But alas, four-score-and-ten years of only 24 hours to the day is a crushing limitation.

I read somewhere that the average CEO reads one book a week. (That’s pretty aggressive, especially considering that I read somewhere else that the average college graduate never reads another book!) Over, say, a 50 year reading period, that works out to roughly 2,500 books I can hope to read in a lifetime. The University of California at Riverside is the largest library within close proximity to me–I believe they have a couple million volumes. So in my lifetime I can’t expect to read more than 2,500/2,000,000 = 0.1% That’s not much of a dent in just that one library.

Some of the books in that library can demand an entire lifetime unto themselves. Glenn Gould had a great career as a concert pianist playing little besides Bach. Many a scientist has devoted their lives to solving just one problem. Biblical scholars devote their entire lives to just one Book.

How many years does it take to live in a culture and learn its language and its ways? How many cultures are there in the world?

How many years does it take to learn to cook? Weld? Play the piano?

How many of the economists who didn’t see the biggest Economic Tsunami of the Century coming, are now sure they know what we need to do to get us out of it?

Then President Bush announced on June 5, 2003, regarding the Iraq War: “Mission Accomplished!” And it still isn’t…

The point is that we are all prone to “fools rushing in where angels fear to tread.” It almost seems as if my degree of certainty about a question is inversely proportional to how much I actually know about it! That I am all too quick to judge others without ‘walking a mile in their moccasins’.

As I have worked with the idea of rejecting all False Certainty–about myself, about my neighbor, about EVERYTHING–I find myself just relaxing into being a Human Being, and much more accepting of the other Human Beings in my life.

My grandmother used to say: “Take each day and work it out.” Perhaps that is all that is really given us. But that is a lot! And it’s enough.

Learn all you can! But as you pick up that little shiny pebble of learning on the beach of Knowledge, don’t forget about the unfathomable ocean that still lies before you.

“Are all of you hearing-impaired?” he signed to one of its citizens (for Grimpil was fluent in sign and many other languages).

“What is ‘hearing-impaired’?” the citizen replied.

“Why, the inability to perceive sound,” Grimpil replied.

“What is ‘sound’?,” she replied.

“It’s like THIS” and Grimpil shouted a loud “Hello! Hello!”.

The citizen signed: “I saw you exhale with vigor, but I still have no idea what you mean by ‘sound’.”

“OVER HERE! OVER HERE” Grimpil heard, and following the sound he found a young lad shut up in a pillory.

“Are all the citizens of this region deaf?” Grimpil asked Pillory Boy.

“Only by habit,” Pillory Boy replied. “Infants can hear well enough, but by upbringing, and the mockery and pressure of their peers, they soon learn to shut out and turn off their God-given ability to hear.”

“And why are you shut up in this pillory?” asked Grimpil.

“I had the temerity to suggest that they use their ears to hear! To LISTEN!” replied Pillory Boy.

“This is ridiculous!” said Grimpil. “I shall speak to the magistrate at once and secure your release.”

With just a few inquiries, Grimpil soon found the Magistrate.

“Is it true,” Grimpil demanded, “that you have pilloried a young man for the supposed crime of suggesting that people use their ears to hear? To LISTEN?”

“That is a very serious crime, a very serious crime indeed!” said the Magistrate. “All of our scientists agree that there is nothing beyond the four senses. This ridiculous and discredited notion of ‘sound’ is nothing but the deluded ravings of deranged minds.”

“But I can hear perfectly well,” said Grimpil.

“Of course you… CAN’T!” said the Magistrate. “Any supposed experience of an extra-sensory perception like ‘sound’ would have to be irrational and contradict the four senses.”

“Not at all,” said Grimpil. “My experience of ‘sound’ dovetails perfectly with my experiences from my other four senses. I have never experienced any contradiction at all!”

“You speak very dangerous words, stranger. In times past we have tortured and even killed those who have suggested the existence of this so-called “fifth sense.” Such ravings are a threat to our society and we won’t have it! I suggest that you leave our village immediately, or you’ll be joining your friend in the pillory—or worse!”

“Can I take Pillory Boy with me?” asked Grimpil.

“Begone with you both!” signed the Magistrate, who ordered the bailiff to release Pillory Boy and escort them both under heavy guard to the edge of their land. “Return at your grave peril!” signed the Magistrate.

So Grimpil shook the dust off of his sandals and hurried away on his journey with his new companion Pillory Boy.

Here’s the “original” King James version:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Here’s my ‘free paraphrase’:

The Lord is ineffable, I shall never presume to comprehend Her at all.
He shows me Unfathomable Shining Mysteries. In every moment for all time
She sings Her Great Omni-Fecund Silence-—and all that Is springs anew,
transformed and renewed again and again, eternally.

I have no soul apart from Him.

She leads me, and all of humanity, in our lurching, staggering first
baby steps toward the Greatness for which He created us in Her image.

Yea though I be crushed by Fierce Graces* beyond enduring, I know that
His Love will ultimately triumph in ways I may not live to see. Her
chastening, and His embrace—-they both sustain me through each day.

In my Darkest Night, You are the dim, sputtering candlelight that
nevertheless never fails. You anoint my broken heart with Your Own
tears. My puny cup and I are simply lost, carried away by the mighty
currents of Your Great Ocean.

Surely Love, Awe and Forgiveness shall enfold me all the days of my
fleeting life, and I bow down with gratitude beyond expression to have
been even a forgotten whimsy in the Heart of God forever.

—-

*Seeming tragedies that turn out to [spiritually] benefit us in the long run.

Chorale preludes have a long history in music. Even not-particularly-religious composers wrote them—just because!

By the way, hymn tunes get all sorts of different words set to them, so the tunes themselves have been given nicknames to keep them straight. (E.g.”‘Nicaea” and “St. Denio”). If you’re acquainted with any hymnal at all, you’ll certainly recognize these tunes right away.

So, here are two more contributions to that long and honorable tradition. In the mp3 I’ve played the hymn tune itself once straight, and then the chorale prelude. Both are for pipe organ.

Nicaea

• Here's the the whole piece (3:23)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds
• Here's the the score

St. Denio

• Here's the the whole piece (2:07)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds
• Here's the the score

The Journey

If darkness be east,
Go west!
If evil be south,
Go north!
If want be below,
Go above!
If sadness be without,
Go within!

You will never find the Water of Life
Lying in the desert:

“Look how bright is the sun!” you say.
“See how the dunes shimmer!
See how beautiful and unique
Is each and every grain of sand!

Or:

“Woe is me!
It is too hard!
I am not strong enough,
Wise enough,
Beautiful enough,
Wealthy enough,
Anything enough
To rouse myself!

Countless are the excuses
With which we distract ourselves,
That keep us prostrate,
That lull us into a fatal sleep,
Slowly dying of thirst,
Slowly transforming us
Into crumbling bones in the sand.

Better to follow visions of Water,
Even mirages!
Than to lay down in the sand and die!

Better to follow rumors of Water,
Hearsay from fellow travelers,
And even the occasional deliberate Lie
Than to lay down in the sand and die!

Run when you can!
Crawl when you must!
But if you keep your course
Strait and True,
Guided by Eternal Polaris by night,
And the sun’s passing shadows by day,
In due time you will find Paradise.

The Compass

An Ordinary Compass

Every journey needs a compass. But compasses usually have their arrows pointing outward–the image for “The Journey” has its arrows pointing inward.

And, the ‘eye’ is an apt symbol for ‘reason’ (as in: “I SEE what you mean”). Meanwhile,  St. John (and others) inform us that “God is Love” (heart)–and not “God is Thought” (mind)! In this image, “heart/Love” envelopes “mind/reason.” Mind without heart is as inclined towards Evil as Good (e.g. Hitler’s acknowledged genius). But Mind directed and focused by Heart/Love–ah–that be a True Compass!!

With your indulgence, the remaining symbolism of this image is left as an exercise to the reader…

The Compass

The Music

“The Journey” is scored for glass armonica, string orchestra and harp.

• Here's the the whole piece (7:04)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds
• Here's the the score

We humans like to think we’re the epitome of the evolutionary process, but will humans 30,000 years from now (assuming we survive!) look back on us as incomprehensibly primitive the same way we look back on Cro Magnon man?

What might future humanity look like?

From higher apes to humans of today, perhaps the biggest change is the enormous increase in Consciousness and Cognition.

And there’s the standard observation that the growth of a human from embryo to birth repeats the evolutionary process—millions of years compressed into 9 months. Why limit that observation to our physiological development? In the growing infant we also see the dawning of Consciousness and the development of Cognition. And beyond that is…?

We tend to think of Reason as the end of the line for human development, but is it? It has certainly yielded a fantastic increase in our ability to manipulate (I hesitate to say ‘control’!) our environment. The jury is still out whether we will survive the Reign of ‘Reason’. (A deliberate conflation of “The Age of Reason” and “The Reign of Terror”.)

The Reign of ‘Reason’ has been accompanied by raging greed, raging materialism, and plenty of plain old rage—to hell with the consequences! Can we survive this?

Reason, the Rational Mind, is really yet one more faculty for comprehending the world—in much the same way that vision and hearing are faculties for comprehending the world. Each additional capability is a Good Thing—but do they exhaust our capabilities? In Cro Magnon man we see the first ‘green shoots’ of Reason—now blooming in our species. In the same way, are there yet other modes of cognition—of relating to and understanding the world—of which we are now seeing the first ‘green shoots’ here and there, and with time they too shall fully flower?

There have been men and women—we hold them up as unreachable icons—like Buddha, Gandhi, Francis of Assisi, Jesus. We even call them ‘advanced’ and ‘enlightened’ (which by implication suggests that the rest of us are primitive and benighted). I saw an interview of a Buddhist monk, and folks asked him all sorts of religious type questions. But then a young lady asked him: “I know this is rather personal, but how do you endure living without sex?” The monk thought for a moment, and replied: “When you’re ‘coming’ all the time, what do you need sex for?”

The Choice

There’s the old Zen saying: “Before enlightenment: chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment: chop wood and carry water.” They still take care of the necessities of life, yet now those so-called ‘chores’ are numinous.

These folks need next to nothing in the way of material things—and yet I’d venture to say they are happier and more fulfilled than Bill Gates with all his billions.

Perhaps they are the ones who are truly Living.

Why do we settle for materialism, etc.? When we know there are such better options? When, for example, Jesus and the Buddha teach us to avoid raging materialism, I wonder if they aren’t so much saying “That is ‘Bad’” but rather “You’re famished, and yet you settle for eating cardboard when you could have REAL food instead?”

Are these men and women examples, sneak previews, vanguards of what can some day be the normal mode of being for human beings? The next stage in our evolution? Is it really that huge of a leap?

Once upon a time there was a kingdom, with a great king and queen. One day they had a child, a beautiful little girl whom they named Leona. The king and queen were profoundly happy, and loved their daughter dearly.

One day the queen said to the king “Leona must some day rule in our place. But if she grows up in court, knowing only ease and everyone fawning on her day and night, how will she learn the wisdom she will need to be a wise queen?” The king, having no answer, consulted his Mage, Melthor.

“I have an answer,” said Melthor. “Allow me to raise Leona as an ordinary subject of your kingdom, with no knowledge of her royal birth. I will keep her perfectly safe with my magical powers, but she will also learn the ways of the world.”

And the king and queen consented. So Melthor took the little child Leona to a shepherd cottage on the edge of the kingdom. And raised her to be a shepherdess, tending the sheep, caring for their injuries, easing their lamb-births, and easing their deaths. And she learned to make cloth from their wool and cheese from their milk. And Melthor taught her the ways of nature, as well as the ways of books and human knowledge.

In due time Leona grew into a fine young woman, wise from all she had learned.

The king and queen were of course very anxious for her to return the castle! So one day they surprised Melthor and Leona at their cottage, arriving in their splendid gold carriage with their entourage of knights and trumpeters. Leona had never seen anything like this, and terrified, hid herself.

“What is to be done now?” cried the queen.

“We must introduce her to her royal station gradually, so as not to overwhelm her,” said Melthor.

And the king and queen consented. Melthor informed Leona: “The king and queen wish you to be a scullery maid in the castle, and of course you must obey.” And so she did. At first being in the castle at all was very terrifying, but after all, she was only a scullery maid, hidden in a little room for washing dishes down in the bowels of the castle. In due time she became accustomed to her new station, and of course executed her tasks with distinction.

“The king and queen wish you to be a cleaning maid.” Ah, this was a new challenge for Leona! For now she wasn’t hidden away, but in the great halls and rooms of the castle, dusting, sweeping and polishing. And oh how she shuddered, and bowed oh so low, when noblemen and ladies would happen to pass by. But they paid her no notice. In time she became accustomed to their presence, and the splendor of the halls and rooms of the castle, and although she still bowed low when nobility passed by her, she no longer shuddered. And, as always, she executed her tasks with distinction.

“The king and queen wish you to be one of the queen’s ladies in waiting.” Ah, now yet another challenge for Leona! For now she was in the presence of the queen herself! In her private rooms! Helping her dress, attending to all her needs. And she was in the presence of the king too! All of which she found quite terrifying.

But in time she became accustomed to her new state. And although she of course remained profoundly respectful of their majesties the king and queen, gradually her terror of them passed and she came to love them as the wise and compassionate monarchs they truly were.

One day the queen summoned her. “Please sit here, beside me, Leona. I have a story to tell you.” And the queen told Leona how she had been born their child, and how they had decided to have Melthor raise her as a subject of their realm so she would learn wisdom, and how they by degrees had reacquainted her with the life of royalty, starting as a lowly scullery maid and finally as a lady in waiting.

Leona’s head was swimming! “How can this possibly be?! Begging your pardon, your majesty, I can’t bring myself to believe this!”

“Ah, my beautiful daughter, I have the last proof for you. You were born with a birthmark over your heart—I’m sure you are well acquainted with it. Look, you will see that I have the same birthmark over my own.” Leona looked, and indeed there it was—over the queen’s own heart—a birthmark exactly like her own. “You are truly flesh of my flesh, my own beloved daughter. Come, my sweet child, take your rightful place beside me as Princess of the Realm.”

And, of course, Leona did as the queen wished, with quaking knees and tears in her eyes. But in time she came to accept her new station, and to appreciate the wisdom of her royal parents, and to love them even more (if that were possible!).

And in due time she did indeed become Queen of the Realm, and ruled her subjects with a compassion and wisdom that could only come from someone who had lived as one of them.

]]> http://www.williamzeitler.com/blog/2009/08/21/an-allegory-leona-the-shepherdess-princess/feed/ 0 http://www.williamzeitler.com/blog/2009/08/09/new-music-two-fish/ http://www.williamzeitler.com/blog/2009/08/09/new-music-two-fish/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:19:04 +0000 admin http://www.williamzeitler.com/blog/?p=595 “Alchemy” is fairly well known as the attempt during the Middle Ages and Late Renaissance to turn Lead into Gold. An enormous body of alchemical literature has survived. But within that literature is a stream in which ‘alchemy’ was a metaphor for turning the human heart from Lead into Gold—a way to talk about Spirituality and alternate ideas about Christianity that might not set well with the religious authorities of the day. After all, in those days they didn’t exactly “honor diversity”— being different could result in your being the guest of honor at a burning-at-the-stake!

The famous psychologist Carl Jung wrote extensively about this ‘inner alchemical’ literature.

Some of it is in the form of images, others as poetry or wildly metaphorical prose. The Book of Lambspring is a set of images and accompanying poems. It dates from around 1600.

The poem says that the two fish are the Soul and the Spirit, swimming in the sea of the Body. You can read the poem for yourself, but I’ll leave you with a thought that has helped me make sense of this image and sacred literature in general. And that is: perhaps one way of thinking about the difference between Soul and Spirit is that ‘soul’ is our consciousness directed towards OURSELVES, where ‘spirit’ is our consciousness directed toward God. You’ll notice that the two fish in the image are swimming in opposite directions.

So here’s the first image in the alchemical Book of Lambspring, and my own new piece to go with it.

1. The Two Fish

The Sea is the Body, the two Fishes are Soul and Spirit.

The Sages will tell you
That two fishes are in our sea
Without any flesh or bones.
Let them be cooked in their own water;
Then they also will become a vast sea,
The vastness of which no man can describe.
Moreover, the Sages say
That the two fishes are only one, not two;
They are two, and nevertheless they are one,
Body, Spirit, and Soul.
Now, I tell you most truly,
Cook these three together,
That there may be a very large sea.
Cook the sulphur well with the sulphur,
And hold your tongue about it:
Conceal your knowledge to your own advantage,
And you shall be free from poverty.
Only let your discovery remain a close secret.

• Here's the the whole piece (5:59)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds
• Here's the the score