---
title: Gospel of Muflax
date: 2010-11-12
techne: :done
episteme: :believed
---

Foreword
========

Every mystic needs their own gospel. You can't just go around, claiming "Those dudes pretty much said it all." and expect to be taken seriously. You have to not just invent your own terms, mythology and techniques, you also need your own Holy Texts about Everything One Needs To Know. At the very least, write some <del>fanfic</del> new revelations to some other text. But then it better have some angels and dragons and shit!

So, here is mine. Even with added confusing commentary! Further revelations will be added as The One Who Knows Shit (TOKSHI, 特使) teaches me more.

Gospel of Muflax
================

Thus have I heard. 

1. TOKSHI said, nothing lasts.[^anicca] If you watch closely, things keep on wobbling away, even really sticky ones.

2. TOKSHI said, don't identify with things. Those that think they are things, become things. Those that don't think they are things, aren't bogged down by all the silly associations.[^anatta]

3. TOKSHI said, now is good, tomorrow never good enough.

4. TOKSHI said, don't force it. Things have a way of getting done if you don't try to get them done while getting them done.[^gtd]

5. TOKSHI said, do whatever you want to do because that's what you're gonna do anyway. But try being nice sometimes?

6. TOKSHI said, those that know the Law, will follow it. Those that say they know the Law, will break It. But they will get laid.[^unity] 

7. TOKSHI said, it's worse than you think. The Thing That Makes Things Happen According To Plan lost The Plan, but It is pretty good at faking it.

8. TOKSHI said, the universe doesn't care about you. Like, at all.[^emptiness]

9. TOKSHI said, if you try hard, you can do some wicked shit with your mind. Play around some time.

10. TOKSHI said, everything is better with practice. Try it some more, you will get good at it, promise. This includes dying.

11. TOKSHI said, don't wish for things because then you will get exactly what you wished for and it will totally suck and you will look stupid.[^wish] 

12. TOKSHI said, you have a brain the size of a coconut. You think that's just the right size to understand everything? Are you sure about that?

13. TOKSHI said, there are only two correct answers to the question "What is this?"[^whatisthis] - the first, "It's not what you think it is."; the second, "Let me show you!".

14. TOKSHI said, every strength is a weakness. Be empty, be invincible.

15. TOKSHI said, fail in interesting ways.

16. TOKSHI said, go meta.[^meta]

17. TOKSHI said, justification flows from above to below.

18. TOKSHI said, never compromise.

19. TOKSHI said, be concrete about your despair.

20. TOKSHI said, don't be happy.

[^anatta]: 
    Try "finding yourself" some time. But don't do a half-assed job and stop
    with the first thing that comes up. Be thorough. Allow yourself to be
    genuinely surprised. If it makes sense right away, then it is most
    definitely wrong.

    A koan. One day, a monk went to TOKSHI and said, "Holy One, my mind has no
    peace as yet. Please, put it to rest.". TOKSHI quoted,

    > Huike said, "Your disciple's mind has no peace as yet. Master, please, put
    > it to rest.". Bodhidharma said, "Bring me your mind, and I will put it to
    > rest.". Huike said, "I have searched for my mind, but I cannot find it.".
    > Bodhidharma said, "I have completely put it to rest for you.".

    The monk searched and returned. "Holy One, I have searched for my mind and
    found it. Please, put it to rest now.". Upon hearing this, TOKSHI died.

[^anicca]:
    When you watch yourself watching yourself, you will occasionally catch
    yourself not watching yourself. Really. Try it. (Unfortunately, it takes a
    lot of practice to get there. The problem is developing a strong enough
    concentration and to get rid of many mental filters until you can direct
    your attention at your own attention. The rest falls into place in no time.) 
    
    You see, even the elementary metaphysics of the universe are too lazy to put
    in full effort all the time.  But hey, being All There Is can be exhausting
    sometimes. You'd cut corners, too. 

[^gtd]: 
    Imagine the world being run by the most spiteful of all Demons. Whatever you
    plan, it will prevent. Whatever you want, it will take away. Whatever you
    want to avoid, it will force on you. But if you stop making any plans, it
    can't do anything anymore. The opposite of zero is still zero.

    This is when the Tao can take over. The Tao is a lot nicer than the Demon.
    So, stop making plans. And imagining demons. What are you, 5?

[^unity]:
    Bullshitting others and yourself is a crucial skill in evolution. Even
    bacteria fake hard work while slacking off. Saying what is right, but
    doing what is convenient is the Ultimate Shortcut. 

[^emptiness]:
    This place is Limbo. It is utterly devoid of Meaning, of Truth, of Value, of
    God, of Purpose or of Choice. You are not even a prisoner or a slave because
    there is no Master, no Punishment, no Torment and no Guilt.
    
    Nothing you or any one else does matters. Understanding is irrelevant and
    temporary. Ignorance always takes over, no Structure lasts, everything is
    ground down eventually. There is no escape, but also no meaning to be had in
    suffering or revolution because there is no one watching, nothing to escape
    into and no transformation to be achieved. All we will ever do will be
    undone.

    It is the worst of all Hells because it uses consciousness against itself.
    If there were active punishment, active torment, any plan at all, we could
    rebel. We could take a stand. If there were any purpose, Freedom would be
    possible. 

    It is the best of all Heavens because it never lasts, never allows us to
    grasp it, never fulfills. It gives us constant struggle, doomed to failure,
    and in it, we strive. 
    
    It is just on the brink of emptiness, just full enough that our minds can
    make out Forms and Shadows, but not enough for them to hold onto. All
    suffering is self-inflicted by delusion, but knowledge is impossible, and
    delusion becomes inevitable. 

    > Long have you repeatedly experienced the death of a mother. The tears
    > you have shed over the death of a mother while transmigrating and
    > wandering this long, long time - crying and weeping from being joined with
    > what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing - are greater
    > than the water in the four great oceans.
    > 
    > Long have you repeatedly experienced the death of a father, the death of a
    > brother, the death of a sister, the death of a son, the death of a
    > daughter, loss of relatives, loss of wealth, loss due to disease. The
    > tears you have shed over loss with regard to disease while transmigrating
    > and wandering this long, long time - crying and weeping from being joined
    > with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing - are
    > greater than the water in the four great oceans. Why is that? From an
    > inconstruable beginning. A beginning point is not evident, though beings
    > hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating and
    > wandering on. Long have you thus experienced stress, experienced pain,
    > experienced loss, swelling the cemeteries - enough to become disenchanted
    > with all fabricated things, enough to become dispassionate, enough to be
    > released.
    > 
    > -- Buddha, Assu Sutta

    This world is exactly as I would have designed it. Have fun.
    
[^wish]:
    A long time ago, a young monk had a clear vision of The Perfect Life,
    including a place to live and a girl to be with. Then he moved to that
    place and met that girl and he was really unhappy. Turned out, he didn't
    actually like being there and the girl was kinda boring and just as full of
    fear and uncertainty as the monk, so what good is she, really?

[^whatisthis]:
    A koan.

    After a lesson, TOKSHI would often meet with individual students in private
    and allow them to ask any question about things they didn't understand. One
    day, an especially curious monk hid behind a curtain and listened to the
    conversations. This day, three students came.

    The first student asked TOKSHI, "Holy One, you have told us about God.  I
    don't know what God is. Can you tell me?", and TOKSHI answered, "It's not
    what you think it is. Let me show you!", upon which TOKSHI would make the
    student see God. 

    The second student asked TOKSHI, "Holy One, you mentioned rebirth. What is
    this?", and TOKSHI answered, "It's not what you think it is. Let me show
    you!", upon which TOKSHI would make the student be reborn.

    The third student asked TOKSHI, "Holy One, what is liberation?", and TOKSHI
    answered, "It's not what you think it is. Let me show you!", upon which
    TOKSHI would make the student free.

    Upon hearing TOKSHI's three answers, the monk was enlightened.

[^meta]: Including on going meta. You can always go meta.
