Building on Sand

Nice one by Charles Schulz. The dangers of building on/from sand...
So what is the right basis to build on? Self-knowledge.

(click on the image to enlarge & read the text)

Serious Humor

A student of philosophy, eager to display his powers of argument, approached Diogenes, introduced himself and said, "If it pleases you, sir, let me prove to you that there is no such thing as motion." Whereupon Diogenes immediately got up and left.

Diogenes was knee deep in a stream washing vegetables. Coming up to him, Plato said, "My good Diogenes, if you knew how to pay court to kings, you wouldn't have to wash vegetables."
"And," replied Diogenes, "If you knew how to wash vegetables, you wouldn't have to pay court to kings."

A man said to the Universe,
"Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the Universe, "that fact has not created in me a sense of obligation."
- Stephen Crane

"The other day I saw a cartoon in a magazine," he recounted to the audience. "It's in New York City, at a busy intersection in Times Square. There are two dogs sitting by the curbside, watching the people hurrying by, always busy and in a rush. And one dog says to the other, 'You know, reincarnation gives me the creeps.'" - J.Krishnamurti

“There are three monks, who had been sitting in deep meditation for many years amidst the Himalayan snow peaks, never speaking a word, in utter silence. One morning, one of the three suddenly speaks up and says, ‘What a lovely morning this is.’ And he falls silent again. Five years of silence pass, when all at once the second monk speaks up and says, ‘But we could do with some rain.’ There is silence among them for another five years, when suddenly the third monk says, ‘Why can’t you two stop chattering?” - J.Krishnamurti

A Catholic is standing on a mountain and looks down into the beauty of the valley. Suddenly he slips and falls down the cliff and is barely able to hold on to the branch of a tree that is growing there. Below him is an abyss of a thousand feet. He doesn’t know what to do, so he prays, ‘Please, Lord, help me. Save me from death.’ And a voice comes out of the sky and says, ‘Have faith, let go! And the man looks up and calls out, ‘Is there anybody else up there?”
While we were all laughing, Krishnamurti looked at us with bright eyes, eventually asking, “What is trust? Do you have trust? Not trust in something, some idea or ideal, just trust.” - J.Krishnamurti

You may remember the story of how the devil and a friend of his were walking down the street, when they saw ahead of them a man stoop down and pick up something from the ground, look at it, and put it away in his pocket. The friend said to the devil, "What did that man pick up?" "He picked up a piece of Truth," said the devil. "That is a very bad business for you, then," said his friend. "Oh, not at all," the devil replied, "I am going to let him organize it." - J.Krishnamurti

"It's like the husband whose pregnant wife is about to give birth.
When they arrive at the hospital, the man asks her, are you sure you want to go through with this?"
(Meant to show that choice isn't always relevant.) - J.Krishnamurti

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." - Calvin, from the cartoon strip Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Waterson

Story of the Weeping Camel

This one is quite unlike any other documentary that I have seen. Saw it today morning before going off to sleep.

For one thing, the concept itself is unique. It wonderfully blends storytelling, drama, cultural ethnography and nature documentary into one. The documentary is shot in the Gobi desert of Mongolia. The story primarily revolves around a family of camel and sheep herders who face an unexpected crisis when the mother of one of the newborn camel calves rejects it. It simply refuses to give the calf any motherly affection and care. This is probably because the mother, Ingen Temee, has had a particularly difficult first birthing experience, being in labor for about 2 days. In fact, we witness the calf being literally pulled out because the mother does not have any strength left to push it out. The calf, Botok, is an albino Bactrian camel. It was heart-wrenching to see some of the scenes between this calf and the mother. Days pass, and even after the best of efforts to effect a change, the camel remains obdurate as ever. The calf becomes weak and seems to be losing the will to live, often refusing even the tender attention of the family who has been feeding it with milk manually.

Amgaa, an elder in the family, then decides that a Hoos ritual will be required. But for that they need a good violinist. So they dispatch the two young boys to Aimak to fetch a musician. Aimak is a place where the western way of life has already made its presence felt more strongly than in the remote place where the family lives. It was funny as well as troubling to see the behavior of Ugna, the younger of the two boys, as he encounters temptations such as television, bicycles, ice-cream and department stores. We see a consumerist in the making. :)

With the help of some family friends, the boys make contact with a violinist at the cultural center who agrees to help. After the boys reach some, the family waits anxiously for the violinist to arrive as the calf is even more desolate than ever.

We then witness the Hoos ritual which was wonderful and touching. This was the best moment for me. Offering prayers to the spirits, the musician first simply hangs the violin on the hump of the hassled and nervous camel. The violin strings vibrate as Odgoo & Ikhee try to soothe the camel. Odgoo then sings a melodic song to the accompaniment of violin to try and change the camel’s heart. However, it seems to have no effect. The violinist is about to give up but she continues to sing, urging him to accompany with his music. Finally, we see the camel weeping with emotion. Its heart has been stirred and it now accepts the calf as its own.

For me, this documentary was a fine example of magical storytelling and witnessing the way of life of these people who live in the harsh environment of the desert. It also shows how nobody can survive without love – neither the calf, nor us, nor planet earth. The funny way in which the childishness of consumerism has been portrayed was also nice.

Puff the Magic Dragon

This is one of my favorite songs - I keep humming it now and then thesedays. :)

It was sung by the folk artists trio Peter, Paul & Mary. It is a beautiful song about the loss of childhood as we grow up. It tells the story of Puff the Magic Dragon and Jackie Paper, a little boy. Together as friends, they share great adventures. However, one day Jackie Paper grows up and loses interest in his playmate Puff. He moves on, leaving the mighty dragon alone and sorrowful at the loss of his friend.

Hearing this bittersweet song almost brings tears to my eyes sometimes. The story of Puff the Magic Dragon and Jackie Paper could well be a story about the loss of our own childhood. How many of us remember the imaginary adventures we used to engage in as children? Ah, how I wish we could set off on imaginary adventures once again - in the way that only children can! Amongst other things, this too is one of the abilities that we lose as we grow up.

I wonder what became of Jackier Paper as he grew up. He probably became like one of us. Are we not cowards who, most of the time, meekly succumb to the demands of this mad world? And we call that becoming "mature" and "growing up." Would it not be brave to escape and indulge in these imaginary adventures? I don't think it would be silly to do so, to whatever extent we can, although not as much and in the same way as children. It is about being imaginative, creative and sane - and not about being escapist, as a so-called "mature" person would say.

Those who love fantasy books and films like Lord of the Rings, would perhaps be able to relate better to the theme of this song. It was also made into a cartoon film in 1978. I found it recently - it is pretty good, an evergreen classic. :)

Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff,
And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff, oh!

Chorus:
Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee
Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee

Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail
Jackie kept a lookout perched on Puff's gigantic tail
Noble kings and princes would bow whene'er they came
Pirate ships would lower their flag when Puff roared out his name, oh!

(Chorus)

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys
Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys
One grey night it happened; Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff, that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar

His head was bent in sorrow; green scales fell like rain
Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane
Without his life-long friend, Puff could not be brave
So Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave, oh!

(Chorus)

Links:
Download the Song!! Link 01 Link 02 Link 03
Puff the Magic Dragon - Wikipedia
Song Facts

The Shawshank Redemption

Just finished watching this film.

Hope is a good thing. And a good thing never dies.

The Sweetest Gift

Quietly, while you were asleep
The moon and I were talking
I asked that she'd always keep you protected

She promised you her light
That you so gracefully carry
You bring your light and shine like morning

And then the wind pulls the clouds across the moon
Your light fills the darkest room
And I can see the miracle
That keeps us from falling

She promised all the sweetest gifts
That only the heaven's could bestow
You bring your light and shine like morning


Lyrics from 'The Sweetest Gift' by Sade

al-Ghazali - The Alchemist of Happiness

"God caused my tongue to dry up, so that I was incapable of lecturing. Each day I tried hard to speak so as to please my students, but my tongue would not utter a single word, nor could I accomplish anything at all." This is how al-Ghazali described one of the symptoms of the profound existential and spiritual crisis that he went through at the age of 36. Besides this loss of speech, he also fell sick, and the doctors were baffled. They simply said that the illness lay in his soul and not in his body. Nobody could do anything to help him – not even his brother Ahmed al-Ghazali, a Sufi mystic and poet, who was close to him.

‘al-Ghazali – The Alchemist of Happiness’ is a remarkable documentary, or rather a creative docu-narrative directed by Ovidio Salazar that examines the life of this man who was the leading intellectual of his time and is considered amongst the most influential thinkers of humanity. His name was Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali - aka Algazel to the western world. The title derives from a work by al-Ghazali, ‘The Alchemy of Happiness.’ The reason why I say this documentary is remarkable is because it deals with a subject that is very difficult to deal with – the inner transformation of a human being. And it does so quite well. It does not delve deeply into any intricacies or attempt a biographical account of his life. It portrays him as a human being, his concerns in life, his crisis and how he cured himself by finding himself and experiencing the mystical union with God that the Sufis spoke about. It also brings out very well his relevance for us – because he too lived in times of great confusion, just as our modern times are also confusing in terms of the choices we have to make and the path we have to follow. His was also a time when established religion, becoming increasingly violent, radical and splintered, held no meaning for him as a person seeking the realization of truth or the understanding of things are they really are. Interspersed in the documentary are interviews with contemporary scholars of Islam, al-Ghazali and his era, which are insightful.

Ghazali was born in the city of Tus, Khorasan, and lived from 1058-1111. The Islamic civilization was then the most advanced in the world – the medieval renaissance of the western world was still far away. Even as a child, he was an intellectual prodigy and a seeker of truth. As he says, “From an early age I constantly thirsted for a grasp of things as they really are. For me this was something instinctive, a part of my God given nature, a matter of temperament, and not of my choice or contrivance.” He studied in Tus under a caretaker with whom he was left as a child upon his father’s death & later in Nishapur under a leading scholar and intellectual of his time. He exhausted all the books and intellectual possibilities of his time. He grew up to become the most prominent jurist, theologist, mathematician, philosopher, scholar and intellectual of his times. His stature was such that people called him the “Proof of Islam.” Gaining the patronage of a Vazir called Nizam al-Mulk and the Caliph of Baghdad, he was asked to head the Nizammiyah University in Baghdad. He was a man who could win any debate on any topic under the sun. Yet, it was this very same man who was also deeply aware of the futility of all debate, because it is about the ego and its self-aggrandizement. Two people could speak, and speak sense, only if both were together concerned with finding out what is true. Certain events in his life coupled with his own realization of how his knowledge and his personality were just a mask hiding his ignorance and darkness led to a crisis in his life.

Try to imagine what it must have been like for him. The most eloquent speaker, the intellectual leader whom to hear hundreds gathered, the advisor to Kings, the social reformer who attempted to lead his society towards sanity and unity, realized that he was ignorant of his own self. What a pitiable condition he must have been reduced to – his tongue could not utter a single word! And that was just an outer symptom of the inner crisis. The documentary then follows his journey briefly as he left Baghdad to become a Sufi and attained self-realization. I say briefly, because it was primarily an inner journey than an outward one, and that inner journey cannot really be followed. In his later years, Ghazali returned to Baghdad and his family and also taught for a while.

Making this documentary and following al-Ghazali’s journey, was like a journey that Ovidio Salazar the director undertook. As he says, “The afterlife approaches and this world passes by. The journey is long but the provisions are scant, and the danger is great. Having set out on this journey to discover more about Ghazali and to dispel some of my own doubts, I have come to realize that the certainty of knowledge lies in the taste of it. And while not achieving Ghazali’s certainty, at least I am beginning to understand what I need for this path.”

I hope that this write-up or review of the documentary interests whoever is reading this to watch it. For me, above everything else, it was a reminder of what needs to be my ultimate concern as a human being.


Some Links:
Information about the documentary on IMDB
Reviews on IMDB
The Heart and Mind of al-Ghazali
al-Ghazali – Wikipedia article
‘The Alchemy of Happiness”