Appearances
_I: Yesterday during the special broadcast we did, incredible things happened. On the occasion of the theme of Bipolarity, we decided to perform Piazzola's tango: “Balada para un Loco”, dressing irregularly, and staging an improvised story, which, beyond some minimal indications at the beginning, was never intended to last the entire hour. , and become a kind of constellation of erratic emotions.
_AM: Freedom of expression.
_I: Yes. We felt free, and because of this amazing things arose, in which the artistic improvisation of the boys allowed me to narrate the explanation of this topic. It felt fluid, how everything took us from expression to explanation and from there to alignment.
_AM: In the same way that the universe adapts, through chaos. Take that which is irregular to make sense of it and order it into a required pattern.
_I: Yes, that's what I like about this type of actions, that they order the chaos, giving it logic. Although not everyone sees it that way. Many people continue looking at the scenery and do not see the message of the work.
_AM: It's the difference between art and entertainment.
_I: What would it be?
_AM: Art is the ability to take one reality and transform it into another, showing a mutable action that proposes beauty, harmony and content capable of nourishing those who perform it and those who receive it. On the other hand, Entertainment is having something to do among other things. It is a space of relaxation where the content is not what is important, but rather the capacity for relaxation in contemplation, where it is not necessary to go into the depths, but rather it is something that separates two moments of attention, something that is between the deep, like a mere distension connector. Many people live their lives this way, since it is much easier not to delve deeper and stay with the superficial information that is typical of a life based on beliefs and preconceptions.
_I: So a person who lives from Art goes to the depths... That? But, there are many people who dedicate themselves to art and are very superficial, and sometimes art has merged with entertainment...
_AM: At the beginning of human times, Art was related to the deepest capacities of a being, which allowed them to tell their rich internal world, transmit knowledge, express the spirit. The different arts that we have already talked about were intended to amplify people's minds, emotions and bodies, making us richer and more whole. But many of these arts, of these deep visions of the internal world projected onto the external one, ended up becoming identifying features of a people, which allowed them to recognize each other and distinguish themselves from others. Thus, certain colors, clothing, words, constructions, traditions, became emblems of recognition, and art became a way to unite, to connect groups. This made artistic sources become social tools, culture and religion, laws, norms, morality. Nations emerge and with them nationalisms, and from there, the identification of groups in relation to ways of doing life and seeing the world. Art became a pattern, a law of life, ceasing to be creativity, to be the foundation of the structure on which societies are sustained. When art is shaken, when it seeks to rise and mutate as its nature indicates, the social foundations falter, leading to moments of systematic instability, which puts the status quo at risk, although it promotes evolution. Leaving the place makes the sane people of the system, the mobilizers and protesters, seem crazy, and they try to overshadow the art that emerges from them. This is how you see art as the main weapon in a dictatorship, as the foundation of every revolution, the first voice that wants to be silenced by those who try to maintain order according to their traditions. States and Religions, as well as Clans, usually seek to maintain a constant idea of what should be, so as not to lose stability, and if something breaks with these pre-established schemes, they will immediately point their index finger at the “culprit”, in criticism. who discerns “what is right from what is wrong.”
_I: This is what I have seen many times, many people judging how I dress, what I eat, if my face is tired, if I said a bad word, and they claim that because I am a public image I should act as they expect me to fit into their patterns. . Today I read someone who was upset that I wore a shirt and a hat because “it wasn't spiritual of me,” since according to their standards, someone spiritual should be austere, humble, and shaved like a Tibetan monk. In fact, that's what he said... So I wonder, to what extent is he right about this or am I really not doing a good job by wearing a hat that I like?
_AM: Hehehe, the Appearances. Because culture turned art into tradition, the different ceased to be art and became a mere illogical relaxation that relaxed the mind, like seeing paintings, holding exhibitions, being fashionable in design, competing in theatrical works for the best originality, making books with zero content, laughing or crying movies without a message, television programs in general. The different stopped being seen as what transforms, to become a mere nexus of a blank mind where the individual stops participating and becomes a mere empty spectator. Thus, more time is wasted on the appearances of things, and they become synonymous with their contents. The human stops going deeper, and if he sees a cross, he immediately sees Christianity, when perhaps he talks about solstices and equinoxes, he sees spirituality in a robe, or enlightenment in a Tibetan monk. He begins to judge the content simply by appearances, since he stopped going deeper to live on the surface. It is easier and more agile to interpret something by how it looks than to dedicate the time to know and understand it.
_I: Sure… I see it clearly.
_AM: This is how entertainment arises, which stops being simply the time you have to disperse between one thing and another, to become a way of seeing the world, and individuals judge realities as if it were a matter of scoring with little stars. the content of a platform like Netflix. They begin, therefore, to be guided by appearances rather than by content, and believe only in what they see.
_I: What are appearances?
_AM: It comes from the word “Par”, which means an equal, to seem. With the prefix “ad” (towards), “To appear” arises, which is to go towards what is similar. Appearance speaks of the quality of a being to resemble another. This is a useful term in evolutionary development, since many beings have survived, appearing to be parts of a tree, or resembling other, more dangerous animals. The same thing happens with certain predators that appear to be their prey or the environment in which they move, attracting them directly into their jaws. The idea of pretending to be what one is not was functional to development, creating these bipolarities in an individual, which propose the option of being more than one thing and adapting to the environment. However, this can be used in various areas that, beyond development, propose control, dominance, and all types of attacks on others.
_I: “Appearances are deceiving”, they often say…
_AM: The wolf who dresses as a sheep, and the sheep who dresses as a wolf. The first is the clear example of those individuals who seek to obtain something from others, and therefore dress in their skins and traditions, with the aim of being accepted as equal even if they are not at all, and their intentions border on the macabre and machiavellian. On the other hand, the sheep dressed as a wolf is usually that person who pretends to be strong, who moves in hard and grotesque spaces, but who in reality does so to avoid being harmed, covering himself with foreign layers that strengthen him in appearance although by Inside they are breaking, fragile as glass.
_I: Sure… Like that Heavy Metal that is a tender and loving being, compared to a New Age Spiritual that is a dictatorial manipulator.
_AM: In a superficial world, appearances are above all the way of understanding and assimilating the environment, based on skin colors, clothes, tastes, movements, the people with whom one associates, the traditions that one associates. go on. The same tool that gave us a place in this world is the one that separates us and destroys us when it comes to building something new and pure.
_I: Yes, I have seen this in the world of those who hope to live in a harmonious, beautiful, spiritual reality, and yet, there are the same prejudices, judgments, conditioning, repeating patterns of religions of believing that their heaven or their way Seeing things is what counts, and others don't.
_AM: You must put yourself in the observer's place and recognize what things you observe in the world with the judgment of your beliefs and expectations. It is important that we all do self-observation that allows us to recognize who we judge. Because I am sure that for many, like you, it will be easy for you to say what others point out from their prejudices, but it is usually more difficult to accept what we point out. I invite you to do this exercise.
_I: To recognize who I judge by appearances?
_AM: Exactly.
_I: Well… If I think about it, many. For example, it has happened to me that every time I have gone to China I had a very bad time, and in my brain I have a preconception with everything that refers to China in many aspects in general.
_AM: Do you consider yourself racist?
_I: No, mentally I don't consider myself racist, but it is true that on a cultural level one can become unintentionally. I was born in an environment in which until I was 18 I never saw anyone with black skin, not even an Asian. I had very little contact with other ethnicities throughout my childhood and adolescence, and even in adulthood, there was never a context of diversity, not because I didn't want to, but because it never happened. On this issue of appearances, I have seen people think that we must have friends of each ethnic group to show that we are integrative, and that comment seems much more racist to me than not having friends of other colors, because I cannot conceive that friendships should only occur for appearance. And it has happened to me, however, to fall into generalizations, to "put everyone in the same bag", like talking about "Chinese" instead of those that specifically affected me. I guess it's a cultural issue to work on.
_AM: Do you consider yourself homophobic?
_I: It would be absurd…
_AM: It's not. How many homosexuals are homophobic?
_I: Well… Of course… It's true, because of the issue of “having a pen”, being effeminate, I have sometimes judged the exaggeration of some even surpassing the feminine to exacerbate their natural condition… It seemed unnecessary to me.
_AM: But you admit it's been a trial.
_I: Yes…
_AM: Are you prone to misogyny or misandry? That is, hatred of women or hatred of men.
_I: No, I don't consider myself that way, because I don't see any conflicts with either one or the other in any sense.
_AM: Who have you judged by appearance?
_I: Ugh… To many, in many areas. At first I was afraid of the Metalheads, the Heavy Metal lovers, who seemed diabolical to me, until my best friends were Heavies, and my vision of them changed completely. Before I was terrified of transvestites and transsexuals, but especially the former, because it made me insecure, I'm afraid of makeup and wigs, not knowing who is really behind them. But over time I was able to overcome that fear and it no longer affects me internally, I realized that it was something very typical of me. I have judged a lot of people who are spiritual of the New Age, being that I am part of it in a certain way, because I do not tolerate false spirituality, hugs and loves just for the fact that "you have to be loving to be spiritual." ”. I have had intolerance inside me with those types of people. So yes, I have and do judge by appearances.
_AM: And what do you judge of your own appearances?
_I: Many times I judge myself for being spiritual and channeling, even though I feel good, I judge myself as erratic, absurd. Also my body, until I was 21 I didn't really accept being a man, and from that moment on I never fully accepted my body, I always had complexes with showing my body, giving a lot of importance to the superficial, to how it looks.
_AM: Have you judged others for doing things the way they do them?
_I: As a good Capricorn ascendant, yes, I have always thought that I could do better what others do... Despite this, I always respect the forms and I would never, ever publicly tell someone how they should do their thing, because I know that if they had That being in my hands would be my responsibility, but it is not, it is not my task. That does not mean that I have even laughed at the inabilities of others to do what they do and how they do it. And now that I think about it, it's something that bothers me a lot when they do it to me, the only difference is that I don't say it, which I think is worse.
_AM: Well... The important thing is to realize, talk about it, recognize that the ego is damaged, and therefore it damages. Recognize that what you live is a reflection of who you are. And appearances will dominate your life if you give them a lot of importance.
_I: Should we care how things look?
_AM: Oh, no, what they look like helps us know what to do with it. A green fruit is inedible, horrible to taste, almost toxic, while a ripe one is perfect for the body, although when you see it wilted, it will be useful for compost. The image, appearance of said fruit, allows you to identify three useful stages of it. Recognizing appearances helps identify states, but not what is. A fruit is a fruit, from the moment it blooms until it is consumed to nourish the seed. However, their mutable states serve different processes. Appearances speak of these processes, therefore, you cannot judge the being or individual by how they look, you can only understand their current state according to their similarity.
_I: I understand…
_AM: So, do not judge the being by its appearances, but pay attention to them, for they will indicate to you what is happening now.
_I: Appearances are the first thing we see in another, which attracts us or repels us. How to manage it?
_AM: That is sexual energy. Sex is the divisions, what separates us and makes us unique, and physical appearances are the first that attract to complement what we lack or what we can deliver.
_I: I like men, and I have my specific tastes in relation to them. Why am I attracted to this appearance and not another?
_AM: Because in this life your greatest role is to be the Network, to be the mother that contains, and that is why you need the energy that nourishes you, the one that moves through the network, the masculine one. Furthermore, your emptiness is there, the absence of your father for 27 years of your life, the death of your father 12,000 years ago giving you the responsibility of a people, and the rejection and exile promoted by your father 900 years ago, has built the need to look for love in men, and to see yourself as the father that you have not been able to have for thousands of years. Someone's search for appearances is related to what we had or are missing, and that we need to complete. You have already had enough female presence in your life, and they have never represented a lack, but rather a constant complement, which has designed a much deeper integration with the appearance of women than with that of men.
_I: Oh, I understand… Yes, that makes sense.
_AM: Appearances attract us to each other, awakening sexual or asexual energy depending on the voids that we must fill or that we prefer to reject, all in relation to what makes us feel nourished. Therefore, recognize your sexual energy in the pursuit of appearances as well.
_I: I feel a great imbalance in it. I feel that sexual energy is something that I have not been able to fully hold in my center, as if I needed to fill a void, and that is why I look for partners with the appearance of what I do not find in myself, which always causes my relationships to fail. .
_AM: Because you must redirect said energy in order to sustain your own being, and not that of others. Use sexual energy for ascension rather than dispersion. Remember, sexual energy is another one of those great entertainments that was once art. Reconnect with the art of Sex, transcending the entertainment in it, and use its energy to go beyond appearances. It seems to have nothing to do with it, and yet, the sexual aspect is related to the skin, the organ that covers everything, and therefore, the dress that is seen, what it appears. By managing sexual energy, releasing repressions and expectations, going beyond entertainment and turning it into art, you will be able to go beyond appearances, to look for what is missing, to reject or desire, to hide to be accepted or to take what necessary, and thus, you can be free from what you appear, to be yourself. In addition, many more people control sexual energy than in other areas, making it one of the main drivers in the world today: the sale of sexual appearance.
_I: Unexpected, but it strangely makes sense. It reminds me of that phrase that we usually use in Argentina when someone is too complaining, nervous, judgmental and critical of others, which is: “This person needs a good shake (Sexual).”
_AM: In the judgment of appearances, the phrase is used because dopamine and endorphin are released in the orgasm, which make the person relax and see everything completely different than how they did when they were in tension. But it is not necessary for another to “solve that problem”, when oneself knows how to direct one's own sexual energy, one is able to transcend every state of tension, and get beyond appearances by loving oneself.
_I: I set the intention to be free to appear to be what I am not, and to judge the things that appear to me. Being the owner of my own creative energy.
_AM: Apparently, you are on the path to being yourself.