Close to Home

One friend succumbed to cancer, another to New Age mumbo-jumbo and delusional conspiracy theories

I recently lost a friend to cancer, Harry Deligter, with whom I’d done a number of projects dating back about 25 years. This kind of thing can cause one to reflect on the transitory and fragile nature of life. It’s sobering and also increases conscious appreciation of those who are still present in life and in one’s own life.

I have another friend, Dave, who I’ve known for 33 years and who expresses a very different sense about life. I first met Dave, a self-described seeker and refugee from Scientology, and his then wife, on a trip with a small group to Hawaii, in 1987. In those relatively carefree days, escapism into New Age nonsense, like channeling and chasing lights-in-the-sky, was just beginning to take root and I’d been invited to join this group on a little quest.

While I didn’t take it all that seriously, it did give me some of the material upon which I built a 12-year career doing New Age comedy. Dave, however, was a hook-line-and-sinker guy, especially when it came to falling for, and spending large sums of money to listen to, the drivel delivered in goofy voices with weird contortions, by the “channels” of supposed extraterrestrials, “light beings” and other non-existent entities.

I think there was something about the pretentious, concocted language used by these charlatans that Dave found familiar, perhaps because of an attitude of condescending, pseudo-superiority and authority that was a touch more flowery than the similarly hierarchal and manipulative terminology of Scientology, from which he’d escaped.

While there are still the extremely gullible, labile followers of a number of online con artists, purporting to channel “Pleiadians” and other imaginary beings, it’s assumed that any remaining old-timers from the glorious early days of the channeling carnival have sobered up and come to their senses, or what’s left of them.

Whatever the case, the decades passed and now the COVID-19 coronavirus era is upon us. So, when Dave started to send me conspiratorial videos endorsing the Flat Earth theory, a few years ago, I figured he was just having some fun with an obviously ridiculous new topic for the terminally dumbed down.

But I soon recognized that he was actually serious. At that point I asked him to not send me anymore of that idiocy. The Flat Earth propaganda drifted off into space somewhere and then, with the increasing presence of the coronavirus pandemic, I started to receive links to conspiratorial, disease-denial videos. I soon learned that a major source of Dave’s information was coming from people like conspiracy theorist, Jon Rappoport. It proved harder this time to get Dave to stop sending the articles and videos along with condescending, psychobabble responses to my requests.

So, why is this worthy of an article? Well, returning to my brief opening comments about the death of a friend, it struck me all the harder that so many people have trivialized – and denied – the stark reality of the disease and effects of the pandemic. Not only that, but they add ridicule to their denial and a contemptuous disregard for the losses and suffering of the many people directly and/or indirectly badly affected by the disease. Denial and ridicule about these matters bespeaks an avoidance of the reality of death and its inevitability, something that is a necessary element of study, in the spiritual teaching.

I’ve noticed that people who embrace conspiracy theories – and denial of the disease is a conspiracy-fueled phenomenon – tend to embrace them with a blind, fanatical fervor that not only eschews reason, logic, facts, etc., but also has no room for compassion, understanding and empathy. And there’s often a royal we/us* used to indicate that they belong to something, a movement, etc., which, if such exists, probably doesn’t know anything about them and their presumed membership. I have found this quite prevalent among the QAnon supporters I’ve known, etc.

I continue to receive emails from Dave, with an assortment of links to the various “experts” of his choice who claim there’s no virus, no disease, etc., etc. So, I told him that, since he wouldn’t stop, I’d post his comments for my readers, which he welcomed:

“Since liberals were always complicit to the Deep State criminality, they will be denied their next opportunity for the White House – for their own good, and the good of the world.

Trump WILL be your next President.

He who controls the NSA has made certain of that.

You can thank *us later.”

In response to my sending Dave a video from a doctor emphasizing many of the points presented by Billy Meier and the Plejaren that rebut the COVID deniers, he sent me this:

“OMG. Have you forgotten so soon: ALL REALITIES ARE OPTIONAL”

As I pushed back against such glib, fortune cookie like responses, Dave then treated me to a flourish of condescending mumbo-jumbo:

“Because consciousness is real EVERYTHING IS REAL – but not necessarily at the same altitude, duration or authority. Is Santa Claus real? YES (depending on who you ask). In the binary, black and white world of true/false. good/bad, right/wrong, one is BLIND TO COLORS. Are there absolute truths? Yes, but they are rare and external to this horror show. Keep searching Mike…”

“Likewise, you are free to believe as well. The difference is HOMEWORK, DEPTH AND CONTEXT. Mike you have been confined in the binary universe an awfully long time. Come up for some air…”

“No one on earth can question your heart and good intentions. This debate has always been about your depth of context…”

The above comment about “depth of context” prompted me to inquire exactly what that meant. To which I received this reply:

“In optics, parallax provides ‘depth of field’. Example: binoculars are superior to telescopes in this regard.

It is helpful to master / embrace paradox (opposing viewpoints) by understanding that every viewpoint, opinion etc. is valid and real in the sense that it generates its own reality.

Now, because CONSCIOUSNESS is the most real thing ultimately, everything this real, however, NOT ALWAYS EQUALLY REAL in terms of duration, intricacy and authority.

The key is: 1) understanding the validity and relativity of opposing viewpoints. 2) Identifying the SP (specific gravity) and buoyancy (altitude) thereof.

One metric to consider: the higher the truth, the greater its buoyancy and capacity for love, joy and freedom.

Thought for Food”

“BINGO. Now, recognize from what altitude of consciousness that reality was concocted. Step 2: Stay in your own movie”

“Alright try this: What you lack in experience and humility, you more than make up for in arrogance and stubbornness”

“MIKE, YOUR CHOSEN CAREER IS TO SELL A STORY – A STORY WITH SOME DEGREE GLOOM AND DOOM. I AM SORRY IF EVERYONE IS NOT BUYING…”

“Although real, your story has no happy endings. I would rather live in my jubilant fantasies than flirt with your dismal, deadend dramas. At this point, you have left yourself little wiggle room for advancement. You are living proof and testimony to the cause & effect power of the Law of Attraction. I believe that is CHECKMATE.”

“I assure you Michael, you are confused and thoroughly unqualified to lecture ANYONE on the subject of consciousness and reality creation. You are trapped and frozen in a hopeless CAUSE/EFFECT matrix of your own making. It takes more than an angry old mind to understand such issues. Advancement for you would be the reduction of your dependence on outer illusions and the accentuation and ‘advancement’ of your own inner joy. Get back to me when you are serious about growing…”

“Mike, who is most likely to have a superior understanding of a battlefield?

1. A) The ground troops

2. B) The fighter pilots

3. C) The Generals who are listening to all personnel and processing all viewpoints and situations.

The logical answer is C – where paradox is KING.

Meet me there”

Dave’s ultimate conclusion about the coronavirus disease:

“just the common cold – REBRANDED.”

Each of Dave’s comments above were in response to my asking him to speak plainly, clearly and with recognition of reality (despite his conviction that “ALL REALITIES ARE OPTIONAL”). I was prompted to try to sober Dave up:

“Dave, For whatever strange reason, I don’t think you care a whit about real people and their suffering. Why else would you continue with your shallow, fortune cookie aphorisms when 10,000 people per day are dying in NYC?

Mental diarrhea conspiracies appeal to people who want to separate themselves from reality. And while maybe you think you score points with stupid people by perpetuating reality-defying facts, it really leaves a legacy of superficiality, banality, and intellectual deficiency.

So, try ‘embracing’ reality, verifiable facts and the real suffering that is only going to increase and which you make a terrible mockery of with your adolescent comments.”

I pondered whether I should publish all this info. Then I received this from Dave, who doesn’t have the disease but is in the same state of denial as these people who do, or…did. Of course, he included this comment along with the information about the German lawyer:

“MIKE, THE MYOPIC MISUNDERSTANDINGS OF NEAR-SIGHTED NURSES ARE NO MATCH FOR THE OBJECTIVITY OF GERMAN LAWYERS AND SCIENTISTS. PERIOD”

Close to Home

While Dave has churned out many dozens of emails touting the brilliance of some phony channel, conspiracy theorist, etc., to the best of my knowledge he’s never sent any emails referencing anything from, or about, the Billy Meier contacts.

In 2006, almost 20 years after our trip to Hawaii, Dave had come to Switzerland when I told him that we’d be making a documentary, which turned out to be The Silent Revolution of Truth. He participated one day by holding the boom mic for one of the interviews with Meier.

I guess for my friend Dave, along with an abundance of condescension, “all realities” are indeed “optional”…except for those based on verifiable evidence, and clear, rational, logical thinking. But perhaps most amazing to me is how…close to home Dave had come to finding what he’d originally been searching for but wasn’t able, or willing, to recognize.

See also:

Close to Home

Popular Category