BY COUNT ZENO THE ZETETIC (MTS GPD COT H(O))/images/writings/logodog.gif

NET VERSION WITH AHDKAW (MTS KPD AHD H(OS))
PROOFREADING BY SPASM THE WALKING FRUITCAKE (MTS IPD FCS CDD)

THIS IS AN O.'. T.'. S.'. UNHOLY BOOK IN CLASS 0:
PLEASE BURN BEFORE READING

(C)opyright is a nasty word but the real author would appreciate being given the credit/blame he deserves and a link back to this site.


Chapters 1-8 originally published 23/01/1999

A Student of matters mystic once read the ineffable works of Lewis Carroll.
And, being somewhat confused at the time, decided to try and find a Snark.
Meditation can do this sort of thing to unbalanced personalities.
But as this character was only 97% unbalanced he thought that the Snark was a metaphor.
At first for government, then law, or love, or mind, or self or truth.
Perhaps it was about that transcendent state people who meditate are always babbling about.
He performed many a meditation upon the text.
And many an intellectual study.
And many an experiment.
And many an occult ritual.
And then he gave up and forgot about it.
And time passed.
And he grew in Wisdom.
And in Cleverness.
And in Wit.
But mostly in Age.
At last when all traces of a memory of a Snark had left his mind.
A voice announced itself unto him. Not to the ear nor eye nor nose nor skin nor tongue nor
intellect nor emotion nor intuition was this voice present. And yet it was there.
It said, "Behold I am a Snark; that you thought was a metaphor".
It said, "I bring you wisdom that ye shall enshrine in the teachings of the OTS".
"Nothing is true
Not even that
Everything is permitted
Including restriction
Those who look for answers will find mountains of dog turds
And call them facts
Those who search for meaning will find raw sewage
And bow down before it
Don't let this disturb you
What would you expect from a bunch of monkeys?"

"But ye may wish to know how to act in this world, Listen;"
"If you think you are right
You are wrong
If you think you are wrong
You are still wrong
Hence why take anything as serious or important?
Or believe anything anyone says
Or anything you experience
Better to act sensibly
Without attachments"
At this Zeno was stunned, but recovering asked "What are you, oh mighty Snark?"
"Nothing at all", then silence.

We can never know objective truth.
This is because everything that we can know becomes known to us, directly or indirectly, through our consciousness and hence is subjective. If it does not come through our consciousness then we do not know it.
Nor can we infer the objective truth; all inference is based on what our consciousness perceives and hence is one step further away from "reality". We are capable of creating models that seem to work very well but this just means we haven't found out what's wrong with them yet.
Hence if there is anything in the entire universe or even a universe, we will never know about it.
Ever.
There are three reactions to this realization; the first two are really one.
They are the paths of the megalomaniac and the paranoid.
Those on the first assume they are right, those on the second that everyone else is.
Following these paths leads to short-term thinking, constant low-level fear and a vast consumption of luxuries in attempt to forget about how terrible and meaningless everything seems to be. These are the paths of unnecessary attachments.
There is a third path.
It is called the path of the sensible.
We can never know what is really going on.
But we can give it our best estimate; always bearing in mind that is all it is.
But if we gather all the information we can carefully, without belief.
And then base our actions not on what is good or right but on what seems to yield the most desirable long-term consequences. Without attachment to any one idea or method.
Without even attachment to this dogma.
I admit that the other two paths seem to be easier.
If you are a coward.
Or lazy.
Or just stupid.
But the third path can actually be more fun.
And may just get us out of this global mess we appear to be in.
Not that anyone is likely to notice. After all they have right on their side.

In the beginning was the word.
And the word was made paint.
And sprayed upon a wall.
And the makers of the word looked upon their creation and saw it was good.
And the word was "OTS".
And, seeing it was good, they sprayed it upon many other walls.
And so the word spread amongst the land.
But then, in time, came the dark years of schism and destruction.
And the makers were scattered and thrown apart.
And for many years the word did not appear.
But then, one by one, the makers returned to the source and met anew.
And behold they did drink the beer. And smoke the pot. And make the merry.
Then one, known as Ahdkaw spake, he said, "Let us remake what was broken, let us find what was lost, yea let the OTS arise again".
Another, being Zeno, saw the wisdom Ahdkaw spoke and said "Yes, and let the OTS be a force that will enlighten all humanity and re-forge the world".
He may have been joking.

/images/writings/logodog.gifAny symbol must be seen as just that; a symbol.
Not the thing it symbolizes.
Hence no symbol is holy, although some may be useful.
This is why our greatest symbol is known as "The Profane Dog".
Look ye upon it.
First see the cross and the curve; this is the smile on the void. The acceptance of the essential nothingness.
Now the crown. The points refer to the three paths. Note that the middle point is exalted.
The question and exclamation marks. They follow one another "question, answer, question" always. Expect no end to this chase but look rather to the crown.
The seal of the OTS- yoni, lingram, kundalini, herein also are secrets.
Also we have mantras most efficacious.
"Get on with it", of manifold meanings.
"Not that", to be repeated at all times.
"Drink the nectar", in times of merriment.
"Snark", a most powerful word of dismissal.
"No blame", in times of trouble.
"TANSTAAT", There ain't no such thing as a thing.
Also there are certain rituals of symbolic value.
Foremost is "skinning up".
But equal is "shroom picking".
However the main value of these is not symbolic.
It is rather in the psychological effect.
Finally there is our great and secret word of power which I entrust to you.
Maybe.

A student travelled long and far to see the master so that he could learn from his wisdom.
After many years travel in foreign lands he found him in an isolated mountain village.
He saw the master hard at work making an arrow.
And not wishing to disturb him, merely watched, glad he had reached his destination at last.
However, soon relief turned into puzzlement.
For each time that the master completed an arrow he held it to the light.
And the student beheld they were magnificent: light, long, sharp, in every respect exquisitely perfect.
Then, each time, the master snapped them in two and threw them on the fire.
Finally the monk could contain himself no longer. "Who" he said,
"Who is this man or God or beast so great that you need an arrow even more marvellous than these,
the finest I have seen in many lands, to kill it".
And the master didn't look but merely held another perfect arrow to the light.
Then snapped it and threw it on the fire.
In that moment the monk was enlightened.

Our era has been called many things.
The post-modern age, the information age, the Aquarian age, the capitalist era, the media age, the kali yuga, the aftermath, the age of horus and probably a few more.
In honour of this the OTS have declared it...
The Age of Confusion.
We don't know what age came before it or what will come after it.
We are far too confused for such things but we know what this age is; just look!
Have you noticed how these days there's an expert on everything?
But none of them agree about anything!
Welcome to the Age of Confusion.
Have you noticed how there's so much more information?
But no one knows what any of it means!
It must be the Age of Confusion.
Have you noticed the intellectuals declaring everything to be a "narrative"?
Yet instead of inventing new stories they tell stories about the old stories!
As they are lost in the Age of Confusion.
Have you noticed how we can solve all our problems?
But the solution always makes things worse!
The escalation of the Age of Confusion.
Do not ask how to escape the Age of Confusion;
Any attempts to change things through action or inaction will only create more Confusion.
The OTS accepts this confusion. This is why everyone is a member of rank Magister Templi Sensibilium. We are a mass of leaders who have no followers.
Celebrate the Age of Confusion.

People claim to know many things.
Most of them are mistaken.
Some of them are lying.
The following system may help clarify this complex situation.
The first form of "knowledge" is actually perception.
Which includes everything you see, hear, sense etc., including internal states such as emotion.
Raw perception is not knowledge as it is quite possible that you are consistently mistaken.
Other things also usually confound it. For as soon as you see something and think "That is a chair" or feel something and think "I am angry" you have strayed beyond perception.
Into the realm of opinion.
Which covers virtually everything that is commonly called knowledge.
That all religious, political and ideological beliefs are a matter of opinion is quite clear.
From the fact arguments about them can last centuries without either side even listening to the other.
However it should be noted that scientific theories are also a matter of opinion.
Although usually more useful than the opinions of politicians or theologians.
For although the sentence "All unpowered objects observed by people I consider reliable have seemed to fall to earth at a constant rate of acceleration." merely describes a bunch of perceptions.
The statement "An invisible force called gravity causes objects to fall to Earth at a constant rate of acceleration" is opinion.
As there could be another explanation, no matter how unlikely.
To say "Any object I drop will fall to Earth" is also stating an opinion.
Although not one I myself would bet against.
However the only way to be sure of that statement would be to have already dropped it in those exact circumstances, including location in time.
This does not appear to be possible.
All this however does not invalidate science; it is rather a warning to the researcher to be aware that they are undoubtedly oversimplifying matters.
It should be pointed out that this system is itself an opinion.

Your thoughts are not your own.
They are basically patterns of words and images that you have come across so many times they have infected you.
Read this book daily.
There are several ways to remove this constant babble from your head.
If you/they want to.
The first is to become a hermit; this seems a bit extreme.
The second is to practice Raja Yoga.
The third is to start practicing critical thought.
Which is not the same as believing the ideologies of the so-called critics.
But is rather the technique of examining your thoughts and assessing their likelihood of being an accurate representation of the world you inhabit.
Please don't become too depressed by the results of this practice.
A useful tool in learning to think is e-prime, a form of English without is, are, am, was or any other form of the verb "to be".
Using e-prime makes it difficult to mistake opinion for knowledge, and should reduce your personal confusion (although not your transcendental confusion).
The only reason that this book is not written in e-prime is because the author wants to confuse you.
You may find it useful work out in which particular way.