1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:05,880 The dance macabre or dance of death is a late medieval motif 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:08,320 that illustrates the universality of death. 3 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:12,160 The constant famines, wars, and especially the Black Death in 4 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,880 Europe showed how fragile and fleeting life truly was. 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,680 Death was not a distant fate, but a certain, ever present 6 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:22,800 companion. This grim reality intensified 7 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,320 the religious desire for repentance and salvation, but it 8 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:30,080 also stirred a desperate craving for amusement and indulgence 9 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,720 while life lasted. A final dance before the 10 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,400 inevitable end. A living skeleton, the 11 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:41,320 personification of death leads people from all walks of life. 12 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:46,760 Pope, king, clergy, peasant, merchant, old and young alike, 13 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,680 in one great chain dance towards the grave. 14 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,480 Death is the great equalizer, for no one can escape its grasp. 15 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,960 It strips away all power, wealth, and status. 16 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,080 This image serves as a memento Mori, which means remember that 17 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,680 you must die. It is a meditation on mortality, 18 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:11,000 reminding us of the fragility of life and the vanity of earthly 19 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,640 pursuits. Shakespeare writes, for within 20 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:19,240 the hollow crown that rounds the mortal temples of a king keeps 21 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,600 Death his watch. And there the antique, the court 22 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:27,200 fool sits, scoffing at his state and grinning at his pump, 23 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:32,320 allowing him a little time to monarchise, be feared and kill 24 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:35,280 with looks. And then at last comes Death, 25 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,800 and with a little pin bores through his castle wall, And 26 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:44,240 farewell, King Death is compared to the cold fool. 27 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,640 There seems to be a kind of jest in Death. 28 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,280 Monks used to keep skulls in their cells to remind them of 29 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,680 mortality. Though the skull is commonly 30 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,640 seen as grim, it can also appear to be grinning. 31 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:01,120 It is all that remains of a human being, a single bone, and 32 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:04,680 it laughs. Nowadays many consider this 33 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:08,280 morbid because we prefer to deny the reality of death. 34 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,840 But as a natural part of human existence, death should not be 35 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,760 feared. Philosophy, as Plato writes in 36 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,400 the FETO, is a preparation for death. 37 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,240 The foolish believe they will never die. 38 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:24,400 The wise live as though they die a little each day. 39 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:29,000 The premeditation of death is the premeditation of liberty. 40 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,000 He who has learned to die has unlearned to serve. 41 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:38,160 In Somerset Maum's short story Appointment in Samara, a 42 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,160 retelling of an ancient tale, a servant meets the black robed 43 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,440 Crone Death. The servant sees her make what 44 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:47,360 appears to be a threatening gesture. 45 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,160 Terrified, he borrows his master's horse and flees to 46 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,160 Samara. That afternoon, the master 47 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,280 confronts the Crone in the marketplace and asks, Why did 48 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,680 you make a threatening gesture to my servant this morning? 49 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,760 Death replies. That was not a threatening 50 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,680 gesture, it was only a start of surprise. 51 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,960 I was astonished to see your servant in Baghdad, for I had an 52 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,480 appointment with him tonight in Samara. 53 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:18,360 By wasting precious time and energy trying to avoid Death, 54 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,160 one ultimately fails to truly live. 55 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,600 In the end, it is oneself who betrays life. 56 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,440 Until we learn to entrust ourselves to death, we cannot 57 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:33,200 fully entrust ourselves to life. While death may appear at times 58 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,720 terrifying and at other times playful, those he summons almost 59 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:42,040 always tremble with fear. All except one, the fool. 60 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,480 He joins the dance with a smile, laughing at the absurdity of it 61 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,760 all. To him, the world is a theatre 62 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,080 and all men and women merely actors, each wearing different 63 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,960 social masks to play their roles in society. 64 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,040 He sees that people live only to make money and that the highest 65 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,360 goal is to land a respectable job. 66 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:07,320 That people buy things they don't need with money they don't 67 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,040 have to impress people they don't like. 68 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:14,160 That what matters are what others think of 1 and how well 69 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:16,360 one fulfills social expectations. 70 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,959 That love is reduced to marrying someone financially secure. 71 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,240 That friendship is only useful when money is needed. 72 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,480 That wisdom is just believing what most people say. 73 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,360 That passion means speaking with great energy but saying nothing 74 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,280 of real value. That kindness is little more 75 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:37,160 than saying something polite. And that piety means attending 76 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,680 church every Sunday without any true heartfelt belief. 77 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:47,560 Seeing all this, how shallow, hollow and absurd it truly is, 78 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:52,760 the Fool cannot help but to laugh in this context, Kikogo 79 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,880 writes. When I became older, when I 80 00:04:55,880 --> 00:05:00,760 opened my eyes and saw reality, I started to laugh and haven't 81 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,760 stopped since. The Fool laughs at how seriously 82 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,920 we take our lives, for in the end, no one gets out alive. 83 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,920 Laughter and tragedy are often intertwined, Nietzsche writes. 84 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,920 Perhaps I know best why man is the only animal that laughs. 85 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,200 He alone suffers so excruciatingly that he was 86 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:25,160 compelled to invent laughter. The unhappiest and most 87 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:29,960 melancholy animal is, as might have been expected, the most 88 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:34,000 cheerful. Till Eulenspiegel is a popular 89 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,080 14th century trickster figure in German folklore. 90 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:41,120 In one story, he laughed and sang happily while laboring 91 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:45,520 uphill, but when going downhill, where it was pleasant and easy, 92 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:50,280 he wept and grew gloomy. When asked why, he replied, When 93 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:54,520 I go uphill, I think of going downhill, and when I go 94 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,040 downhill, I think of going uphill. 95 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,400 In other words, he found joy when walking uphill in 96 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:03,600 anticipation of the coming descent. 97 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,760 Laughter becomes more than a simple expression of happiness. 98 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:12,080 It is a way to cope with and even transcend suffering. 99 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:16,440 A cheerful heart is good medicine and lightens the weight 100 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,840 of our burdens. We might shed tears not only 101 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:23,280 from grief but also from overwhelming happiness. 102 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:26,920 Laughter and tears are not always straightforward signals 103 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:31,760 of joy and sadness. In fact, extreme emotions can 104 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:36,840 flip our usual responses. As William Blake writes, excess 105 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:41,080 of sorrow laughs. Excess of joy weeps. 106 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:46,240 Our modern age, dominated by relentless productivity and 107 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,400 constant busyness, is indeed a tragic comic reality. 108 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:53,760 We convince ourselves that our daily pursuits of money, 109 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,880 prestige and status are serious and meaningful. 110 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,920 Yet this frantic chases often little more than a distraction 111 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,760 from the true great work, the journey of knowing oneself. 112 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:08,600 Many of us fill our days with endless activity to mask our 113 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,960 anxiety. This busyness becomes a way of 114 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,480 running away from ourselves. By replacing deep emotional 115 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:19,400 experiences with constant chatter, work or ceaseless 116 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:24,120 activity, we tend to grow emptier and lonelier, Kikogo 117 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:26,880 writes. Of all ridiculous things in the 118 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,920 world, what strikes me as the most ridiculous of all is being 119 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,040 busy in the world to be a man, quick to his meals and quick to 120 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,600 his work. So when at the crucial moment I 121 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:42,840 see a family settle on such a businessman's nose, or he is be 122 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,520 spattered by a carriage which passes him by an even greater 123 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,840 haste, or the drawbridge is raised, or a tile falls from the 124 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:54,680 roof and strikes him dead, I laugh from the bottom of my 125 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,320 heart. And who could help laughing? 126 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:02,320 For what do they achieve, these busy butchers? 127 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:06,720 Are they not like the housewife who, in confusion at the fire in 128 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,360 her house, saved the fire tongues? 129 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,640 What else do they salvage from the great fire of life? 130 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:19,280 A random event like a falling roof tile can end everything, 131 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:21,920 showing that all our rushing was for nothing. 132 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,480 People caught in this frenzy fail to build anything 133 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:30,280 meaningful or of lasting value. Like the panicked housewife who 134 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,880 saved a small metal tool while her home burned down, they cling 135 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,159 to the trivial and lose the essential. 136 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:41,280 In the end, they are left with nothing of true value. 137 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:46,640 It is easy to become lost in the routines of daily life, striving 138 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,640 to please others and perform the roles expected of us. 139 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:54,760 Only when we face death do our social masks shatter, revealing 140 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:58,440 who we truly are for perhaps the first time. 141 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,000 But often there's nothing but a void. 142 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,520 By then, it is too late to embark on the journey of self 143 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,880 discovery, for the Grim Reaper has come to claim us. 144 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:12,000 In her book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, Bronny 145 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,040 Ware writes that the most common regret expressed by those 146 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:19,040 nearing death is. I wish I'd had the courage to 147 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:23,560 live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 148 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:27,760 As people approach the end of their lives, they often speak 149 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:31,480 not of deep regret over what they did, but of what they fail 150 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,960 to do, of dreams left on pursuit and potential unrealized. 151 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,880 Psychologically, this can be understood as an expression of 152 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,040 the unlived life. It reflects a life overly 153 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:46,320 identified with a persona, the mask one wears to meet 154 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:50,440 collective expectations at the expense of the self, the 155 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:54,640 totality of who one truly is, Carl Jung writes. 156 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:59,120 One could say with a little exaggeration, that the persona 157 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,520 is that which in reality 1 is not, but which oneself as well 158 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:09,280 as others think 1 is. When we ask the question, who 159 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:13,160 are you, people tend to respond in two distinct ways. 160 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:18,040 One replies by naming his name, family, background, profession, 161 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,560 or hobbies, thus identifying himself through his social 162 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:25,080 roles. The other falls silent, slightly 163 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:29,440 unsettled by the realization of just how profound the question 164 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,520 really is. As the end of life approaches, 165 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,320 the illusion of ultra success fades. 166 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:38,960 What remains is the clear realization of a missed chance 167 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,640 to know oneself. If you stayed true to yourself, 168 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:47,080 you remain at peace. If not, deep regret sets in. 169 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,080 We must cultivate an authentic relationship with our own 170 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:53,480 mortality. Rather than seeing death as 171 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,760 something distant, we should recognize it as an essential 172 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:00,560 part of our being, always present, shaping our very 173 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:03,840 existence. To deny death, to treat it as 174 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,920 something that happens only to others, leads to inauthenticity, 175 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:13,200 conformity, and distraction. But if we face our mortality, we 176 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:18,000 can focus on what truly matters. Change is difficult because 177 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:21,600 we're creatures of habit. Even changes we have consciously 178 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,080 planned in daily life are often resisted. 179 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:29,280 Though we may understand that birth and death are two sides of 180 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:33,160 the same coin, the real challenge lies in accepting our 181 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,480 personal mortality. To accept death, like birth, as 182 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,200 part of life is to become truly alive. 183 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,360 Before exploring the relationship between death and 184 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:47,720 the Fool, let us first look at the different types of fools. 185 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:52,920 While the archetype of the Fool, like any archetype, is in itself 186 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:56,760 unrepresentable, we come to know its patterns and behaviors 187 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:59,320 through its various archetypal images. 188 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:04,840 Buffoon called jester, trickster, clown, joker, wise 189 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,240 fool, natural fool, and holy fool. 190 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:13,520 We usually use the word fool as an insult to refer to a 191 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:17,960 simpleton or stupid person. However, one should not curse 192 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,960 the fool, but rather learn to live by his rule. 193 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,080 Sometimes we only play the fool just to make others laugh. 194 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:29,000 We may view the buffoon as the most outwardly ridiculous of the 195 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:29,960 fool. Figures. 196 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:34,520 He offers no insight but performs slapstick comedy, pies 197 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,800 in the face, slipping on banana peels and the like. 198 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,520 He dances absurdly, pulls silly faces, tickles or plays 199 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:44,880 peekaboo. This is humor without 200 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,400 reflection. Even infants laugh at it, 201 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:50,720 suggesting it is among the most primal forms of comedy. 202 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:55,040 The playful art of buffoonery is found across all cultures. 203 00:12:56,560 --> 00:13:00,200 The greatest fools, however, are often cleverer than those who 204 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,480 laugh at them. These professional or licensed 205 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,520 fools, such as the court jester, stand with one foot in 206 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,200 entertainment and the other in dangerous truth. 207 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,840 Because he was considered a fool, the jester was allowed to 208 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:16,240 speak truths that no one else stared. 209 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,200 Boys to the king. To achieve this, he used humor, 210 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:25,120 satire, riddles, and songs to make harsh realities palatable. 211 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:27,760 Skillfully disguised, using them with wits. 212 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:32,640 Since his words were deemed foolish, he was safe, but often 213 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:36,160 these were the most intelligent or honest words spoken at the 214 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,240 Royal Court. He was granted legal license by 215 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,800 the king to act as a fool, giving him a special protected 216 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,120 status. To make this privilege known, 217 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,680 the court jester imitated the King's crown and scepter with a 218 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,800 cabin bells and a full scepter. This freedom allowed him to 219 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:56,560 operate outside the usual rules of hierarchy, wrapped in 220 00:13:56,560 --> 00:13:59,000 performance. He could mark nobility, 221 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:03,280 challenge the king, and expose hypocrisy, effectively reversing 222 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,440 the roles in society. The jester is a liminal entity, 223 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:12,520 both an insider and an outsider. As the cultural anthropologist 224 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:16,880 Victor Turner states, liminal entities are neither here nor 225 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:19,800 there. They are betwixt and between the 226 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:24,640 positions assigned and arrayed by law, custom, convention, and 227 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:28,360 ceremonial. The justice Neither a servant 228 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:32,160 nor fully a noble, he is both and neither. 229 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:36,160 This paradoxical nature aligns him closely with the trickster 230 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,600 archetype. While not exactly the same, they 231 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:44,200 belong to the same species. The Trickston social outsider 232 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,920 Eulen Spiegel represents the cunning peasant who outsmarts 233 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,920 townsfolk and tradesman. His name means owl mirror. 234 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:56,280 While owls often symbolize wisdom, in medieval Europe they 235 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,880 were seen as bad omens. His wisdom lies in holding up a 236 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:04,240 mirror to society, exposing hypocrisy by reflecting people's 237 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:08,680 foolishness, and forcing them, Willy Neely, to confront their 238 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,960 shadow, the unknown or neglected parts of themselves. 239 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:16,200 The best way to see your shadow is when someone else reflected 240 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,160 back to you. The Trickster is a collective 241 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:23,160 shadow figure, a summation of all the inferior traits of 242 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:28,160 character in individuals. Another professional fool is the 243 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,760 clown, whose origin was influenced by 16th century 244 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:36,440 Italian glomeria Dell arte Harlequin, a clever servant and 245 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,880 trickster figure, takes his name from a demon in French folklore 246 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:44,320 associated with the Wild Hunt. He is contrasted with Pierrot, 247 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,200 the melancholic, sensitive figure who became the original 248 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:53,440 white faced sad clown archetype. The colorful circus clown 249 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:57,880 emerged in 18th century England. Known for physical comedy and 250 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:01,240 acrobatics. Clowns often blend humor and 251 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,480 tragedy, highlighting the paradox of the human condition. 252 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:08,480 Like Kikogor's clown who warns the audience that a fire has 253 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,560 broken out backstage but is mistaken for a joke and mad with 254 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,760 applause. So the world ends amid the 255 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,800 laughter of those who confuse tragedy with comedy. 256 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:23,880 The exaggerated smile of the clown masks deep inner pain. 257 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,520 This is known as the sad clown paradox. 258 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:30,400 Those who make others laugh often struggle with sadness, 259 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,880 depression, or trauma. Humor becomes a defense 260 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,640 mechanism concealing emotional wounds. 261 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,800 This tension is reflected in the clown's dual image, at times 262 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,880 endearing, at others terrifying, as seen in the rise of the evil 263 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:49,840 clown in horror and literature. There are also sacred clowns, 264 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:54,040 such as the Hiyoka of the Sioux people of North America, who are 265 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:56,880 always doing the opposite of those around them, saying 266 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:00,480 goodbye when greeting someone, laughing in moments of sorrow, 267 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,800 or riding a horse backwards. These contrarian behaviors are 268 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,599 meant to challenge social norms, reflecting the community's 269 00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:11,839 shadow side. The Hijoka, both feared and 270 00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:14,400 respected, for their role is sacred. 271 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,760 They are similar to shamans or medicine men. 272 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,960 Only those who had a dream or vision of the Thunder beings can 273 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:25,640 become Hijoka, granting them great power but also great 274 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,560 responsibility, for if they neglect their duties, they risk 275 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:31,920 being struck down by the Thunder beings. 276 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:37,680 A joker is someone who tells jokes or amuses others, but the 277 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:39,600 Joker's more than a comic figure. 278 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,440 Introduced into playing cards in the United States during the mid 279 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,800 19th century, he serves as a wild card, able to become any 280 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,400 card in the deck. He exists outside of any fixed 281 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:55,000 social role, capable of disrupting the natural order of 282 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,360 the game, much like the court jester who could invert 283 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:02,120 hierarchies, mark the powerful, and challenge the king. 284 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:07,120 The Joker pops up unexpectedly here and there, always elusive, 285 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,600 as if he was saying now you see me, now you don't. 286 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:14,000 He's always making us wonder, where is the Joker? 287 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:18,000 The Joker lives in a liminal realm between the magical and 288 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,440 the physical, being both playful and dangerous. 289 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:25,480 Over time, the Joker evolved into the villain archetype, 290 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:30,320 embodying humor and chaotic fun, albeit in a maniacal way. 291 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,840 He is tricksterish and has the wit of the cold jester. 292 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:38,680 His key trait is hyper sanity, A heightened awareness of reality 293 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,440 that is nevertheless perceived as madness. 294 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,320 The joke exists to solve what he deems A widespread social 295 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:49,080 problem, the lack of awareness of the grand joke of life, and 296 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,400 he thereby turns reality upside down and challenges the 297 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,720 conventional notions of good and evil. 298 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,120 The great secret of the fool is that he's no fool at all, for he 299 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:04,120 sees the truth that no one else dares to face and thereby 300 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:06,920 becomes wise. This paradox is seen in the 301 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:11,200 figure of the wise fool. Socrates, for example, claim 302 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,760 that his wisdom arose from the awareness of his own ignorance. 303 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,800 The wise fool hides wisdom behind a facade of madness. 304 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:23,040 Such a person, identified as a fool by others, ultimately 305 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,480 proves to be the true bearer of wisdom. 306 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,520 Foolishness is the necessary compensation for wisdom. 307 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,640 There is no true wisdom without folly. 308 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,000 Shakespeare's professional fool Fester reflects on this role 309 00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:41,400 when he says to himself, Come on wit, give me something good to 310 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,800 say. Now those people who think they 311 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:47,920 are witty often prove to be fools, and I'm sure that I'm not 312 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,960 witty, so I might pass for a wise man. 313 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:54,720 Better a witty fool than a foolish wit. 314 00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:01,400 The fool figure seems to combine madness, wisdom, and folly in 315 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:03,240 Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra. 316 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:07,040 Zarathustra visits a crowded marketplace where a tightrope 317 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,320 Walker is about to perform. Addressing the crowd, he 318 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,760 proclaims. Man is a rope tied between beast 319 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:17,080 and Ubermensch, a rope over an abyss. 320 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,560 But the people fail to understand him and think he's 321 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,520 mad. Meanwhile, the tightrope Walker 322 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:26,960 begins his work. At the midpoint, A buffoon 323 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,080 appears, teasing and chasing him. 324 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,720 The buffoon then leaps over the man, causing him to lose his 325 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:37,640 balance and fall to his death. Just as Zarathustra, Nietzsche's 326 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:41,640 inner wise old man, appears as an unannounced attraction, so 327 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,800 does the buffoon. The tightrope Walker moves 328 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:49,480 between life and death, wisdom and folly, ubermange and animal. 329 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:53,720 But in the end, foolishness and death win because there's no 330 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,480 harmony between the opposites. This imbalance is reflected in 331 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,320 the proclamation of the man God, which causes ego inflation that 332 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:04,080 leads to a fall. It aligns with the natural law 333 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:08,080 of an Androgromedia, where A1 sided attitude in consciousness 334 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,520 eventually triggers its unconscious opposite to restore 335 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,760 psychic balance. Those with physical deformities 336 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,320 were often not regarded as cursed, but rather as touched by 337 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:23,760 God, a belief that can be traced back to ancient Egypt where 338 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,520 dwarfs were revered as bearers of divine gifts. 339 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:30,280 Owing to this sacred status, individuals with physical 340 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:34,120 anomalies were often chosen to be professional fools in royal 341 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:37,280 houses. Court dwarfs, for instance, made 342 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,600 the king appear much larger and hence more powerful. 343 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:44,840 Their parents provoked both amusement and awe evoking 344 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,760 mythological beings such as the dwarfs of Germanic folklore, 345 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,560 earth dwelling spirits and master blacksmiths, as well as 346 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:57,560 elves, cobbols, gnomes and leprechauns from across European 347 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,360 traditions. It was also thought that those 348 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:04,320 with physical deformities were also mentally deficient, which 349 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,920 was often not the case. This confusion led to their 350 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:12,440 association with a natural fool, a person who is naive, childlike 351 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,920 or mentally impaired. The word fool derives from the 352 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,480 Latin follows meaning bellows or wind back. 353 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,720 The idea is that a fool is an empty headed person whose words 354 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:28,880 carry little weight like air, hence the association with terms 355 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,120 like airhead, half width or blockhead. 356 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,680 But just as bellows feed a fire with oxygen to keep it alive and 357 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,440 burning, the fool has a way of igniting something in us. 358 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,920 If there isn't some fire in our life, we feel absolutely empty. 359 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:49,200 It is what gives us tumors, the inner fire that drives us to do 360 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,520 what is right. Only such fire can free us from 361 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,840 our Massa confusa, the tangled inner chaos that keeps us 362 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,280 anxious, paralyzed, and oblivious of our inner 363 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,600 conflicts. This darkness must be burned in 364 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:06,400 order for new life to emerge. For out of the darkest depths 365 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:10,360 arises the brightest light. Who in this mortal life would 366 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:15,560 see the light that is beyond all light beholds it best by faring 367 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,680 forth into the darkness of the night. 368 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,320 The phoenix is reborn through fire. 369 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,840 From the harshest reality, from senseless situations, from the 370 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,440 deepest pain, resurrection is born. 371 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,680 We know that life always finds a way through every situation. 372 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:37,320 Although it is hard to recognize the light, it can come when 373 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:41,240 everything is dark. To rise again is to not let hope 374 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,280 fade. The natural fool typically 375 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:48,120 follows his instincts rather than social norms or rules. 376 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,760 What makes him unique is that he's unconscious of his folly. 377 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:55,080 He does not pretend to be foolish, but is perceived as 378 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:59,200 such by society, often because of his unconventional behaviour 379 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,360 or failure to conform to social expectations. 380 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:06,520 Since he's considered too simple to lie, he often speaks 381 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,440 uncomfortable or dangerous truths that many dare not utter. 382 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,720 The professional fool imports the natural fool's behaviour 383 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,520 into his performance. Fairy tales often portray the 384 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,800 natural fool as someone dismissed as a good for nothing, 385 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,560 laughed at and ridiculed. Yet he's the one who, against 386 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:30,440 all odds, marries the Princess and inherits the Kingdom. 387 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,200 He has complete faith in the process of life and throws 388 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,680 himself wholeheartedly into everything he encounters. 389 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:42,680 In doing so, he redeems not only himself, but all those he needs. 390 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,760 The fool dares to look where no one else will. 391 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:49,880 Rushing in where angels fear to tread, he follows the alchemical 392 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,200 maxim. In filth it will be found, for 393 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,320 it is in the most neglected places that the philosopher's 394 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:59,720 stone lies hidden. What you need most is found 395 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:04,360 where you least want to look. In the German fairy tale, the 396 00:25:04,360 --> 00:25:07,960 story of the youth who went forth to learn what fear was, 397 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:12,120 the archetypal fool appears as a young man who cannot feel fear. 398 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,840 Determined to understand what it means to shudder, he sets out on 399 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,520 a journey. He spends 3 nights in a haunted 400 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:22,800 castle, facing ghosts, evil spirits, and supernatural 401 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:25,840 challenges. Yet he remains unfazed. 402 00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:29,800 He finds a treasure, redeems the castle, and marries the 403 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,680 Princess. That is all very well, says the 404 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,600 Fool, but I still do not know how to shudder. 405 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,960 In the end, his wife, tired of his complaining, pours a bucket 406 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:44,440 of cold water and fish over him. The fish wriggle on his body and 407 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,800 at last he shudders. The purity and honesty of the 408 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:51,680 natural fool show something holy about him. 409 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:56,360 This leads us to another type, the holy fool, well portrayed in 410 00:25:56,360 --> 00:26:00,840 Dostoevsky's novel The Idiot. The protagonist, Prince Mushkin, 411 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,640 returns to Russia after spending time in a sanatorium receiving 412 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,680 treatment for epilepsy and idiocy, a historical medical 413 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:13,400 term for neurological disorders. His honesty, innocence, and open 414 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:17,120 heartedness lead many to mistake him for a fool, sharply 415 00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:20,720 contrasting with the corrupt, egocentric, and materialistic 416 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,920 society around him. Yet when people start to talk to 417 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,600 him, they realize that he possesses deep wisdom and 418 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:29,720 represents the Christian ideal of love. 419 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,840 In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the urudiva are 420 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,600 figures of divine madness. They represent what Saint Paul 421 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:41,880 called fools for Christ, willingly enduring humiliation, 422 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:46,120 radical poverty, suffering, and even death in order to follow 423 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:49,440 the path of truth and love regardless of what the others 424 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,240 say. Rejecting worldly possessions in 425 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:56,320 favor of a spiritual and ascetic life, the holy fool becomes 426 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,920 unstoppable and thus profoundly threatening to the powers and 427 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:04,440 authorities of this world. The holy fool dies to this world 428 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:10,320 and gives birth to divine truth. The holy fool, natural fool, and 429 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:14,080 wise fool seem to be the closest expressions of the original 430 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,760 pattern and behavior of the archetype. 431 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:21,720 The fool as precursor to salvation, transformation and 432 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:25,520 individuation, the soul's journey towards wholeness in 433 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:30,280 which the ego aligns itself with the self, Jung writes. 434 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,920 There is a mystical fool in me that proved to be stronger than 435 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:39,320 all my science. Numerous studies, anecdotal 436 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:43,760 accounts, and works such as Rick Strassman's DMT The Spirit 437 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:47,080 Molecule have documented consistent encounters with 438 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:51,200 entities during DMT experiences. Among these are beings that 439 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:55,000 appear as clowns, jesters, Imps or elves. 440 00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:59,000 Often described as childish, mischievous, toy like, 441 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:03,080 mechanical or cartoonish. Terence McKenna famously 442 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:06,520 described him as self transforming machine elves. 443 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,920 They embody a combination of archetypes such as the 444 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,800 Trickster, the Fool, and the Eternal Child. 445 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:17,360 The entities are often perceived as more real than real, and one 446 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:20,600 frequently receives messages or insights from them. 447 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,880 These altered states of consciousness may induce ego 448 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,600 death, where the sense of eye dissolves and one merges with a 449 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,800 larger whole, allowing contact with the archetypes of the 450 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,720 collective unconscious. This experience can either lead 451 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,040 to enlightenment or to bad trips. 452 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,160 There's no shortcut to self realization. 453 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:43,320 The Fool is part of us, part of the unconscious. 454 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:46,360 When we ignore him, we neglect something essential in 455 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,320 ourselves. The purpose of the Fool's 456 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:52,200 existence seems to be tied to the psychological well-being of 457 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,960 a culture. Foolish behavior in all its 458 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,240 forms across the world is often marked by shocking or 459 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,560 astonishing antics. Through this, the Fool draws 460 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,800 attention to what has been forgotten or cast aside. 461 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,840 By exposing what society represses, he helps restore our 462 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:12,440 one sidedness and moves us towards psychic wholeness. 463 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:16,600 In this way, the Fool appears as an organic response to the 464 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:18,920 psychological needs of the community. 465 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:23,160 On a more earthy level, perhaps it is simply necessary to poke 466 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,360 fun at ourselves and our established social structures. 467 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,680 Mankind has often become overly absorbed in the lofty pursuits 468 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:35,000 of intellect, power and status while neglecting the humble, 469 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:39,120 daily earthy side of life, Dostoevsky writes in Notes from 470 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,840 Underground. To be too conscious is an 471 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,400 illness, a real, thorough going illness. 472 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:50,280 This excessive introspection paralyzes action and breathes 473 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,680 self loathing. When we are too detached from 474 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:57,680 reality, the fool comes to our rescue, grounding us again. 475 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:02,720 The word human comes from the Latin hummus, which means earth. 476 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,440 To be human is to be humble and down to earth. 477 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,880 Within this lies a rich source of nourishment that heals us. 478 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,840 This forgotten element must be restored. 479 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,640 The fool does not ponder about the meaning or purpose of life, 480 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:22,320 he simply lives it. Don Quixote and Santo Panther 481 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:26,680 are the classic duo of ego and shadow in Western literature. 1 482 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:30,240 is lofty, stuck in the world of imagination which he mistakes 483 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,320 for reality. The other is earthy and grounds 484 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,280 him. The 2 are opposites, yet they 485 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:39,760 need each other, for together they become whole. 486 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:43,520 The Dance of Death was originally shown as a chain of 487 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,600 people from all walks of life dancing with Death. 488 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,840 But in the 16th century, the artist Hans Holbein the Younger 489 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:55,000 reimagined it as Death, visiting each person individually, king, 490 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:58,920 peasant and everyone in between, dragging them away in a dance 491 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:02,160 accompanied by music. This came to define the whole 492 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:06,040 genre, inspiring many later artists to create their own 493 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:09,280 versions. Here, the Fool holds a special 494 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:13,360 place among Death's victims. Death takes up the Fool's own 495 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,800 instrument, the bagpipe, a wind filled instrument. 496 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,960 There's something in the Fool that Death appears to admire, 497 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:24,880 something he seeks to imitate. Death too likes to play tricks. 498 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:28,600 It is not always come as grim and serious, but often laughing 499 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:32,960 and dancing, mimicking the Fool. The Fool dances with Death while 500 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:36,560 holding a deflated wind bag as if about to strike him with it. 501 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:40,760 His finger pressed to his lips hints at mischief or empty 502 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,400 mindedness. It is as though he marks Death 503 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:47,480 challenging fate in another version of Holbein's Dance of 504 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:49,760 Death. Death not only leads the dance, 505 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,440 but also wears the Fool's costume, complete with cabin 506 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,440 bells. Death himself becomes the Fool. 507 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,240 The Fool appears half reluctant, half entranced. 508 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,120 The relationship of Death and the Fool is ambiguous and 509 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,760 paradoxical, based both upon their similarities and their 510 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:11,000 opposition. At times, Death plays the Fool 511 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:15,200 and sometimes seizes him. They are, alternatively, allies 512 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:18,440 and enemies. Both laugh at human pretensions 513 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:22,320 and the illusion of control over life, bringing down the proud 514 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:26,480 and powerful whenever possible. Just as the fool of 10 outwits 515 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,320 wiser men. Death ultimately claims all 516 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:33,040 living beings. Death's unsettling grin mirrors 517 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:36,240 the fool's vacant smile or raucous laughter. 518 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:40,520 Together they embody 2 universal conditions that many prefer to 519 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:45,840 ignore, mortality and folly. As truth tellers, they show the 520 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:48,600 hard truths hiding beneath everyday life. 521 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:53,440 In the first of two images by the 16th century painter Ziebel 522 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:57,760 Bayham, the Fool stands beside a lady, symbolizing attachment to 523 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:01,040 worldly beauty. In the second image, the fool is 524 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:04,600 replaced by death. The inscription above reads, 525 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,640 Death abolishes all beauty in man. 526 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:11,480 This contrast shows that death and folly are intertwined, 527 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:16,240 perhaps even indistinguishable. The fool's joy in life dares to 528 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:20,160 challenge death's dominion. Though death always triumphs, it 529 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:23,240 is never without a fierce struggle to overcome one of his 530 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:26,800 most stubborn victims. For the fool and bodies, life, 531 00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:30,200 not death. He laughs at death and death 532 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,400 laughs back. But the fool still dances along 533 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,640 the track. The fool dancing with death 534 00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:39,720 represents the union of opposites, life and death, 535 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:43,040 wisdom and folly, a characteristic of the self. 536 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,680 Like music, prayer and meditation, a dance has no 537 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,600 destination. It does not aim at a goal in 538 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:52,920 time. It is done purely for its own 539 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:55,520 sake. In the art of dancing, you are 540 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:59,920 dancing to dance. This is genuine play, something 541 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:03,600 done just for the joy of it and not for some ulterior motive. 542 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:08,480 We need not constantly kill time or feel we have wasted time 543 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:11,960 treating it as an enemy now insatiable, striving for 544 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:14,639 progress. Until we acknowledge this 545 00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:18,679 restlessness, the root of our anxiety, we will never learn 546 00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:24,159 what it means to be alive, to really live, to stop doing and 547 00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:27,800 just be. The truth is that the present 548 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:31,560 moment is the only reality. We should focus on being with 549 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:36,600 existence and doing our duty day by day, for we suffer more in 550 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:40,840 imagination than in reality. The fool lives in the eternal 551 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:45,440 now, for the past has passed and the future is yet to come. 552 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,159 Rather than wishing things were different, he accepts them as 553 00:34:49,159 --> 00:34:52,679 they are. In this way life will flow well, 554 00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:56,480 as Christ says. Therefore, do not worry about 555 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,560 tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. 556 00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:02,600 Each day has enough trouble of its own. 557 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:07,960 In the image of Nataraja Shiva as the cosmic dancer performs 558 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:11,480 the dance of bliss. Here once again we encounter the 559 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:13,600 paradox of the union of opposites. 560 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:17,440 The dance is full of dynamic movement and his hair flows 561 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:21,880 wildly, yet his face remains serene and calm, capturing 562 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:25,200 stillness in motion, order within chaos. 563 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:29,760 In one hand he holds a drum by whose spiritual sounds the 564 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:34,160 universe is created. In another he holds fire which 565 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:37,600 destroys everything. A third hand makes the fear not 566 00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:41,880 pose, offering protection, while the fourth hand signifies 567 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:46,280 concealment and points towards his raised foot, symbolizing the 568 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:51,120 path to moksha, or liberation from samsara, the cycle of birth 569 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:54,320 and rebirth. His other foot crushes the demon 570 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,440 of Avidya, not seeing all ignorance. 571 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:02,280 A manifestation of Maya, the magical veil of illusion that 572 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:06,160 casts a spell over the world, making the trenchant world 573 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:10,560 appear ultimately real. The word illusion derives from 574 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:13,360 the Latin ludde, meaning to play. 575 00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:17,640 The world is like a play in which all things dance between 576 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:21,720 appearance and truth, an eternal game of hide and seek. 577 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,880 Like someone who thinks they play on stage is real, we too 578 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:29,520 are caught in Maya when we see the physical world as ultimate 579 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:33,240 reality, forgetting the deeper spiritual truth that we are 580 00:36:33,240 --> 00:36:37,560 souls having human experiences. Awakening means seeing through 581 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:41,600 the play, realizing that the actors guard in disguise, and 582 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:43,760 choosing to play along consciously. 583 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:48,800 The fool lives in Lila, A Sanskrit word meaning divine 584 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,880 play. In Hinduism, Brahman is the 585 00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:55,600 ultimate, infinite and unchanging reality underlying 586 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:58,760 all existence beyond form and comprehension. 587 00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:02,680 Since God is complete and lacks nothing, there's no purpose or 588 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:06,840 necessity for creation. Instead, the universe arises 589 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:10,080 spontaneously out of joy and freedom. 590 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:14,200 The world becomes the stage on which this divine play unfolds, 591 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:18,080 with life's ups and downs woven into the cosmic drama. 592 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:21,760 The spontaneous, joyful playfulness is embodied in 593 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:25,480 Krishna as a divine child who's engaged in charming and 594 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:29,080 mischievous acts, enchanting everyone with his flute and 595 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:32,480 performing miracles. His actions have no fixed goals 596 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:35,760 or purposes. They arise purely from Lila. 597 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:40,320 These acts transcend conventional morality, existing 598 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:43,240 beyond good and evil, Nietzsche writes. 599 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:47,360 Gods delight in making fun. Even where sacred actions are 600 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,560 concerned, it seems they cannot stop laughing. 601 00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:55,520 This is no mockery, but an expression of divine play. 602 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:59,400 Even in the most serious or sacred moments, the gods may 603 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:03,480 laugh and remain playful. We may find sacredness in 604 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:08,200 everyday human interactions, for each person in his own way 605 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:11,440 reflects the divine, Chesterton writes. 606 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:15,440 And now a great thing in the street seems any human nod. 607 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:20,040 We're moving strange democracy, the million masks of God. 608 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:25,000 Life is like a game, and we shouldn't take it too seriously. 609 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:30,960 The first rule of the social game is it is serious, or this 610 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:35,480 game is not a game. Consequently, society tends to 611 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:39,200 resist any suggestion that what we do might not be entirely 612 00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:43,080 serious. Alan Watts states the standpoint 613 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:46,920 of the Fool is that all social institutions are games. 614 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:51,040 He sees the whole world as game playing, and that's why when 615 00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:54,800 people take that game seriously and put on stern and pious 616 00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:59,680 expressions, the Fool gets the giggles because he knows it's 617 00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:03,360 all a game. The art of the Fool is 618 00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:06,120 paradoxical. He reveals that life is a game 619 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:10,480 of play, masks and delusions. Yet he keeps the show going. 620 00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:13,600 He unveils just enough not to ruin the game. 621 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,520 Conscious of playing within the illusion, he still plays along. 622 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:22,720 Why this is remains a mystery. This is the great cosmic joke. 623 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:28,200 A game is not merely A trivial pastime, for it is, in essence, 624 00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:31,520 life itself. Just like the artist becomes 625 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:35,000 wholly absorbed in the art of creation, or the actor loses 626 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:38,800 himself in the unfolding of a role, so too do we become 627 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,040 immersed in the drama of existence. 628 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:45,640 The play of the Supreme Self is like a passing illusion, as if 629 00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:50,720 God dreamt reality into being, and like a great actor, makes 630 00:39:50,720 --> 00:39:54,040 you forget it's all a show, persuading you that it's real 631 00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:56,160 and keeping you on the edge of your seat. 632 00:39:56,920 --> 00:40:00,680 It is natural for people to take life seriously at times, but 633 00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:03,920 when the fool sees someone acting too serious, thinking 634 00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,560 himself extremely important, he can't help but laugh. 635 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:11,360 He knows that the more serious one is, the bigger the surprise 636 00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:15,720 and the louder the laughter when he realizes it wasn't serious 637 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:18,480 after all. Then he shouts the joke's on 638 00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:22,000 you, implying that you never even realized you were the 639 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,880 target of the joke all along, Lovecraft writes. 640 00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:30,640 I cannot help seeing beyond the tinsel of humor and recognizing 641 00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:35,400 the pitiful basis of jest. The world is indeed comic, but 642 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:39,960 the joke is on mankind. In one of his most enigmatic 643 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:45,520 sayings, Heraclitus wrote Ion is a child at play, playing a game 644 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,760 with stones. The Kingdom belongs to a child. 645 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:53,880 The term ion originally meant vital force or life. 646 00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:58,040 Breath later came to mean lifespan and eventually evolved 647 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:02,200 into a dynamic or cosmic principle, ion becoming a deity 648 00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:05,040 associated with eternal and cyclical time. 649 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:09,880 Human life in its entirety is like a child at play, and the 650 00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:13,040 divine authority ultimately belongs to this child. 651 00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:15,600 This echoes the saying in the book of Matthew. 652 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,400 Truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like little 653 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:22,440 children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. 654 00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:26,680 While playing a game is unpredictable and ever changing, 655 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,800 it is still guided by certain rules, strategies and logic. 656 00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:35,080 Similarly, although life may sometimes feel chaotic, it 657 00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:38,320 unfolds according to an underlying order, reflecting 658 00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:41,920 Heraclitus view of the union of opposites in nature. 659 00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:47,280 In Tarot, which is also known as the Fool's Journey, the Fool is 660 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:52,000 the first of the 22 major karna cards and is assigned the #0. 661 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:56,040 The journey to self knowledge begins not with wisdom, but with 662 00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:59,440 folly. In the Red Book, Jung states the 663 00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:02,000 soul demands your folly, not your wisdom. 664 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:05,640 The Fool initiates us into the great mystery of life. 665 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:09,400 Throughout this journey, he encounters different archetypes 666 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:11,440 that are reflections of our inner world. 667 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:16,800 By recognizing the images that we project onto outer reality as 668 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:20,480 mirror reflections of our own psyche, we come to know 669 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:24,000 ourselves. The fool walks happily, carrying 670 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:27,080 no heavy burden. He has only a few belongings in 671 00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:31,640 his bindle, a simple sack tied to a stick associated with a 672 00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:36,320 Vagabond, wanderer or Pilgrim. Earlier cards depict the Fool 673 00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:41,280 alternatively as a beggar, madman, Wildman of the woods or 674 00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:44,000 Colchester. The Fool marks the start of a 675 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:46,320 new beginning, full of potential. 676 00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:50,560 The sun is shining brightly. Symbolically, they represents 677 00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:53,240 consciousness. Just as the rooster signals the 678 00:42:53,240 --> 00:42:57,040 coming dawn, the Fool expresses a new awareness that is still 679 00:42:57,040 --> 00:42:59,440 hidden in the darkness of the unconscious. 680 00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:04,160 The Fool also holds a White Rose, symbolizing purity and 681 00:43:04,160 --> 00:43:08,000 innocence, qualities of the poor, eterners or eternal youth. 682 00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:12,000 The wind blows on his clothes, making him as light as a 683 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:14,400 feather. He's lost in his thoughts of all 684 00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:18,000 the fantasies and wonderful adventures ahead and has his 685 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:21,240 head above the clouds. A dog, representing his 686 00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:25,040 instinct, tries to warn him that he's about to fall off a Cliff 687 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:28,760 into the water. When the Fool falls, he does not 688 00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:31,120 die. Instead, he begins his journey 689 00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:33,800 into the unknown, descending into the depths of the 690 00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:36,680 unconscious. The Fool serves as a necessary 691 00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:39,520 compensation for the Fool's one sidedness. 692 00:43:39,720 --> 00:43:42,920 He must become earthier, more anchored in reality. 693 00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:47,160 Falling is a common motif in dreams, often expressing A 694 00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:51,320 compensation for ego inflation, which causes 1 to overestimate 695 00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:54,880 one's importance and power. Pride comes before a fall. 696 00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:59,200 In an ancient Greek fable. Failures of Myelitas was said to 697 00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:02,480 have been so absorbed in observing the stars that he fell 698 00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:05,440 into a well. One cannot truly comprehend the 699 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:08,880 heavens above without first understanding what lies beneath 700 00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:11,960 one's feet. As above, so below. 701 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:16,480 Earlier we said that the Fool helps to ground us in reality, 702 00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:18,800 but now he himself must be grounded. 703 00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:22,160 This is the paradox. The Fool represents both the 704 00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:25,400 elements of air and earth. We might say that the 705 00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:29,080 professional fool who pretends to be foolish but is in fact 706 00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:32,560 clever, spontaneous, and quick, embodies air. 707 00:44:33,080 --> 00:44:36,960 Conversely, the natural fool, foolish by nature, is more 708 00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:38,880 instinctual and rooted in the earth. 709 00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:41,800 But we could just as easily reverse this. 710 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:45,480 The professional fool tasked with bringing lofty people down 711 00:44:45,480 --> 00:44:49,600 to earth takes on a practical, grounding role while the natural 712 00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:52,920 full drifts through life, oblivious and unburdened. 713 00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:58,120 Light as air and detached from worldly concerns, Paradox is the 714 00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:01,760 vital water of life our modern world desperately needs. 715 00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:06,120 We will go almost to any length to avoid its painful attention, 716 00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:09,320 but in doing so, we trap ourselves in meaningless 717 00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:12,240 contradiction. While suffering with meaning can 718 00:45:12,240 --> 00:45:15,440 be endured, meaningless suffering is unbearable. 719 00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:19,280 Contradiction is barren and destructive, yet paradox is 720 00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:22,760 fertile and creative. It is a powerful embracing of 721 00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:25,760 reality. Moving from opposition, which 722 00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:30,000 breeds conflict, to paradox, which is sacred and unites, 723 00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:32,120 requires a leap in consciousness. 724 00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:36,160 To find peace. One must recognize the conflict 725 00:45:36,160 --> 00:45:39,000 of opposites as part of life's natural rhythm. 726 00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:42,000 Life is a river that simply flows. 727 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:44,680 Like waves. We rise and fall. 728 00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:48,680 The awakened mind becomes detached like a non judge mental 729 00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:52,440 observer, understanding that neither happiness nor sadness 730 00:45:52,440 --> 00:45:54,880 will last. Like the turning of the wheel of 731 00:45:54,880 --> 00:46:00,160 fortune, life moves in cycles. At times you rise and at others 732 00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:02,840 you fall. Suffering begins when we cling 733 00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:06,360 to certainty, always seeking clear answers and rejecting 734 00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:08,920 opposing views. But when we stop seeing 735 00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:12,560 contradiction and start recognizing paradox, something 736 00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:16,760 within us begins to heal. When the opposites are united, 737 00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:20,560 bliss arises. This is the true transcendent 738 00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:23,480 experience. Western traditions tend to 739 00:46:23,480 --> 00:46:26,880 emphasize unity. All is 1, while Eastern 740 00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:29,440 traditions incline towards emptiness. 741 00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:32,520 Both are valid. They express the same 742 00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:36,480 transcendent truth, seen from different angles. 743 00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:41,240 The alchemists called it the Unus Mundus, the One World, the 744 00:46:41,240 --> 00:46:44,240 Gnostics, the Pluroma, the fullness of being. 745 00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:48,600 It is the reality that unites all opposites, the ultimate 746 00:46:48,720 --> 00:46:52,400 sacred marriage. A little more than halfway 747 00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:55,440 through his journey, the Fool meets death, shown as a 748 00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:58,160 skeleton. What remains when we die and our 749 00:46:58,160 --> 00:47:01,080 body decays? Death wears black armor. 750 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:03,840 Black. The absence of light evokes 751 00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:08,320 night, which in nature brings darkness, danger, and fear of 752 00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:11,360 the unknown. Likewise, death is perceived as 753 00:47:11,360 --> 00:47:15,040 a passage Into Darkness, the end of visible life. 754 00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:19,280 The card bears the number 13, long considered unlucky in 755 00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:22,360 Western culture. Yet death also rides a White 756 00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:26,560 Horse and carries a black banner adorned with a white Lotus. 757 00:47:26,880 --> 00:47:30,760 In alchemy, the negretto, or blackness, bleeds to the albedo, 758 00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:33,760 or whiteness. Mortification gives way to 759 00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:37,240 purification. Darkness transforms into light 760 00:47:37,840 --> 00:47:40,480 In Irish mythology and authorian tales. 761 00:47:40,680 --> 00:47:44,000 A knight is often confronted by an unknown warrior who demands 762 00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:47,640 he lay his neck on the block. If the young man has the courage 763 00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:51,920 to obey this fateful command, the mysterious figure casts down 764 00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:56,800 his axe and lifts his visor, revealing himself as a savior of 765 00:47:56,800 --> 00:48:00,600 shining countenance. If one can withstand the trial 766 00:48:00,600 --> 00:48:06,120 of initiation, 1 is transformed and reborn, Death is not an end, 767 00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:08,920 but a transition into another existence. 768 00:48:09,240 --> 00:48:13,280 The death of the old self and birth of a new one occur when we 769 00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:17,400 overcome a major trial in life and acquire the treasure hard to 770 00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:20,640 attain in the form of a higher level of consciousness. 771 00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:24,400 Only that which can destroy itself is truly alive. 772 00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:28,520 As the saying goes, if you die before you die, then when you 773 00:48:28,520 --> 00:48:32,560 die you don't die in the presence of death. 774 00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:35,800 There are four figures with different postures, each 775 00:48:35,800 --> 00:48:38,840 reflecting a different response to death within ourselves. 776 00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:42,520 Lying on the ground is the fallen king, a common motif in 777 00:48:42,520 --> 00:48:45,800 alchemy where the king is ritually killed because he has 778 00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:50,480 grown old, sick, or impotent. The Kingdom, a symbol of the 779 00:48:50,480 --> 00:48:53,520 self, cannot flourish under stagnant rule. 780 00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:57,640 As the saying goes, the king is dead, Long live the king. 781 00:48:58,040 --> 00:49:00,920 The old must die for new life to rise. 782 00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:05,000 In contrast, the Bishop stands before death with his hands 783 00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:09,400 clasped in prayer, representing faith, humility and spiritual 784 00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:12,120 acceptance. The young maiden, however, 785 00:49:12,120 --> 00:49:15,440 collapses or feigns and has her head turned away. 786 00:49:15,720 --> 00:49:19,840 She symbolizes grief or denial and is unable to look at death 787 00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:23,000 directly. Meanwhile, the child stares with 788 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:26,080 awe and innocence, seemingly unafraid. 789 00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:29,480 He represents the poor returners, pointing towards 790 00:49:29,480 --> 00:49:35,160 vitality, renewal, and growth. There's much to learn from the 791 00:49:35,160 --> 00:49:37,240 image of the fool dancing with death. 792 00:49:37,720 --> 00:49:41,120 It reminds us to remember our mortality and not take our 793 00:49:41,160 --> 00:49:45,000 persona too seriously, but instead to seek our true self. 794 00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:49,160 To be like the fool who redeems everything he touches and thus 795 00:49:49,160 --> 00:49:51,440 becomes the precursor to the Savior. 796 00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:55,360 To recognize the wisdom that comes from admitting our own 797 00:49:55,360 --> 00:49:58,160 folly. To understand that what we most 798 00:49:58,160 --> 00:50:00,800 need is hidden where we least want to look. 799 00:50:01,440 --> 00:50:06,000 To live in the eternal now. And to see that life is Lila, a 800 00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:09,560 mystery, a divine play, a great cosmic joke. 801 00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:13,120 And yet to play along and see the beauty in it. 802 00:50:13,600 --> 00:50:18,480 And finally, to embrace paradox over contradiction, Life and 803 00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:22,280 death, wisdom and folly, play and seriousness. 804 00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:26,000 For it is through holding the tension of these opposites on 805 00:50:26,000 --> 00:50:30,080 the journey of Self realization that we become aligned with the 806 00:50:30,080 --> 00:50:34,720 Self, complete the Great Work and attain bliss.