Thanks, Farasha. You're soaring in this one, if I may say so. So much to think about...
Those few lines on mining by DHL are very interesting, bringing to mind that Sworder book I mentioned previously and Blake.
Govinda was writing about the Himalaya, I think, but he rings equally true in central Abruzzo, where I read this. Traditional life still hangs on here, and the natural world remains magnificent: peregrine, bee-eaters, fox, badger, beech marten, porcupine -- all seen over the course of a few days. That being said, even here the degradation continues: everyone glued to their cellphone, photographic drones being used over sacred places. At the Eremo of San Martino, the little posters introducing the nocturnal wildlife of the park read like pages from a biology textbook, with no mention of the poetry and breathtaking beauty of these creatures. Present the Eurasian Eagle Owl as a machine and he becomes part of the Machine.
Finally, on Peter Russell, I am intrigued by the supposed influence of De Chardin. As you know, the latter was excoriated by traditionalists (to many of whom Russell appears to proclaim his debt) for his embrace of modern evolutionary science. I suppose I will have to read Russell in order to understand.
Thank you for your comments. I really appreciate them.
The cover photo I used is a painting by DHL, depicting an injury within a mine.
Govinda was an interesting character: a German who spent time in North Africa, became a Sufi for a while, then delved deeply into Tibetan esoteric Buddhism. I am sure you will notice there are not many mentions of Buddhism in my writings: for me their form of via negativa is too negative. But, Govinda was deeply influenced by Ludwig Klages, and understood beyond all the neti neti there is a pulsing, throbbing flow of cosmogonic eros.
Since even monks on Mt. Athos use cell-phones, nothing surprises me, but I do have to say that my periods in Italy are a respite compared to my periods in North America, since, in Italy, even if all the talk in cafes is utterly banal, at least people will speak to one another. In the States, a person not on a phone is now the exception rather than the rule. In fact, I was kicked out of a small trattoria in Bologna a few months ago when I made a scene because some obnoxious American tourists were more focused on instagramming their food, rather than eating it.
Despite the reprehensible nature of the positivistic descriptions of living beings, they can never, in actuality, become machine-like. Only we can sink that low. But, we only become machines if we allow ourselves to become machines: As Hugh Macdiarmid wrote: "Personality crushed out? / Slaves to machines? / What personality ever they had then?"
And to reiterate the new age guy with the peterrussell dot com domain name, who is indebted to De Chardin, is not the Peter Russell I was referring to. If you are interested, I suggest staring with "More for the Wolves" (poetry) and "Something about Poetry" (prose).
Thanks, Farasha. You're soaring in this one, if I may say so. So much to think about...
Those few lines on mining by DHL are very interesting, bringing to mind that Sworder book I mentioned previously and Blake.
Govinda was writing about the Himalaya, I think, but he rings equally true in central Abruzzo, where I read this. Traditional life still hangs on here, and the natural world remains magnificent: peregrine, bee-eaters, fox, badger, beech marten, porcupine -- all seen over the course of a few days. That being said, even here the degradation continues: everyone glued to their cellphone, photographic drones being used over sacred places. At the Eremo of San Martino, the little posters introducing the nocturnal wildlife of the park read like pages from a biology textbook, with no mention of the poetry and breathtaking beauty of these creatures. Present the Eurasian Eagle Owl as a machine and he becomes part of the Machine.
Finally, on Peter Russell, I am intrigued by the supposed influence of De Chardin. As you know, the latter was excoriated by traditionalists (to many of whom Russell appears to proclaim his debt) for his embrace of modern evolutionary science. I suppose I will have to read Russell in order to understand.
I will reply in more depth later, but I just wank to quickly clear up that the Peter Russell you are referring to is a completely different Peter Russell. This is the P. R. I was referring to: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Russell_(poet). He was a lifelong friend of Kathleen Raine, and a contributor to Temenos. See: https://www.temenosacademy.org/product/language-the-spirit-in-the-age-of-antichrist/. This Peter Russell, not the one with the weird website, actually spoke on a few occasions in lectures strongly against De Chardin.
Thank you for your comments. I really appreciate them.
The cover photo I used is a painting by DHL, depicting an injury within a mine.
Govinda was an interesting character: a German who spent time in North Africa, became a Sufi for a while, then delved deeply into Tibetan esoteric Buddhism. I am sure you will notice there are not many mentions of Buddhism in my writings: for me their form of via negativa is too negative. But, Govinda was deeply influenced by Ludwig Klages, and understood beyond all the neti neti there is a pulsing, throbbing flow of cosmogonic eros.
Since even monks on Mt. Athos use cell-phones, nothing surprises me, but I do have to say that my periods in Italy are a respite compared to my periods in North America, since, in Italy, even if all the talk in cafes is utterly banal, at least people will speak to one another. In the States, a person not on a phone is now the exception rather than the rule. In fact, I was kicked out of a small trattoria in Bologna a few months ago when I made a scene because some obnoxious American tourists were more focused on instagramming their food, rather than eating it.
Despite the reprehensible nature of the positivistic descriptions of living beings, they can never, in actuality, become machine-like. Only we can sink that low. But, we only become machines if we allow ourselves to become machines: As Hugh Macdiarmid wrote: "Personality crushed out? / Slaves to machines? / What personality ever they had then?"
And to reiterate the new age guy with the peterrussell dot com domain name, who is indebted to De Chardin, is not the Peter Russell I was referring to. If you are interested, I suggest staring with "More for the Wolves" (poetry) and "Something about Poetry" (prose).