Chapter 1 

He was saying this, "From the visible to the non-visible. That is, something moving inside, in the air. The world is narrow. The world is a great shutter flapping against a hot moon. A man stands at the shutter and catches a glimpse between the folds and intimates something vast outside the shutters which, again, become shutters flapping closed to his eyes. A few chips of wood, a little paint, a faint odor, this is the world. Under certain conditions colors appear, a strange shape visible by necessity. It's necessary to see the world on the other side of the shutters. To stand on the other side, the side where intimation been fleeting but standing where many people have stood on the other side. Some movement has occurred! The shutter has sealed in quite a few. It's not so benign as seeing the world good, beautiful or ugly, a pearl from the cosmos and blinding light from above. These things are no longer privileged. There is no aristocracy of the soul. No churches that can be built around revelations. No, the world is too large and narrow for that. It is getting smaller, a tiny hold. A pin hole that looks black from a distance but, up close infinite! The cosmos in a pinhead. Made real by language. The feeling can be had at any time by a pill or perfume. It's unarticulated to the soul. Language is the secret to the soul. Argue with me! Dispute. Prove me wrong."

I was cautious around him because I realized that when he put his emotions behind an idea you let it flow out without resistance. Any resistance would bring on anger and you'd end up a victim. So I let him go on.

"Everything has access to the strange movement. NO! Not until the strange movement convulses itself, turns inside out, is made visible. The problem is the strange movement. It refers to the pure connecting life to death, life to death, both dangers of the soul, both polar to the soul. The soul has broken out...all over! But it lacks substance. This is a curious thing. The soul is not evidential or meaning through itself or it’s meaning is hidden even if it is actual- present- on the surface so to speak. It' "meaning" of course is infinity. But infinite does not mean everything. Infinite means everything through the soul. Why isn't the soul its own meaning? It is. To the point of its laziness or indolence. Once it has become manifest it becomes lazy because it's so new, so strange to human sensibility, especially as a captured and enslaved sensibility.

"Advance must be made through objects, no question. All objects, including words, especially words. If the soul becomes indolent it begins to want religion or direction. Danger! The soul has to become firm, firm with revealed substances and utterly alone. Alone, this is the important thing. Since fact has it now that all is one, all is diffused into one, since this is fact, a proof, then there is no need to extend the way or that way. No matter whose one it is it is all one. All talk about altered consciousness, egolessness, etc is so much crap. These are only signals, signal words for the soul to emerge and stand, naked. Instead they are thought to be causes and they will turn into movements because of indolence and fright. There is nothing more frightening than to confront the soul for the first time. Maybe it's not good that Americans discover their soul."

And he jabbed me with his shoulder with a knowing eye as if I knew, as he did, what he was saying.

David Eide
January 24, 2014