The branches seemed to twist in the air and reach over the path, but the air was laden with pollen and the spanish moss hung still. motionless.
I had no idea how far she might have gone or i she even came this way.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Live Oaks
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Interdependence Day
Happy Independence Day,
While Most of the Country is celebrating freedom, or Americanism, or BBQ and fireworks, I thought I'd write to my friends.
Just to say Hi, and celebrate our Interdependence.
Although, I can't say exactly how we are all connected, there is a different thread for each one of us, and when one of us twitches, the others can feel it, however indirectly.
I recently found an old friend on line, and he appears to be a lot crazier than he was when we roomed together in college. Technically, I think he fits the diagnostic category of Paranoid-Schizophrenic. However, he is lucid enough to remember shared experiences, and wish me well.
I don't really want to be too specific about his delusions, but in his perception, a series of small coincidences in his life reveal a pattern of monstrous evil unfolding in the world -- and of course much of it has been directed towards him, as a kind of punishment for seeing that such evil exists.
I have looked at quite a few of his writings, and I don't want to share or pass on his fantasies, because they can be disturbing and even painful to read,
But I will tell you that I have felt something very much like what he describes, particularly after meditating on certain passages from the Bhagavad Gita (chapters 10 =11). My experience was more like bliss than what my friend describes.
I'm not certain if this is good dharma or not, but I ask that you say a little prayer for my friend Jim.
Many years ago, Allen Ginsburg visited Eckerd College, and taught poetry and meditation to a few classes. That evening a few hundred folks from around the community crowded into a small lecture hall to hear him read a few of his celebrated works.
There was one thing he said which really struck a chord in me:
If you see something Horrible don't hold on to it. let it go.
If you see something Beautiful don't hold on to it. let it go.
So, today we have two visions of America; one where each individuals pursuit of happiness overlaps to for a community of common nurture and goodwill, and another where our smallest cravings drive the collective engine of corporate greed.
Of course each of us has only a small sphere of influence individually, but we are connected and by our actions effect we effect each other. I know that it is only a small thing when I make some gesture of generosity towards a homeless person, or make an ecologically sensible purchase. Sometimes the very idea of helping seems like a futile sacrifice until I remember:
The relative good that each of us can do serves the larger aim of greater liberty and deeper happyness for all beings.
To me a prayer is like a vision of the outcome I would like to see, just the way an architect draws out his vision of the house he would like to build. Some of us pray to G*d, and others skip the deity and go right to the vision. I imagine things emerging from a well of limitless potential and infinite creativity.
Sometimes it seems to me that everyone I know shares a little bit of that awful inter-connected delusion that Jim suffers from.
Mine is real to me and yours is real to you. It is only when someone's nightmare is vividly different from our own that we think them crazy. I know that if I were suffering a little less, it would make it easier on the folks around us. That sounds selfish, but it's also true that if folks around me hurt a little less, (friends and enemies both,) my life might be a little easier.
I guess that what I'm asking is that you each take a little time today to liberate your self and those around you from the conceptual knots that hold you subject.
In short; Feel Free!
peace
w
While Most of the Country is celebrating freedom, or Americanism, or BBQ and fireworks, I thought I'd write to my friends.
Just to say Hi, and celebrate our Interdependence.
Although, I can't say exactly how we are all connected, there is a different thread for each one of us, and when one of us twitches, the others can feel it, however indirectly.
I recently found an old friend on line, and he appears to be a lot crazier than he was when we roomed together in college. Technically, I think he fits the diagnostic category of Paranoid-Schizophrenic. However, he is lucid enough to remember shared experiences, and wish me well.
I don't really want to be too specific about his delusions, but in his perception, a series of small coincidences in his life reveal a pattern of monstrous evil unfolding in the world -- and of course much of it has been directed towards him, as a kind of punishment for seeing that such evil exists.
I have looked at quite a few of his writings, and I don't want to share or pass on his fantasies, because they can be disturbing and even painful to read,
But I will tell you that I have felt something very much like what he describes, particularly after meditating on certain passages from the Bhagavad Gita (chapters 10 =11). My experience was more like bliss than what my friend describes.
I'm not certain if this is good dharma or not, but I ask that you say a little prayer for my friend Jim.
Many years ago, Allen Ginsburg visited Eckerd College, and taught poetry and meditation to a few classes. That evening a few hundred folks from around the community crowded into a small lecture hall to hear him read a few of his celebrated works.
There was one thing he said which really struck a chord in me:
If you see something Horrible don't hold on to it. let it go.
If you see something Beautiful don't hold on to it. let it go.
So, today we have two visions of America; one where each individuals pursuit of happiness overlaps to for a community of common nurture and goodwill, and another where our smallest cravings drive the collective engine of corporate greed.
Of course each of us has only a small sphere of influence individually, but we are connected and by our actions effect we effect each other. I know that it is only a small thing when I make some gesture of generosity towards a homeless person, or make an ecologically sensible purchase. Sometimes the very idea of helping seems like a futile sacrifice until I remember:
The relative good that each of us can do serves the larger aim of greater liberty and deeper happyness for all beings.
To me a prayer is like a vision of the outcome I would like to see, just the way an architect draws out his vision of the house he would like to build. Some of us pray to G*d, and others skip the deity and go right to the vision. I imagine things emerging from a well of limitless potential and infinite creativity.
Sometimes it seems to me that everyone I know shares a little bit of that awful inter-connected delusion that Jim suffers from.
Mine is real to me and yours is real to you. It is only when someone's nightmare is vividly different from our own that we think them crazy. I know that if I were suffering a little less, it would make it easier on the folks around us. That sounds selfish, but it's also true that if folks around me hurt a little less, (friends and enemies both,) my life might be a little easier.
I guess that what I'm asking is that you each take a little time today to liberate your self and those around you from the conceptual knots that hold you subject.
In short; Feel Free!
peace
w
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Vitakkasanthana Sutta: The Relaxation of Thoughts
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Savatthi, in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. There he addressed the monks, "Monks!"
"Yes, lord," the monks replied.
The Blessed One said: "When a monk is intent on the heightened mind, there are five themes he should attend to at the appropriate times. Which five?
"There is the case where evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — arise in a monk while he is referring to and attending to a particular theme. He should attend to another theme, apart from that one, connected with what is skillful. When he is attending to this other theme, apart from that one, connected with what is skillful, then those evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it. Just as a skilled carpenter or his apprentice would use a small peg to knock out, drive out, and pull out a large one; in the same way, if evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — arise in a monk while he is referring to and attending to a particular theme, he should attend to another theme, apart from that one, connected with what is skillful. When he is attending to this other theme, apart from that one, connected with what is skillful, then those evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it.
"If evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is attending to this other theme, connected with what is skillful, he should scrutinize the drawbacks of those thoughts: 'Truly, these thoughts of mine are unskillful, these thoughts of mine are blameworthy, these thoughts of mine result in stress.' As he is scrutinizing the drawbacks of those thoughts, those evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it. Just as a young woman — or man — fond of adornment, would be horrified, humiliated, and disgusted if the carcass of a snake or a dog or a human being were hung from her neck; in the same way, if evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is attending to this other theme, connected with what is skillful, he should scrutinize the drawbacks of those thoughts: 'Truly, these thoughts of mine are unskillful, these thoughts of mine are blameworthy, these thoughts of mine result in stress.' As he is scrutinizing the drawbacks of those thoughts, those evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it.
"If evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is scrutinizing the drawbacks of those thoughts, he should pay no mind and pay no attention to those thoughts. As he is paying no mind and paying no attention to them, those evil, unskillful thoughts are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it. Just as a man with good eyes, not wanting to see forms that had come into range, would close his eyes or look away; in the same way, if evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is scrutinizing the drawbacks of those thoughts, he should pay no mind and pay no attention to those thoughts. As he is paying no mind and paying no attention to them, those evil, unskillful thoughts are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it.
"If evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is paying no mind and paying no attention to those thoughts, he should attend to the relaxing of thought-fabrication with regard to those thoughts. As he is attending to the relaxing of thought-fabrication with regard to those thoughts, those evil, unskillful thoughts are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it. Just as the thought would occur to a man walking quickly, 'Why am I walking quickly? Why don't I walk slowly?' So he walks slowly. The thought occurs to him, 'Why am I walking slowly? Why don't I stand?' So he stands. The thought occurs to him, 'Why am I standing? Why don't I sit down?' So he sits down. The thought occurs to him, 'Why am I sitting? Why don't I lie down?' So he lies down. In this way, giving up the grosser posture, he takes up the more refined one. In the same way, if evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is paying no mind and paying no attention to those thoughts, he should attend to the relaxing of thought-fabrication with regard to those thoughts. As he is attending to the relaxing of thought-fabrication with regard to those thoughts, those evil, unskillful thoughts are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it.
"If evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is attending to the relaxing of thought-fabrication with regard to those thoughts, then — with his teeth clenched and his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth — he should beat down, constrain, and crush his mind with his awareness. As — with his teeth clenched and his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth — he is beating down, constraining, and crushing his mind with his awareness, those evil, unskillful thoughts are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it. Just as a strong man, seizing a weaker man by the head or the throat or the shoulders, would beat him down, constrain, and crush him; in the same way, if evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is attending to the relaxing of thought-fabrication with regard to those thoughts, then — with his teeth clenched and his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth — he should beat down, constrain, and crush his mind with his awareness. As — with his teeth clenched and his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth — he is beating down, constraining, and crushing his mind with his awareness, those evil, unskillful thoughts are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it.
"Now when a monk... attending to another theme... scrutinizing the drawbacks of those thoughts... paying no mind and paying no attention to those thoughts... attending to the relaxing of thought-fabrication with regard to those thoughts... beating down, constraining and crushing his mind with his awareness... steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it and concentrates it: He is then called a monk with mastery over the ways of thought sequences. He thinks whatever thought he wants to, and doesn't think whatever thought he doesn't. He has severed craving, thrown off the fetters, and — through the right penetration of conceit — has made an end of suffering and stress."
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks delighted in the Blessed One's words.
Provenance:
©1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
This Access to Insight edition is ©1997–2010.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Friday, January 08, 2010
Zen Ethics
"Zen ethical principles, like all systems of ethics, are derived from an exhaustive observation of life and are a synthesis of painstaking induction. So where does the critical difference lie between Zen ethics and other traditional ethical systems? It lies in the way a Zen Buddhist works with ethical principles. For the Zen Buddhist, an ethical precept is a question to be held up to the light of circumstance, an inquiry rather than an answer. And the nature of this inquiry is not so much the dubious enterprise of trying to figure out the right thing to do as it is an offering of an unaided heart. After all, it’s from this heart of ours that the precepts themselves once arose. At the threshold of choice, the Zen Buddhist trusts this ancient heart above all other authority. It’s not that the Zen Buddhist reinvents the ethical wheel every time he faces a new situation; it’s just that he goes back to the source itself. Ethics is not an invention but an expression of the heart’s core. What’s most needed in the moment of choice is an empty hand."
Lin Jensen
Lin Jensen
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
home is where you make it
I guess it is just too painful for you,
To hear what I have to say.
I let this thing between us go to long.
To hear what I have to say.
I let this thing between us go to long.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Alice Keating Cheney
In Memoriam: Alice Keating Cheney,
November 12, 1897
Co-founder of The Jitney Players.
November 12, 1897
Co-founder of The Jitney Players.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Rose
The beauty of the rose is not seen
in perfect symmetry,
nor in her crimson color.
She reveals her truth
opening as a tender bud
then shedding all
her garments
one by one.
As her petals fall
we glimpse the echo
of our lives, and catch
the lingering scent
of what we are.
in perfect symmetry,
nor in her crimson color.
She reveals her truth
opening as a tender bud
then shedding all
her garments
one by one.
As her petals fall
we glimpse the echo
of our lives, and catch
the lingering scent
of what we are.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The Dream of a Tall Horse - (running dream)
Across the wide grass running
A thousand meters high
The red cloud at sunset
Burned in back of my mind
Everything halting
Like statues on a train
The mumbling of passengers
Who never said hello.
The place reeks of poetry
And bad investments
Sawdust in the corner
Like robbery
And holding nothing dear
They come rumbling to a stop
Apocalyptic pencil shavings
and crumpled newsprint
The empty seats stare back at you
All those mornings yesterday
Came back in a rush
More horses in the rain
Running from thunder.
Concrete follows
Like a lean dog
In the undergrowth
Grinning with panic
The pain stumbles after
Hobbles the mind
Fetters the blood
A small dream
Of rabbits in the garden
Tattooed cats
And words
that crystallize in the sun.
I’m letting this get away from me
Because you were with me then
And we both had something in our eyes.
It almost gets you going
when you think it cant get worse
then the running happens
everything crashing after
just because the words didn’t fit their meaning.
There’s no need for you in the room tonight
this blue baby
catch your breath.
Leave us alone we bury our own.
Now the rain can come.
I really was crazy.
Everyone said I was.
Now it’s true.
You know whatever happens, they’ll come back to this moment.
I waited all these years, thinking it would be all right.
They are gone.
It never was all right.
Abandoned.
And why should I care.
You never see light like that in the city.
Always staring at the sky -
-till the needle breaks
and splits
like fire in the night.
A thousand meters high
The red cloud at sunset
Burned in back of my mind
Everything halting
Like statues on a train
The mumbling of passengers
Who never said hello.
The place reeks of poetry
And bad investments
Sawdust in the corner
Like robbery
And holding nothing dear
They come rumbling to a stop
Apocalyptic pencil shavings
and crumpled newsprint
The empty seats stare back at you
All those mornings yesterday
Came back in a rush
More horses in the rain
Running from thunder.
Concrete follows
Like a lean dog
In the undergrowth
Grinning with panic
The pain stumbles after
Hobbles the mind
Fetters the blood
A small dream
Of rabbits in the garden
Tattooed cats
And words
that crystallize in the sun.
I’m letting this get away from me
Because you were with me then
And we both had something in our eyes.
It almost gets you going
when you think it cant get worse
then the running happens
everything crashing after
just because the words didn’t fit their meaning.
There’s no need for you in the room tonight
this blue baby
catch your breath.
Leave us alone we bury our own.
Now the rain can come.
I really was crazy.
Everyone said I was.
Now it’s true.
You know whatever happens, they’ll come back to this moment.
I waited all these years, thinking it would be all right.
They are gone.
It never was all right.
Abandoned.
And why should I care.
You never see light like that in the city.
Always staring at the sky -
-till the needle breaks
and splits
like fire in the night.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Health Care
Here, I borrowed links from someone else's blog. Healthcare these days is kinda scary. A single mother i know can't afford coverage for both her and her kid. she also can't afford the time to invest in herself and get a better job. myself? most of my income goes to premiums, and debts for hospitalization. I am almost paid off for a small hospitalization in 2007. I had this little tiny cat bite on my hand--just a pinprick on the knuckle of my left index finger. didn't even notice it at the time. A day later it looked like a melon, and i was in the hospital getting IV antibiotics. Levaquin.
Think Progress: Uninsured 22-Year-Old Boehner Constituent Dies From Swine Flu
Update: Report: Miami U. Grad Did Not Have H1N1 - Kimi Young Died Of Viral Pneumonia
The New Republic: WealthCare
The Atlantic: How American Healthcare Killed My Father
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
bromeliad
Monday morning, I went out just after first light and went down to the Pink Streets, hoping to find some good views at the parks along the waters edge. I passed this house just as the golden rays of sun were starting to penetrate the haze, and filter through the trees this one impressive bromeliad caught my attention as I passed.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
chodron
Pema Chodron talks about her early reluctance to join into an unconditional relationship with Trungpa Rinpoche
"Steadfastness with one particular person translates into steadfastness with any situation that you could possibly encounter."
"I consider myself a spiritual friend to my students. I’m not a guru."
"The teacher serves as a mirror but also encourages your ability to trust in yourself."
"What is it that encourages a person to hang in there so that the minute
the teacher does something that you don’t like you don’t say, “I’m
outta here”? We Westerners have a strong habitual tendency to idealize
our authority figures. We romanticize them.
For Western students what
needs to be communicated is that the mind of the teacher and student
meet, not by the student making the teacher all pure or all evil, but
in the ambiguity between those two, in the capacity to sustain
uncertainty.
Otherwise, in the name of true devotion you’ll get a kind
of worship that inevitably flips into vast disillusionment because
sooner or later the teacher does something that the student can’t
handle."
"What I was left with from Trungpa Rinpoche was this: that between the
teacher and the student there can be a meeting of minds, a mutual
communication. The job of the teacher is to help the student experience
that their mind and the mind of the teacher are the same."
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Dharma Quotes,
The Buddha taught the Three Dharma-seals," i.e. all dharmas made of components, arising from conditions, are
1) dukkha: subject to decay and destruction and thus, inherently unsatisfactory, tending to
suffering,
2) anatta: not-self;
3) anitta: transient and impermanent.
Four Stations of Mindfulness:
1) the body is impure;
2) feelings lead to suffering;
3) thoughts are
transient;
4) all dharmas are no-self
Going and returning with no border,
Movement and stillness have one source.
Opening and disclosing the mysterious and the subtle,
Understanding the mind and all its states;
Deep and wide and interfused,
Vast and great and totally complete....
Flower Adornment Sutra Preface
ZUG TONG PA WO TONG PA NYID ZUG SO
Form is empty Emptiness is form
ZUG LE TONG PA NYID ZHEN MA YIN
Form is none other than emptiness
TONG PA NYID LE KYANG ZUG ZHEN MA YIN NO
Emptiness is also none other than form
1) dukkha: subject to decay and destruction and thus, inherently unsatisfactory, tending to
suffering,
2) anatta: not-self;
3) anitta: transient and impermanent.
Four Stations of Mindfulness:
1) the body is impure;
2) feelings lead to suffering;
3) thoughts are
transient;
4) all dharmas are no-self
Going and returning with no border,
Movement and stillness have one source.
Opening and disclosing the mysterious and the subtle,
Understanding the mind and all its states;
Deep and wide and interfused,
Vast and great and totally complete....
Flower Adornment Sutra Preface
ZUG TONG PA WO TONG PA NYID ZUG SO
Form is empty Emptiness is form
ZUG LE TONG PA NYID ZHEN MA YIN
Form is none other than emptiness
TONG PA NYID LE KYANG ZUG ZHEN MA YIN NO
Emptiness is also none other than form
Monday, June 29, 2009
Posting from Library.
Loitering in the library today, awfully quiet at this branch. Very pleased at how fast the blog loads.
I've been collecting various links for a series of posts on Ngöndro at Gaia / Zaadz
Tulku Thondrup's Enlightened Journey comes to mind...
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Advice from Hafiz
Last Night, as Half Asleep I Dreaming Lay
My friend, before you wander in Love’s street,
Do not forget to take with you a guide—
So perilous for your undirected feet
The twists and turns once you are inside.
Yet many wonders you will meet with there,
And of the many this one not the least—
That there the timid deer it is pursues
The lion, and pulls down the lordly beast.
And when in doubt of what to do or think,
Hafiz, raise high, drain deep, the golden cup:
Take counsel of the vine, Hafiz, and drink
At once the wine and the dilemma up.
Poor Hafiz! After all, the spring is gone,
The roses and the nightingales are going;
Yet of the roses you have plucked not one,
Nor drunk one cup of wine, for all its flowing.
Ode 44
I can no longer call...
My friend, before you wander in Love’s street,
Do not forget to take with you a guide—
So perilous for your undirected feet
The twists and turns once you are inside.
Yet many wonders you will meet with there,
And of the many this one not the least—
That there the timid deer it is pursues
The lion, and pulls down the lordly beast.
And when in doubt of what to do or think,
Hafiz, raise high, drain deep, the golden cup:
Take counsel of the vine, Hafiz, and drink
At once the wine and the dilemma up.
Poor Hafiz! After all, the spring is gone,
The roses and the nightingales are going;
Yet of the roses you have plucked not one,
Nor drunk one cup of wine, for all its flowing.
Ode 44
I can no longer call...
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Dream of a black rabbit (continued)
My dream returned
like a late crescent moon
riding high over placid waters.
A black rabbit hidden by his own shadow:
still, in the grass at the edge of the road.
My ship came home empty,
a cargo of whispers
tossed in the easy wind
without the weight of apples
and iron to hold it's course.
And this summer storm has summoned
rain lilies from under the dessicated oak,
filled the gutters with new bamboo leaves,
washed the windows of the drunkard's cottage
and driven the old cat
from his post on the wall
at the end of the garden,
to the shelter of a window ledge,
where he watches the grey squalls
sweep across the bay.
He is older than I.
He has forgotten his name.
We call him by the sound he makes
when hunger wakes and claws inside.
I have not forgotten what the rabbit told me,
or what I read in "The Book of Dreams and Shadow"
on the dusty shelf of the old botanica.
I still recall the hours full of counting.
the lists of great importance.
Categories and expenses.
The taste of secrets.
How did this become the past?
Why can't I put the sky into all of my poems?
Or tell you what the rabbit hides from?
How have my dreams become,
These scraps of paper in an empty drawer?
(c) William C. Wheeler 2009
like a late crescent moon
riding high over placid waters.
A black rabbit hidden by his own shadow:
still, in the grass at the edge of the road.
My ship came home empty,
a cargo of whispers
tossed in the easy wind
without the weight of apples
and iron to hold it's course.
And this summer storm has summoned
rain lilies from under the dessicated oak,
filled the gutters with new bamboo leaves,
washed the windows of the drunkard's cottage
and driven the old cat
from his post on the wall
at the end of the garden,
to the shelter of a window ledge,
where he watches the grey squalls
sweep across the bay.
He is older than I.
He has forgotten his name.
We call him by the sound he makes
when hunger wakes and claws inside.
I have not forgotten what the rabbit told me,
or what I read in "The Book of Dreams and Shadow"
on the dusty shelf of the old botanica.
I still recall the hours full of counting.
the lists of great importance.
Categories and expenses.
The taste of secrets.
How did this become the past?
Why can't I put the sky into all of my poems?
Or tell you what the rabbit hides from?
How have my dreams become,
These scraps of paper in an empty drawer?
(c) William C. Wheeler 2009
Friday, May 01, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
i still see you running
I remember , you were breathless on the beach from running, sand in your shoes,
A Black feather in your hand, from some sea crow. You said we could make a pen,
If we plunged it hot sand , to temper, and then carved the nib to shape the angle
Of the words. But you are gone and only words describe You now.
If we talked more, about seashells , or feathers and rain, instead of taxes,
Wills and estates, We could have been,
I mean we were, but somehow, we missed.,
Something. Ourselves.
I still see you running up to me, by the grey green waters.
with a feather in your hand. You said, "It's cancer."
Your eyes already deep.
I took the feather
and you said
your doctor's name.
again
but i still see you running...
loose in the depths
Unstrung the knot of my heart,
Loosed the chords that held me,
Let slip the quick fish of memory,
To flash in the green sea depths,
Among uncounted schools:
Alive, nameless, free
In the vast expanse
Of open water
<°)))><
Over the bowsprit, where the ship plows the new waves ,
cascades of white stampedes rear and plunge ahead,
racing across the surface. Blocks of sunlight
angle through the deep, like shifting cathedrals
built on the abyss. I still hear the sirens choir
through the years, the child, enthralled,
leaning too far over the rail...
Loosed the chords that held me,
Let slip the quick fish of memory,
To flash in the green sea depths,
Among uncounted schools:
Alive, nameless, free
In the vast expanse
Of open water
<°)))><
Over the bowsprit, where the ship plows the new waves ,
cascades of white stampedes rear and plunge ahead,
racing across the surface. Blocks of sunlight
angle through the deep, like shifting cathedrals
built on the abyss. I still hear the sirens choir
through the years, the child, enthralled,
leaning too far over the rail...
Personal Narative (reblog)
Its a funny world where you can't waste time at work by doing personal
correspondences! maybe that kind of thinking is the reason no place
that I've ever worked wanted me near a computer. I started applying
for graphics jobs back in the eighties when i worked for GTE
publishing. They print the phone books for the southeast US Ohio and
the Nynex=New York books. It was the dawn of the whole computer thing
and The company bought a system that allowed you to do graphics for
those little yellow page ads. While I worked there I watched the whole
Art Department change from people that drew stuff to people that sat
in front of a terminal. I wanted in because I could have gotten in at
the ground floor of a major publishing revolution. I stead I spent the
year running the little ads through a wax machine so that they could
paste them up in the traditional manner. Some parts of the system took
longer to catch up. After I got passed over for a few openings I
dropped out to work for The local Renaissance Festival. I'd have to
get up at sunrise on Saturdays and ride the bus for two hours. In
costume. The bus stopped at the county Jail.
At the festival I sold Bamboo flutes for a man who made them. Since I
was a paid Performer, I also marched in the parades, and tootled
little jigs and reels for hat money. Mostly I flirted with attractive
young women. (it's part of the job.)
That was fun. But ...I didn't feel like traveling around the country
at the time so that left a whole year to fill up between festivals. I
worked as a file clerk for various temp agencies. All the while I
watched Other people struggling with their Macs and PCs envious, but
physically active. Can you Imagine how much paperwork there is for the
Insurance claims department at a major drugstore chain? I used a fork
lift to take down pallets, then sorted through the alpha numerically
stacked boxes looking for a single sheet of paper, which i would then
copy and take back to the office where no one would speak to me
because i was a temp. Most of the tome there was just me in a
warehouse with a million documents.
For fun I would hang around Downtown St Pete where the bars and banks
are. Friday afternoons if i wasn't working i could easily pick up
thirty bucks with a few Bach and O'Carolan tunes. One day A guy
stopped While I was playing Shakuhachi out side of a liquor store.
"You Should Come work Where I work," He said. Turns out that he meant
the hands on / children's museum which had just opened up."I already
applied," I told him.
"Well, they're hiring again. and you could use me as a reference," he
told me. So that was the next five years. School Tours, Insect Petting
Zoos, Sanitizing the 'Touch Tunnel.' Some of my friends used to call
my car 'The Black Hole.' It took years to figure it out. The Museum
had a portable planetarium. Really and inflatable dome and a
projector. I ended op being the guy who used it so, mornings i would
show up and stuff the "universe," into the back of my Toyota Celica,
and drive off to one of Pinellas County's's questionable schools.
Later, I told folktales with a guy names Uwezo Sudan. when he left, it
wasn't quite the same. I felt lost telling kids about Anansi and
trying to fake a Jamaican accent.
I dabbled in college but my heart was no longer in my work. then I
took some interest in a young lady who had been working at the museum
since i started. she had taken off for about a year and then returned
after her fiance/ business partner left her in charge of a sign
painting business. (she had trained me to Typeset on a GSP vinyl sign
cutter, so during her absence, I made the signage for exhibits and
what not.) She was in charge of special events and she considered me
responsible so, I would stay over at the Museum with her when we had a
sleepover for children. We also did little workshops where kids and
families could make masks or learn about fossils by making a
plastercast of a shell or something. We never dated, but we did talk
seriously about life and stuff. One day she came to me, very upset,
wanting to know what I did with the money from the folklore project.
Apparently there was a budget I was never told about. I always
provided my own musical instruments and props for the show. Then they
hired a new story teller who began spending money on educational stuff
like silly string.
Then we were told that My friend had been in an accident. We were
given a gag order not to speak of it. Then were were told that she had
been attacked and left for dead at her apartment. She never regained
the ability to speak due to extensive brain damage. I was terminated
soon after. The reasons differed. Some people were told that I sold
Drugs at the museum. (False) that i showed up late for work, (True)
Other people seemed to realize that I had been assaulted by the
Education Director who was in charge of The Folktales budget.
No one said much to me after I left.
I only saw my friend once after she came out of her coma. Her parents
hovered around her protectively, and she looked like some one who had
been sewn back together. I know she couldn't talk, l but there was
something in her eyes, that I understood. We both cried. I lost faith
in the human race on that day.
She still owes me a book. I loaned it to her about a month before her
assault.The book was "Song of the Forest" by Colin McKay
It's Out Of Print.
nautalis shell
I found this shell, a fragment on the sand;
A poets perfect spiral cracked by time,
Crushed by tides, abandoned on the shore.
The gulls were done with what had lived within.
The striped shell and pearl insides, both picked clean.
Snails and crabs had scoured the smallest chambers.
The empty test left me dreaming of whorls;
Imperfect spirals wrapped around my heart.
Each cell extended life another day.
Between the sun and wave I lost my self`.
A great sound echoed in that broken shell:
Cupped against my ear, something lost returned.
All along the beach a great silence fell.
My empty head against a broken shell.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
notes towards a paper on Jesus (part two)
"if jesus taught reincarnation then it stands to reason that he should have clearly taught the rabbi’s that the torah was woefully insufficient as a text document concerning metaphysics."
The more orthodox version of Jesus holds that we will be reborn in heaven and / or reincarnated the flesh at the end of the world.
Messianic Jews do not believe that. For them Jesus was a redeemer, who taught Orthodox Judaism. The doctrine of successive rebirths over time is not orthodox, but some believe that this may have been an idea that was circulating at the time. Certainly when Father Origen later made case for this, he felt that it was in accord with Pythagoras and Plato.
The Biblical Jesus does say "You must be reborn." to Nicodemus, and taken with the rest of the teaching, I find it plausible that the Jesus did teach something about successive reincarnation to some of his followers. He does clearly teach different messages to the disciples from what he says to his flock as a whole.
Why do you assert that the Torah is inadequate? Clearly it is not so for millions of Jews. Additionally they have the Talmud Which is more like commentary, including Mishnah which is mostly about law (as far as I can tell I claim no expertise here.) Oh Yeah, there's also the Kabballah, which is usually not taught to young or immature people. Lots of metaphysical knowledge there.
My own feeling is that metaphysics are particularly useless when it comes getting on with life ... life tends to be rather short and we need a way to make it beautiful and worthwhile. Having a set of core values and practical guide lines for how to live makes life not just easier but possible...
Apart from "The Anointed," non-divine, version of Jesus, there is "In principio erat Verbum" at the beginning of John. Probably written around 90 AD not later than 125 AD
This is very metaphysical, and for many (non traditional interpreters,) this passage draws from Greek philosophy where the "word" is equated with an ideal rational governing principle. This concept of God is very abstract, and distinct from the idea of God as an old man with a white beard an also different from the Gods as Embodied natural elements found in the Rig-Vedas.
There is a later ontology of Shiva creating the world through the utterance of Om. The Seven Musical Notes of the scale are said to emerge from this one Syllable, and in other accounts, the syllables of the Sanskrit alphabet are said to emerge.
The Kabbalah does have a rather complex metaphysics describing the creation of the world through the generation of numbers and letters.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us .?.?." (John 1:1-3, 14)
It would be over simplifying to say that the Greek Logos, the Kaballah and the ontogenesis of the world through the Shiva's drum all had a common origin. A student of Karl Jung would be quick to point out an 'archetype' in the collective consciousness, which had something to do with our ability to describe the world through language.
The differences between these "systems," their history and the role they play in their respective cultures,-- the differences are too numerous to ignore. For me If I study these metaphysics to long without some teacher to ground me and keep me on course, I start to loose my ability to discriminate, make decisions and function. When I did first study Kaballa and Tarot, in my early twenties, I had experienced "God" Through the fellowship of worship as a young Christian. I'd also had a kind of ecstatic awareness of divine presence just as a child walking in the woods. Some of the ministers I knew acknowledged this, but showed me how to keep this secret private relationship free from words concepts and the judgment of others. I also did some work with a 'Dance' company which introduced me to a level of body awareness and social interaction which I had never experienced before. All these prior religious and spriritual experiences prepared me in different ways for The kind of intellectual melt down I felt. I could literaly use up my whole life trying to describe what I saw, but there would be no real point. It was a spiritual crisis, and I could have benefited from having a teacher who knew the way.
One of the other overlays on Jesus is the imprint of Roman Emperor worship. Julius Caesar was the first Emperor and the Roman Senate officially elevated him to the status of deity two years after his assassination. The phenomenon of "god-kings' is hardly unique to Rome. It is interesting that Caesar had A close relationship with Cleopatra, considering Egypt's history of divine kings.
I speculate somewhat when I suggest that the apotheosis of Caesar may have 'evolved' from primitive ancestor worship. It is not unusual to find elevated and idealized ancestors playing a spiritual role in tribal cultures. In a preliterate society, a strong leader or a good hunter, can easily transform into a powerful legendary figure. Of course "worship" doeas not always mean that ancestors are elevated to the status of gods. A modern version could be as simple as praying for your grandmother, or laying flowers on a grave at Easter.
I think there is some consensus that early forms of ancestor worship are based on a basic fear that the dead would come back and interfere with the affairs of the living. So rituals range from offerings and appeasement, to some kind of banishment.
The role of martyr ....
The more orthodox version of Jesus holds that we will be reborn in heaven and / or reincarnated the flesh at the end of the world.
Messianic Jews do not believe that. For them Jesus was a redeemer, who taught Orthodox Judaism. The doctrine of successive rebirths over time is not orthodox, but some believe that this may have been an idea that was circulating at the time. Certainly when Father Origen later made case for this, he felt that it was in accord with Pythagoras and Plato.
The Biblical Jesus does say "You must be reborn." to Nicodemus, and taken with the rest of the teaching, I find it plausible that the Jesus did teach something about successive reincarnation to some of his followers. He does clearly teach different messages to the disciples from what he says to his flock as a whole.
Why do you assert that the Torah is inadequate? Clearly it is not so for millions of Jews. Additionally they have the Talmud Which is more like commentary, including Mishnah which is mostly about law (as far as I can tell I claim no expertise here.) Oh Yeah, there's also the Kabballah, which is usually not taught to young or immature people. Lots of metaphysical knowledge there.
My own feeling is that metaphysics are particularly useless when it comes getting on with life ... life tends to be rather short and we need a way to make it beautiful and worthwhile. Having a set of core values and practical guide lines for how to live makes life not just easier but possible...
Apart from "The Anointed," non-divine, version of Jesus, there is "In principio erat Verbum" at the beginning of John. Probably written around 90 AD not later than 125 AD
This is very metaphysical, and for many (non traditional interpreters,) this passage draws from Greek philosophy where the "word" is equated with an ideal rational governing principle. This concept of God is very abstract, and distinct from the idea of God as an old man with a white beard an also different from the Gods as Embodied natural elements found in the Rig-Vedas.
There is a later ontology of Shiva creating the world through the utterance of Om. The Seven Musical Notes of the scale are said to emerge from this one Syllable, and in other accounts, the syllables of the Sanskrit alphabet are said to emerge.
The Kabbalah does have a rather complex metaphysics describing the creation of the world through the generation of numbers and letters.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us .?.?." (John 1:1-3, 14)
It would be over simplifying to say that the Greek Logos, the Kaballah and the ontogenesis of the world through the Shiva's drum all had a common origin. A student of Karl Jung would be quick to point out an 'archetype' in the collective consciousness, which had something to do with our ability to describe the world through language.
The differences between these "systems," their history and the role they play in their respective cultures,-- the differences are too numerous to ignore. For me If I study these metaphysics to long without some teacher to ground me and keep me on course, I start to loose my ability to discriminate, make decisions and function. When I did first study Kaballa and Tarot, in my early twenties, I had experienced "God" Through the fellowship of worship as a young Christian. I'd also had a kind of ecstatic awareness of divine presence just as a child walking in the woods. Some of the ministers I knew acknowledged this, but showed me how to keep this secret private relationship free from words concepts and the judgment of others. I also did some work with a 'Dance' company which introduced me to a level of body awareness and social interaction which I had never experienced before. All these prior religious and spriritual experiences prepared me in different ways for The kind of intellectual melt down I felt. I could literaly use up my whole life trying to describe what I saw, but there would be no real point. It was a spiritual crisis, and I could have benefited from having a teacher who knew the way.
One of the other overlays on Jesus is the imprint of Roman Emperor worship. Julius Caesar was the first Emperor and the Roman Senate officially elevated him to the status of deity two years after his assassination. The phenomenon of "god-kings' is hardly unique to Rome. It is interesting that Caesar had A close relationship with Cleopatra, considering Egypt's history of divine kings.
I speculate somewhat when I suggest that the apotheosis of Caesar may have 'evolved' from primitive ancestor worship. It is not unusual to find elevated and idealized ancestors playing a spiritual role in tribal cultures. In a preliterate society, a strong leader or a good hunter, can easily transform into a powerful legendary figure. Of course "worship" doeas not always mean that ancestors are elevated to the status of gods. A modern version could be as simple as praying for your grandmother, or laying flowers on a grave at Easter.
I think there is some consensus that early forms of ancestor worship are based on a basic fear that the dead would come back and interfere with the affairs of the living. So rituals range from offerings and appeasement, to some kind of banishment.
The role of martyr ....
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
notes towards a paper on Jesus
I apologize if I am speaking out of turn, but it seems to me That site has too many flashing, turning things. It all seems a bit hyperbolic.
I did like this quote though...
"Judaism needed to be preserved separate, in order to preserve the bedrock from which truth could once again emerge more easily in the future."
I do remember reading some things about the collection of writings referred to as the dead sea scrolls which do seem to inform the idea of a true or original teaching which has been obscured.
Some scholars have concluded that the four gospels all share some references, in other words they are quoting some other older texts, and there appear to be three or four of these texts. Some of the references are shared by some of the dead sea scrolls, so it is possible to piece together a king of hazy image of what those original lost texts might have contained.
Another observation about these ancient texts is that the four gospels were treated as independent books and often included with some of the other texts like the books of Thomas and Philip. I guess it was a little like the way that American Buddhists might have Titles by Thich Na Han, Chogyam Trungpa and Shunryu Suzuki all on the same shelf.
It is clear from looking over the material, that some of the Texts share references to texts that did not inform any of the four Biblical gospels. Taken all together these texts do portray a very different Jesus from the one the Catholic Church shows us.
These collections of text were likely maintained by groups or individuals who had a regular practice of proto-Christian worship, and it is most likely that they were very scholarly. The texts would have been commissioned to be copied in Coptic or Greek. It seems that there must have been an original in Aramaic or Hebrew. The consistencies between the texts from Oxyrhyncus and those found at Nag Hamadi. I suspect that these early Christian may also have been reading Plato and Phythagoras. I'm not sure where I got that idea but the history of Neo-Platonism in Christian writings is well known. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism
The issue of Gnosticism inevitably comes up here, and there is often an almost reflexive rejection of this by more traditional Catholic and Fundamental Christians. I know that generally Salvation is thought to be earned through good works and strong faith, That is how I was brought up Episcopalian, but the core Gnostic idea - that one can find salvation through direct experience of the divine, - that does seem to pre-date the historical Jesus. It is interesting to me that so many modern Christian put a strong emphasis on accepting Jesus as a personal savior and having direct communication with him. To me it sounds like a kind of gnosis - experiencing The Divine directly and being guided by this divine intuition. It does seem a bit hypocritical to reject the apocryphal texts or the Gnostic view of Christ, if one is claiming that he or she receives direct guidance from God.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnostic_Gospels
My view is that there is an historical Jesus, or perhaps two of them. One was certainly allied with John The Baptist and I think that part of his ministry was encouraging people to disengage from the branches of Judaism which had come under the complex influence of the Roman empire and the Persians.
For the followers of John and Jesus, it was important to go out and set up a community apart from the cities and the Synagogues. The Baptism has something to do with this, the process of washing off the world and being reborn into a new community is integral to Christian life back then as it is today. Of course I don't think that they were trying to start a new faith, they were trying to purify themselves from the corruption and entanglements of history and their own political world. It has been suggested that the baptisms were done in a cave actually in the womb of the earth, by the light of little oil lamps. So imagine yourself in that situation, underground, and perhaps the water is springing directly from the earth, icy cold an pure, or they might have drawn the water into special basins carved in the rock and added herbs to heighten the sense of cleansing and purification. They would have done this more than once, repeating the ritual with prayers and confessions until one emerged into the light of day reborn as a new person.
I really don't know Judaism well enough to know if there is any precedent for this kid of ritual bathing. I know that the Romans loved their baths, but this is different. There is a precedent in Greek religion. The Eleusisan Mystery Cult revolved around an experience similar to what I have described. The Romans did borrow Greek architecture and Pantheon of Deities, but I'm fairly certain that the resemblance between the two cultures is a very subjective and superficial thing. We tent to see the Greeks through Roman eyes and our view of the Romans is similarly filtered through centuries of Christian history. As far as I know, the Romans had a very complex array of religious practices. On the one hand were the Cult of the State, and the well known pantheon of deities borrowed from the Greeks. These were often composite deities blending elements of Etruscan gods with the more recognizable Greek figures. On the other hand there were household gods of the hearth, doorways, and the very personal ancestral deities, the lares and penates. Additionally there were local deities of field and stream, perhaps more like nature spirits.
http://www.roman-empire.net/religion/religion.html
I suspect that ancient Greeks as a similar, if not richer religious life. Simply put, the 12 or thirteen Olympians are more of a synthesis, while actual worship varied from one region to another. There were also hero cults, forms of ancestor worship and oracles. One practice which has always interested me is the Pharmakos where a person, usually a slave was beaten stoned and expelled from the city. This scapegoat was supposed to take with him the collective sins and defilements of the community. The Greek Tragic plays like Sophoclese Oedipus Rex, were supposed to have taken the place of such sacrifice, by placing the cathartic action in a symbolic context on a stage, for all the community to see. Some suggest that the early dramatic festivals actually culminated with the sacrifice of a goat, hence the word 'scapegoat'. I tend to think that catharsis was the actual expulsion of a person rather than a ritual execution. This is after all what happens to Oedipus in his tragic cycle. First he is cast out by his father, to prevent the fulfillment of a prophecy and later in the action of the play he blinds himself and exiles himself in punishment for his own crimes of incest and patricide. The real sin here is hubris which can be translated as something like pride, ambition, or the vain notion that one could actually outsmart the gods. Later In the cycle, Blind Oedipus achieves apotheosis where he achieves a state of grace, having transcended his flawed human condition through suffering and through recognition of his own true nature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_ancient_Greece
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmakos
So is the sacrifice of Jesus a "Greek" idea? Or is this a kind of universal role -- that of a dying god-- tied to agriculture in the origin myths of cultures around the world?
I can find those threads in George Frazer's Golden Bough, or Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces.
http://orias.berkeley.edu/hero/
What about Jesus as a reformer of Judaism? I can see him as a radical figure, leading his people out of the influence of Rome and puppet kings like Herod, towards a simpler, more righteous lifestyle. This thread continues up to the present, from the Puritans and the Shakers up to the contemporary Amish, and the communes of the seventies like the Farm in Summertown, Tennessee. There is a strong message of simplicity and voluntary poverty in the Gospels, This is likely ot a Greek or Roman idea. There is also the aspect of opening up faith of the Hebrews to others, not born out of Jewish bloodlines. This is one of the most radical concepts in Jesus' message. Judaism still remains a very conservative almost tribal religion, while the faiths of Christianity and Islam are open to all - and all ore seen as equal in the eyes of God.
As far as the Christ being a divine being offering salvation through knowledge, We can see that this also has roots in Neo-Platonic philosophy. This is also where many also find the influence of Asian religion. In fact some Indian people do revere Jesus as an avatar of Vishnu - like Lord Krishna.
I don't intend this as a research paper, or an exegesis of my personal beliefs. These are some thoughts I wanted to explore and I hope that others might want to read some of the materials and form their own opinions. I do apologise for the repetitive rambling nature of this post, - spelling errows typo's etc. - I just wanted to put this out and get some reactions before I go back and do some actual research. This roughly follows some beliefs of mine, formed at a much earlier age. I reserve the right to change my position on any of these ideas.
Perhaps you have other thoughts on this?
Pax Vobiscum
-william
misc. lincs
http://www.kheper.net/topics/Neoplatonism/Plotinus.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Thomas
Quotes:
"The Gnostic myth also describes the exile of the soul in the material world as a form of bondage or enslavement to the body, a type of ignorance or forgetting, and as a state of being asleep."
???
"Woe to you who put your hope in the flesh and the prison that will perish. How long will you forget and suppose that the imperishables will perish?"
Didymus Jude Thomas
"I am the light that presides over all. I am all: it is from me that all comes, and to me that all goes. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift a stone, and you will find me there."
Thomas
I did like this quote though...
"Judaism needed to be preserved separate, in order to preserve the bedrock from which truth could once again emerge more easily in the future."
I do remember reading some things about the collection of writings referred to as the dead sea scrolls which do seem to inform the idea of a true or original teaching which has been obscured.
Some scholars have concluded that the four gospels all share some references, in other words they are quoting some other older texts, and there appear to be three or four of these texts. Some of the references are shared by some of the dead sea scrolls, so it is possible to piece together a king of hazy image of what those original lost texts might have contained.
Another observation about these ancient texts is that the four gospels were treated as independent books and often included with some of the other texts like the books of Thomas and Philip. I guess it was a little like the way that American Buddhists might have Titles by Thich Na Han, Chogyam Trungpa and Shunryu Suzuki all on the same shelf.
It is clear from looking over the material, that some of the Texts share references to texts that did not inform any of the four Biblical gospels. Taken all together these texts do portray a very different Jesus from the one the Catholic Church shows us.
These collections of text were likely maintained by groups or individuals who had a regular practice of proto-Christian worship, and it is most likely that they were very scholarly. The texts would have been commissioned to be copied in Coptic or Greek. It seems that there must have been an original in Aramaic or Hebrew. The consistencies between the texts from Oxyrhyncus and those found at Nag Hamadi. I suspect that these early Christian may also have been reading Plato and Phythagoras. I'm not sure where I got that idea but the history of Neo-Platonism in Christian writings is well known. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism
The issue of Gnosticism inevitably comes up here, and there is often an almost reflexive rejection of this by more traditional Catholic and Fundamental Christians. I know that generally Salvation is thought to be earned through good works and strong faith, That is how I was brought up Episcopalian, but the core Gnostic idea - that one can find salvation through direct experience of the divine, - that does seem to pre-date the historical Jesus. It is interesting to me that so many modern Christian put a strong emphasis on accepting Jesus as a personal savior and having direct communication with him. To me it sounds like a kind of gnosis - experiencing The Divine directly and being guided by this divine intuition. It does seem a bit hypocritical to reject the apocryphal texts or the Gnostic view of Christ, if one is claiming that he or she receives direct guidance from God.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnostic_Gospels
My view is that there is an historical Jesus, or perhaps two of them. One was certainly allied with John The Baptist and I think that part of his ministry was encouraging people to disengage from the branches of Judaism which had come under the complex influence of the Roman empire and the Persians.
For the followers of John and Jesus, it was important to go out and set up a community apart from the cities and the Synagogues. The Baptism has something to do with this, the process of washing off the world and being reborn into a new community is integral to Christian life back then as it is today. Of course I don't think that they were trying to start a new faith, they were trying to purify themselves from the corruption and entanglements of history and their own political world. It has been suggested that the baptisms were done in a cave actually in the womb of the earth, by the light of little oil lamps. So imagine yourself in that situation, underground, and perhaps the water is springing directly from the earth, icy cold an pure, or they might have drawn the water into special basins carved in the rock and added herbs to heighten the sense of cleansing and purification. They would have done this more than once, repeating the ritual with prayers and confessions until one emerged into the light of day reborn as a new person.
I really don't know Judaism well enough to know if there is any precedent for this kid of ritual bathing. I know that the Romans loved their baths, but this is different. There is a precedent in Greek religion. The Eleusisan Mystery Cult revolved around an experience similar to what I have described. The Romans did borrow Greek architecture and Pantheon of Deities, but I'm fairly certain that the resemblance between the two cultures is a very subjective and superficial thing. We tent to see the Greeks through Roman eyes and our view of the Romans is similarly filtered through centuries of Christian history. As far as I know, the Romans had a very complex array of religious practices. On the one hand were the Cult of the State, and the well known pantheon of deities borrowed from the Greeks. These were often composite deities blending elements of Etruscan gods with the more recognizable Greek figures. On the other hand there were household gods of the hearth, doorways, and the very personal ancestral deities, the lares and penates. Additionally there were local deities of field and stream, perhaps more like nature spirits.
http://www.roman-empire.net/religion/religion.html
I suspect that ancient Greeks as a similar, if not richer religious life. Simply put, the 12 or thirteen Olympians are more of a synthesis, while actual worship varied from one region to another. There were also hero cults, forms of ancestor worship and oracles. One practice which has always interested me is the Pharmakos where a person, usually a slave was beaten stoned and expelled from the city. This scapegoat was supposed to take with him the collective sins and defilements of the community. The Greek Tragic plays like Sophoclese Oedipus Rex, were supposed to have taken the place of such sacrifice, by placing the cathartic action in a symbolic context on a stage, for all the community to see. Some suggest that the early dramatic festivals actually culminated with the sacrifice of a goat, hence the word 'scapegoat'. I tend to think that catharsis was the actual expulsion of a person rather than a ritual execution. This is after all what happens to Oedipus in his tragic cycle. First he is cast out by his father, to prevent the fulfillment of a prophecy and later in the action of the play he blinds himself and exiles himself in punishment for his own crimes of incest and patricide. The real sin here is hubris which can be translated as something like pride, ambition, or the vain notion that one could actually outsmart the gods. Later In the cycle, Blind Oedipus achieves apotheosis where he achieves a state of grace, having transcended his flawed human condition through suffering and through recognition of his own true nature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_ancient_Greece
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmakos
So is the sacrifice of Jesus a "Greek" idea? Or is this a kind of universal role -- that of a dying god-- tied to agriculture in the origin myths of cultures around the world?
I can find those threads in George Frazer's Golden Bough, or Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces.
http://orias.berkeley.edu/hero/
What about Jesus as a reformer of Judaism? I can see him as a radical figure, leading his people out of the influence of Rome and puppet kings like Herod, towards a simpler, more righteous lifestyle. This thread continues up to the present, from the Puritans and the Shakers up to the contemporary Amish, and the communes of the seventies like the Farm in Summertown, Tennessee. There is a strong message of simplicity and voluntary poverty in the Gospels, This is likely ot a Greek or Roman idea. There is also the aspect of opening up faith of the Hebrews to others, not born out of Jewish bloodlines. This is one of the most radical concepts in Jesus' message. Judaism still remains a very conservative almost tribal religion, while the faiths of Christianity and Islam are open to all - and all ore seen as equal in the eyes of God.
As far as the Christ being a divine being offering salvation through knowledge, We can see that this also has roots in Neo-Platonic philosophy. This is also where many also find the influence of Asian religion. In fact some Indian people do revere Jesus as an avatar of Vishnu - like Lord Krishna.
I don't intend this as a research paper, or an exegesis of my personal beliefs. These are some thoughts I wanted to explore and I hope that others might want to read some of the materials and form their own opinions. I do apologise for the repetitive rambling nature of this post, - spelling errows typo's etc. - I just wanted to put this out and get some reactions before I go back and do some actual research. This roughly follows some beliefs of mine, formed at a much earlier age. I reserve the right to change my position on any of these ideas.
Perhaps you have other thoughts on this?
Pax Vobiscum
-william
misc. lincs
http://www.kheper.net/topics/Neoplatonism/Plotinus.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Thomas
Quotes:
"The Gnostic myth also describes the exile of the soul in the material world as a form of bondage or enslavement to the body, a type of ignorance or forgetting, and as a state of being asleep."
???
"Woe to you who put your hope in the flesh and the prison that will perish. How long will you forget and suppose that the imperishables will perish?"
Didymus Jude Thomas
"I am the light that presides over all. I am all: it is from me that all comes, and to me that all goes. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift a stone, and you will find me there."
Thomas
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