| Tool – Lateralus Lyrics | 12 years ago |
|
This song is a description of a mystical experience. "Black then white are all I see in my infancy. Red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me. Lets me see." As infants, we are only capable of seeing black and white before we become capable of seeing color. Likewise, as we mature spiritually we become capable of perceiving different aspects of reality that were previously completely unknown and unimaginable to us. A mystical experience is so alien to the everyday experiences of most people that describing it analogous to describing color to a colorblind person. Even if they can intellectually understand it, they can never truly "know" color without direct experience. Neither can anyone truly "know" divinity with a mere intellectual understanding of it. "As below, so above and beyond, I imagine Drawn beyond the lines of reason. Push the envelope. Watch it bend." In esoteric traditions "As above, so below" is an extremely famous phrase referring to the concept that the microcosm of the human is a representation of the macrocosm of the universe and vice versa; therefore through understanding one you understand the other. This is not a concept that can be rationally understood, hence it is "drawn beyond the lines of reason." It can only be accurately perceived when the rational mind is pushed to its breaking point, when it can be transcended. "Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind. Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines." The rational mind can only exist in a dualistic world, i.e. a world where subject and object, or the knower and the known, are separated. This duality is an illusion that is fooling the narrator, who must strengthen his will to see through the illusion. "Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line. Reaching out to embrace the random. Reaching out to embrace whatever may come." It takes a tremendous amount of willpower to cross the line from duality to unity. The individual never really knows what to expect when their ego becomes purified and they can perceive the infinite. "I embrace my desire to Feel the rhythm, to feel connected Enough to step aside and weep like a widow To feel inspired, to fathom the power, To witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, To swing on the spiral Of our divinity and still be a human." This is the desire for liberation from the chains of worldly existence, or to experience the Mystical unity of the universe. The joy of this unity is enough to make the narrator cry. "The power," "the beauty," "the fountain," and "the spiral" are descriptions of divinity. "The fountain" probably refers to the fountain of life, while spirals are filled with esoteric significance relating to the golden ratio and DNA. "With my feet upon the ground I lose myself Between the sounds and open wide to suck it in, I feel it move across my skin. I'm reaching up and reaching out, I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me. And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been. We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been." After this mystical experience, the narrator's desire to reach even further into to fabric of reality is intensified and they assert their intention to continue their spiritual evolution to its conclusion. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.