From Parabola:
Bernhard, "Spanish Dancer," 1971.
“I surrender myself to everything. I love, I feel pain, I struggle. The world seems to me wider than the mind, my heart a dark and almighty mystery.”
—Nikos Kazantzakis “Spiritual Exercises”
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Statue of Maya and Merit, c. 1320 B.C.Limestone, 158 x 90 x 120 cm ; c. 1000 kg. Egypt, Saqqara.
“All things summon us to death;
Nature, almost envious of the good she has given us,
Tells us often and gives us notice that she cannot
For long allow us that scrap of matter she has lent…
She has need of it for other forms,
She claims it back for other works.”
—Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704), “On Death, a Sermon”
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John Dugdale: "Empire Sofa in Afternoon Light," Stone Ridge, NY, 1997
“This young woman knew that she would die in the next few days. But when I talked to her she was cheerful in spite of this knowledge, “I am grateful that fate has hit me so hard,” she told me. “In my former life I was spoiled and did not take spiritual accomplishments seriously.” Pointing through the window of the hut, she said, “This tree here is the only friend I have in my loneliness.” Through that window she could see just one branch of a chestnut tree, and on the branch were two blossoms. “I often talk to this tree,” she said to me. I was startled and didn’t quite know how to take her words. Was she delirious? Did she have occasional hallucinations? Anxiously I asked her if the tree replied. “Yes.” What did it say to her? She answered, “It said to me, ‘I am here—I am here— I am life, eternal life.’”
~Viktor E. Frankl: Man’s Search for Meaning
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Minor White “Hands,” 1949
Secret Places
Lovers find secret places inside this violent world
where they make transactions with beauty.
Reason says, Nonsense.
I have walked and measured the walls here.
There are no places like that.
Love says, There are.
Reason set up a market and begins doing business.
Love has more hidden work.
Hallaj steps away from the pulpit
and climbs the stairs of the gallows.
Lovers feel a truth inside themselves
that rational people keep denying.
It is reasonable to say, Surrender is just an idea
that keeps people from living their lives.
Love responds, No.
This thinking is what is dangerous.
Using language obscures what Shams came to give.
out of low word-clouds into burning silence.
~ Rumi from The Big Red Book translations by Coleman Barks. Thank you to The Beauty We Love.
Bernhard, "Spanish Dancer," 1971.
“I surrender myself to everything. I love, I feel pain, I struggle. The world seems to me wider than the mind, my heart a dark and almighty mystery.”
—Nikos Kazantzakis “Spiritual Exercises”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statue of Maya and Merit, c. 1320 B.C.Limestone, 158 x 90 x 120 cm ; c. 1000 kg. Egypt, Saqqara.
“All things summon us to death;
Nature, almost envious of the good she has given us,
Tells us often and gives us notice that she cannot
For long allow us that scrap of matter she has lent…
She has need of it for other forms,
She claims it back for other works.”
—Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704), “On Death, a Sermon”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Dugdale: "Empire Sofa in Afternoon Light," Stone Ridge, NY, 1997
“This young woman knew that she would die in the next few days. But when I talked to her she was cheerful in spite of this knowledge, “I am grateful that fate has hit me so hard,” she told me. “In my former life I was spoiled and did not take spiritual accomplishments seriously.” Pointing through the window of the hut, she said, “This tree here is the only friend I have in my loneliness.” Through that window she could see just one branch of a chestnut tree, and on the branch were two blossoms. “I often talk to this tree,” she said to me. I was startled and didn’t quite know how to take her words. Was she delirious? Did she have occasional hallucinations? Anxiously I asked her if the tree replied. “Yes.” What did it say to her? She answered, “It said to me, ‘I am here—I am here— I am life, eternal life.’”
~Viktor E. Frankl: Man’s Search for Meaning
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minor White “Hands,” 1949
Secret Places
Lovers find secret places inside this violent world
where they make transactions with beauty.
Reason says, Nonsense.
I have walked and measured the walls here.
There are no places like that.
Love says, There are.
Reason set up a market and begins doing business.
Love has more hidden work.
Hallaj steps away from the pulpit
and climbs the stairs of the gallows.
Lovers feel a truth inside themselves
that rational people keep denying.
It is reasonable to say, Surrender is just an idea
that keeps people from living their lives.
Love responds, No.
This thinking is what is dangerous.
Using language obscures what Shams came to give.
out of low word-clouds into burning silence.
~ Rumi from The Big Red Book translations by Coleman Barks. Thank you to The Beauty We Love.
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