The realist vs. the artist

by Jon Rappoport

April 8, 2021

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“All human accomplishment has the same origin, identically. Imagination is a force of nature. Is this not enough to make a person full of ecstasy? Imagination, imagination, imagination. It converts to actual. It sustains, it alters, it redeems!” (Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King)

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” (Albert Einstein)

—You say reality is invented. I say it’s THERE already, and we have to deal with it.

What does “deal with it” mean?

Accept it.

What do you do after that?

Not my concern. Outside my realm of control.

You’re denying you can create something better than reality.

What do YOU do? You just write plays and put characters on a stage. It’s fake reality.

I should just take a camera out into the street and shoot what’s in front of me? That’s my limit? You think consciousness is a steady-state THING. It’s dynamic and alive. No matter how high you go, there’s always something more. Something new that can be created. There is no final state of consciousness.

Consciousness is: what I see. It’s what I think and react to, when I see what I see. That’s all.

So you have no choice. You’re in prison.

I didn’t say that.

That’s what you mean. —But imagination is the key that unlocks the prison cell.

Really? I say there’s no such thing as imagination. It’s a reconstruction of what already exists. You rearrange pieces. Realism makes sense. Everything else is fluff.

Translation: you accept What Is. You might complain, but you accept. You end up creating nothing.

What happens to the characters in one of your plays? They all have limits. Each consciousness is limited. They’re chess pieces on a board.

That’s what you see when you sit and watch a stage play?

What else is there to see?

Life. A different kind of life.

I doubt that. On one end, you have a very imperfect person. He’s making all the mistakes he can possibly make, and he damages his own life. On the other end, you have a perfect person, however you want to define that. And that’s what he is. Perfect. And so what?

Again, you think consciousness is a given—“it is what it is.” It doesn’t change. At best, it just solves problems. I see a stage play as a different universe. It sends clues to the audience. “Reality isn’t fixed.” “Look what can be done to reality.”

No. We’re all in this reality called Life on Earth. That’s what we’ve got. We have to deal with it in the best way we can.

So according to you, all the artists who’ve ever lived were just amusing themselves, distracting themselves.

Pretty much, yes.

And all the mystics who’ve ever had visions were just deluded.

Right.

Reality is something that’s stamped on all our minds.

Correct.

What happens when you change your mind, when you rebel against the stamp?

You find out you can’t move the mountain.

That’s your bottom line?

It’s everybody’s bottom line.

Or…you just lack the courage to make your best vision into fact in the world.

I don’t have a vision.

Why not?

I’m not built to have a vision.

How do you know that?

Through experience. I live, and live some more, and no vision shows up.

You have to imagine a vision.

Imagination is delusion.

You’re imagining yourself as you are, over and over. You’re constantly imagining an image of yourself as you think you are.

That’s an interesting statement, but I don’t believe it.

What would happen if you did believe it?

I’d be forced to go on a whole new voyage.

And?

You want me to give up what I have, on the chance that if I go out into the sea, I’ll find something better.

Yes—something more ALIVE.

And what would that be?

I don’t know. It would be your vision.

You want me to throw caution to the wind.

Yes.

That’s asking for a lot. In return for something highly doubtful.

Forget doubt. Doubt is easy.

I guess, if I have a vision, that’s what it is: Doubt.

What are you going to build on that foundation?

You want me to become a character in a play?

A larger character. Or the playwright.

Sounds like cheap pie in the sky.

You can’t build much on cheap pie in the sky. Or any cheap idea.

You think I’m being cheap.

Absolutely.

I’m “writing a bad play called Reality.”

Yes.

And there are better plays I could write.

Potentially, an infinite number.

The sky’s the limit?

Even the sky is a limit. If great, great sages are sitting there, in their illumined states of mind, sooner or later it occurs to them they can create something MORE. Buddha is sitting there, and one morning he says: I can create something more. And he does.

And in that scenario, if painters like Degas and Rembrandt and Piero della Francesca are still somewhere, painting, they’re going further than they’ve ever gone before.

Yes.

Why?

Because they imagine more, they want to keep inventing. They want to see more.

Whereas I’m busy deciding whether to order a salami sandwich or a pastrami sandwich.

Right.

I’m getting tested twice a month and taking the vaccine.

Right.

I closed my store and went out of business because the governor said I had to.

Right.

I could reinvent my future as a “champion for freedom.” Or whatever.

Right.

Suppose I believe in God?

Yes? And? Did God say STOP? Is that one of His Commandments? Did he say ACCEPT REALITY? Did he say DON’T IMAGINE SOMETHING BETTER? DON’T CREATE IT? Did he say LEAVE THE MONEY CHANGERS IN THE TEMPLE TO THEIR OWN DEVICES?

I don’t know.

I think you do know.

Imagining is just pretending.

If that’s the way you see it, then pretend.

What?

Pretend you have a vision of what you really want to create. Pretend you’ve imagined it.

Really?

Yes. If you think imagining is lying, then lie. Lie to yourself that you have a vision of a better future. If you think imagining is making up illusions, then make up an illusion of a vision, and follow it no matter what.

And if I think I have no imagination, then imagine I DO?

Yes. Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes to overthrow your idea that realism is all you have. Break the chains.

Suppose I can’t?

That’s what you keep imagining: “I can’t.” That’s your vision: “I can’t.”

So out of nowhere, I should just overthrow reality?

Yes, and shove in all your chips on that move.

Why did you show up at my door?

That’s what I do.


The Matrix Revealed

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Jon Rappoport

The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free NoMoreFakeNews emails here or his free OutsideTheRealityMachine emails here.

16 comments on “The realist vs. the artist

  1. Opie Poik says:

    “His goal has transcended his person.”

    https://toltecschool.com/toltec-indexes/index-page-1/the-somersault-of-thought-into-the-inconceivable

    “For you to demand a rational explanation of ‘a somersault of thought into the inconceivable’ is a travesty. You know exactly what it is.”

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts;
    And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.
    And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered.
    For thought is a bird of space, that in

    =========> a cage of words rhythmic silence. <==========

    ~ Kahlil Gibran, "The Prophet"

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    How did the first teacher learn anything?

    • Opie Poik says:

      Oh, no! The above total misprinted! Yipe. Wha’ happened? Halt the Gibran quote is missing and garbled. It’s from “On Talking” from “The Prophet”. Sorry!

      • Lyn P says:

        The part that is there says a lot.

        • Opie Poik says:

          That’s mighty gracious of you to say. I have no idea what went wrong.

          Here’s something nice from just today:

          “Every day I would go to the hospital convinced that I had heard all that was possible by way of self-destruction, but human inventiveness in this special field of endeavor is infinite, and even the most unimaginative persons can, and frequently do, invent new ways to make themselves miserable—predictably and knowingly so—without any external compulsion.

          “Intellectual utopian schemers are reluctant to accept the existence of a human propensity to self-destruction. Come the revolution—or rather, come their revolution, for no other will satisfy them—self-destruction will disappear from the range of human possibility because life will be so delightful that it will occur to no one to spoil it.

          “If you believe that, you will believe anything, as the Duke of Wellington said to the man who approached him and said, ‘Mr. Jones, I believe.’”

          https://www.takimag.com/article/the-pain-principle/

          Individuals must “paint” themselves out of their corners, as I believe Jon Rappoportsays, over and over.

  2. Paul says:

    So… I imagine that I have an Imagination, & with that Imagination, imagine.

    WOW…
    Imagine That!

  3. Ed_Bcn says:

    Jon, I could write a lot of things about this article in a lenghty paragraph… but, as I read somewhere else a long time ago, what is understood need not be discussed.

    So I just wanted to say: THANK YOU.

  4. Michael Burns says:

    “So out of nowhere, I should just overthrow reality?”

    Artists and realists, yes indeed, there is a difference and also a time to be both. And also a time when the lines are blurred and paradox overtakes it chance.

    An art collector walks by a shop owned by a realist, and sees a stray cat drinking from a dish that he knows is rare and extremely valuable. The art collector is also an artist himself and he knows great art when he sees it.
    The art collector asks the shop keeper if he could buy the cat.

    The realist shop keeper tells him, “Well you know that is a rare cat and quite valuable and I couldn’t by all rights sell the cat.”

    The art collector says “Well that cat is what stopped me, and I am quite struck with the cat, I would pay a reasonable amount for the cat.”

    The shop owner who happened to be a realist, quipped back “Are you sure, because only a true cat lover would understand what I am about to say next?”

    “Oh yes I quite struck by the beauty of this wonderful animal, I feel attached to this cat, I’ll pay what you ask within reason.”

    The shop owner said “Well, within reason, the price is $200.”

    The art collector did a quick calculation in his head and knew he would be well ahead of the game, and so paid the shop owner the $200 requested.

    The art collector asks, “Could I get the dish as well because the cats already familiar with it. And it looks like he likes drinking out of that old thing.”

    The shop keeper says, “No, I can’t give the dish with the cat because it’s my lucky dish.”

    The art collector stops for minute wonders, and then asks “Why it is lucky?”

    The shop keeper says “I sold twelve cats this week all drinking out that same-old-dish”

  5. R Anand says:

    Hi Jon, I, along with several others, have been very grateful to you for your expose of the virus hoax and the global covid psyops & attempted power grab by the global oligarchy.

    In this article, you aptly bring out the power of imagination.

    I believe we must use this power to imagine that the truth of viruses being non-existent and never proven to cause any disease and the truth about the global covid fraud will spread far and wide and deeply among the people.

    We must imagine that the global oligarchs and the politicians, bureaucrats and scientists who are behind the global covid fraud will FAIL BIG TIME!

    We must imagine a planet where humanity, justice, peace and co-existence is the norm.

  6. Roundball Shaman says:

    “You think consciousness is a steady-state THING. It’s dynamic and alive. No matter how high you go, there’s always something more. Something new that can be created. There is no final state of consciousness.”

    Universe is very accommodating. It will turn into whatever one believes it to be. If one thinks consciousness is a fixed, steady-state thing, then Universe IS THAT… for them. Not the True Universe, but the (false) one that the person chooses to believe in that has nothing dynamic or alive in it.

    If one realizes the True Universe of unlimited potential as it truly exists, then Universe IS THAT for them. Universe will give you exactly what you accept of it. It’s the true Magic Lantern told of olden days. You wish it to be so… and it is. Universe. What a nice toy to play with…

  7. Hyden says:

    The observed and the observer are interconnected not separate. That’s what Krishnamurti/buddha was worried about mans state OF MIND and what type of world we have created.

    Stop playing the game boycott there products, and stop voting. toal non compliance….

    The five Abhinna (Supernatural Powers): Pali – abhi, excellent, nana, wisdom) are:

    Iddhividha = Creative power;
    Dibbasola = Divine Ear;
    Cetopariya nana = Knowledge of others’ thoughts;
    Pubbenivasanussati = Knowledge of one’s past existence;
    Dibbacakkhu = The Divine eye.

    The Abhinna are attainable not only by the Buddha, but also by Arantas and Ariyas, by ordinary mortals who practise according to the Scriptures (as was the case with hermits etc, who flourished before the time of the Buddha and who were able to fly through the air and traverse different worlds).

    • john-oranje says:

      Stubborn illiteracy!
      …THEIR products; not THERE products.
      Maybe it doesn’t matter a damn. But it bothers the
      hell out of me.
      Just imagine you have corrected yourself without any
      input from me.

  8. Lyn P says:

    Imagination — thinking and dreaming out of the box of one’s own self — was so natural in childhood. The outlets I recall were puppet shows, dress up, doll families, the sandbox, street games like “Statue,” and when a little older, a self-designed variety radio show recorded on cassette.

    What % of these types of things, and the exploration they bring, are lost on the shapeable minds of the young today? Immediately upon achieving grip strength they are handed a screen. Or increasingly, wear an attached device. Programmed thereby. Watch as children are transformed to BE, in part, machines.

  9. Tim says:

    A mind ruled by fear leads to nightmares.
    A mind ruled by LOVE leads to Infinite Creation.

    Thank You all for for your help.

  10. Alan says:

    Imagine that America has a true, honest president in office. Some other country needs Second Amendment rights, to defend a “Free State” of the people. Perhaps to overthrow the tyranny that is ruling over them (the kind we are seeing with pretty much every government in the world, under the pretext of war against COVID).

    Their people learn the meaning and the spirit behind the constitutional article. They (peacefully) demonstrate massively for said rights, not to petition their own tyrannical government, but to petition the American president and the American people. The Americans (the conservative groups) are impressed, and they support it by initiating “Operation Armyzon”: for a period of time, the oppressed people can place orders online for firearms at American retailers, who ship the merchandise (with proper address labels) to a central collection point. Then, the Marines make a massive delivery of all the packages to the doors of the customers. Thereby, Second Amendment rights are secured for the oppressed people. This sets the precedence for the rest of the world to become liberated as Second Amendment Free States. History remembers the day as the most glorious and peaceful mission in human history.

    In fact, the above was the situation Hong Kong was facing back in 2019, during the anti-ChiCom protests. But the people failed the very first step, for no one could believe in this opportunity.

  11. Jim S Smith says:

    Hmmmm.

    Without “imagination”, innovation and invention would never Be!

    EVEN the most detailed and elaborate of scientific theories, started somewhere with an “imagined concept”.

    1. To Know,
    2. To Will,
    3. To Dare,
    4. To be Silent.

    “Reality” is the base template, “creativity” is in how to express and apply that reality.

  12. Citizen Quasar says:

    Read some Ayn Rand. Use this LINK: http://aynrandlexicon.com

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