this occasion. I know many of these people in non-bar situations. In this setting (on this stage), at this time (11PM on a Friday night) they were all "different people"…strikingly so.

When you drink or do drugs you can "become a different person" very easily. This can either be a very effective tool or a highly suspect short-cut. Prescription "designer" personality/performance drugs can have the same effect (e.g. anti-depressants, tranquillizers, steroids, Viagra, pot). Changing biochemistry changes behavior…changing behavior changes biochemistry (and physiology). See e.g. THE EDGE EFFECT in an earlier post. Do you laugh because something is funny or does your laughing make something "funny"?

It is important to be aware these interactions, but it is usually not a good idea to use substances as the primary means for re-inventing yourself. Conversely, it is critical to realize how you are able to change your biochemistry and physiology via behavior. These effects can also be beneficial or harmful…and they are always present. Everything you ingest is a "drug" and every behavior effects your inner "physical" ecology. You are a BODYMIND…not a Body with a Mind or vice versa…not two…

Also…the issue of control. One goal or side effect of Cinemorphics is the apparent heightened ability to consciously form and control who you are and what you do in the world. Learning to control substance intake to create a desired effect…and being able to maintain this edge…walk this tightrope…is a demanding art.

TULPA TANGO

2005-11-17T22:13:00.000-08:00

Another email suggested that we have a look at Tulpa creation and the adventures of Alexandra David-Neel in the context of Cinemorphics. I guess the idea is that if you can create a free-acting "being" or "character" using only imaginal means, that you should also be able to create a new persona for yourself which could ride around on your bodily matrix. I realize that we are heading in the direction of Over The Top here, but this is provocative stuff. I quote from www.tulpa.com:

"The word Tulpa is from the Tibetan language and refers to any entity that attains reality solely by the act of imagination. The entity is created entirely within the confines of ones own mind, not drawn out, written down or even verbally described.

Alexandra David-Neel

If its creator wishes, this 'Tulpa Creation' may become physical reality through intense concentration and visualization. However, care must be taken to only bring to reality what is beneficial to the world, lest it's destruction becomes more problematic than its creation". READ MORE

Some groups have also performed EXPERIMENTS in Tulpa creation which are fun to read about.

BEING BATMAN

2005-11-17T04:10:00.000-08:00

The theme of this post...the superhero and their "ordinary reality" alter ego was suggested by an email from a reader who will remain anonymous for the moment. (If you would like for me to mention your name in association with this let me know.)

This idea is explored in a fascinating article in Forbes entitled BEING BATMAN which examines the logistics and cost of literally producing yourself as Batman. The cost factor, which is sometimes not fully considered when imagining a new "you", is at the forefront here rather than acting or re-writing methods...an entertaining angle for an article in a business magazine.

Another consideration here, of course, is the "chicken/egg" question. Clark Kent did not invent Superman. Superman maintained Clark Kent as a cover. Bruce Wayne invented Batman. Acting out multiple personas or expressing different aspects of the self happens to all of us in our day to day life in less calculating and extreme forms. e.g. There is very often a "different you" at home and at work. An interesting approach would be to intentionally use this as a form of play. Design, produce and act a specific character that has been invented for use only in designated situations. Give this character a name...say, Bob or Juanita...and be Bob or Juanita on Saturdays only.

GREAT IMPOSTERS

2005-11-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

Two more movies, THE GREAT IMPOSTER and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, based on the exploits of real people, Fred Demara and Frank Abagnale Jr. respectively, come to mind in this discussion.

Although the fictions these "characters" created is further fictionalized by Hollywood, the movies are worth checking out and the source material (two novels...again fictionalized versions) is worth exploring. These guys were the real pretenders.

Jacques Lacan and THE PASSENGER

2005-11-15T08:34:00.001-08:00

Anyone interested in a more in depth analysis of THE PASSENGER than was offered by my off hand comments in the previous post should read "Antonioni's THE PASSENGER as Lacanian Text" by Jack Turner. I present the first paragraph below with a link to the entire essay:

In Michelangelo Antonioni's 1975 film The Passenger, the main character, David Locke,[1] portrayed by Jack Nicholson, impulsively "trades in" his own life for that of another man who resembles him and who dies in an adjacent hotel room in Africa. Locke is attempting to escape the painful prison of his own life and enter the realms of possibility and enticing mystery represented by the life of another; in other words, he is trying to create reality from a common fantasy. He is trying to rewrite the narrative of his life, and he is hoping to "become" someone else, just as many moviegoers do vicariously while in the theater. Unfortunately he lies to himself and ignores the fact that any such trade, outside the seemingly magical environment of the cinema, is going to include the sometimes startling sensations associated not only with risk and change but with a different perspective, based on the history of the life one is stepping into; his escapism is also analogous to suicide, a rejection of one's own history and possibilities. Locke's story shows that lying to oneself by trying to live in what Jacques Lacan referred to as the Imaginary (a fantasy world) is even more perilous and self- destructive than lying to others. READ MORE

Jack Nicholson & The Passenger

2005-11-14T07:26:00.000-08:00

Just saw Michelangelo Antonioni's THE PASSENGER again after thirty years. Talk about abandoning one "character" and picking up another! The movie illustrates that dropping personal history is sometimes not so easy…even when it seems that the "you" you are dropping is dead. You somehow follow yourself around and come back to bite yourself in the butt. Be careful who you switch identities with…if the "new you" turns out to be a gun runner, you might wind up dead twice.

I highly recommend checking out the re-release of the movie, which Nicholson owns, and, finally, the release of the DVD.

Joaquin Phoenix and Johnny Cash

2005-11-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

JOAQUIN PHOENIX on getting into a character, on drinking and Johnny Cash:

The problem, he says, was work. Or, rather, not working.

"When I work, work becomes my sole focus, and when I would finish a film I didn't know what to do with myself," he says. "It's always a difficult period leading up to a film, because when I get into a character I step away from everything that is part of what makes me me. When I go away on location, all I have that really reminds me of myself is a pair of boxers -- I get rid of clothes, everything, show up with basically nothing in a strange city where I don't know anybody. Then you start getting the props that you use in the film, you start getting the wardrobe, and you start developing these traits and things that make you comfortable as the character.

"And then the film is over and you have to give back the props and give back the clothes and I can't spend four hours of my day working on a song. So you have this period of 'What'll I do?' So it's a difficult period when it's over. There's always a period in which I don't do anything, just the bare necessities, breathe and eat."

After filming ended on "Walk the Line," Phoenix noticed he was "drinking more than I was happy with. So I just decided that I would stop. I don't know, maybe I'll start drinking again in a couple of months, but one thing that John showed is that sobriety is not synonymous with being boring. His best work was done before he was addicted and after, when he got clean."

"Venus" - Operations - 12

2005-11-12T07:19:00.000-08:00

Write a detailed character description of yourself. An inventory. Maybe as a list down one side of the page. Make another list on the other side of the page with changes opposite each item. (Obviously, some items will not be changed.) Based on this new list, write another, more general character description of yourself. Give this new character description a nickname. Practice associating this new character description and nickname. Practice thinking of yourself in the third person as you do things during the day. e.g. If your new nickname is "Venus" and you are going to the grocery, think "now 'Venus' is going to the grocery" and act like "Venus" would act while on this errand.

CHAMELEON TECH

2005-11-05T20:22:00.000-08:00

Edmond A. MacInaugh's book DISGUISE TECHNIQUES - Fool All Of The People Some Of The Time, is as practical and street-wise as THE FUTURE OF THE SELF is analytical and abstract. I highly recommend reading both…both approaches are necessary. MacInaugh's techniques are not thought experiments or film/stage acting tricks (although they could be used as such). They are aimed squarely at the "real" world. In his view all the world really IS a stage…and a playground. I have quoted directly from the concluding chapter of DISGUISE TECHNIQUES below:

If you have mastered the basic techniques of disguise,
learned to recognize the image you present to the world
as well as how to alter it at will to suit your own purposes,
and if you have developed the ability to see others
accurately, then you are ready to test your skills on an
unwitting audience.

Start small; for your first disguise attempts, an ordinary,
non-threatening persona is best. You will find that in the early
stages brief excursions into a different identity will be
enough to get your adrenaline flowing. Practicing in the
privacy of your room is one thing, taking your new self into the
street quite another. Don't worry if you feel foolish or shy
in the beginning, and don't be hard on yourself if you
stammer or find yourself seized with uncontrollable laughter.
Other people won't think too much about it; they are more
concerned about themselves than they are about you. Unless
someone has just seen you rob a bank or hijack a plane, he
won't be inclined to study your appearance.

After you have paid the utmost attention to every detail
of your disguise, you will probably be amazed, possibly even
disappointed, at how unobservant the average person is. The
new you will be accepted at face value; people will tend to
see you just as you present yourself, and act accordingly.
Let's say, for example, that you generally dress and act like
a respectable member of the community, then you disguise
yourself as a bum. You will feel strange as pedestrians look
the other way and make plenty of room for you on the side-
walk, as if your penniless condition were contagious. "Wait
a minute!" you may think. "Can't you tell this is me?"

The answer is no. Of course they can't. You are used to
having people react to you as a respectable sort. That is how
you have presented yourself, albeit unconsciously, by your
choice of clothing, manner, and speech. When you present
yourself as a derelict, why shouldn't people react to you as
a derelict just as naturally?

Experience will increase your self-confidence. Just like
the new kid in school, your disguise personality will slowly
open up and find his own footing, gradually feeling more
comfortable in his new world. Your experiences will bring
you many surprising revelations, not only about the art of
disguise as such, but also about the way others think, feel,
and act, about how society operates, and about yourself and
who you are. Putting yourself in the shoes of a different kind
of person will teach you a great deal about what it is like to
actually be that person, and this knowledge will help you to
further develop your skills.

Ironically, as you become unrecognizable to others, you
will come to know yourself. Through diligent practice of the
art of disguise, you will embark on a voyage of self-discovery
that will continue throughout your life. Even after you have
become a master, there will always be more to learn. So have
a good trip—and good luck!

FUTURES OF THE SELF

2005-11-04T22:06:00.002-08:00

From a philosophical/theoretical standpoint, I highly recommend that anyone seriously interested in Cinemorphics read Walter Truett Anderson's book THE FUTURE OF THE SELF. I have included the last few paragraphs of the book below:

The great discovery of the postmodern era — indeed, the one that
defines postmodernity — has been the discovery of this other function of
language. It is the discovery that language does not merely represent
reality, but constitutes it. Our social orders, for example—the ones we
identify with, such as nation-states, ethnic groups, races, tribes —
could not exist without their words and visual systems. Our personal
identities would be hard to locate without the network of symbols
within which we are defined and the internal monologue with which
we continually remind ourselves who we think we are.

This discovery can be terribly frightening, but it is ultimately
liberating. It is liberating because people begin to use their symbolic
tools instead of being used by them, begin to have their identities
without being had by them. We are no longer hopelessly in the grip of
what William Blake aptly called "mind-forged manacles."

So identities continue to exist in the post-identity society, just as
industries and nations do — but in a different context.

It would be nice to be able to say, in these closing pages, that we
are making an evolutionary transition beyond the self, but that isn't
quite the case—not yet, anyway. What we are doing is catching a
glimpse of the self, recognizing it as a fiction, yet continuing to have
selves, identities, public personas, internal "I" narratives, and, yes,
egos. You will note that I have switched from the singular to the
plural, because that is what we all do as we become multilocality,
multicommunity, flexible, changeable beings. We move in and out of
different symbolic universes, defining ourselves and experiencing
ourselves differently as we do.

A postmodern person is being invented, but not out of any clear
design, nor in one place, nor by a single creative genius. The modern
self was not invented by a single individual either—not even Descartes
in his Bavarian bungalow.

The postmodern person is in part the product
of other inventions—such as the personal computer—that were not
conceived as agents of psychological change. He is in part the product
of research in fields such as cognitive science that give us a new
understanding of our own thought processes. She is in part the result of
improvised, often difficult adjustments to new conditions, when she
finds it no longer possible to be as she was.

The postmodern person is by no means a finished product; we are
evolutionary work in progress. We all are being required by the
changes in the world around us to become more open systems—taking
in new information, making new connections, moving our boundaries,
and even reexamining our ideas of what a human being is. As we do,
we become in some ways less than the modern self—less permanent,
less centered, less separate—and in some ways much more: Each of us
is more than a self, and also more than a postmodern progression of
multiple selves; each of us is also a marvelously complex, highly
evolved, and somewhat confused apparatus through which the
universe becomes aware of itself, admires itself, and tries to figure
out what it is.

TATTOOS - Operations - 11

2005-11-03T21:36:00.001-08:00

Think of several things that are "just not me" and do them. e.g. put on some music and dance alone in your living room (unless you make a habit of this), talk to yourself (while alone)…does your voice sound strange to you, talk to yourself in public…embarrassed?, panhandle, speak to strangers as you walk down the street, wear something outrageous…out of character, sit and meditate (if you don't usually meditate), just sit…alone…in your living room for twenty minutes…doing nothing…

If you don't have any tattoos, get a large one (temporary at this stage) and show up at a bar or café where you are a regular. Dress as you usually do except for the tattoo. Do not turn this into a joke.

OPEN MIKE - Operations - 10

2005-11-02T20:32:00.001-08:00

OPEN MIKE: Get in front of an audience and perform…do stand-up, read poetry, sing, play an instrument...show up dressed like a clown and try to juggle. Even if you can't really do any of these things well…take the risk…the stretch. Feel what its like to perform in front of a live audience in a formalized setting.

SHAPESHIFTING, METHOD ACTING & CINEMORPHICS

2005-11-02T00:07:00.000-08:00

The first few paragraphs of Chapter Seven of Serge Kahili King's book URBAN SHAMAN provide such an excellent introduction to a discussion of SHAPESHIFTING and what is generally considered METHOD ACTING, as these techniques relate to Cinemorphics, that I have quoted them here rather than trying to summarize them:

Shapechanging, sometimes called shapeshifting, is one
of the most natural and strange things that humans
can do. Those names refer to the extreme development of a
talent that all human beings share, the talent of kulike' which
means "to be like the ku." In other words, to take on the
characteristics or pattern of another ku, whether human or
not. The minimal development of this talent is the ability to
mimic.

Many animals also have this ability, which implies changing
one's pattern of appearance or behavior, rather than just
using what you already have. A tiger blends in with its
surroundings because of its natural coloring, but a chameleon
changes its color to blend in with its surroundings. That's
active mimicry. There are insects that act like sticks, fish that
act like rocks, healthy birds that act as if they have broken
wings, and chimpanzees that act like people. There are also
people who act like animals, birds, fish, and insects. I read
a review once about a play in which Zero Mostel was sup-
posed to turn into a rhinoceros and charge across the stage,
without using a costume. The reviewer said that it was not
Zero Mostel acting the part of a rhinoceros charging across
the stage, it was a rhinoceros charging across the stage. In the
movies, an actor took on the role of a bird in Birdy!, and
Don Knotts even played the role of a fish once. In a play
called The Metamorphosis Mikhail Baryshnikov did an
excellent job of portraying a beetle. There is almost nothing in
the known universe which humans have not tried to mimic.

People can mimic anything, with greater or lesser skill. It's
probably the secret to our incredible learning capacity, and
it's so natural that many people don't even realize they are
doing it. I have a friend from New Jersey who has lived in
New Mexico for a number of years. In New Mexico he still
sounds like he's from New Jersey, but when he returns home
his family says he sounds like he's from the Southwest. Once
I took a bus trip and shared a seat with a woman from
Canada for several hours. After an hour and a half of
conversation she said, in a British-type Canadian accent, that I
spoke more clearly than any other American she'd met. In
the same accent I thanked her, only then realizing that I'd
begun to copy her style of speech. A blond, blue-eyed, very
fair woman friend of mine was dating a black man during
one period of her life, and she spent a lot of time in his
neighborhood with his friends. One day they were sitting in
a restaurant in a black neighborhood and some white people
walked in. When a black friend of this woman nudged her
and pointed out how funny the white folks looked, she
realized that she had unconsciously assumed the speech and
behavior patterns of the blacks to such an extent that her
black friends didn't even think of her as white anymore.

It is one thing to mimic unconsciously, or for the purpose
of learning how to do something that someone else can do,
or for the purpose of blending in with your social or physical
environment, and quite a step up to do it for the purpose of
influencing others and gaining powers. This was the
shamanic innovation, and the first stage of it is called acting.
Our whole acting industry comes from a shaman tradition.
Makeup, costumes, staging, musical scores designed for the
performance, and even special effects were invented by
shamans. All of these were, and still are, used to influence an
audience, but the shamanic idea went farther than that. In
many traditional societies shamans acted out the parts of
gods, demons, heroes, villains, and animals not only for
teaching and entertainment, but for magical influence.

In traditional American Indian tribes, a shaman of the dry
Southwest might have donned the garb of the thunderbird
and danced a special dance in order to bring rain to his
people; or a shaman of the Plains might have put on the
horns and pelt of a buffalo and performed a ritual to find or
attract the herds for his people. In Africa I have seen shamans
act out archetypal roles of gods and animals to remove evil
spirits and bring about healings.

Our modem conditioning makes us scoff at the idea that
the behavior of a person, costumed or not, filled with belief
or not, can actually influence the environment. And it's a
valid attitude if you accept the first-level ideas that reality is
outside of us, everything is separate, and energy acts ac
cording to its own laws. But if you accept the second-level
shamanic ideas that the world is what you think it is, that
everything is connected, and that energy flows where
attention goes, then of course the behavior of a person can
influence the environment. The only constraining factor then is
the degree of belief, connection, and energy. Shamans have
specialized in ways to increase the amounts of each of those.
In this chapter we'll be mostly concerned with increasing
the degree of connection.

First though, let's talk a little about the extreme end of
kulike, the art of changing from one form to another. This
is an ancient idea that has never ceased to fascinate human
beings. Gods, of course, are expected to be able to do it. Zeus
became a bull to woo Europa, Odin became a serpent and
an eagle to win the mead of inspiration, and Pele became a
beautiful woman to seduce Chief Lohiau. Our own modern
literature gives this power to certain human beings, either
as a curse or a blessing. So we have Count Dracula who
turns into a vampire bat, Dr. Jekyll who turns into Mr. Hyde
a scientist who turns into the Hulk, and Billy Batson who
turns into Captain Marvel, to name only a very few.
Shamans, also, are expected to partake of this power. Tales
abound of shamans who change into various animals for
different purposes, and in Hawaii the skill was supposed to
include changing into rocks and ropes. The president of an
African country I lived in was reputed to be a shaman who
visited the northern areas in the form of an antelope.

No doubt many such tales are of experiences in Po (the
inner world) rather than in Ao (the outer world), but not
necessarily all of them. Think a bit. If everything is broad
casting its own pattern and if you could match and re-broad-
cast the same pattern, then you would take on the
appearance and qualities of the thing you were matching.
It's theoretically possible within the system we are studying,
and many shamans believe it can be done. If this were an
extension of the talent under discussion that could actually
be developed, it would be very dependent on the skill of
concentration. It really isn't any different from the intention
of certain mystics who meditate on God so they can become
one with God. I'll let you take it from there.

The Pretender

2005-11-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

From 1996 - 2000 THE PRETENDER aired in prime time. Cinemorphics meets TV drama...on many levels...

A narrator at the opening of each episode sets it up...

"There are Pretenders among us.
Geniuses with the ability to become anyone they want to be.
In 1963, a corporation known as the Centre isolated a young Pretender named Jarod and exploited his genius for their research.

Then one day, their Pretender ran away..."

Interesting illustration of the concept.

HALLOWEEN SHAPESHIFTING

2005-10-30T15:40:00.000-08:00

What better time to explore the transformative powers of costume and mask. Not some goofy rubber Frankenstein mask. Something more sophisticated...elegant... Emerge from the shadows of the nighttime city...seductive and dangerous.

Speak Another Language - Operations - 9

2005-10-30T00:22:00.000-07:00

Begin to learn a foreign language. Speak it in your daily life instead of English (or the language you usually speak).

Action...Cut...Wrap - Observations - 7

2005-10-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

It is much easier to "do" your new character for short set periods at first…a couple of hours…then a day. A time period with a beginning and an end.

Like actors do in a play or film. They identify with the character for the duration of the production, then have no trouble dropping that character and taking on another. They give over the executive/directorial function. When the director says "its a wrap" they can move on...the production is over. Drop one character and move on to the next.

This does not happen in "real" life. There is no end to the identification with the character you are more or less stuck with…your ego/personality. Hence, if you try to change there is baggage that is carried around like an unwanted sack of shit. There is nobody outside…a director…to call action, cut and finally wrap, so you can drop the sack of shit and move on. The conditioning kicks in. But you can drop the conditioning for well defined short periods with less anxiety.

You have to learn to do it yourself…be your own director. Drop the old character, at first, for only a day. Take the risk of "doing" the new character for defined short periods at first…without anxiety. Make the transition gradually.

This effect can often be noticed on vacations. Especially in a foreign country. You don't "feel like yourself". You can drop the old you for the duration of the vacation, then when you return home the sack of shit is there again.

Paparazzi Yourself - Operations - 8

2005-10-28T00:07:00.000-07:00

Get someone to follow you around for a couple of days taking your picture in public…at places you usually hang out… as the "character" you are now. Pose. Have the photographer direct you. Now...adjust yourself a bit. Create a new look. New hair style, grow beard if you are a guy. Different costume. Get photographed again in places you don't usually go. Compare the two sets of pictures. Note reactions of people watching you get your picture taken.

ALL THE WORLD'S A SCREEN - Observations - 6

2005-10-27T14:10:00.001-07:00

Each Cinemorphic "project" should include all the elements of a film production…from conception (of new character), to story conferences, writing, financing, development, "crew" (show runner, director, acting coach, make-up, wardrobe, special skills/physical training, etc.), rehearsal, grand opening, performances (going live), promotion, distribution (playing in the real world), criticism/reviews, sequels, ancillary products, etc.

CHANGE ROUTINES - Operations - 7

2005-10-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Change the routines in your daily life. Your habitual ways of doing things outline a footprint of "you" in the world. If you want to alter your persona you should alter this footprint. If you drive to work via the same route every day, go a different way. Or take the bus...or a hot-air balloon. Shop at different stores. Eat at different restaurants. Hang out in a part of town you are not familiar with. Become a regular at a new coffee house. Shake things up.

A Note On OBSERVATIONS & OPERATIONS

2005-10-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

OBSERVATIONS and OPERATIONS are included in this blog to provide a taste of Cinemorphics only. They are by no means exhaustive. Also, they are not presented in, nor are they intended to be applied in any particular order.

RE-BLOG YOURSELF - Operations - 6

2005-10-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Set up a blog for your new character (and name?). Post to it regularly. Tell stories. Use it as a tool to flesh out the new character.

TOMBSTONE - Operations - 5

2005-10-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

Write your own obiturary. Take notes on how this makes you feel. Put it away. Have a look at it several weeks later...after starting the process of reconceiving, re-writing and re-"doing" yourself. Make notes on how you feel at this point. Consult your obiturary from time to time.

THE WORLD IS A MIRROR - Observations - 5

2005-10-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

The reaction of the world (friends, lovers, etc.) will interact with re-invention of the persona. It may not always be good. If you change one significant thing, you change everything. Be careful what you wish for. The world will be a mirror that you observe yourself in. You may not like what you see.

Also, once you change the world will treat you like a different person…which is what you want…you think. This may be expressed in unexpected ways which you cannot control. To this extent, you are as much shaped by the world as by yourself. Good thing though…you become more aware of the dynamics of the process and are not so much at its mercy.

THE SIMS - Operations - 4

2005-10-25T09:59:00.001-07:00

Play the Sims game. Practice becoming another character in virtual reality before "taking the show on the road" in the "real" world.

THE SIMS GAME (Ordinary Life Computer Simulation)
From the Manufacturer (as found on Amazon)
In the The Sims 2, you direct your Sims over a lifetime and mix their genes from one generation to the next. You set your Sims' goals in life; fame, fortune, family, romance or knowledge. Give them a long, successful existence or leave their lives in shambles. Take them to extremes, from getting busted to seeing a ghost, from marrying an alien to writing a great novel. Unleash your creativity with the all-new Create-A-Sim feature, new building options, and the new in-game movie camera. Get ready to mix their genes, fulfill their dreams, and push them to extremes. What do you want to do with your Sims' lives?

• Mix Genes: Your Sims have DNA and inherit physical and personality traits. Take your Sims through an infinite number of generations as you evolve their family tree.

• Fulfill Dreams: Your Sims now have purpose in life. Do they aspire to a life of fame, fortune, family, knowledge, or romance? It's up to you to decide if they will be a lover or a loser, a prince or a pauper, a fool or a mastermind, and many other choices. Give them what they want and they'll lead a long, successful existence; indulge their fears and risk ruining their lives. It's all in your hands.

• Push The Extremes: Will your Sims be left at the altar and need a shrink, or inherit a fortune and become filthy rich? Witness the big moments that make every Sim's life uniquely memorable.

• Unlimited Creativity: Generate unique Sims with the new Create-A-Sim, packed with a vast selection of facial features, hairstyles, and outfits. Build dream homes and design neighborhoods with new building, design, and home furnishing options.

• Revolutionary Movie-making: Make your own Sim films with the all-new movie-making feature. Create the cast, set the stage, take control of the camera, and capture your own screenplay in action. Zoom in close to record every detail as your very own Sims sitcom unfolds.

MADONNA - BRANDO - Operations - 3

2005-10-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

Spend the day "as" a well known personality. i.e. pretend you are…say… Marlon Brando or Madonna all day…identify with and play an array of different personas. Don't just feel it from the inside…act it out. Do impersonations. Variation: Be an animal for a day…a gorilla, say…or a cat.

ON B.S.

2005-10-24T22:39:00.001-07:00

The ego/persona, the character that you have become over the years, is really nothing more than a belief system, or B.S. as Robert Anton Wilson calls it. So messing with your B.S. is messing with your persona, your identity, which as religious wars have shown us, can have serious consequences. It also implies that the fluidity involved in engaging in a project like Cinemorphic alteration of "you" can result in an openness, wide-eyed disbelief and hair-on-end wonderment at the nature of things which engages life in a way that allows one to break out of the prison of B.S.

Belief systems are constructions...just like egos. They are tools to be used to maneuver through life and should not be confused with reality itself. Nietzsche wrote that belief systems are like windows and that one should "look out of this window, now out of that" but never get stuck looking out of only one. This is what the Cinemorphic malleability of ego/persona construction can accomplish.

CINEMORPHICS - Operations - 2

2005-10-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

Start consistently writing well put together letters to the editor of at least one daily newspaper "in character"...the character being the new persona you are developing. Sign a new name or altered version of your current name to these. Don't look at this as a joke or spoof. Take the things you say seriously...try to form the opinions your altered persona would express. Experiment with points of view different from the ones you typically hold as the "old" you. If your opinions are challenged...your new persona attacked...by either the editor or other readers, notice the protective feelings you now have for this "fictitious" character...which you are beginning to identify with.

CINEMORPHICS - Observations - 4

2005-10-23T02:52:00.000-07:00

This is a production not a daydream. What is the budget? Like a movie, it costs money. Can be either low budget or blockbuster but consciousness of the projects interaction with financing is important…all the way from cost of "effects", e.g. new "costumes", cosmetic surgery, flying lessons, a trip to Rio…to day to day living expenses. Is your new character commercial or a low revenue producing art house offering? You are the producer. You have to raise the money.

Another take on this same question: This type of project is much easier and more effective if money is not a consideration. If your new character involves having to do something new for money…e.g. art not fixing cars…the new character has to be marketable. This is part of the character description. This is a different game indeed.

CINEMORPHICS - Observations - 3

2005-10-23T02:51:00.000-07:00

Cinemorphics is a tool, not a panacea. It is a way to look at and handle reality. One angle on things…that can lead to insight and "freedom of movement."

CINEMORPHICS - Observations - 2

2005-10-23T02:48:00.000-07:00

Fluid, shifty identity meme proliferating in the last decade. Many manifestations. Identity theft. Extreme make-over TV shows. Popularity of cosmetic surgery. Nip/Tuck a hit. But all of this is physical enhancement (not ID theft of course). Cinemorphics is psychological and psychic as well as physical.

CINEMORPHICS - Operations - 1

2005-10-22T18:06:00.000-07:00

Take a "vacation" and be someone else while you're gone. Possibly use another name. Make up a new personal history for yourself. This is a version of the Astonish Yourself! experiment described elsewhere in the blog. Don't use this as a period of debauchery...act "normal" (relatively)...just act like like someone other that the habituated everyday you.

As they say...what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Observe carefully how it feels to now be the old "you" when you get back home. Which "you" is the "real" you?

CINEMORPHICS - Observations - 1

2005-10-22T16:18:00.001-07:00

Look at the attachment to your ego/persona/character you have haphazardly become over the years as an addiction. It is a habit that is hard to break. There is resistance and fear of change for which falling back into old patterns…the old character…is a narcotic.

SATORI TANGO, A Benny Pristine Mystery

2005-10-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

SATORI TANGO, A Benny Pristine Mystery is the title of a limited edition novella that I published a couple of months ago. Since the story has close ties to Cinemorphics...e.g. a draft of the Cinemorphics FAQ is found in Benny Pristine's apartment after he has disappeared...I make reference to it here. Also, here's a link to a SATORI TANGO blog which comments on and expands some of the book's themes.

Old school San Francisco P.I. Benny Pristine is hired by a mysterious and wealthy femme fatale to find the meaning of life...or else. Benny disappears. His girlfriend, Crysta Bella enlists the aid of several of Benny's inner circle, including H.P. Moondog and the enigmatic Quantum Coyote. Moondog's description of "QC"...a sort of preview of Cinemorphics...is presented below.

QC was short for Quantum Coyote, his "real name", his
identity of birth having been either lost to him following
a fall of several hundred feet while attempting Mt. Everest
alone, which he miraculously survived intact except for his
memory (the story he tells most often), or deliberately
erased by either himself or some covert government agency,
which he occasionally alludes to but which I carefully avoid
discussing.

Tonight, QC looked taller than usual and his skin tone
seemed different, but the ever present rumpled white
tropical suit and Panama hat were the same. I had noticed
over the years that "Mr. Coyote", as he liked to be
addressed by the uninitiated, could change his appearance
depending on the part of the world he was in, the language
he was speaking (he seemed to be able to speak them all),
the story about himself he was telling at the time (if he
was claiming to be half Irish and half Apache Indian and
expounding on the similarities of Native American and
Celtic Shamanism, he looked the part).

"I am a fictitious character...I make myself up as I go
along. Everybody else does too, they just don't know
it...what a pity..."

QC did not seem to age. Or, more accurately, he was able
to appear to be younger or older depending on the character
he was "playing" at the time. I once watched him make the
color of his eyes change like a mood ring.

"Controlled Multiple Personality Disorder...valuable tool
in my line of work!"

and...ALWAYS ASTONISHED...

2005-10-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Like ASTONISH YOURSELF!, here is another fascinating book and author. Fernando Pessoa had all of the personas he inhabited write their own poetry and prose "in character". The works are all very different from each other.

ALWAYS ASTONISHED: Selected Prose by Fernando Pessoa

An excellent introduction to this esteemed Portuguese poet's work, including his influential essay, "On Shakespeare." Pessoa is of special interest in the authorship debate because his fame is linked to the "heteronyms" (Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, and Alvaro de Campos) under which he also wrote and published. He has described "heteronyms" not merely as "pseudonyms," but as other characters/personalities that live inside him. "After looking for him in the poems, we search for him in the prose. The pursuit of the Other in Pessoa's work is never-ending," writes Edwin Honig (the translator and editor of Always Astonished) in his Introduction. In Always Astonished Pessoa and his several selves (Caeiro, Reis and de Campos) discuss one another's work, revealing how Portuguese modernism was shaped. "To pretend is to know oneself," Pessoa once wrote.

ALWAYS ASTONISHED is published by and available from City Lights.

ASTONISH YOURSELF!

2005-10-18T20:11:00.001-07:00

Roger-Pol Droit is a French philosopher, researcher at the Centre de la Recherche Scientifique and columnist for the French daily Le Monde.
He has written a fascinating book, ASTONISH YOURSELF! 101 EXPERIMENTS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF EVERYDAY LIFE, which he calls an entertainment but which is much more than that. I highly recommend that you buy the book and try the experiments. Since Chapter 27 speaks directly to matters central to Cinemorphics, I present it below…for your entertainment, of course.

CHAPTER 27 Invent Lives For Yourself

Duration: a few months
Props: none
Effect: disturbing

You only live once, as they say here. Others, elsewhere,
Will assure you that you have already lived out several
previous lives. No matter. You can multiply your own
lives yourself, and feel them proliferating. To do so you
need to carry out a relatively long and fairly demanding
experiment, but whose effects are well worth the effort.

During a period of several weeks, try systematically
inventing lives for yourself. Tell your new barber you
were a taxi driver in Detroit before you delivered pizzas
in New York. Recount your years of teaching in Australia
to a distant cousin. To your nephews spin yarns about
places you never saw, livelihoods you never made (who's
to know, after all.), great and small adventures, of fox
hunts and fogbound ports.

Do it properly. Don't just tinker. Recount the same
stories several times. Spice up the anecdotes, add new
details, fill in the blanks and eliminate implausibilities.
Tell the same stories to the same people. Take care not to
get muddled up. If need be, take notes, fill out cards, do
research. Persevere.

After a few months, you'll be familiar with these
alternative lives. You'll have answered a lot of questions,
and explained a good deal. You will have described,
narrated, taken up, and repeated the key episodes of your
various parallel autobiographies. Above all you'll have
implanted your fabrications into the minds of people who
believe what you've told them, and who will pass them
to others in the version you made up for them. They
believe it.

Why don't you? The point you need to reach is when
you start to doubt whether it's all false, and when you
can't quite tell what belongs to fiction, and what to your
real life. Or when-it comes to the same thing-you can
admit to yourself (without forcing or sudden delirium)
that what you used to consider your "true life" is really,
in fact, just one fiction among others. No more, no less.

The Birth Of Cinemorphics™

2005-10-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

My educational background is first in clinical psychology and then in research psychobiology. (A full bio will be posted later.) After receiving my M.S. and completing Ph.D. coursework, I began to find the prospect of a life in academia confining. I had been using film techniques and a motion picture camera in my research and had really gotten into the medium in its own right by that time. I took the camera home and never really looked back. I was invited to join a newly formed film and TV production company, which I did. This was in the late 60’s. I have been involved in one aspect or another in film and video production ever sense, operating my own company since the late 70s.

That's me on the left on the wall surrounding Xian.

I had dabbled with the idea of using method acting and other cinematic techniques as a way to "re-create" someone in "real" life and deal with individual problems, both psychological and physical, for years…since the early 70s when I took part in an ongoing actors/directors workshop and really began to see the power of cinematic/theatrical manipulation. By the early 90s this approach had gone through quite a gestation period and it was time to use it. On myself.

At this point, although I was still quasi-functional and successful, I was grossly overweight and addicted to alcohol, cocaine and cigarettes. Then a close friend, business associate and big time drinking and coking buddy of mine dropped dead of a heart attack. This woke me up. I decided to re-write and re-direct myself. I checked into hospital to de-tox and walked out a different character. I got a new wardrobe, dropped out of film for awhile and got involved in a restaurant-nightclub project, ate different and "acted" different. I knew I had to do this or die. I was able to write the booze and coke out of my character description…14 years ago…and do the same with cigarettes, which was much harder, a few years later.

My wife, especially, and close friends provided the support group/audience/cheerleader/coach component of the equation which is so important for the success of a major re-write.

The name Cinemorphics is an obvious choice for this approach.

Act Happy

2005-10-16T09:48:00.002-07:00

There is an interesting book, Never Act Your Age, by Dale L. Anderson, M.D. that takes a Cinemorphic approach to physiological as well as behavioral changes. The Edge Effect by Eric R. Braverman. M.D. also suggests that psychological "exercise" has physical effects. More on this later.

CINEMORPHICS™ FAQ

2005-10-15T13:11:00.000-07:00

CINEMORPHICS™ FAQ

"Life is a movie. The world is not made of atoms, it is made of characters and their stories."
Lon Chaney

WHAT IS CINEMORPHICS™?

Cinemorphics™ is the science and art of changing, transforming, transmuting the construct known as the ego, persona, self...what someone thinks of when asked to describe himself or herself...one's idea of oneself...from one form into another, by making use of the methods and techniques of acting and movie making. Bodily changes may also be addressed or result from this change in the psyche. Emotional and physical health may be improved.

"If you think you are and everybody else thinks you are, then you are."
Jean Genet

WHAT CAN CINEMORPHICS™ DO FOR ME?

Such changes may be sought for a number of reasons...to fix some problem either physical or psychological...for serious personal growth or just as a form of play.

When someone asks, who are you?, your response may include your name, age, sex, race, height, weight, hair and eye color, where you live, whether you are married or not, whether you have children, what you do for a living, your hobbies, your likes and dislikes, your religious beliefs, your hopes, fears, hang-ups, skills, etc. If pushed, you could produce an exhaustive "character" description of all of the things that, when combined, make up what you take to be you. You identify with this description, this construct.

This description of who you take yourself to be...your ego...includes genetic, biological and physical components as well as culturally conditioned, learned and psychologically "shaped" components. Most of these components have been assembled over a long period of time without your intervention. (e.g. you were born with black hair and learned to speak Spanish growing up.) Some you believe you have intentionally cultivated (e.g. you decided to learn to play the guitar and make your living as a musician). In many cases the distinction between which of your attributes were come by intentionally and which were thrust upon you by nature or nurture is very blurry.

In any case, this description of who you think you really are, this construct with which you identify, can be looked at in another way. If written out, your description of yourself reads like a character description in a movie script, play or novel. Consider yourself a fictitious character that has been devised by the haphazard, natural forces of ordinary life in the world but which you have believed is the real and only you.

Now that you realize that this "you" that you can observe and describe is very much like a character in a movie, consider the possibilities. If your life is a movie and you are the star, lets have a look at how your character was written...to a great extent not by you...and how you are being directed...also in many cases not by you. If you don't like what you see, demand a re-write. Your character...your self...is not written in stone. It is malleable and can be re-written, then rehearsed and performed by you...at first with the collaboration of and direction by a professional and then by you alone. You can also learn to be your own best, most discerning audience, write your own reviews...decide what is working and what is not. You become the producer, the star performer, the critic. You learn how to take charge.

HOW DO I DO THIS?

Either through a series of one on one sessions, or one or more intensive workshops. What follows is an overview of how these sessions and workshops are conducted.

You will be asked to provide a brief medical and psychological history and a summary of what you want to accomplish by using this process. The director of the sessions or workshop will describe the types and levels of change that Cinemorphics™ can provide, outline the procedures of, as well as the dangers inherent in the process.

You will then write a short character synopsis of "you"...your character as you now see it...which will be reviewed, discussed and then re-scripted, rehearsed and then performed, first in the private session or workshop environment and then in ordinary, day to day surroundings. Videotape may be used as a feedback device in these rehearsal and performance stages. During the course of the sessions you will possibly have assignments to do which relate to certain components of your new character. (e.g., if you decide that your new character speaks French, you could be directed to take a course in French. Or, you may simply be directed to go shopping...finally buy that intriguing hat you always thought would make you look mysterious, but always put off getting.)

Following the rehearsal/performance/audience stage, you and your director will evaluate the effectiveness of your re-written character and your enactment of it...whether it "plays" or needs more development.

YOU MENTIONED LEVELS OF CHANGE?

While one level of change is not inherently better than another, there are different kinds and amounts of change that are possible depending on what you want to accomplish. Some levels are more detailed and elaborate than others.

For example, your character synopsis may include shyness which you eliminate in your re-write. This may be the only thing you want to change and the only thing you work on. When you are successful, of course, this one change can affect everything else in your life.

Or, your character synopsis may include obesity and shyness which interact. Your new character is thin and flamboyant. You must work on both aspects of this in order to be able to play the part. In this case physical change must accompany rehearsal and "method" acting of flamboyant scenarios.

Or, you may want to make a more comprehensive change... be re-written and directed in identifying with and performing a character very different than the one you are playing at the beginning of the process. This could involve changing your name, your hair color, your wardrobe, your job, your routines, your skills, your "image", the way you conduct personal relationships, etc. You turn yourself into a work of art. Also, studies have shown that behavioral changes can result in physiological changes…heart rate, blood pressure, neurochemistry, etc.

So, as was alluded to above, one change can affect everything else in your life - or many changes can result in the "manifestation" of a single thing (or situation - it does not have to be a "thing") which you have desired that is now written into your script.. This aspect of the process of manifestation is discussed very effectively by David Spangler in his book "Everyday Miracles: The Inner Art of Manifestation" - much more effectively than in the more recent "The Secret" or the many other books about the Law Of Attraction. Cinemorphics™ allows a sideways approach to manifestation which can be explored in detail in the one on one sessions and workshops.

Additionally, after realizing that who you think you really are is simply a construct that you have identified with, a fictitious character that can be altered and performed, a tool that you use as you live your life, you may begin to dig deeper and ask more basic questions. Who am I really...who or what identifies with this fictitious character I have taken to be myself. Who is the observer...the witness to all this...who is making the changes in the character I am playing now? These are extremely significant questions and looking at them may result in a "waking up", a dropping away of the husk of persona altogether. In this respect Cinemorphics™ allows another sideways approach - to Zen, Advaita, Taoism and the other nondual traditions which can also be explored in advanced sessions and workshops.

"The ego is just the dream of the Witness, the film that the Witness creates..., simply so it will have something to watch at the movies."
Ken Wilber

WHAT ABOUT DANGERS?

Individuals with certain medical conditions and diagnoses of certain types of mental illness should not use Cinemorphics™ alone as a tool for change. Conventional medical approaches and psychotherapy need to be used prior to and in conjunction with Cinemorphics™ in these cases.

Also, when someone significantly changes even one aspect of themselves and their life, everything else changes as well (for good or bad - see above). A prudent consideration of this must be taken before you decide to re-construct yourself.

"Be careful what you're dreaming...soon your dream'll be dreaming you."
Willie Nelson

CAN YOU POINT TO EXAMPLES OF THE CINEMORPHIC EFFECT IN EVERYDAY LIFE?

As we look around our increasingly post-modern culture...particularly via the media...we can begin to identify powerful examples of the effect. Many movie stars and other celebrities have very effectively gone through this process. Character creation techniques are utilized extensively off the screen as well as on. The process is evident in the political and business arena and is used by con-men, criminals and spies to great effect...and pro-wrestlers. Post-operative transsexuals take the Cinemorphic process to one of its extremes...physical sex change as well as persona identity change. Thousands use aliases and conjure up alternate personalities in internet chat rooms and role playing games. Hundreds of thousands make a geographic change, introduce themselves with a new nickname and experiment with being a new person in a new location. You, yourself, have probably experienced becoming a "different person" on vacation, particularly in a foreign country.

As you become aware of the effect you will begin to see it everywhere, applied unconsciously and unsystematically in most cases.

Copyright © Charles Webb, 2005 - 2007

FOR MORE INFO: cinemorphics@yahoo.com

http://cinemorphics.blogspot.com