| THE
LIVEREAL
AGENTS
These are
the LiveReal Agents.
These eighteen
individuals have been assigned some of the most
physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually
challenging missions
on the planet.
Brother
Thomas alias
"Dante" Agent
T12
Current
age: 24 Height: 6'1" Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown. |
Pictured at
6 months |
Mathematician, former soldier-for-hire. One morning,
he was surprised to find himself saying that he
wasn't happy. Shortly afterwards, he realized that
this was true - he wasn't happy. He then
realized that he also didn't know how to find "happiness."
He knew, for example, that money wasn't really the
answer - plenty of rich folks were unhappy. Fame
wasn't it - plenty of famous people were miserable.
Marriage wasn't it, or even children - plenty of
married folks with children were unhappy. Antidepressants
weren't "it" - plenty of folks taking
antidepressants were still unhappy. Getting a trophy
wife, becoming a bigshot, winning the lottery, etc,
etc - all the same.
He became a seeker to try to answer the question:
so, then . . . what is "it"?
By Day: A mild-mannered corporate statistics
analyst
By Night: Believes the human race may be
heading towards mindless self-destruction; working
assiduously to prevent it, or at least postpone
it for a while.
Favorite quote: "Live dangerously."
(Nietzsche)
Current Mission: Investigating
information on the word "God."
|
Sister
Mary the Elder
alias
"Prana"; alias JackKnife" Agent
D6
Current
age:
24 Height: 5'4" Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown. |
Pictured at 15
months |
When she was a child,
she thought that adults had things figured out.
Then she became an adult. She then realized not
only that she still didn't have things
figured out, but that all the other adults around
her didn't really have things figured out themselves,
although they usually pretended and acted like they
did. Became a seeker to try to figure things out.
By Day: A third-grade school teacher and
part-time librarian
By Night: Working to uncover and
redress the root causes of human societal problems:
poverty, war, crime . . .
Favorite quote: "It
is in the most familiar things of life that the
deepest mystery lies hidden." (J. J. van der
Leeuw)
Current Mission: Investigating
information on the word "Love."
|
Brother
Luther
alias "Yeager",
alias "Cowboy"
Agent
X4
Current
age: 31 Height: 5'10" Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown. |
Pictured at 5
months |
Over a course of six months, the (Christian)
religion he had grown up with completely
collapsed for him. At the end of that period, he
found himself utterly unable to "believe"
in the way he once did. Yet the alternative - pure
atheism - didn't sit too well with him either, and
neither did any other kind of organized religion.
Became a seeker to figure out some way to understand
and explain his place in the scheme of things.
By Day: Professional landscaper.
By Night: Seeks the truth about
"the rat race" - what it is, why it exists,
and what can be done to escape from it.
Favorite quote: "I wanted to
live my life such that my nights were not full of
regrets." (D. H. Lawrence)
Current Mission: Investigating
what is called "stress";
understanding what it takes to keep cool under pressure,
or how to successfully deal with the daily trials
of life and look cool doing it. |
Sister
Brooke the Romantic
alias
"Kidd"; alias "Ruby"
Agent I2
Current
age: 18 Height: 5'9" Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red.
|
Pictured at 11
months |
One evening, for no apparent reason, she found that
she was very, very tired - completely exhausted,
even - of small talk. Soon after she sensed that
if "small talk" existed everywhere, all
over the place, all the time . . . then there must
be such a thing as "big talk," or talk
that was actually about something. Realized
shortly afterwards that almost anything besides
small talk, in general, made people uncomfortable.
Became a seeker to find out if there is a "cure"
for small talk.
By Day: Waitress and student.
By Night: Trying to understand
why some relationships flourish, while some go sour.
Favorite quote: "Every
man dies, not every man really lives." (Braveheart)
Current Mission: To seek
the truth to two questions: Why does life
seem to make some people stronger, and other people
weaker? Why does life seem to make some wiser, and
others . . . less wise? Also works with Brother
Luther on the mission investigating "stress." |
Brother
Blake
the Clean alias
"Siddhi"; alias"Sid" Agent
J9
Current
age: 31 Height: 6'4" Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown. |
Pictured at 9
months |
One day, read Thoreau's quote: "The mass of
men lead lives of quiet desperation." Then
asked himself - "How do you avoid
a life of "quiet desperation"?" Became
a seeker to try to answer that question.
By Day: Whereabouts unknown.
By Night: Unknown.
Favorite quote: "To
have squeezed the universe into a ball . . . To
roll it towards some overwhelming question . . ."
(T.S. Eliot)
Current Mission: To seek
the truth about what is called "morality."
Secondary mission is to investigate the underlying
causes of such issues as racism, sexism, poverty,
rape, and others. |
Sister
Angela
alias "SoulBlossom"
Agent A2
Current
age: 21 Height: 5'8"
Eyes: Blue Hair: Blonde. |
Pictured at 4
months |
Former beauty queen; current tomboy. One evening,
she stopped and thought about the intimate relationships
(marriages, partnerships) of everyone she knew .
. . and soon realized that essentially all the relationships
she could think of were actually some form of dependency,
love/hate relationship, were on their way to divorce
or breaking up, were already divorced or broken
up, were a complete disaster zone, were bored and
tired, resembled very bad soap operas, or were completely
naive. Became a seeker to try to see if there was
some kind of alternative to these.
By Day: Journalist for small-town
newspaper and Hospice worker.
By Night: Working to understand
how spiritual truth is passed on, communicated,
transmitted, and miscommunication from person to
person and from generation to generation.
Favorite quote: "The
unexamined life is not worth living." (Socrates)
Current Mission: To investigate
the possibility of a true "psychology"
- a genuine "science of the soul"
- i.e. not a discipline that "scientific"
but has nothing to do with the "soul,"
and not a discipline that deals with the
"soul" but is not "scientific,"
but one that encompasses both, in a true
understanding of human nature. |
Brother
Brad the Solitary
alias
"Hef", alias "Mantra"
Agent J10
Current
age: unknown Height: 6'0" Eyes:
Brown Hair: Blond. |
Pictured at 3
months |
Thoughtful maverick. One rainy Tuesday morning,
he realized that he was caught up in a "rat
race." In fact, he seemed to be caught up in
several rat races, and all at the same time. Soon
after remembered that "even if you win the
rat race, you're still a rat." Became a seeker
in order to try to find some way out.
By Day: Financial consultant.
By Night: In addition to the above,
he is working to understand women.
Favorite quote: "If
a man doesn't know what he's living for, he isn't
fit to live." (Martin Luther King)
Current Mission: Investigating
the nature of what is called "addiction"
- what causes it, what cures it, and what can be
understood in general from it, encompassing and
including such areas as alcohol, drugs, sex, work,
food, bad television, and so on. |
Sister
Katharine the Vivid
alias
"Rina" Agent V9
Current
age: 20 Height: 5'5" Eyes: Green
Hair: Brown. |
Pictured at 5
months |
Social butterfly. Visited Twelve-Step groups for
years, posing as a member, in search of genuine
conversation. Grew up on a farm. Was once kicked
in the head by a horse; ever since that time, has
claimed to be able to read peoples' thoughts. Claims
that it is an unfortunate burden. Has always suspected,
or intuited, somehow, that some kind of strange
and complete happiness was always less than an inch
away - much less. Yet, it was still somehow, far
away at the same time, or at least, always still
an inch away. Became a seeker to try to cross that
inch.
By Day: Works in a nursery.
By Night: Trying to understand
men.
Favorite quote: "She's
polishing the brass on the Titanic - it's all going
down, man!" (Tyler Durden)
Current Mission: To seek
the truth about modern relationships,
and why some are "successful" and others
"unsuccessful" - encompassing such areas
as marriage, divorce, dating,
courtship, chivalry, sexuality, and others. |
Brother
Kevin the Priest
alias "Tristan",
alias "Vike"
Agent P1
Current
age:
39 Height: 6'2" Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown. |
Pictured at 7
months |
Former drug smuggler; diplomat, survived at least
three assassination attempts. Became a seeker when
he had a strange and baffling experience that he
later found could best be described as "mystical."
Became a seeker to try to understand and incorporate
the implications and residues of that experience.
By Day: unknown.
By Night: Working to understand
how spiritual truth is passed on, communicated,
or
Favorite quote: "What do I do? I
groove on the chronic enigma." (himself)
Current Mission: To investigate
the truth about what is called "happiness"
- why some people seem to have it, why others don't,
why some individuals seem to grow more troubled
as life goes on while others seem to grow more and
more fulfilled. |
Sister
Ashley
alias
"Nadi" Agent
J9
Current
age: 22 Height: 6'0"
Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown. |
Pictured at
9 months
|
Anti-intellectual. Happily married mother of three.
Once spent a night in jail
for cutting the heads off of parking meters (although
this fact is not known by her family).
Wanted a guarantee that he wouldn't
be laying on his deathbed with regrets. Became a
seeker to try to find this guarantee.
By Day: Works in marketing for
a national bank
By Night: Working to understand
the elusive trick of getting wise while one is still
young.
Favorite quote: "“Perhaps
all the dragons of our lives are princesses who
are only waiting to see us once beautiful and noble
and brave.” (Ranier Maria Rilke)
Current Mission: To understand
the nature of "character,"
meaning, "why people are the way they are"
and act the way they do; what is the true cause
of peoples' weaknesses and strengths, faults and
virtues, shameful qualities and admirable traits,
and so on. |
Brother
Will
alias "Albigen",
alias "Willpower" Agent
G10
Current
age:
29 Height: 5'5" Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown. |
Pictured at 14
months |
Ladies' man. Talker. Became a seeker once he realized
the basic plan that had been laid out for his life:
go to school, then graduate, then get a job, then
get married, then have kids, then get old, then
die. To him, it seemed like something was missing
from that plan, although he didn't really know what
that was, exactly. He became a seeker to try to
find that out.
By Day: Auto mechanic.
By Night: Working with Sister Athena
to understand how spiritual truth is communicated;
this includes how such truth is passed on, transmitted,
and miscommunicated, and misunderstood.
Favorite quote: “You’re
alone. You’re all alone. And you
won’t be able to be free of that feeling of
being alone until you look death right in the face.
I mean . . . that sounds like bullshit, some romantic
crap . . . until you go right up into the ass of
death – right up into the ass . .
. till you find the womb of fear . . . then maybe
. . .” (Marlon Brando)
Current Mission: Working
to meld all of the world’s knowledge-systems
and worldviews into a single, comprehensive unified
whole,
and making this project practical, accessible, and
helpful to all citizens of the world |
Sister
Shakti
alias
"Cowgirl" Agent
X10
Current
age: 32 Height: 5'0" Eyes:
Brown Hair: Brown. |
Pictured
at 11 months |
Rumored to have once challenged an entire bar of
hundreds of people to a drinking match and won.
Became a seeker soon after the bizarre and unexpected
death of her brother.
By Day: Social worker.
By Night: Often works with Sister
Grace; also works to investigate a spiritual system
that transcends culture and time, fad and fashion,
i.e. if there are hundreds of thousands of
different religions in the world, and each claims
to be "the one" that is correct, and yet
they all seem incompatible in many ways . . . how
can a person fairly judge which one or ones to live
by?
Favorite quote: “Philosophy
is really homesickness.” (Novalis)
Current Mission: To seek
the truth in regards to an investigation of what
has been called a "science of happiness;"
also works on the mission investigating the rumors
of a possible "technology of ecstasy." |
Brother
Ethan the Lesser
alias
"Giovanni"
Agent 0012
Current
age: 17 Height: 6'0" Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown. |
Pictured
at 3 months |
Writer. Former boy scout; often referred to as a
"good friend" and "nice guy,"
especially by girls. Once a bright, happy boy, he
eventually realized that when he was really brutally
honest, and just telling the raw truth, at bottom
he realized that he just didn't really respect himself
too much. Became a seeker to see if there was some
way he could find some kind of real, true self-respect
again.
By Day: Ironically enough, second-grade
teacher.
By Night: Works to put modern events
in perspective through the study of history.
Favorite quote: “To
get at the core of God at his greatest, one must
first get into the core of himself at his least,
for no one can know God who has not first known
himself. Go to the depths of the soul, the secret
place of the Most High, to the roots, to the heights:
for all that God can do is focused there.”
(Meister Eckhart)
Current Mission: To seek
the truth about the nature of physical
health in the modern world, including such areas
as dieting, weight-loss, nutrition, and so on. |
Sister
Jen the Groovy
alias
"Phyzic"; alias "Bliss"
Agent X9
Current
age: 29 Height: 5'6"
Eyes: Brown Hair: unknown. |
Pictured at 18
months |
Intellectual Adventurer. Once patented a jet-engine
valve currently used by NASA; once lived for several
months in the jungles of Cambodia. From the time
she grew up, she was told that she was supposed
to love other people . . . but she was never told
how. Nobody she asked ever seemed to have any answers
on the matter, either. After she realized that she
was being told what to do, but not how to do it
. . . she became a seeker to try to find her own
way.
By Day: Nurse and part-time go-go
dancer.
By Night: Studies the game of "spiritual
one-upsmanship," and works with Brother Albigen
towards understanding the ways that spiritual messages
are miscommunicated and misunderstood.
Favorite quote: "What
is not permanent is not worth striving for."
(Ramana Maharshi)
Current Mission: To seek
the truth in regards to the true nature of sexuality,
and more specifically, modern sexuality: what it
is, why it seems to encompass so much ecstasy and
agony, what the proper and optimal function and
role it should play in life, and so on. |
Brother
Tom the Ascetic
alias
"Durden", alias "Depp"
Agent E10
Current
age: 60 Height: 6'5" Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown. |
Pictured at 16
months |
Strongman existentialist. Former bareknuckles boxing
champion. One day realized that death was one of
the very few certainties that we have in this life
. . . and yet most people, when it happens, are
completely and utterly unprepared - and even, somehow,
surprised and baffled that such a thing could ever
happen, at least to them. Became a seeker to try
to understand why this situation exists, and to
prepare.
By Day: Construction foreman.
By Night: Works to understand the
nature of "passion" - what it is, what
creates it, what makes it evaporate, what the essential
ingredients of a "passionate life" are,
and so on.
Favorite quote: "I want
to know God's thoughts. The rest are details."
(Einstein)
Current Mission: To
seek the truth about what is called "sanity,"
what it is, and what causes it. Also works with
Brother Hef on addiction.
|
Sister
Grace the Wanderer
alias
"Chokra"
Agent G6
Current
age: 52 Height: 6'0" Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown.
|
Pictured at 8
months |
Former champion tango-dancer and mountain-climber.
Up to the age of about eight, she thought that life
was - or was going to be - a grand, epic, adventure
story, full of magic and drama. After that time,
it began to look and feel more like a dull sitcom.
Became a seeker to see if there was any way to spice
up the plotline.
By Day: Veterinarian.
By Night: Working to create a "universal
theory of human nature."
Favorite quote: "Not
all who wander are lost." (unknown)
Current Mission: To seek
the truth regarding the whole category of what is
termed "mental
disorders," such as depression, anxiety,
eating disorders, general neurotic behavior, and
so on. Secondary mission is to help expose bad self-help
books. |
Brother
Ben the Troubled
alias"Sledge",
alias "Ridley"
Agent T8
Current
age: unknown Height: 5'7" Eyes:
Brown Hair: Brown. |
Pictured at 4
months |
Former test-pilot. Studies astrophysics and molecular
biology on the side. Decided one day that life,
when examined honestly, objectively, and rationally,
makes absolutely no sense. More than that, it is
essentially absurd, meaningless, and pointless,
primarily because everything - material possessions,
relationships, people, everything - eventually ends.
Became a seeker to test that hypothesis, and to
see if it would hold up in real life.
By Day: Fireman.
By Night: Trying to understand
whether traditional religions in their current forms
will continue to "work" throughout the
next several decades; investigating possible alternative
models.
Favorite quote: "Face
everything and avoid nothing." (Andrew Cohen)
Current Mission: To seek
the truth about what is referred to by the word
"Faith."
|
Sister
Courtney alias
"Rav"; alias "Ravish"
Agent J9
Current
age: 31 Height: 5'3" Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond. |
Pictured at 9
months |
Anti-anti-intellectual. Loves Ben & Jerry's
Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. Realized one
day that she tended not to think about things, primarily
because honestly thinking about things tended to
made her depressed. She then faced a choice: she
could either think about things and get depressed,
or else not think about things and be "happy".
Eventually decided that if that was the kind of
happiness she could find, she didn't want it . .
. and so decided to think about things. Became a
seeker because that's where her thinking led her.
By Day: Airline stewardess and
part-time deprogramming consultant.
By Night: Working to understand
how persuasion,
manipulation, influence strategies and cult tactics
are used and abused by individuals and through media
in the culture at large.
Favorite quote: "We
have very, very, very little time." (Brother
Blake)
Current Mission: To seek
the truth about diet
industry: what actually works to help people lose
weight, keep excess weight off, and become healthy. |
|
. . . and we can't
forget our
invaluable
interns,
caffeine gophers,
and typists:
So if you are interested
in
following the ongoing adventures . . .
CLICK
HERE TO CONTINUE
Home
Page
|
