The evolution of QRS into QRST

[Laird]

A synchronicity of two events has resulted in my being able to make what I know will be a well-received announcement. The first event to which I refer is the set-back that the cause of the propagation of Wisdom has suffered through the dire schism that has erupted between its foremost three proponents. I imagine that those of you seekers who are still in the early stages of the journey, and thus overly subject to emotion, would have been deeply troubled by such a circumstance. "Surely ... surely...", you would have remarked to yourself, "Surely this does not - nay, it *cannot* - portend the end of the world's most illustrious association of genius sages? And if it does, then from where might I derive the spiritual sustenance that guides me ever onwards in the steady shedding of my better parts?" Yes, indeed, for the less sturdy among us this is a difficult period to be experiencing. Take heart, young souls, for I bring good tidings!:

Even but a few minutes ago did I penetrate to the very Heart of Wisdom itself! Yea, did I strip Nature bare of her garments and pillage her Mind and Body! My final self-verification is now complete. I have ascended the highest barrier; transcended the mundane and finally - at very last - entered the exalted arena of the Enlightened.

These two, then - the portentous schism and my elevation to the Enlightened realms - suggest, nay - demand, a particular course of action. You see it too? I am sure that many of you will have logically proven for yourselves what it is that I am now compelled by God to do (newcomers: please be advised that God is not who you think He is). Those of you who have come to know me in my pre-enlightened state know that I have a facility for mediating conflict. Peaceful co-existence is, I declare, a particular talent with which I am possessed.

Those of you who have not yet constructed the proof, I hope that you will see it clearly now: yes, I have changed my name to "Laird Totality" and henceforth I shall be the T in QRST. It shall be my task to restore a dignified co-existence to the lives of my new colleagues: guiding them through the choppy waters of argument into the deep calm of mutual understanding and respect.

It is my great honour to further reveal to you that my conversion has been utter and complete: no longer do I experience any emotion whatsoever; I am furthermore completely and utterly incapable of delusion: it has been banished from my mind FOREVER. In light of the fact that the existing members of the world's foremost association of sages have freely admitted that they are at times capable of experiencing deluded thoughts, it is logically necessary that I be distinguished from these already distinguished geniuses. To this end, you should write the new symbol of our club thus: QRS*T*.

And yet I have compassion for my occasionally-deluded colleagues: this distinction will no doubt at times cause you feelings of resentment borne out of the subtle emotional attachment to your ego that you still - in part - evidence. Should you ever feel at any time that these feelings are becoming excessive, I encourage you to act them out. One sure-fire method of dissolving them would be to accuse me of base and egotistical satire motivated by a desire to gain the approval of those whom I respect, and to even lock threads in which I am involved citing lack of philosophical merit and abuse of sock-puppets. I do hope that what remains of your pride does not prevent you from undertaking this venting, because, my barely tarnished brothers, I genuinely seek to guide you into the Ultimate realms in which I now exist.

And now I open the door to all seekers: question me in my Perfect Wisdom and let me point you to what you are capable of. I shall burn your delusions, trample on your wayward heart, prick your wilted conscience, stimulate your choking reason, fire your tired spirit and wash you clean as you give birth to a new Clarity.

[earnest_seeker]

I will pose the first question, but first let me congratulate you on your achievement. Some people seem to be intrigued and even delighted by the apparent schism between the QRS that you referred to in your OP and as played out in the thread Thanks to those I visited in the US and Canada. Do you think that such people are earnest about achieving enlightenment or do you think that they should be ashamed of themselves?

[Laird]

Earnest, you have posed what is known as a "wrong question". Usually what's wrong with a question is that an Enlightened Genius has no time for it, being that it undermines His world-view and makes Him feel uncomfortable. Sometimes, though, it's due to garden-variety illogicalities, which is the case with your question, which presupposes two options, neither of which is viable. Certainly, those who mock others who have advanced further along the path to Enlightenment than themselves are merely displaying a foolish attachment to the ego, but this is not to completely falsify their earnestness - yet-deluded seekers customarily fall into bad habits and we must exercise compassion when we judge their behaviour. So much for the first of your options - it is clearly not completely in alignment with the understanding of a sage and I cannot advocate it. The second of your options is no better: enlightened men do not feel shame. Shame is the product of a flawed understanding of the illusory ego's relationship to causality. Thus: no, the seeker should not submit willingly to shame.

If you care to posit other more likely options I am willing to make additional comment on them.

[DEludED]

What do you think it is that has prevented the QRS from perfecting their enlightenment?

[Laird]

Fear.

[DEludED]

What do you mean, fear? Perhaps I should explain: I'm scared to go outside. Posting here takes so much effort that I'm shaking as I write this. I don't know if I'll even have the courage to press the submit button. But the QRS - they post here frequently and regularly. They're not scared at all. How can you say that they're scared? I hear that they even put up websites. If I tried to put up a website I'd be so shaky that I wouldn't be able to type. And some folks tell me that the QRS even talk to people over Skype. I'm so scared to talk to people on the phone that my voice won't come out. But you tell me that they feel fear? What is it that you think they fear?

[Laird]

Mostly they fear the responsibility of perfection: the remaining fragments of their fading egos are caught in attachment to the safety of failure. To go that final step: to tear asunder one's ego and *fail to fail* forevermore - that is the leap that these (great) men hide from. To become bare naked to the hungry world as an unimpeachable master: that is the final step that - Totality be uncaused! - I was granted by God; likewise it is in God's hands as to whether these three giants overcome the remnants of their comfort-abiding egos.

[earnest_seeker]

Pardon me for interrupting, but I am curious to know what set of causes led to your attainment of the Highest Level? Can any man replicate them and if so, would such a man be likewise guaranteed entry into the Highest of Highs?

[Shahrazad]

Laird, I am writing as fast as I can because I want to make this post before the thread gets locked.

I just want to say that I found your OP very entertaining, and love your writing style.

Mind you, I'm probably doing you more harm than good. The fact that I was entertained by your post will be considered proof by some that it is totally lacking in wisdom.

[Laird]

For years now I have been perfecting the way of the sage: being indolent I shun employment; being gruff I shun friendship; being psychologically unbalanced I shun an emotional life; being jealous of women I shun femininity; being arrogant I exalt my own opinions of reality above those of everyone around me even when they hand me my ass on a plate in an argument. These practices, I tell you, are the cornerstone of spiritual progress. But let no man fool himself that he hath any but the most meagre of influences on his spiritual outcome outside the vast morass of existing universal causes: no man comes to the Father but that he is so caused.

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Laird "Totality": you're full of shit.

I'm not even going to bother arguing with you. It's too much time. You'll just bore me to death, which you'll then try to fucking trick me is a good thing. I'm out, dipshit. Enjoy your cleverness.

[Cut_to_the_chase]

Don't you think that you're pissing in your own pond by engaging in this sort of satire in a group of otherwise serious posters with whom you customarily engage seriously?

[Laird]

Chaser, if I may call you that: satire is of relevance to even the most enlightened of beings, who use it as a tool to demonstrate to the world their reasoning ability for the general benefit of humanity (and hence of Totality). It is no small feat to elucidate a subject on several different levels at once. The study by the less rational of work of this nature is conducive to the heightening of their spiritual leanings.

[Cut_to_the_chase]

It is no small feat to elucidate a subject on several different levels at once.

Now you're just blowing your own trumpet.

[Laird]

The fact that I was entertained by your post will be considered proof by some that it is totally lacking in wisdom.

In fact your appreciation for my post shows that you have a great facility for Wisdom. You show great promise and I would not be surprised to learn that you complete the first step, being the complete intellectual comprehension of Reality, in a very short space of time.

[Laird]

Now you're just blowing your own trumpet.

I'm glad that you made that comment, because there's a lesson in it for the reader. You are obviously an individual with an unusually high need to exalt himself around others, and to your shame you are wholly aware of this tendency. You are, however, unaware of your tendency to project this failing onto those around you. I, on the other hand, speak but Truth, regardless of the light in which it shows me. For example, I am no less willing to share with you the ugly truth that before my enlightenment I found joy in the arms of females.

[Laird]

Enjoy your cleverness.

Trevor, your hostility is clearly the result of significant and unfortunate emotional attachments: to the ideas of this forum and to your own need to remain free of criticism. I am fortunate enough to have recently transcended the need for enjoyment; nor do the critical or hostile thoughts of others have any bearing on my steady keel.

[Cut_to_the_chase]

I think that you're a fraud. The QRS are far more enlightened than you. I've seen your writings and you're nowhere near enlightened.

[Laird]

Chaser, a cogent argument is a bitter pill to swallow whole, as your knee-jerk post amply demonstrates. I have pointed you in the direction of Truth, more directly than you could hope for my three associates to do - not because they lack the purpose, but because they have not yet thrown off the final shackles of samsara. Their thinking is not yet wholly pure, whereas my brain runs bug-free software. You judge foolishly to judge me by my pre-enlightened communication: I have been in a state of absorption and crystallisation for several years now - a state which culminated in an understanding surpassing all understandings and that can never be reversed, not even in the slightest. You will be lucky to find amongst the whole world's population one who has even 1% of my consciousness. The Dalai Lama is in need of anti-psychotics if he be judged by my standards. Truly do I speak.

[earnest_seeker]

I know that the most advanced of all teachings is that of emptiness. I also know that Woman is man's ultimate failing. Would it be true to say that Woman is Empty?

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Laird,

I am fortunate enough to have recently transcended the need for enjoyment; nor do the critical or hostile thoughts of others have any bearing on my steady keel.

Blow it out your ass, and not in my face.

[Boyan]

What a flowing display of one's attachment to one's ego. I am the wisest Laird, because I am enlightened but do not go around using it as an ego booster you see. Now that, I think you'll agree, is wisdom of a slightly higher degree ;)

You have gone far, but you are still attached to your ego it seems. It shows in your claim to superiority over the QRS.

[Laird]

Would it be true to say that Woman is Empty?

That is indeed an apt description of the feminine, however save but in poetry it is no truer than to say that my head and those of my three associates is empty, and that our philosophy is empty. Indeed, all that you conceive of reduces to a set of causal relationships, none abiding in anything more ultimately substantial than a fleeting ghost of cause-and-effect: truly, all is empty, which is to say that all of our lives are empty, unless you turn your back on enlightenment, but who would do that?: everyone wants to be empty.

Blow it out your ass, and not in my face.

Trevor, is it not logical to discern that the winds of causality blow on both of our asses and faces? This rift between us is unbecoming of two spiritual brothers.

What a flowing display of one's attachment to one's ego. I am the wisest Laird, because I am enlightened but do not go around using it as an ego booster you see.

Boyan, your subtle delusions are logical proof that you do not truly deserve the title "enlightened", but it must be said that your desire to be so regarded is evidence that you are at least treading the spiritual path laid down by the masters from time immemorial down to time QRS*T*, and for that I commend you.

Now that, I think you'll agree, is wisdom of a slightly higher degree ;)

You have gone far, but you are still attached to your ego it seems.

Wisdom of the highest degree is the complete intellectual comprehension of Reality, and it is this highest order of Wisdom that one is gifted with in a blinding flash of insight. Your delusion that my recently departed ego holds any relevance in my writing is evidence that your wisdom is, regrettably (to you - not to me because as a fully enlightened being I no longer experience regret), substantiation of the claim that your wisdom is of a lower order.

It shows in your claim to superiority over the QRS.

Is it egotistical to speak Truth? Nay, I charge you: do not hold me to the lie, for I have gone beyond the need to molly-coddle the egos of the unenlightened!

[Dan Rowden]

Sock-puppets are so tedious.

[Boyan]

Laird, are you messing around with QRS by this, or are you serious?