tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020960402708303830.post6512613096188808767..comments2024-03-28T14:53:38.827-04:00Comments on BLCKDGRD: Secretly Each Is Devoted to the Conviction that It Is Irreparably Different from All the Rest - in Fact, It Is This in Which They Are Most Fundamentally AlikeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020960402708303830.post-74167338857895115302013-11-16T11:46:50.898-05:002013-11-16T11:46:50.898-05:00"art thieves and gurus" refers to gurdji..."art thieves and gurus" refers to gurdjieff<br /><br />In his memoir <i>Boyhood with Gurdjieff</i> (1964), Fritz Peters recalls experiences he had growing up in association with the teacher and master G. I. Gurdjieff. In the 1920's, Gurdjieff had established the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man at a chateau outside of Paris, France. Peters was a young boy of eleven and served as a houseboy to this enigmatic man.<br /><br />On one occasion, Gurdjieff told Fritz to look out of the window, where there was an oak tree, and asked him how many acorns there were on the tree. Peters responded that there were likely thousands. Gurdjieff then inquired as to how many of those acorns were likely to become oak trees. The boy guessed that perhaps five or six might, or maybe not even that many.<br /><br />Gurdjieff then explained the essential nature of his teaching by comparing it to the possibilities that Nature provides:<br /><br />“Perhaps only one, perhaps not even one. Must learn from Nature. Man is also organism. Nature makes many acorns, but possibility to become tree exist for only few acorns. Same with man - many men born, but only few grow. People think this waste, think Nature waste. Not so. Rest become fertilizer, go back into earth and create possibility for more acorns, more men, once in while more tree - more real man. Nature always give - but only give possibility. To become real oak, or real man, must make effort. You understand this, my work, this Institute, not for fertilizer. For real man, only. But must also understand fertilizer necessary to Nature. ...”<br /><br />“In west - your world - is belief that man have soul, given by God. Not so. Nothing given by God, only Nature give. And Nature only give possibility for soul, not give soul. Must acquire soul through work. ... Even your religion - western religion - have this phrase ‘Know thyself.’ This phrase most important in all religions. When begin know self already begin have possibility become genuine man. So first thing must learn is know self .... If not do this, then will be like acorn that not become tree–fertilizer. Fertilizer which go back in ground and become possibility for future man.”<br /><br />[end of quote from Peters quoting G]<br /><br />To say a bit more about G's "many men born, very few grow" - this reality is expressed in the fact that in Yiddish the term for "adult male human" is used, not as a neutral descriptive word, which would apply to about half the human race over a certain age, but as a high compliment - to quote Wikipedia:<br /><br /> Mensch (Yiddish: מענטש mentsh, from German: Mensch "human being") means "a person of integrity and honor". <br /><br />...In Yiddish, from which the word has migrated as a loanword into American English, mensch roughly means "a good person." A mensch is a particularly good person, like "a stand-up guy", a person with the qualities one would hope for in a dear friend or trusted colleague....<br /><br />During the Age of Enlightenment in Germany the term Humanität, in the philosophical sense of compassion, was used to describe what characterizes a "better human being" in Humanism. The concept goes back to Cicero's Humanitas and was literally translated into the German word Menschlichkeit and then adapted into mentsh in Yiddish language use. In Modern Israeli Hebrew, the phrase Ben Adam "Son of Adam" (בן אדם) is used as an exact translation of Mensch.mistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020960402708303830.post-66656024874536168112013-11-16T11:07:32.440-05:002013-11-16T11:07:32.440-05:00Caleb Crain wrote If we agree that a novel like Mo...Caleb Crain wrote <i>If we agree that a novel like Moby-Dick contains a meaningful secret without being certain what that secret is, we create a magician’s prop of great efficacy—a box with a false bottom. If, in the course of interpretation, someone sneaks an idea into the box, that idea can be revealed later as an important truth, supported by Melville’s authority.</i><br /><br />which reminds me of a song from Seatrain's <i>Marblehead Messenger</i> album, said to be the second album George Martin produced after producing the Beatles<br /><br />Have pity, cried the Protestant Preacher<br />Listen to these lonesome words I sell<br />From inside the fire someone is trying to reach you<br />The secret is - but only time can tell<br />The secret is - but only time will tell<br /><br />http://turntabletales.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Protestant-Preacher.mp3<br /><br />and speaking of Moby-Dick, i am much impressed by the annotated version available at <br /><br />http://www.powermobydick.com/<br /><br />which in turn links to<br /><br />Free, chapter-per-day audiobook download Moby-Dick Big Read, featuring the voices of Tilda Swinton, John Waters, Stephen Fry, and many more<br /><br /><br />mistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.com