LOST--watch out for **SPOILERS**

[Woofer]

Without reading it (and I will eventually), I agree with Ricky (as I usually do). It seems pretty clear from the show that the light wasn't meant to be time. Given the heavy-handed heaven scene, it seems more likely that the light is the essence of being that passes from one to the other, with the light returning to its mystical pool in the earth until another body needs the spark.

Since Damon and Carlton have said that MIB was supposed to be the embodiment of evil, I'm going to go with MIB being the embodiment of evil.

[fernandito]

Without reading it (and I will eventually), I agree with Ricky (as I usually do). It seems pretty clear from the show that the light wasn't meant to be time. Given the heavy-handed heaven scene, it seems more likely that the light is the essence of being that passes from one to the other, with the light returning to its mystical pool in the earth until another body needs the spark.

Check out the article when you get a chance, he presents some very compelling arguments to back up his claim.

Since Damon and Carlton have said that MIB was supposed to be the embodiment of evil, I'm going to go with MIB being the embodiment of evil.

The problem I have with this is : If MIB is truly the embodiment of evil as we were repeatedly told, then why did the producers try to humanize him in 'Across the sea' ? After that episode, I started to sympathize with his character and what he was going through. That's not something I should be feeling for some one being labeled as the evil to end all evils.

[Mattrick]

The problem I have with this is : If MIB is truly the embodiment of evil as we were repeatedly told, then why did the producers try to humanize him in 'Across the sea' ? After that episode, I started to sympathize with his character and what he was going through. That's not something I should be feeling for some one being labeled as the evil to end all evils.

Who says Smokie didn't merely use MIB as an image template but actually, never was, MIB. We were shown MIB being put to rest. I don't think MIB was smokie at all.

[Mattrick]

My whole theory is that essentially this. A civilization way back when discovered or was born on the island. They knew of it's significance. The island itself seems to be the crossing point for the living and the dead. The Anhk is a symbol for life. We know the statue was built, a temple and that room where the cork was. Obviously rituals and probably sacrifices happened here.

It would seem perhaps that they were trying to enter the mythical underworld. We use the use of the scales often, which was part of the Egyptian mythology that when dead, they weighed your heart and if it was lighter than a feather you lived forever, if not then your heart was eating by Ammit.

The statue in lost of Taueret, is a huge clue to it all. "Taweret was seen as one who protected against evil by restraining it." And this is exactly what the protector does. Taueret was believe to be the mistress of Set, who "god of storms, later became god of evil, desert and patron of Upper Egypt - 'one of the most prominent deities of chaos he does not have an actual animal to represent him, but is seen as an amalgamation of many different characteristics of other animals.". "It then was said that Taweret had been an evil goddess, but changed her ways and held Set back on a chain."


From that blurb alone we have the smoke monster, a black cloud that appears to have lightning flowing through it (god of storms) and is supposed to be pure evil (god of evil). There is no actual animal represent him. Again, Taueret is said to be that which stops the evil and holds it. A lot of interesting insight can be lent to the stuff they don't outright tell us with a little research. It would seem the protector has been bestowed Taueret's powers and thus why Jacob seems so omnipotent and had powers.

[Ricky]

Without reading it (and I will eventually), I agree with Ricky (as I usually do).

it seems more likely that the light is the essence of being that passes from one to the other, with the light returning to its mystical pool in the earth until another body needs the spark.

Ohh, I like this!

The problem I have with this is : If MIB is truly the embodiment of evil as we were repeatedly told, then why did the producers try to humanize him in 'Across the sea' ? After that episode, I started to sympathize with his character and what he was going through. That's not something I should be feeling for some one being labeled as the evil to end all evils.

Because MIB didn't begin his "transformation" (for lack of better wording) into the embodiment of evil until Jacob sent him into the cave, which resulted in him becoming the smoke monster. Whatever inner-evils that MIB carried with him throughout this life (bitterness to due Jacob favoritism, unable to leave the Island, un-fulfilled curiousities, etc.) blended with the darkness of the smoke and just kept building and building.

In short, MIB's embodiment of evil=bittnerness throughout life+hatred for Jacob, Mother, and what he cannot have x meshing with the evils/darkness of the smoke monster.

The one thing I still don't understand is how everything good in the world would be destroyed once MIB left the Island.

[disel24]

I agree with the Eygptian God angle, I think that the statue held a HUGE signficance. I also don't believe that Smokey was MIB, I think it was just a visage that he used to communicate with people. Keep in mind that once Jack's dad showed up, MIB also took THAT Form (Shown in Season 5 when Claire is with him). Jacob even goes as far as saying that MIB can only take on the faces of those that are dead.

With MIB leaving the Island, it would releasing choas and evil into the world. Think, Pandora's Box on a global scale, which would destroy the world.

[Woofer]

Well, yeah, we discussed the Egyptian god angle back when the statue was first revealed. I forget what page that's on, however.

One of the reasons for humanizing him was, as Ricky pointed out, that he was born human and didn't transform until the cave. This, I believe, is because of his being "special", not only as confirmed by his OtherMother telling him so, but also by what we saw of his interactions with Jacob while they were growing up. Moreover, from a writer's perspective, humanizing evil within the context of the narrative serves a two-fold purpose: 1) It makes the actions of the being more accessible to the audience by imbuing his actions with the sense that it could have been one of us in his shoes, and 2) it increases the horror of the situation for the very same reason: there but for the grace of Tawaret go I.

Ricky, I'm not sure how everything good would be destroyed, either. One would think that releasing all the light would banish the darkness, but maybe the pool of light is only good when it is contained in that manner (Don't know. Grasping at straws. Will definitely read the linked article after Mr. Woofer crashes [to ensure no interruptions, bless him]).

I know I'm forgetting something, but please excuse me. It's the pain meds.

[Mattrick]

This was a post a hundred pages back from beginning of season five:

After season 4 of LOST, on a Facebook group, I posed a theory that Desmond was the key factor to the LOST puzzle. At the time, they debunked my theories because there was no factual evidence to support aspects of it.

This aspect was the relationship between Daniel Faraday and Charles Widmore. I had said that Widmore was funding Faraday's research, which is why he knew so much about the island and was experimenting with similar qualities. I gathered that Faraday was on Widmore's boat, as were the other 5, because of this relationship. Abadon said 'it had to be those four' and that is, as we now know, because Widmore was on the island.

As for Desmond, he was responsible for every major key event of the show:

- Desmond crashed the plane.
- Desmond returned in time to turn the fail safe key, saving the island.
- Blowing the hatch made the island visible to both Charles and Penelope Widmore.
- This caused him to conciously go back in time. There he meets Mrs. Hawking, he tells him about course correction. This also brings about the saving Charlie storyline.
- Desmond has visions of the future.
- Desmond sees a vision of someone parachuting down. This was Naomi.
- Using Naomi, they are able to get in contact with the boat. Naomi would have died if not for Desmond finding her, after being captured by Mikael.
- Desmond saved Charlie long enough for him to turn off the jamming equipment. Charlie then tells Desmond it wasn't Penny's boat.
- Between Locke and Desmonds opinion of the Frieghter Folk, the camp divides.
- Desmond gets on the boat and due to blowing the hatch, his past consiousness comes to the future.
- I believe because of this, Past Desmond inherits some memories future Desmond had just experienced.
- Faraday says you can't change things. But Desmond is special. Desmond can change things.
- Faraday says Desmond is special this season.
- When Desmond meets Faraday in the past, Faraday learns he's on an island (Faraday knows about the island) and helps instruct him on what he needs to do.
- After this meeting, Desmond meets Widmore. Widmore graciously gives Penny his address. We know Widmore was both on the island and looking for it. It's a good bet, Widmore knew Desmond was the key to finding the island and allowed things to take their course.
- Desmond was also in a monestary, with Brother (can't remember his name). On his desk is a picture of him with Mrs. Hawking. Both of them know of Desmonds destiny and make sure he goes on it.
- The head monk at the monestary (who brought Desmond there) was responsible for Desmond meeting Penny.
- However Desmond is special, he can change or modify things. That is why he was given the lesson in course correction in order to save Charlie. So he COULD save him. Because he could've easily just failed and everything would be different. Or at least I assume.
- To top it all off, Desmond calling Penelope allowed the Oceanic Six to be rescued from the water and plan out the lie.

Sorry about the red, I search Desmond and so that word is highlighted



My point was that Desmond was the pivotal piece of the lost puzzle, the one that made everything fit. Again, he was responsible for even more key events to happen; flashes in Sideways, making smokey vulnerable. I don't think with any doubt that any character in the show was more important. I guess you could say that if it were a chessboard, Desmond was Jacob's knight, moving him in L formations place to place until it was time for checkmate. Used Desmond to crash 815, providing the oceanic six a way off the island eventually leading them onto Ajira and eventually causing the death of Smokie.

It would seem to me, Jacob may have visted Mrs. Hawking at some point. She seemed to be behind Desmond making all his decisions that were key to him coming to the island. Out of all the characters, Desmond really seemed to be nothing more than a puppet of Jacob and I think he knew it which is why he tried so hard to fight it.

[Merlin1958]

To me, as far as Smokey/MIB go, the only thing that begins to make any sense is that Smokey was around before MIB went into the cave. That would be a possible explanation for the "purge" of the MIB's "people" and destruction of the FDW chamber. I just could never buy that Mother herself did it unless, she was a Smokey and there really is nothing to support that theory.

Logically then, it would make sense that Smokey and MIB somehow "merged" MIB's essence or soul into the existing Smoke Monster, which would seem to somewhat follow suit with what we are later shown. The over-riding theme being that MIB's hatred of Mother and Jacob became the dominant force in the smoke monster, which would also provide a plausible explanation for why he would follow Jacob's "rules".

Although to be honest, I really don't think the writers were trying to get any of that across to us, or for that matter, ever really gave it that much thought. Like most of the mysteries its ambiguous and/or contradictory. Fact is they were just making it up as they went till they got to their big FS/Purgatory twist.


As Jeff Bridges Dad quoted in one of those "Rambo" parities whose name escapes me. "I (they) haven't a clue, not a fucking clue what you (they) just said (wrote)".

[Mattrick]

I think if Smokey had existed beforehand, they would have noticed it. That was the first we saw of smokey.

[Ricky]

One of the reasons for humanizing him was, as Ricky pointed out, that he was born human and didn't transform until the cave. This, I believe, is because of his being "special", not only as confirmed by his OtherMother telling him so, but also by what we saw of his interactions with Jacob while they were growing up. Moreover, from a writer's perspective, humanizing evil within the context of the narrative serves a two-fold purpose: 1) It makes the actions of the being more accessible to the audience by imbuing his actions with the sense that it could have been one of us in his shoes, and 2) it increases the horror of the situation for the very same reason: there but for the grace of Tawaret go I.

Agree with everything you said.

Also like that you brought up how Smokey/MIB transformation was gradual, linking it with the viewer. There aren't alot of people that notice writers' intentions/perspective so Woofer, you are my hero.

To me, as far as Smokey/MIB go, the only thing that begins to make any sense is that Smokey was around before MIB went into the cave. That would be a possible explanation for the "purge" of the MIB's "people" and destruction of the FDW chamber. I just could never buy that Mother herself did it unless, she was a Smokey and there really is nothing to support that theory.

Logically then, it would make sense that Smokey and MIB somehow "merged" MIB's essence or soul into the existing Smoke Monster, which would seem to somewhat follow suit with what we are later shown.

This is what I would like to beleive and would actually prefer to be canon in the show. To have MIB merge with the smoke monster instead of being turned into the smoke monster is a much better explanation IMO and still leaves the possibility open for Smokey/Anubis/Egyptian references.

Like most of the mysteries its ambiguous and/or contradictory. Fact is they were just making it up as they went till they got to their big FS/Purgatory twist.

As much as I hate the believe it, it seems like a good portion of season 6 was used to build up until the FS reveal. Heather and I talked about this alot throughout the season and if the FS didn't dominate 60% of every episode, I feel like this season would've been so much better. Not saying that it was bad, just that it wasn't as good as past seasons

[Merlin1958]

One of the reasons for humanizing him was, as Ricky pointed out, that he was born human and didn't transform until the cave. This, I believe, is because of his being "special", not only as confirmed by his OtherMother telling him so, but also by what we saw of his interactions with Jacob while they were growing up. Moreover, from a writer's perspective, humanizing evil within the context of the narrative serves a two-fold purpose: 1) It makes the actions of the being more accessible to the audience by imbuing his actions with the sense that it could have been one of us in his shoes, and 2) it increases the horror of the situation for the very same reason: there but for the grace of Tawaret go I.

Agree with everything you said.

Also like that you brought up how Smokey/MIB transformation was gradual, linking it with the viewer. There aren't alot of people that notice writers' intentions/perspective so Woofer, you are my hero.

To me, as far as Smokey/MIB go, the only thing that begins to make any sense is that Smokey was around before MIB went into the cave. That would be a possible explanation for the "purge" of the MIB's "people" and destruction of the FDW chamber. I just could never buy that Mother herself did it unless, she was a Smokey and there really is nothing to support that theory.

Logically then, it would make sense that Smokey and MIB somehow "merged" MIB's essence or soul into the existing Smoke Monster, which would seem to somewhat follow suit with what we are later shown.

This is what I would like to beleive and would actually prefer to be canon in the show. To have MIB merge with the smoke monster instead of being turned into the smoke monster is a much better explanation IMO and still leaves the possibility open for Smokey/Anubis/Egyptian references.

Like most of the mysteries its ambiguous and/or contradictory. Fact is they were just making it up as they went till they got to their big FS/Purgatory twist.

As much as I hate the believe it, it seems like a good portion of season 6 was used to build up until the FS reveal. Heather and I talked about this alot throughout the season and if the FS didn't dominate 60% of every episode, I feel like this season would've been so much better. Not saying that it was bad, just that it wasn't as good as past seasons

I couldn't agree with your last part more. I think that whole FS build up for what? 16 episodes? was ridiculous. Furthermore, once the reality (?) of the FS was revealed it virtually rendered 50% of all the s6 episodes unnecessay and a waste of time. There was virtually nothing worthwhile (to the story) happening in the FS throughout the entire season.

What infuriates me and a lot of other folks I'm sure is that the whole thing A) smacks of the writers not crediting the audiences intelligence to be able to "figure it out" in the reveal and B) All the time wasted in the set-up for the FS reveal that could have been used to further deal with mysteries and plot in the show!!!

Overall, to me at least, its maddening in that it seemed like they "cared" about the story for 5 seasons and in the sixth, just wanted to go home and "move on".

Mattrick: To summarily dismiss the thought out of hand like that is as lazy a way to deal with it as the writers approach to the story. While very few "dots" will ever properly connect on this show, that theory makes as much sense as any other. Also, how do you explain Mother's little rampage, if not with some form of "Smokey" type mojo? They didn't "show" us anything that would allow you to speculate on that either. We are left to write our own show in that respect.

[disel24]

Does anyone feel like they switched ships between season 5 and 6?

Because at the end of Season 5 it felt like they were going with it in a certain direction and then changed midstream

[Woofer]

Thanks, Ricky. I love thinking about LOST.

I agree on the merging theory. That's something I meant to put into words before but forgot: the personality of MIB made him uniquely suited to be the catalyst of the evil / smoke monster in the cave. IMO, that's why OtherMother said what she did to Jacob about it being worse than death in the cave. Hell, she may've even known that MIB could/would transform when he went through because he was special. Perhaps her people had seen it happen many times throughout history.

Re: switching horses in midstream on the plot: It does feel as if they had a different ending in mind, but they couldn't make it work. I think that's sad because I feel that it most definitely could've worked without having the FS as their fantasy waiting room. I suppose we should've realized that sooner, though, when obvious inconsistencies appeared (Ben's dad nice to him? W00000000t?!) I liked the FS bits, but I didn't like that they weren't real. I would've preferred it to be, for example, an alternate universe bleeding in on ours and we had to stop the gap by replacing the cork. (HINT!)

Need more coffee. I'm totally off kilter these days.

[fernandito]

You guys should read this, one of the most incredible dissections of LOST I've ever seen. It's long, but well worth the read , trust me -

-----

I once was Lost, but now am Found
Exploring the symbolism of Lost
by August Bergh

[SPOILER WARNING!]
Do not read this unless you have watched all episodes of Lost.

Lost is an incredibly complex series and I'm not going to attempt to try to understand or explain every event or episode but I will try to give my interpretation of the symbolism in the general outline of the show. I will explore the symbolism of the series because I think the exploration of the actual characters and events is rather shallow and meaningless. I also think that the creators of Lost were thinking very much in terms of symbols when they wrote the show, and I will try to explain why. This interpretation is entirely personal and if someone else has a different one then I would love to hear it.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

This is part of a famous hymn called Amazing Grace and it summarizes the basic concept of Lost very well. I will get back to this later.

Lost is basically what is known as the perennial philosophy. Which is essentially the same thing as Mysticism (the commonality in all religions). That is to say that it is about universal truths, the nature of reality, humanity and consciousness. This is also what all great mythologies are really about. It is no mere coincidence that many things in the series are named after, or inspired by, philosophers and religious teachings (John Locke, David Hume, Rousseau, Dharma, etc.)

Comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell speaks of a reoccurring concept in all the ancient mythologies of the world which he calls the Hero's Journey:

”There's a certain type of myth which one might call the vision guest, going in quest of a boon, a vision, which has the same form in every mythology. That is the thing that I tried to present in the first book I wrote, The Hero With a Thousand Faces. All these different mythologies give us the same essential quest. You leave the world that you're in and go into a depth or into a distance or up to a height. There you come to what was missing in your consciousness in the world you formerly inhabited. Then comes the problem either of staying with that, and letting the world drop off, or returning with that boon and trying to hold on to it as you move back into your social world again.”

This was written over fifty years ago but could summarize the basic concept of Lost.

I am sure the writers of Lost took the theories of Joseph Campbell into consideration since they have so many references to his work. Another reference connected to Joseph Campbell that keeps appearing is that of Star Wars. Campbell and George Lucas used to be good friends and Lucas wrote his myth based on Campbell's work. One of the most subtle and endearing references to this myth appears in the last episode of Lost when Hurley say ”I have a bad feeling about this”. This is a line that appears in all six Star Wars movies and has become somewhat of an inside joke among fans.

So what is the meaning of these myths, why do they keep appearing across all the worlds ages and locations? What are they trying to teach us? Joseph Campbell say's that myths teach you that ”you can turn inward, and you begin to get the message of the symbols. Myth helps you to put your mind in touch with this experience of being alive. Myth tells you what the experience is.” So mythologies help us make sense of our lives and help us to cope with the problems of human experience. I would also like to add the mystical aspect, which is that they speak of a truth that is unspeakable and that is why it [the truth] is masked in symbolism and metaphor. And because it is unspeakable it is also unknowable by the conceptual mind. No one can be told what it is. They have to experience it themselves. The myths, the philosophies and the core of the religions all work as inner maps to that experience; that realization.

Among many philosophers, theologians, gurus and mystics there is a common fundamental belief that all spirituality is a search for the same basic, unknown force from which everything came, within which everything currently exists, and into which everything will return. This elemental force is ultimately “unknowable” because it exists before words and knowledge. And because this basic driving force cannot be expressed in words, spiritual rituals and stories refer to the force through the use of ”metaphors” - these metaphors being the various stories, deities, and objects of spirituality we see in the world. For example, the Genesis myth in the Bible ought not be taken as a literal description of actual events, but rather its poetic, metaphorical meaning should be examined for clues concerning the fundamental truths of the world and our existence.

The religions of the world are various, culturally influenced 'masks' of the same fundamental, transcendental truths. All religions, including Christianity and Buddhism can bring one to an elevated awareness above and beyond a dualistic conception of reality, or idea of 'pairs of opposites', such as being and non-being, or right and wrong. When Jesus died on the cross and was reborn it was a metaphor of how everyone has to give 'themselves' up, that is their Ego, and metaphorically die and be reborn like a phoenix from the ashes. The cross was a symbol of the teachings. The teachings killed the illusion and gave birth to reality. This is an essential experience of any mystical realization. You die to your flesh and are born to your spirit. This is also exactly what happened to the characters of Lost in the last episode.

So what are the metaphors used in Lost? To start with we have the Island. The island can be said to represent the Ego, the false self. There is a famous saying that ”no man is an island” which comes from a metaphysical poet called John Donne who wrote in the early 1600's that: ”All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated... No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main...” So the message is that of unity, interconnectedness and non-dualism.

The island is the inner obstacle that we must overcome in order to find what we are looking for. In order to overcome our sense of alienation and separation. The journey of the characters on the island is the metaphorical purgatory that everyone has to go through in one way or another in order to get to the metaphorical heaven, which is where the 'light' is. We all need to experience for ourselves that which will make us understand who, or what, we are.

Locke once said to Jack (in the episode called Man of Science, Man of Faith) ”Why do you find it so hard to believe?” To which Jack replied ”Why do you find? it so easy?”. This could be seen as a metaphor for the inner conflict within all of us. It is the rational mind, that is arguing with the intuitive wisdom. Logic versus creativity. The two hemispheres of the brain shifted out of balance.

The game that Jacob plays with his brother could be seen as the game of life, the divine play, called Lila in Hinduism.

In one of the last scenes in the last episode, Jack finds an empty coffin and meets his dead father Christian Shepard (another symbolic name) and asks him how he got there. His father tells him that he got there the same way that Jack did. What this implies is that life is the result of death. Life is the dream created in the eternal sleep of death. What happened before you were born? Well, you died. This is the message not only of Lost, but of Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism and many other non-dual philosophies. Life is an infinite dream where you will always be you, because the source of experience is always the same.

Another scene in the last episode, the very last scene, looks exactly like the first scene of the series. It shows Jack lying on his back, in the exact same place as when he first came to the island, and just as before, the dog Vincent runs up to him. This is a symbol of a concept called Eternal Return/Eternal Recurrence which suggests that the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur in a self-similar form an infinite number of times. This is symbolized in almost all great mythologies, often in the form of a snake that is biting it's own tail, which is commonly known as Ouroboros, i.e. a self-sufficient circular process.

There are many other examples such as these that illustrate the underlying mystical and esoteric symbolism prevalent throughout the series. It is food for thought to say the least.

I think the grand moral, or message, of the series is to let go, to give yourself to the metaphorical 'light', that is to say your true Self. This light is rather obviously symbolized on the island. If you cherish 'the light', yourself, reality, then don't try to protect it, because you can't. You are already all of it it, so there is nothing else to protect it from. And if you try to protect it you will only be fighting with yourself. There is no Thing to protect. The Thing and the protector are One. The Thing is only a Think, a thought, as Alan Watts would put it. There is also no point in trying to take it, or steal it. Because you can't steal yourself. This will also only create unnecessary strife and struggle. But when you don't realize this truth, when you live in a world of illusion, then you will create problems for yourself. Which is what happens on the island. Ignorance is the source of suffering. The symbol for ignorance is darkness because it conceals. The symbol for truth is therefore light because it reveals. In a dark room a rope can seem to be a snake but once you turn on the lights you realize that there never was a snake to begin with. This is a metaphor for how the truth illuminates the mind and reveals the true reality. A person who has realized truth is therefore called enlightened. The struggle between the two twins, the back-story of Lost, is a metaphor for the inner struggle between 'light' and 'darkness', ignorance and truth, illusion and reality, Ego and Self.

When it comes down to it then words are only symbols and truth has nothing to do with words. Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky. Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger can point to the moon's location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger.

So how do you let go? How do you start to 'believe' and become a 'man of faith', as Locke would have put it? To do this you need something called Grace. And that is why I started this essay with a hymn called Amazing Grace. How one receives Grace is widely debated. Christians often believe it is a gift given by God, although Christian mystics such as Meister Eckhart see God not as something outside, but as the ultimate Self; ”The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.” In which case you are already God, you just haven't realized it yet, and Grace is something you achieve when you embody the Truth. Hindus also believe in the Godhead within, which they call the Atman, the personal God, which is perceived different, but actually identical to Brahman, the universal God. Buddhists calls this Buddha Nature and likens it's realization to the polishing of a piece of coal into a diamond. Many gurus free from any religious association agree that what could be called Grace is given from the Self to the self once the sense of separation ceases. This ceases when a spontaneous act of selfless love gives itself away, lets go, and instead of the illusory center of perception called the Ego, becomes Divine Grace incarnate, Nirvana, Enlightenment or Cosmic Consciousness. Grace is what the main characters in Lost get in the end. In the end they sit in a church that has all the religious symbols combined, so it is the church of universal truth. They once were Lost, but in the end they are found. They find what they are looking for. They find redemption, forgiveness and love. They find themselves. Through each other. There is a story about two brothers in the Bible called Jacob's Ladder which describes the ladder to heaven, or the metaphorical road to enlightenment. Lost does the very same thing.

As IGN writer Matt Fowler put it: It [The End] was Jacob being proved right. It was what he was trying to tell the Man in Black; about the redemption of humankind and their ability to shed the darkness and inner evil that weighed them down. It was the scale being tipped to "white."

You could keep analyzing the little details of the show and you could keep asking why this and why that. But you could do the same thing about every little thing in your life, or you could choose to look at the big picture instead, you could experience the whole, the oneness, that which you really are, instead of focusing on and loosing yourself in the fragments. The ceaseless questioning of nature by modern science has brought us many useful tools and much information which has helped us immensely when it comes to the practicality and comfort of living, but it has not brought us any closer to the fundamental answers, and it never will. The mystery of life is life itself. You are It, and you cannot understand it with your dividing mind anymore than you can bite your own teeth. It has been said that science divides reality into shattered pieces for analysis and spirituality unites the parts into a whole for insight. If Lost has thought me anything, it is to view the world as a meaningful whole, and to have faith, in myself and the world, for they are continuous, indistinguishable.

[Melike]

Wow, Shizzie, this is a great article.

[fernandito]

It truly is. I especially like this part -

It has been said that science divides reality into shattered pieces for analysis and spirituality unites the parts into a whole for insight.

Amazing.

[Ricky]

Does anyone feel like they switched ships between season 5 and 6?

To a point. It feels like seasons 1-5 are connected and then we get to season 6 and it's like...what happened? Is this part of the series?

Perhaps her people had seen it happen many times throughout history.

Different smoke monsters over time? Wow--you could totally make a spin-off just about that!

See, talking about all these ideas and theories makes think that we were (I'm going to say it)

Spoiler:

cheated

in a sense. To throw out the Magical Caves of Illumination, smoke monster "creation"/"transformation", Mother, and all of these questions whose "answers" led to more questions makes it seem like it.

[Woofer]

An interesting article, but it doesn't really shed new light on the series (IMO). The grace and redemption concept is something we've been discussing since season 1 (feev, I know you just watched the series, so please don't mistake this for a criticism of you - it most definitely isn't.), but Darlton SWORE that the Island wasn't purgatory and the redemption theories were dismissed. Anybody else remember that promise? They kept it - barely. I disagree with his assertion that science has not helped humanity find the fundamental answers to the universe:

The ceaseless questioning of nature by modern science has brought us many useful tools and much information which has helped us immensely when it comes to the practicality and comfort of living, but it has not brought us any closer to the fundamental answers, and it never will.

IMO, that depends on exactly what you expect the answers to be. It seems clear to me from the outset of the article that the writer is looking for a mystical, faith-based answer to life (LOST). That being the case, he is not going to be satisfied with the science of the answer any more than a scientist would be satisfied with the answer that it's god's will.

So, basically, we see a plethora of common literary and philosophical premises wrapped up in our little island's tale of ribaldry (It was a little ribald at times! Shut up!), but we still don't have a unifying Eureka! theory that has most, if not all, LOST fans exclaiming That's it!

Ricky, I'm totally with you on seeing other variations of the smoke monster and how other protectors would've handled it.

[Melike]

It truly is. I especially like this part -

It has been said that science divides reality into shattered pieces for analysis and spirituality unites the parts into a whole for insight.

Amazing.

Yes, and this is the one great new information for me:
The game that Jacob plays with his brother could be seen as the game of life, the divine play, called Lila in Hinduism.

[Mattrick]

As much as I hate the believe it, it seems like a good portion of season 6 was used to build up until the FS reveal. Heather and I talked about this alot throughout the season and if the FS didn't dominate 60% of every episode, I feel like this season would've been so much better. Not saying that it was bad, just that it wasn't as good as past seasons

Flash Sideways didn't eat up 60% of the each episode. The only episodes it really at a lot of were Happily Ever After, LAX and The End. Personally, I loved the Flash Sideways and it was a much better experience the second time around. Knowing what it is you can truly appreciate how well written and depicted it all was.

[Ricky]

As much as I hate the believe it, it seems like a good portion of season 6 was used to build up until the FS reveal. Heather and I talked about this alot throughout the season and if the FS didn't dominate 60% of every episode, I feel like this season would've been so much better. Not saying that it was bad, just that it wasn't as good as past seasons

Flash Sideways didn't eat up 60% of the each episode. The only episodes it really at a lot of were Happily Ever After, LAX and The End.

Take a tally of Island time vs. FS time and you'll see it's about 50-60% of each episode.

[Heather19]

As much as I hate the believe it, it seems like a good portion of season 6 was used to build up until the FS reveal. Heather and I talked about this alot throughout the season and if the FS didn't dominate 60% of every episode, I feel like this season would've been so much better. Not saying that it was bad, just that it wasn't as good as past seasons

Flash Sideways didn't eat up 60% of the each episode. The only episodes it really at a lot of were Happily Ever After, LAX and The End.

Take a tally of Island time vs. FS time and you'll see it's about 50-60% of each episode.

Honestly it felt like even more to me Hopefully I'll be able to get an appreciation for it on a second viewing.

[Ricky]

Same here Heather. I hope I don't find myself not looking forward to the re-watch of some episodes.

[Mattrick]

I was totally into season six when I rewatched it through a couple weeks ago. Not a weak episode in the bunch.