This is undoubtedly one of the finest films I’ve ever experienced. Each scene is a profound exploration of life’s complexities. If, like me, you occasionally lose yourself in the marvels of life, then this movie “Waking Life” is an absolute must-see.
Language
Creation seems to come out of imperfection. It seems to come out of a striving and a frustration. And this is where I think language came from.
I mean, it came from our desire to transcend our isolation… and have some sort of connection with one another.
And it had to be easy when it was just simple survival. Like, you know, “water.” We came up with a sound for that. Or, “Saber-toothed tiger right behind you.” We came up with a sound for that.
But when it gets really interesting, I think, is when we use that same system of symbols to communicate… all the abstract and intangible things that we’re experiencing.
What is, like, frustration?
Or what is anger or love?
When I say “love,” the sound comes out of my mouth… and it hits the other person’s ear, travels through this Byzantine conduit in their brain, you know, through their memories of love or lack of love, and they register what I’m saying and say yes, they understand.
But how do I know they understand?
Because words are inert. They’re just symbols. They’re dead, you know?
And so much of our experience is intangible. So much of what we perceive cannot be expressed. It’s unspeakable. And yet, you know, when we communicate with one another, and we– we feel that we have connected, and we think that we’re understood, I think we have a feeling of almost spiritual communion.
And that feeling might be transient,
but I think it’s what we live for.
Perspective of an old woman about to die
– I keep thinking about something you said.
– Something I said?
– Yeah. About how you often feel like you’re observing your life… from the perspective of an old woman about to die. You remember that?
– Yeah. I still feel that way sometimes. Like I’m looking back on my life. Like my waking life is her memories.
– Exactly. I heard that Tim Leary said as he was dying… that he was looking forward to the moment… when his body was dead, but his brain was still alive. They say that there’s still 6 to 12 minutes of brain activity after everything is shut down. And a second of dream consciousness, right, well, that’s infinitely longer than a waking second. You know what I’m saying?
– Oh, yeah, definitely. For example, I wake up and it’s 10:12, and then I go back to sleep and I have those long, intricate, beautiful dreams that seem to last for hours, and then I wake up and it’s… 10:13.
– Exactly. So then 6 to 12 minutes of brain activity, I mean, that could be your whole life. I mean, you are that woman looking back over everything.
– Okay, so what if I am? Then what would you be in all that?
– Whatever I am right now. I mean, yeah, maybe I only exist in your mind. I’m still just as real as anything else.
The Mind
The main character is what you might call “the mind.”
It’s mastery,
it’s capacity to represent.
Throughout history, attempts have been made… to contain those experiences which happen at the edge of the limit… where the mind is vulnerable.
But I think we are in a very significant moment in history. Those moments, those what you might call liminal, Limit, frontier, edge zone experiences… are actually now becoming the norm.
These multiplicities and distinctions and differences… that have given great difficulty to the old mind… are actually through entering into their very essence, tasting and feeling their uniqueness.
One might make a breakthrough to that common something… that holds them together.
And so the main character is, to this new mind, greater, greater mind. A mind that yet is to be.
And when we are obviously entered into that mode, you can see a radical subjectivity, radical attunement to individuality, uniqueness to that which the mind is, opens itself to a vast objectivity.
So the story is the story of the cosmos now.
The moment is not just a passing, empty nothing yet. And this is in the way in which these secret passages happen.
Yes, it’s empty
with such fullness…
that the great moment, the great life of the universe… is pulsating in it.
And each one, each object, each place, each act… Leaves a mark.
And that story is singular.
But, in fact, it’s story after story.
I do not await the future,
anticipating salvation,
absolution,
not even enlightenment through process.
I subscribe to the premise that this flawed perfection is sufficient and complete...
in every single, ineffable moment.
When it was over
When it was over,
all I could think about…
was how this entire notion of oneself, what we are, is just… this logical structure,
a place to momentarily house all the abstractions.
It was a time to become conscious,
to give form and coherence to the mystery.
And I had been a part of that.
It was a gift.
Life was raging all around me,
and every moment
was magical.
I loved all the people, dealing with all the contradictory impulses.
That’s what I loved the most– connecting with the people.
Looking back, that’s all that really mattered.