Tuesday 9 August 2011

Transmission of Wisdom

Poetry is a medium that is suited to the transmission of wisdom which is the aim of philosophy. Compression and densification of meaning is its primary mode. The full range of reference of the word is used and the metrical form makes it memorable so that dwelling in the the poem is made easy. This dwelling is necessary for the meaning in all its complexity to emerge. Moreover the alien rule of metre forces the mind away from the economy of effort which is cliché and the new way of saying something is the mother of new thinking.

cf. Four Quartets by T.S.Eliot

Saturday 6 August 2011

Blessing

What goes around comes around. What does that mean? Is it a reference to moral mechanism, the seeking of balance in the account, the perfect lack of entropy in the karmic?

This happened in India on the ashram of X. Jerry got a letter from his mother which he read and then threw in the wastepaper basket that was on the veranda where he was sleeping. These baskets were cleared away regularly by the sweepers. On the following day Jerry bought some oranges from a fruit seller in the market which were carefully wrapped up individually. It is only when he gets back and unwraps the fruit that he notices the wrapping is with the pages of his mother's letter. Nothing is wasted.

As I wrote in my last post I laughed to think that I'd missed the opportunity to give a blessing on our walk in the hills. Last week we were walking in the same area on a bog and forestry road. The very top of the hill for miles is a raised bog. In Ireland bogs are found on the heights not in the hollows. Walking up we met a tall man of the age of second reason, of review. He looked at me closely . M. told me later that he said in a soft voice 'God bless you all'. This is not commonplace in Ireland any more though I will grant that there are recusants.

God bless you all.