Two September Sundays have provided me with four initiations: two in the Hindu tradition and two in the Q'ero tradition. Both sets were delivered by humble and loving people, one a long-time friend and guru, the others two residents of the Andes.
Taking a pill so I could drive (my first lengthy expedition since right knee replacement) with two unlicensed friends to Beaverton to see my long-time mantra Guru Namadeva. He was in the last stages of cancer. I had been told my Guru was committed "to [his] last breath" to helping others along their spiritual path. A supreme, quick-witted teacher with the proverbial patience of Job, Namadeva held Satsang so we could ask our last burning questions as well as enjoy a few jokes and jibes. Then he moved to another room to initiate eight people, even though he'd not eaten for three weeks and could only occasionally sip water.
The pair of initiations were the Guru Jyoti and Pancha Dasi. The first is directed at realizing one's inner guru as well as becoming a channel for the love of the guru to come through one to bless others. Though I had experienced my upa-guru's energy, the Atman, at one of Namadeva's workshops a number of years ago, I took the initiation hoping I might learn to call forth the upa-guru for myself. The reason for taking the other initiation is self-evident: acting as a channel for unconditional love. The purpose of the Pancha Dasi, among other things, is to awaken one's Kundalini Shakti.
The private moment was an opportunity to say goodbye for now and to receive Namadeva's blessing; "One in Spirit." Namadeva's shradha, held this past Sunday in Beaverton and wherever his students gathered, was a celebration for a Guru who positively touched many lives around the world.
The Q'ero Indians of Peru number only 400 full-bloods. They live above 12,000 feet in the Andes. But their traditions pre-date the Hindu. As descendants of the Lemurians, Q'ero seeded the Lemurian spiritual traditions throughout the Americas. According to Q'ero history, Lemuria sank 26,000 years ago at the time of a planetary conjunction similar to the one we're headed toward about 2012. Atlantis sank 13,000 years ago, the Atlanteans seeding Europe, Africa and Asia with similar sacred teachings.
For information on Q'ero prophecies, check http://www.qerofoundation.wordpress.com/. There you will also find information on the Hatun and Munray Karpays that I and 11 other participants received over the course of a weekend workshop. These initiations had never been given outside of the Andes or under 12,000 feet until this weekend. It was interesting, perhaps significant, that 13 people sat in the opening circle.
Personally, what was most meaningful was that Namadeva appeared to me on Saturday morning at 4:08 a.m. before the workshop. Following his appearance, my kundalini, Satyamama for the Q'ero, kicked five times like an unborn infant. I expect it would have been visually detectable had I been able to see my lower back. By the second of the Karpays on Sunday afternoon, Satyamama had risen, and I sat with my Lakota pipe and Q'ero mesa in my lap, shaking like a Quaker.
As with most of my spiritual journey, a book has confirmed the connection between the Q'ero and the Hindu traditions and much more. Daniel, the workshop's English-speaking leader and translator, says, "[Pinkham's book] is 99% correct." I recommend reading it since it provides the world's pre-history for 2012 and the background for and underlying truth of indigenous religions, including Christianity: The Return of the Serpents of Wisdom by Mark A. Pinkham. If you want to know more about the Q'ero, Dr. Alberto Villoldo has written a number of books about his shamanic training in their tradition.
One of the questions Namadeva asked his students during Satsang was whether we ever thought about our mantra practice as part of a "spiritual mosaic" we are creating. It's certain that this intense Ouroboros weekend following the autumn equinox was the snake's putting its tail in its mouth. It was also a unification of my experiences with a Lakota teacher, the Eagle's flying with the Condor.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Hindu Origin of Christianity
Just finished a quick reading of excerpts from Paramahansa Yogananda's The Yoga of Jesus, a commentary on New Testament quotes and Jesus' message of Christ Consciousness, which is, for Yogananda, part of his own lineage of Kriya Yoga, leading the conscientious practitioner to Self-realization. I recommend this little book and intend to follow up with the two volume set: The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of Christ Within You. According to Yogananda, each individual's task is to realize Christ Consciousness through meditation and the inner journey (a similar journey to that which St. Theresa of Avila writes of--as have mystics of all traditions).
In the paperback, excerpted from the two volumes, Yogananda says unequivocally that the three wise men who attended Christ's birth came from India and that Jesus, from age 14 to 29 was (so to speak) checking in with these spiritual gurus in India. Yogananda also deplores the misinterpretations in the doctrine promulgated by the Council of Nicea and other "power grabs" (my words) by Rome, most of whose exclusivity has led to horrific wars and other depredations in the name of Christianity. (One of my favorite Twain aphorisms: "If Christ were to return, he wouldn't be a Christian.) Of course, the effects of literalism and misinterpretation continue to plague America and her politics today.
The book, published by Self-Realization Fellowship, may be of interest if you haven't already encountered it. I've been blessed with at visit to the East West Bookstore in Mountain View--a place I always enjoy when in the Bay Area.
Give yourself a treat if you've never encountered this comparison between the Hindu path to Freedom and that advocated covertly in the New Testament, in particular Revelations and the gospels of Mark and John. Also mentioned is The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas. Such a synthesis seems to have been part of Yogananda's given task, and he performed it admirably in his parallel text and commentary on The Rubiyat of Omar Khayam. From Yogananda's commentary on the Bagavad Gita, I discovered information that explained some of the experiences of my work with a Lakota teacher over a number of years. The Native American and Hindu traditions, according to The Myths and Gods of India out of Princeton's Bollingen Press, share a similar mythology.
Another book I recently read is Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge. Saw the movie years ago with a young Bill Murray as Larry and found it unremarkable, but the book is something else, especially having taught American literature and enjoyed Henry James' "Daisy Miller," though Maugham's novel is thematically more complex. I've never encountered a book in which the author is a character as Maugham is in this one. The author's ironic tone entertains, and Larry's theme was a nice precursor to the Yogananda text.
Though I've not read it in years, Maugham's The Summing Up was one of my favorite little books of philosophy (my aunt's as well). Of course, she sent me Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, perhaps for graduation from high school. I guess I've always enjoyed the poet/philosopher's perspective.
In the paperback, excerpted from the two volumes, Yogananda says unequivocally that the three wise men who attended Christ's birth came from India and that Jesus, from age 14 to 29 was (so to speak) checking in with these spiritual gurus in India. Yogananda also deplores the misinterpretations in the doctrine promulgated by the Council of Nicea and other "power grabs" (my words) by Rome, most of whose exclusivity has led to horrific wars and other depredations in the name of Christianity. (One of my favorite Twain aphorisms: "If Christ were to return, he wouldn't be a Christian.) Of course, the effects of literalism and misinterpretation continue to plague America and her politics today.
The book, published by Self-Realization Fellowship, may be of interest if you haven't already encountered it. I've been blessed with at visit to the East West Bookstore in Mountain View--a place I always enjoy when in the Bay Area.
Give yourself a treat if you've never encountered this comparison between the Hindu path to Freedom and that advocated covertly in the New Testament, in particular Revelations and the gospels of Mark and John. Also mentioned is The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas. Such a synthesis seems to have been part of Yogananda's given task, and he performed it admirably in his parallel text and commentary on The Rubiyat of Omar Khayam. From Yogananda's commentary on the Bagavad Gita, I discovered information that explained some of the experiences of my work with a Lakota teacher over a number of years. The Native American and Hindu traditions, according to The Myths and Gods of India out of Princeton's Bollingen Press, share a similar mythology.
Another book I recently read is Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge. Saw the movie years ago with a young Bill Murray as Larry and found it unremarkable, but the book is something else, especially having taught American literature and enjoyed Henry James' "Daisy Miller," though Maugham's novel is thematically more complex. I've never encountered a book in which the author is a character as Maugham is in this one. The author's ironic tone entertains, and Larry's theme was a nice precursor to the Yogananda text.
Though I've not read it in years, Maugham's The Summing Up was one of my favorite little books of philosophy (my aunt's as well). Of course, she sent me Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, perhaps for graduation from high school. I guess I've always enjoyed the poet/philosopher's perspective.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Knee Post-Op
At just past eight weeks from my knee replacement, I'm doing fine: achieving almost to 120 degree knee flex, going up and down stairs without assistance, losing weight, exercising. There's still some achy pain if I don't rest twenty out of every fifty minutes or so. But, I did manage at six weeks to pack and move from one side of town to the other--cheaper and nicer digs. In fact, I joked with my outpatient PT that he ought to advise all of his patients to move since when he measured my flex it had gone from 105 degrees before the move to 119 degrees at the end of the move.
My recovery has been aided by metaphysical tools I acquired from Alton Kamadon's Mechezedeck Method training. The night before and the morning of surgery, I activated the Kamadon Healing Temple. Thereafter, I activated it each night. Verification that the temple aided me in my recovery has come from comments by CNA's in rehab, PTs, and from a shamanic rock reading. While in rehab, I continually heard encouraging words. CNAs noted that my wound was dry whereas others' might be weaping. My outpatient PT said, "That's the best knee I've seen all year." That's no small thing since my other damaged knee prevents me from attempting some of the exercises. And, when I attended a class in shamanic rock reading, my counselor said of my rock, "I see a temple. It's good."
Just yesterday my alarm clock, which was not set to awaken me, went off at 7:13 a.m. I have a habit of checking numbers that come to my attention. In Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.'s little book of Angel Numbers I read that the Angels and Ascended Masters were helping me in my "healing and manifestation." The piece also advised me to "stay in touch." Nightly, I ask for healing of my knee when I set up the Temple, and I have noted that even though I don't religiously do the PT exercises, my knee's performance has shown improvement at the bi-weekly PT sessions. One night a guru whose workshops I've attended appeared in a white-on-white scene just as I closed my eyes and after I made my nightly appeal for assistance through the healing temple.
Although I am crediting the Kamadon Temple with it's help, the caveat is, as Namadeva (Thomas Ashley-Farrand) repeatedly reminds us in mantra work, that we need to be open to guidance. All metaphysical tools affect the third dimension. Prayers and mantras said by friends, my own use of mantra, and other practices have helped shape when and how this surgery has occurred along with the results. It became clear to me in rehab that I moved to Eugene, in part, to have this surgery performed by Dr. Brian Jewett, an outstanding surgeon from the Eugene's Slocum Center for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. Similarly, several people whose knees Dr. Jewett had replaced recommended the Lutheran's Good Samaritan rehab care--even the food was good. I was led and arrived because I asked and trusted.
Driven to River Road Hospital before 5 a.m. by Sheila, my good friend and supporter during this ordeal, I felt trepidation but also confidence that the surgery would go well. In part that was because from a woman I spoke with at an art event in the fall to knocking on a stranger's door at 11 p.m. one March night because I had locked myself out while taking out the garbage and needed a locksmith, I heard nothing but cudos for Dr. Jewett. When I asked at my pre-op appointment if I had anything to worry about, he said, "Lots. But, let me do the worrying." When the surgery was over, he told Sheila that it had gone very well. When I heard that I knew that neither he nor his team nor I were alone in the operating room. Having called upon them regularly, I trust that both surgery and recovery have been aided by the Ascended Masters and Angels. After all, the guru who appeared recently is a direct descendant of the Buddha and a king who has renounced his Indian throne in this life, no doubt an Ascended Master.
I trust the Kamadon Temple and those associated with it will see me through the second knee surgery as well. I give thanks to both corporeal and incorporeal beings for their loving kindness.
My recovery has been aided by metaphysical tools I acquired from Alton Kamadon's Mechezedeck Method training. The night before and the morning of surgery, I activated the Kamadon Healing Temple. Thereafter, I activated it each night. Verification that the temple aided me in my recovery has come from comments by CNA's in rehab, PTs, and from a shamanic rock reading. While in rehab, I continually heard encouraging words. CNAs noted that my wound was dry whereas others' might be weaping. My outpatient PT said, "That's the best knee I've seen all year." That's no small thing since my other damaged knee prevents me from attempting some of the exercises. And, when I attended a class in shamanic rock reading, my counselor said of my rock, "I see a temple. It's good."
Just yesterday my alarm clock, which was not set to awaken me, went off at 7:13 a.m. I have a habit of checking numbers that come to my attention. In Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.'s little book of Angel Numbers I read that the Angels and Ascended Masters were helping me in my "healing and manifestation." The piece also advised me to "stay in touch." Nightly, I ask for healing of my knee when I set up the Temple, and I have noted that even though I don't religiously do the PT exercises, my knee's performance has shown improvement at the bi-weekly PT sessions. One night a guru whose workshops I've attended appeared in a white-on-white scene just as I closed my eyes and after I made my nightly appeal for assistance through the healing temple.
Although I am crediting the Kamadon Temple with it's help, the caveat is, as Namadeva (Thomas Ashley-Farrand) repeatedly reminds us in mantra work, that we need to be open to guidance. All metaphysical tools affect the third dimension. Prayers and mantras said by friends, my own use of mantra, and other practices have helped shape when and how this surgery has occurred along with the results. It became clear to me in rehab that I moved to Eugene, in part, to have this surgery performed by Dr. Brian Jewett, an outstanding surgeon from the Eugene's Slocum Center for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. Similarly, several people whose knees Dr. Jewett had replaced recommended the Lutheran's Good Samaritan rehab care--even the food was good. I was led and arrived because I asked and trusted.
Driven to River Road Hospital before 5 a.m. by Sheila, my good friend and supporter during this ordeal, I felt trepidation but also confidence that the surgery would go well. In part that was because from a woman I spoke with at an art event in the fall to knocking on a stranger's door at 11 p.m. one March night because I had locked myself out while taking out the garbage and needed a locksmith, I heard nothing but cudos for Dr. Jewett. When I asked at my pre-op appointment if I had anything to worry about, he said, "Lots. But, let me do the worrying." When the surgery was over, he told Sheila that it had gone very well. When I heard that I knew that neither he nor his team nor I were alone in the operating room. Having called upon them regularly, I trust that both surgery and recovery have been aided by the Ascended Masters and Angels. After all, the guru who appeared recently is a direct descendant of the Buddha and a king who has renounced his Indian throne in this life, no doubt an Ascended Master.
I trust the Kamadon Temple and those associated with it will see me through the second knee surgery as well. I give thanks to both corporeal and incorporeal beings for their loving kindness.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
BP--It's All Connected
On the Jim Lehrer Newshour last night, both a British and an American reporter discussed BP's dividends. It seems that BP pays into a lot of pension funds both here and in Britain. By asking BP not to pay its dividends this quarter but to put the money into clean-up of the spill, some pension plans would be hurt. That concerns me directly. Guess a lot of Brits are emailing their government concerned about this issue as well. The bigger question, of course, is whether BP has the money to pay both for the clean-up and the dividends. The answer is "of course."
Meanwhile, the ramifications of the oil spill do not just involve the ocean, the ecosystem, the wetlands, the shrimpers, the fishermen, and the entire East Coast. The economic ramifications spread like the ever gushing oil to all of us. Looked at from several angles, this spill potentially threatens to take down parts if not all of both British and American economies.
I have already written Congress asking that we drop our 30,800,000,000 + in government contracts with BP. But, can we do something that dramatic without hurting pension plans? Things are so interconnected that the dimensions of this oil spill extend not only into the grasses of the Louisianna wetlands but seep into the safety nets of many retirees both here and in Britain.
All I can ask at the moment is why haven't Costner's clean-up centrifuges been put to work where they can do the most good? Why haven't microbes been jettisoned onto the spills to "eat" up the oil and restore the waters--as advertised--to their pristine condition? Why didn't the Army Corps of Engineers build the sand barriers in front of the wetlands when they had time? And, what has happened to the BP boss who pushed the drilling into the unsafe practice that led to the explosion and fire?
Gven a Senator' s comment that President Obama is "helpless" in this situation, why haven't we had a national, nondenominational weekend of prayer and ceremony across the United States and Britain to stop this spill? Don't we believe in the ability of a higher power to which we are all connected two fingers below our hearts to bring a conclusion to the spill? Our own inner technology may be just what is needed at this point to eliminate chaos and restore order.
The public needs to employ its considerable power, not remain paralyzed by Them and Their failures. If the threat is to us all, we collectively need to pray or do whatever ceremony seems right to end this spill. Things happen first in higher dimensions either with our intention or because of a lack of it. Ancient peoples understood this fact. We have lost it. Energy follows attention. If we collectively put our attention on stopping the spill, we might get the help we seek.
After all, everything is connected by That.
Meanwhile, the ramifications of the oil spill do not just involve the ocean, the ecosystem, the wetlands, the shrimpers, the fishermen, and the entire East Coast. The economic ramifications spread like the ever gushing oil to all of us. Looked at from several angles, this spill potentially threatens to take down parts if not all of both British and American economies.
I have already written Congress asking that we drop our 30,800,000,000 + in government contracts with BP. But, can we do something that dramatic without hurting pension plans? Things are so interconnected that the dimensions of this oil spill extend not only into the grasses of the Louisianna wetlands but seep into the safety nets of many retirees both here and in Britain.
All I can ask at the moment is why haven't Costner's clean-up centrifuges been put to work where they can do the most good? Why haven't microbes been jettisoned onto the spills to "eat" up the oil and restore the waters--as advertised--to their pristine condition? Why didn't the Army Corps of Engineers build the sand barriers in front of the wetlands when they had time? And, what has happened to the BP boss who pushed the drilling into the unsafe practice that led to the explosion and fire?
Gven a Senator' s comment that President Obama is "helpless" in this situation, why haven't we had a national, nondenominational weekend of prayer and ceremony across the United States and Britain to stop this spill? Don't we believe in the ability of a higher power to which we are all connected two fingers below our hearts to bring a conclusion to the spill? Our own inner technology may be just what is needed at this point to eliminate chaos and restore order.
The public needs to employ its considerable power, not remain paralyzed by Them and Their failures. If the threat is to us all, we collectively need to pray or do whatever ceremony seems right to end this spill. Things happen first in higher dimensions either with our intention or because of a lack of it. Ancient peoples understood this fact. We have lost it. Energy follows attention. If we collectively put our attention on stopping the spill, we might get the help we seek.
After all, everything is connected by That.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Our Two-front War: A Letter in Opposition
Dear Senator Merkley,
I am pleased with your positions on several issues about which I've emailed you.
One issue remains that concerns me most: spending more money on the war in Afghanistan. Although I understand the complexity of this war that should never have happened and then should not have initially been under-funded and under-manned, I do not believe that more war is the answer.
The Afghan people represent a very different culture, much of which has been destroyed. They have suffered terribly, first from the Russians and now for the nine years of the U. S. invasion. They have also suffered, particularly women, under the Taliban. But, I don't believe that we should spend more money on war, since we have borrowed so heavily from both China and Japan, to finance further destruction of the Afghan culture.
I recently spoke with a young loan officer at a local branch of OCCU. He had served in Afghanistan and, though it may be for reasons different from mine, opposes the wars--as do many former Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan veterans.
War should be the answer of last resort. Diplomacy, economic aid for education and the people of any given country seem to me to be better choices for our tax dollars--if we can truly get such money to the people, unlike so much foreign aid that ended up, particularly in the 20th Century, in the pockets of the corrupt.
Unfortunately, thanks to a conservative Supreme Court, we had the wrong president foisted upon us in 2000 and 2004--two stolen elections and two wars of aggression, which the Founding Fathers would have condemned out of hand.
Please do not vote to fund anything beyond what it takes to withdraw our troops safely and pay reparations to the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. I remember several stories and images over the years: an Iraqi girl living in an open shell of a house who had her leg removed without anesthesia and enjoyed no hope of a prosthesis; a boy who was severely burned and was the only survivor from his large family; a wife and mother whose Iraqi husband was trained in the U.S. but whose car was blown up by one U. S. tank while the husband tried to explain to the crew of another U. S. tank why he was taking his family out of the city--the children in the back seat were afraid of U. S. bombs. Only the mother survived somehow when she was thrown from the car. Then, too, our damaged service members at home need better VA care. By all accounts, many VA programs are underfunded, resulting a lack of proper treatment for our veterans.
Abroad, we owe those whose homes have been destroyed, those who are injured, and for the infrastructure which Haliburton and other contractors failed to provide, though tax dollars were allocated and have since disappeared into no-bid corporate coffers. We especially owe our own troops and their families for their losses and the suffering they have endured.
Would Sadam or the Taliban have killed more people than we are guilty of having killed in collateral damage? Somehow, I doubt it.
Bush left us with a the mess of a two-front war, from which only the corporations will ever emerge as winners. We need to end both now. Our government has no business trying to tell others how their lives should be, particularly when we have been responsible for the damage to and the deaths of so many innocents, including, perhaps, that young serviceman poignantly hugging a giant teddy bear as he sat on his cot before the Iraq ground war began.
As one U. S. mother said, "I sent the Army my son; they gave me back a murderer." Among many American artists, Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises and Tim O'Brien in The Things They Carried have demonstrated that war destroys lives--both the lives of the dead and the living.
No more, please.
Sincerely,
Terry L. Barber
I am pleased with your positions on several issues about which I've emailed you.
One issue remains that concerns me most: spending more money on the war in Afghanistan. Although I understand the complexity of this war that should never have happened and then should not have initially been under-funded and under-manned, I do not believe that more war is the answer.
The Afghan people represent a very different culture, much of which has been destroyed. They have suffered terribly, first from the Russians and now for the nine years of the U. S. invasion. They have also suffered, particularly women, under the Taliban. But, I don't believe that we should spend more money on war, since we have borrowed so heavily from both China and Japan, to finance further destruction of the Afghan culture.
I recently spoke with a young loan officer at a local branch of OCCU. He had served in Afghanistan and, though it may be for reasons different from mine, opposes the wars--as do many former Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan veterans.
War should be the answer of last resort. Diplomacy, economic aid for education and the people of any given country seem to me to be better choices for our tax dollars--if we can truly get such money to the people, unlike so much foreign aid that ended up, particularly in the 20th Century, in the pockets of the corrupt.
Unfortunately, thanks to a conservative Supreme Court, we had the wrong president foisted upon us in 2000 and 2004--two stolen elections and two wars of aggression, which the Founding Fathers would have condemned out of hand.
Please do not vote to fund anything beyond what it takes to withdraw our troops safely and pay reparations to the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. I remember several stories and images over the years: an Iraqi girl living in an open shell of a house who had her leg removed without anesthesia and enjoyed no hope of a prosthesis; a boy who was severely burned and was the only survivor from his large family; a wife and mother whose Iraqi husband was trained in the U.S. but whose car was blown up by one U. S. tank while the husband tried to explain to the crew of another U. S. tank why he was taking his family out of the city--the children in the back seat were afraid of U. S. bombs. Only the mother survived somehow when she was thrown from the car. Then, too, our damaged service members at home need better VA care. By all accounts, many VA programs are underfunded, resulting a lack of proper treatment for our veterans.
Abroad, we owe those whose homes have been destroyed, those who are injured, and for the infrastructure which Haliburton and other contractors failed to provide, though tax dollars were allocated and have since disappeared into no-bid corporate coffers. We especially owe our own troops and their families for their losses and the suffering they have endured.
Would Sadam or the Taliban have killed more people than we are guilty of having killed in collateral damage? Somehow, I doubt it.
Bush left us with a the mess of a two-front war, from which only the corporations will ever emerge as winners. We need to end both now. Our government has no business trying to tell others how their lives should be, particularly when we have been responsible for the damage to and the deaths of so many innocents, including, perhaps, that young serviceman poignantly hugging a giant teddy bear as he sat on his cot before the Iraq ground war began.
As one U. S. mother said, "I sent the Army my son; they gave me back a murderer." Among many American artists, Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises and Tim O'Brien in The Things They Carried have demonstrated that war destroys lives--both the lives of the dead and the living.
No more, please.
Sincerely,
Terry L. Barber
"Selfishness keeps man blind through life."
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Christ's teaching that man should be kind and charitable, and that of all other teachers who showed humanity the right path, seems to differ from what one sees from the practical point of view which is called common sense; yet according to uncommon sense*, in other words super-sense, it is perfectly practical. If you wish to be charitable, think of the comfort of another; if you wish to be happy, think of the happiness of your fellow men; if you wish to be treated well, treat others well; if you wish that people should be just and fair to you, first be so yourself to set an example. * Italics mine
____________
Since I've begun receiving the Bowl of Saki quotes with commentary, I' ve been led to interesting insights from the Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan and Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, perhaps a grandson of the 20s master. Kahn's teachings are reminders that I recommend as daily exercises in kindness. The insights fit all human action required of us on a daily basis.
I will be away from my blog for about 24 days. In the meantime, I recommend Bowl of Saki for your reflection and enjoyment.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Christ's teaching that man should be kind and charitable, and that of all other teachers who showed humanity the right path, seems to differ from what one sees from the practical point of view which is called common sense; yet according to uncommon sense*, in other words super-sense, it is perfectly practical. If you wish to be charitable, think of the comfort of another; if you wish to be happy, think of the happiness of your fellow men; if you wish to be treated well, treat others well; if you wish that people should be just and fair to you, first be so yourself to set an example. * Italics mine
____________
Since I've begun receiving the Bowl of Saki quotes with commentary, I' ve been led to interesting insights from the Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan and Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, perhaps a grandson of the 20s master. Kahn's teachings are reminders that I recommend as daily exercises in kindness. The insights fit all human action required of us on a daily basis.
I will be away from my blog for about 24 days. In the meantime, I recommend Bowl of Saki for your reflection and enjoyment.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Stieg Larsson's "Girl" Trilogy
I first heard about Stieg Larsson's trilogy, which begins with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, on Charlie Rose. The Swedish and American editors were discussing Larsson's life and career as a magazine editor and investigative journalist. Although I'd passed the books up several times at Costco, I determined I to try the first one. After passing through The Girl Who Played with Fire, I'm on my way to the most recently published: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.
Lisbeth Salandar, the 4' 11'' heroine, has been empowered since the age of 12. Unlike her twin Camilla, Lisbeth takes charge. As a result, she finds herself in a traumatic childhood, controlled by the State and its institutions. Thankfully, they're not all bad, and she eventually finds a champion in her guardian, though his case load and eventual stroke prevent him from doing "the right thing."
Computer buffs will enjoy the technological aspects of the stories. The Swedish editor says that they verified the accuracy of advanced technology Lisbeth and her network of geeks use. Mathematicians will enjoy Lisbeth's exploration of mathematics in the second thriller. I look forward to the final motif in the book sitting on my shelf.
Unfortunately Larsson died (possibly murdered?) shortly after giving his editor the third and final manuscript. There won't be any more stories about "the girl." But, through epigrams citing Sweden's statistics on violence against women that precede each section in the first thriller, Larsson underscores his dominant theme: physical and sexual violence against and exploitation of women. Given the books' popularity, Larsson has opened a dialogue that needs to continue on women's status not only in Sweden, the books' setting, but also has extended that discussion through Lisbeth's year of travels in book two to the entire world. How much more may be contained within the works is speculative as is the possibility that Larsson was murdered, perhaps for what he had written or was about to have published (see Rose interview).
An expose of violence against women has been needed. Larsson has chosen a highly visible method in writing his thrillers. Thanks to the trilogy's world-wide popularity, the Swedish movie and the American version that's in the works, Larsson has written books to "do good," much like Lisbeth's friend Mikael Blomkvist. Like Larsson, Blomkvist is an investigative reporter and editor on a monthly magazine, Millenium, that seeks to expose economic criminals and their crimes. Though Lisbeth scoffs at Blomkvist's use of writing to change the world, ironically Larsson has done just that.
The trilogy delights because of its fast pace, fully drawn characters, and Larsson's masterful writing. Have some time to kill? I can't think of too many other authors who will make that time a supersonic flight.
Lisbeth Salandar, the 4' 11'' heroine, has been empowered since the age of 12. Unlike her twin Camilla, Lisbeth takes charge. As a result, she finds herself in a traumatic childhood, controlled by the State and its institutions. Thankfully, they're not all bad, and she eventually finds a champion in her guardian, though his case load and eventual stroke prevent him from doing "the right thing."
Computer buffs will enjoy the technological aspects of the stories. The Swedish editor says that they verified the accuracy of advanced technology Lisbeth and her network of geeks use. Mathematicians will enjoy Lisbeth's exploration of mathematics in the second thriller. I look forward to the final motif in the book sitting on my shelf.
Unfortunately Larsson died (possibly murdered?) shortly after giving his editor the third and final manuscript. There won't be any more stories about "the girl." But, through epigrams citing Sweden's statistics on violence against women that precede each section in the first thriller, Larsson underscores his dominant theme: physical and sexual violence against and exploitation of women. Given the books' popularity, Larsson has opened a dialogue that needs to continue on women's status not only in Sweden, the books' setting, but also has extended that discussion through Lisbeth's year of travels in book two to the entire world. How much more may be contained within the works is speculative as is the possibility that Larsson was murdered, perhaps for what he had written or was about to have published (see Rose interview).
An expose of violence against women has been needed. Larsson has chosen a highly visible method in writing his thrillers. Thanks to the trilogy's world-wide popularity, the Swedish movie and the American version that's in the works, Larsson has written books to "do good," much like Lisbeth's friend Mikael Blomkvist. Like Larsson, Blomkvist is an investigative reporter and editor on a monthly magazine, Millenium, that seeks to expose economic criminals and their crimes. Though Lisbeth scoffs at Blomkvist's use of writing to change the world, ironically Larsson has done just that.
The trilogy delights because of its fast pace, fully drawn characters, and Larsson's masterful writing. Have some time to kill? I can't think of too many other authors who will make that time a supersonic flight.
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