Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Oi, Such a Beautiful World! (1.09.12)

The World is conspiring today to prevent my post about The World. So this one may be very short. The Boy spiked a fever in the middle of the night, I overslept, and I need to leave early for work. So let's get started. Consider this just an opening blast.

Now that we know who we are, it's time to find out what the world is. Naturally, we tend to conflate the world with our characteristic way of knowing it, but it is always "more" than this or that point of view, something the materialist seems constitutionally incapable of appreciating.

That is, a particular danger in our day and age is to regard the world as nothing more than a reflection of our mundane scientific way of knowing it. But if this is taken too literally, as in the manner of our scientistic jester, it always does violence to reality. Just because the world may be known scientifically, it hardly means that it is nothing more than a material object.

You can also treat a human being like a material object, but we all know that a person is infinitely more than that. A person includes materiality while always transcending it. Our true identity could never be a function of any materialist doctrine, if for no other reason than it unfolds through time, and cannot be unambiguously given in space, as can a material object. (And even that is no longer true, since the quantum world consists of vibrating energy, and vibrations necessarily require time.)

This reminds me of the old joke about the two behavioral psychologists who meet in the elevator. The one says to the other, "You're fine. How am I?"

It also reminds me of a Star Trek episode I was watching with Future Leader the other day. Dr. McCoy angrily says something to Spock to the effect of, "You are the most cold-hearted creature I've ever met!" Spock calmly responds, "Why thank you, Doctor."

Anyway, the last arcanum of Meditations on the Tarot is The World. It is no coincidence that this is the final card, for the sum total of our previous meditations should begin to facilitate an ability to regard the world as a work of art, with all that implies.

Now, intellect is to truth as will is to virtue and love is to the beautiful. It's quite simple, really: Truth is what we must know; good is what we must do; and beauty is what we must love. Now, go away and sin no more.

Being that beauty is the splendor of the true, there is obviously a deep and abiding connection between truth and beauty, knowledge and art, for surely art is a way of deeply knowing beautiful truths about the world that are inaccessible to science per se (although, as we all know, aesthetics enters science through the side door, for example, in the beauty of mathematics.)

I think more than any other theologian of whom I am aware (with the possible exception of Balthasar; among the more secular philosophers, Schopenhauer is supreme), Schuon had a deep and sensitive understanding of the role of beauty in the cosmic economy. He said so may brilliant things about it, that it's rather difficult to get to the essence in the space of short post, but here are a few, conveniently taken from the pithy little book I just finished, Echoes of Perennial Wisdom:

"The cosmic, and more particularly the earthly, function of beauty is to actualize in the intelligent and sensitive creature the recollection of essences, and thus to open the way to the luminous night of the one and infinite Essence."

In ether worlds, essence is opposed to existence as substance is to form. Just as the function of man's intelligence is to discern between accidents and reality, the function of the aesthetic sense is to discern between form and essence, the latter of which is always more inward, whether it is in a poem, painting, musical performance -- or the world. In other words, the world has an inner essence that reveals itself in the mode of formal beauty, which is only "everywhere."

I noticed a trivial example of this the other day while out mountain biking. The bike trail winds through "virgin nature," which, for reasons that are indeed mysterious, is essentially always beautiful -- even the random patterns of rocks strewn about always seem "just so," as if carefully arranged by a Japanese painter or landscape artist.

But along the trail I saw a piece of broken concrete. I have no idea how it got there, but it didn't belong. Frankly, it was ugly, and was obviously out of place. Furthermore, there was no place you could have placed it and made it fit in. It was an aesthetic error, which, when you think about it, is an interesting way of putting it, for it again emphasizes that there is surely truth in beauty.

Interestingly, a couple of years ago, after a brush fire passed our way, I discovered an old abandoned vehicle that must have been there since the 1950's. (Come to think of it, I think that was the day Hoarhey stumbled in here, but that's another story. I remember, because if I am not mistaken, he was able to identify the make of the vehicle.)

Anyway, as a result of the years of mother nature working on it, it had become beautiful in its own way, whereas a new car dumped there in the middle of the scene would have been jarring and lacking in aesthetic harmony and proportion.

Schuon: "Beauty is a reflection of Divine Bliss; and since God is Truth, the reflection of His Bliss will be that mixture of happiness and truth which is to be found in all beauty.... The beauty of the sacred is a symbol or a foretaste of, and sometimes a means to, the joy that God alone possesses.... Sacred art helps man to find his own center, that kernel whose nature is to love God.... The sacred is an apparition of the Center, it immobilizes the soul and turns it towards the inward."

Yes. Just as truth is a reflection of the "divine light," beauty bubbles over with the divine joy, or ananda. Sometimes my son is so beautiful to me, I literally can't stand it. I suppose it's related to the Jewish concept of plotzing with naches over your kids. Oi! Such a ponim on that boychik!


99 comments:

Joan of Argghh! said...

Okay, on the front of the official Raccoon T-shirt:

Truth is what we must know; good is what we must do; and beauty is what we must love.

On the back of the T-shirt:

Go and sin no more.

Joan of Argghh! said...

Or maybe the back could say:

Beer is what we must drink.

Anonymous said...

Ho! The sacred quaternary!

walt said...

I recall you posted a photo of an old abandoned Willys you found, but I didn't know that that was Hoarhey's rig.

julie said...

Awww, lookit that face. I hope he's feeling better today!

walt said...

"...the random patterns of rocks strewn about always seem "just so," as if carefully arranged by a Japanese painter or landscape artist."

Yes, the Artist does get around, doesn't he? I've noticed that He did excellent work up in this neck of the woods as well.

You mentioned the "aesthetic sense." I actually tried to follow this "sense" and let it guide me while operating my nursery. This did not translate into being a very smart businessman, but I did get away with it. A lot of folks complemented us on the results, but most of the time, I was just following my nose -- or my gnos, as Ben has said.

Any time you start riffing on "Beauty" I get excited...

Anonymous said...

Those old 50s vehicles are metallic sculptures which fit in anywhere.

James said...

Mainman,

After I agonized over writing a personal post yesterday I read your post. You told the same sort of story that I wanted to tell. Let's just say that themes from this blog have been mirroring my life in miraculous ways. I ask a question, the answer shows up here type of thing. And no this isn't any type of Bob worship. Bob would make a funny looking idol.
This place is like finally having a vocabulary for your inner life. Anyway, your comment yesterday mentioned a pot addiction. Frankly, that is a real problem for me right now. It's not so much that I want to be high it's just somehow terrifying not to be. I used to have a lot of other unsavory habits, but I've narrowed it down to just this one. I wonder if you would be willing to tell me about your experience overcoming the addiction? If not here then you can e-mail me at jbweaver@gmail.com. I would appreciate any advice. Most people look at me cross eyed if I mention cannabis addiction.

julie said...

James,

"Let's just say that themes from this blog have been mirroring my life in miraculous ways. I ask a question, the answer shows up here type of thing."

It's amazing how often that happens here :)

Joan of Argghh! said...

This place is like finally having a vocabulary for your inner life.

I think one of my first comments was along the lines of "finding a balm for the soul."

Anonymous said...

Joan, beer is just what you drink when you can't get any scotch... why settle for anything less than perfection?

Joan of Argghh! said...

Paul, as you may know, Raccoons can rarely afford good Scotch.

And hush, you! I'll tell your wife that you're slumming with Hermeticists! Then you'll be in real trouble.

Anonymous said...

Oh, she already knows what company I keep. And you're entirely correct, scotch is rarely in the attainable price range.

How about this: Beer is what we must drink (because we can't afford any scotch)

James said...

Raccoons Drink Whiskey

Ray Ingles said...

But if this is taken too literally, as in the manner of our scientistic jester, it always does violence to reality... Our true identity could never be a function of any materialist doctrine, if for no other reason than it unfolds through time...

Gee, I wish I'd realized that. :-<

Warren said...

"Our true identity could never be a function of any materialist doctrine, if for no other reason than..."

The reason I would give is that the very notion is self-contradictory. In fact, a materialist cannot even open his mouth, on any subject whatsoever, without immediately contradicting himself.

(Sorry to break into the drinking party. Back to it!)

Warren said...

And thanks to Ray for the quick illustration....

Anonymous said...

Ray, since the fabric of the universe is more flexible than you, kindly get bent.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Warren, but it's instinctual.

julie said...

Hehe - Oh, you're that Paul G! I don't know why I didn't pick up on it sooner.

julie said...

As to drinking, Raccoons will imbibe all manner of adult beverages. Beer, scotch, varieties of vino, vodka, and of course the Frothy stuff.

walt said...

The effects of Frothy drinks are subtle...

julie said...

And instead of being intoxicating, they tend to be inpurificating. And the foam goes right to your head. Mmmm... froth...

Anonymous said...

Julie:
"As to drinking, Raccoons will imbibe all manner of adult beverages. Beer, scotch, varieties of vino, vodka, and of course the Frothy stuff."

I'll drink to that!


/Johan

Joan of Argghh! said...

Raccoons, diverse as they are, are certainly One in the Spirits.

robinstarfish said...

But along the trail I saw a piece of broken concrete. I have no idea how it got there, but it didn't belong. Frankly, it was ugly, and was obviously out of place.

Pretty much describes every strip mall that's ever been built.

On the other hand, breaking down a chunk of concrete into dust reveals some beautiful colors and crystalline structures.

Come to think of it, that's pretty much the theme of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Erk, might hafta rethink this whole tangent...Klaatu barada nikto.

Anonymous said...

Clatto Verata N... Necktie... Neckturn... Nickel... It's an "N" word, it's definitely an "N" word!

Joan of Argghh! said...

Jim Carrey: a concrete thinker.

Van Harvey said...

"The cosmic, and more particularly the earthly, function of beauty is to actualize in the intelligent and sensitive creature the recollection of essences, and thus to open the way to the luminous night of the one and infinite Essence."

That nails it.

Paul G said..."Joan, beer is just what you drink when you can't get any scotch... why settle for anything less than perfection?"

So does that!


Joan of Argghh! said... "Paul, as you may know, Raccoons can rarely afford good Scotch."

Sigh. So does that.

Paul G said... "Oh, she already knows what company I keep. And you're entirely correct, scotch is rarely in the attainable price range.
How about this: Beer is what we must drink (because we can't afford any scotch)"


Hmm... yeah, but to deterministic...

Beer is what we drink we wish to drink in friends and cheer, scotch is what we drink when we wish to drink and think...?

Hmm... I'll have to think about that.

(hiccup)

Van Harvey said...

From Joan's link:

"When the cadaverous King asked Carrey if he believed in fate, Carrey claimed "that everything happens to you is the greatest thing that could ever happen to you." Carrey then added, "Mugged in an alleyway, hit with a brick in the face; everything is the greatest thing that could ever happen to you."

I've got a suggestion for Carrey's next movie, Candide. He'd be perfect.

Sal said...

You say FL sleeps, but I don't believe it. The energy just leaps off those pics. Hope he feels better, and you all stay well for Christmas.

"In your day-to-day life you must refrain from activities that advance the infrahuman tide of ugliness, barbarism and falsehood in our endarkened world."

A little long for a T-shirt, but makes a nice fridge magnet...

mushroom said...

It's quite simple, really: Truth is what we must know; good is what we must do; and beauty is what we must love. Now, go away and sin no more.

So, the diligent seeker climbs the mountain. Struggling over the last few yards of the vertical ascent, hands numb, feet bleeding, ice hanging from his mustache, gaunt and faint with hunger, he claws his way to the summit where sits the sage he seeks.

"At last," he cries, "tell me the secret of life."

The sage looks up, turns his laptop around and says, "Check out One Cosmos, dude."

Anonymous said...

"On the other hand, breaking down a chunk of concrete into dust reveals some beautiful colors and crystalline structures."

Robin, wouldn't that be the course aggregate that's a component in making concrete - real rocks mixed in (with the slurry needed to pour it) getting exposed again? 'In', but not 'of' the ugly stuff?

debass said...

The sage looks up, turns his laptop around and says, "Check out One Cosmos, dude."

I thought it was "A wet bird never flies at night".

mushroom said...

AWBNFAN is better than Mr. Natural's answer to "What does it all mean, Mr. Natural?"

Anonymous said...

It don't mean shit.

robinstarfish said...

ximeze -

Yeah, nice picture! And 'in not of' works as long as the mixer keeps on churning. If it stops, it takes a lot of sledgehammering to get back to where you once belong.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

The World is conspiring today to prevent my post about The World.

Welcome to my world. :^)

Anonymous said...

So there you have it, James. The solution is obviously to trade in one addiction for another.

Now, these dissolute raccoons may try to get you to believe that the solution is to replace cannabis with beer or scotch, but that's just a hip fake. It's a different kind of spirit that you're after, I would guess, one that pot will persistently obstruct.

Actually, I don't know that I have any wisdom to impart about how I got away from it. I'm not even sure how it happened. I do know that it was during one of my earlier, more primitive spiritual steps forward/up. And I know that emerging from the marijuana culture of the 60's and 70's was a help.

But the most important element in avoiding or ending any addiction is to have something more important with which it interferes. If you want to make spiritual progress, you'll eventually leave behind those more damaging vestiges of vitalism.

And if you want to prime the pump, you might try doing something that Van once recommended here, which is to say the Lord's Prayer at least once a day. If prayer is spiritual respiration, which seems right to me, then that alone should open the door, which it seems to have done for me in other matters.

But the bottom line is something that might go on another t-shirt: Life's more fun when you know what's going on.

That's all I got. Maybe someone else here has something to offer, although the immediate devolution into a discussion of alcoholic beverages that followed your comment seems to offer a cautionary note in that regard.

Gagdad Bob said...

I guess I was wrong about Hoarhey being the one who identified the vehicle. Here it is.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

The sage looks up, turns his laptop around and says, "Check out One Cosmos, dude."

The gift that keeps on giving! :^)

julie said...

Maineman, to be fair we were talking about booze before James commented. But yeah, probably not very helpful under the circumstances. Having never suffered a chemical addiction myself, I guess that was a bit thoughtless. Me, I have a particularly strong addiction to the aforementioned Froth. Tastes great, less filling, and the side effects can be startling.

My brother was a heavy pot smoker when he was younger, but his method of quitting was the harsh (serious-anxiety-attack-inducing) realization that all of his friends were developmentally arrested, and that if he didn't quit he would be, too. He once referred to it as "God's way of kicking him in the pants," and I know from watching him go through something similar in more recent years that it's a pretty wrenching thwack with the Cluebat. I don't recommend it.

The Lord's Prayer certainly can't hurt, though.

Anonymous said...

Rene Descartes walks into a bar, the bartender says "Yo, Rene you want a beer??" Descartes responds with "I think not!" POOF

Joan of Argghh! said...

LOL @ Maineman trying to ride herd on Raccoons!

I was writing the same response as Julie. I will add that James specifically addressed the addiction question to you. Julie and I were and remain encouraged by James' heartfelt joy in finding this place, and so noted our joy as well. Neither of us are qualified to speak to the herbal addiction.

Love the idea for the t-shirt and could add a bit of wisdom that has worked for others:
If you feed something, it grows.
If you starve it, it dies.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

maineman said...
So there you have it, James. The solution is obviously to trade in one addiction for another.

I cooncur, Maineman!
The more addicted we get to truth, goodness n' beauty, the more bad addictions drop away like the scales on our eyes.

Before you gno it the desire is no longer there, replaced by a new desire to gno God, with side effects bein' joy n' peace n' stuff.

It can happen quickly or slowly but it will happen if we're not too serious about attaining a good slackitude. IOW's we can't get too caught up on what to do as much as just bein' our true self.

Or, as Bob wrote recently, "ask not what God can do for you but what you can do for God."

Take aim at the bald ego and fire away. It can be fun in a sense.

Oh yeah, and have a grog occasionally...for medicinal purposes of course. :^)

Just some stray thoughts that may or may not be helpful, James.
I'll be prayin' for ya, and it's a joy to gno you are already headin' the right Way.

julie said...

Joan,
"Julie and I were and remain encouraged by James' heartfelt joy in finding this place, and so noted our joy as well."

Yep, absolutely! And, Ben, have I told you lately that I love you?

Bob, I think you need to set up a Zazzle shop. There are a lot of good t-shirt ideas, there. And it might be fun for someone to come up with a drawing of a bowling raccoon. Or a raccoon practicing the fine art of Chin Fu Do or Lo Gong. The possibilities are endless...

julie said...

BTW, I've heard that Amazon's Honor System for donations has been shut down. So if you're gonna continue to sell Indulgences, they'll have to go through a different route...

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Perhaps a coonfession will be more helpful so here we go.

I smoked doped in the 90's for a few years, off n' on, with the insidious intent to gain weight by increasing my munchie factor.

It was logically sound, I told myself, 'cause I did need to increase my weight. AIDS had turned my body into a walkin' skeleton.

But the true reason I wanted the weed was to get high n' escape.

Now, I'm not sayin' mary jane didn't help my body, but I am sayin' it arrested my spiritual growth.

I could easily get a prescription to smoke pot legally, although not from a VA doc.

But I came to realize that escapin' wasn't where I wanted to be. Escapism wasn't who I wanted to Be.
Not if I really wanted to gno the Truth, and I did, and still do.

I'll say the same about too much hooch, pain pills or any other drugs.
Addiction in those things and the feelings they enhance and put in charge is like walkin' in a spiritual swamp full of bogs n' quicksand. You just can't make headway when you're in the thrall
of your emotions.

You can't be dispassionately passionate...only passion rains when yer in that squall.

Now I can have just a few beers, and be just as content as when I have good joe (thanks Ximeze!) or iced tea or great tastin' water.

The high I seek is the Joy of the Lord, the Truth of His Word, the Goodness of His will, the Beauty of His creation and my own personal Destiny!

MJ, pills n' hooch don't even begin to compare to the lucidity n' perfect clearness of that High!
Real slack! That's what I'm addicted to. :^)

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Thanks Julie!
I love you too, sis! :^)

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

BTW, I'm not sayin' the MJ n' other drugs can't give you any insight at all, but it's absolutely limited and it's dangerous because the passions of counterfeit emotions consume the body, mind and soul.

Of course, as the Left constantly demon-strates, this can be dome without drugs also.

Gagdad Bob said...

James:

I don't have any special insight into addictions. As far as I know, the 12 step program remains the state of the art. I think it was a sort of "quasi-divine" revelation for drunks -- who will be the first to acknowledge that -- but I believe the principles are universal.

Anonymous said...

James:

I do have some insight into addictions, having recovered myself.

First thing: this is not a recovery site. Bob does not specialize in or deal with recovery in any way shape or form from what I've read so far. On the other hand, everything you absorb here will help you.

12 step can be helpful to many, however it fails for about 60%. Been there, done that. Alternatives? Rational Recovery for one. He disentangles religion/spirituality from the process of getting rid of booze/drugs. He focuses on what he terms "the Beast" (which I'm sure Bob could comment on, if he were so inclined, but I'll assume with good reason that he has better things to do). Anyhow "the Beast" is that "voice" in your head that seduces you into drinking/using after you have rationally decided that you should abstain/reduce.

Check out his site (rationalrecovery.org I believe) then come back here for soul food.

Recovered or not, this site is the real deal for all coon-cats and kittens.

Anonymous said...

After re-reading my post, "the Beast" in Rational Recovery is OBVIOUSLY a mind-parasite par excellence.

D'uh.

Sorry.

Anonymous said...

I met with a group of Christians and Jews today at the Faculty Club at the University of Toronto. We are so marginalized that a dinner companion was oblivious -- seriously -- that there was any issue at all. She was the perfect apparatchik: assumed that not only I, but SHE also, was "Christian" in the same sense that the boots we wore were "brown".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6yuR8efotI

Please paste that into your browser and listen to it.

Anonymous said...

Gosh - editing isn't allowed on Blogger :-)

To clarify, the "dinner guest" referenced below was a person with whom I had said repast in the evening, after lunching with the former Lizards (some still...)

In any event, I came to One Cosmos to learn techniques designed to slay the leftist foe from the Coonquistadors.

OK.

Until USS Ben chimes in, I'm done for the evening. A tip of the coonskin cap, y'all (see! Canadians can emulate y'all! That's recursive, y'all!)

Seriously, USA! USA! USA!

Seriously though, I lived in Louisville and Boston and I love America. I do. Seriously.

Anonymous said...

Bob's post moved me deeply today. I have yet to dredge images equivalent to the "off-balance" landscape occaisioned by the conctete hunk...

BUT...

Speaking for the torn-off concrete agglomeration:

"I AM OF YOU. I AM STONE + MIND"

Anonymous said...

The intoxicating beauty of Nature Plain -- known before Time, indeed beyond Time (Bob is flirting with Time now, again) is not diminished by our contribution. Indeed, Bob struck a sour note by identifying the fragment as poisonous.

God created -- above all else -- the randomn man who cast that cast-off chunk.

The lowliest act of Mind is Supreme, even in the seductive elegant Aspen's glance.

Van Harvey said...

Maineman we were fooling around, as I'm sure you know (and I don't think you were chastising us, but simply homing in on the serious issue James was commenting upon, and rightly so). I make no claims to any deep insights into addictions, but my personal watch flare was that if something began to want to use you, more than you wanted to use it, back the heck away.

Fast. And it seems reasonable to assume that having a higher purpose for yourself, and a route to getting there, such as intoning the Lord's Prayer, would be a wise first step towards higher ground.

I saw a lot of friends dissolve before my eyes when I played in a band in the 80's, and a couple acquaintances died. I don't take addictions lightly. However, I also don't take something that has no power over me, any more seriously than the spirit I enjoy it with.

Cheers.

(Other's mileage may vary)

Van Harvey said...

Anonymous said "Descartes responds with "I think not!" POOF"

Lol, love that one.

Anonymous said...

Beauty is additive.

The Last Frontier.

Bob adds to the world.

Northern Bandit gave $1 to a bum.

Same diff, right?

Right?

Anonymous said...

Amidst the 200 year slow crumble of the American experiment (excepionalist, my ass -- you're human) we have scrabbling up from the great Chinese charnel fun house these testaments to Beauty which involve you not at all 9 nor me). They just are:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GeYzc-morM

Anonymous said...

Yes, there has been a collapse of Beauty upon a point in 2008. And yes, it has been noticed globally.

And NO, it is not because "Korean parents pushed their kids". Japanese and Vietnamese were even more alert.

It is real: top-down ascendency on young musicians from Korea. Very young. Paganini-like proficiency.

Coming to a Korean-American Cultural Center near you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHox_iZBc_U

These are extremely rough. Please stand by.

Anonymous said...

One cannot eke out a living in the arts today.

Why, just last Tuesday I might've happened upon THREE shark embryos in piss!

Anonymous said...

Actually Bob, now that I seem to have the floor, I would like to conduct an experiment.

Scientistic Jester (Ray): People kid back and forth, but I for one accept that you are a normal person interested in Bob's thoughts.

Please go here and report back. Seriopusly, Ray. Please at least acknowledge that you saw this post. I for one will not judge you on your reaction. I just want to see how you react (experiment - be honest):

A special suprise for Ray

Anonymous said...

Dude, CHILL!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said:

Dude, CHILL

Easy for you to say. You haven't been up all night in the back of a '68 chevy van, wedged between hippies!

Me neither, but you get the gist...

Anonymous said...

Here is antithesis. The more-or-less opposite of the capitalistic crap (Lord God, how it pains me to say that) ... the crap that is so bad that we don't even know it exists as background intellectual noise. Did you know a whole lot about the lead singer of Modest Mouse?

Did you even know at all what Jesus and Mary Chain were about (if you are reading this, I assume you were aware of the Sex Pistols)

Anyhoo -- as Anonymous helpfully yet fruitlessly advised: chill!

Chilled?

Ok now warm some again with: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thls_tMuFkc

Yeah, you wanna click that... Ok (it's Ray Charles).

Anonymous said...

Bob has latched on to the Allman Brothers. Indeed, they latched on to a Fountain -- an effortless gush.

Many, many others have tapped in to that, worldwide. In Canada there is a species of fiddler (not violinist) surrouded by supporting musicians which can raise ANY audience to their feet, freely-shaking and dancing. The phenomenon has taken root in the retrogade loins of the odd Texan, and has reduced New Hampshireites to grins unbecoming.

Allman Brothers-level music exists all over the place, Bob. Celebrate!

Anonymous said...

James,

You've already taken the first step which is to recognize and admit your dope affinity as a negative. Rather than wallowing in guilt for doing something that you know is detrimental and perpetuating the cycle, open yourself to help (divine and earthly) in seeing how you arrived where you are in this matter and become willing to let go the crutch and move on to a better place when that time arrives.
FREEDOM BABY! It's a good thang.

Anonymous said...

Bandit,
You'll get nosebleeds from that shit.
Smoov by any chance?

Anonymous said...

Man I feel like pushing off that riff that Bob established -- the concrete block as the inteloper in the Garden Just So.

So. Freakin. Rich. Bob.

You've got many essays to go.

Are you getting (i.e., preserving for future readers?) ready for server crash?

Anonymous said...

I am going to Istanbul in February. Before that I'll watch new minds blossom in Portugal, backed by a billion dollar fund.

America is waiting...

Anonymous said...

Way down deep -- even coons. Way down deep Axl did it.

If you don't react to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oobDQ0vdm8M

well, hell, forget about the seventeen-eighties.

Anonymous said...

Bob:

Part of the equation is "that which survives"

This Guns 'n' Roses, which "everyone" dismissed.

Today there are 2-3 songs lifted to the acropolictic plateau we knew they deserved (compared to whatshisname).

(BTW, I hope you too Bob happen upon a liquor store offering superb Chilean Cab at $12 bottle, real soon.)

Anonymous said...

Grogin' the cheap stuff eh?

Anonymous said...

Amy Winehouse came out the other end (close to death a while back).

She splayed all available voice talent in gobs early -- we're left apparntly with a 24-year old husk.

Why relevent? She lived brighlty.

That's it.

Anonymous said...

You'd still do the "husk" though, right?

Anonymous said...

Did you ever come up with those back stage passes?

Anonymous said...

This is unique as far as I know. The sheer vaccum created by Amy Winehouses' latest heroin/MDMA/Crystal binge drew in not only Mark Ronson (LDN hottest promoter, but numerous girls willing to imagine that they were the real thing -- down to every inflection)

This Ronson performance featuring Winehouse in absentia speaks volumes.

I can't help adding: for male coons these are some of the sexiest women imaginable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmxkDrottic

Anonymous said...

Please! Don't start surfin' porn sites, your keyboard will thank you in the mornin'

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmmm, must have passed out.

Anonymous said...

The bent-dirty-needle habits of Thelonious or Miles are look-the-other-way only in hindsight.

Bob hasn't dealt adequately with the fact that Miles was miserable, 23 hours per day.

Do you never think the man said: Fuck Art. Give me a sandwich. Or at least the desire for one.

Anonymous said...

Nope!

Anonymous said...

OK, enough blather.

Bob, if you've got this far through the sodden comments (still trying to wipe beer stains from the Lodge tables before dawn sets in and the Grand Poobah alights)

If you've gotten this far and you still even remotely care about the history of rock (I know you do) well then spend 30 seconds here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJprEyXMrIk

Anonymous said...

It's late on the east coast.

Julie! Help me out -- inject some sun here on the next day's thread.

Anonymous said...

Given Sri Aurobindo as a standard (asaide from the Bobolator, we need to ensure our change-of-prophet drawer is well stocked, right?, I mean, what happens if CA is cleaved off by a righeous Act?)

Anyhoo - Given Sri as a baseline, damn. I mean, damn! We (coons) are not monks, are we? We can bowl 260 all night long, but pure of soul? Available the Light? Dunno. Still feel clouded...

One thing I like about Bob-the Prophet: you can ALWAYS ask him for change for a single. He may omly have 23 cents, but there you go.

Missileers have more fun.

Anonymous said...

Just so you guys know...not all Canadians are like that. Our beer is stronger, of course, but like, whoa...

Anonymous said...

Yes, Van. I wasn't really meaning to be critical. I just thought the irony was worth a chuckle.

In my further defense, I can offer a free tour of the 200+ gallons of wine in various states of development in my basement.

Back to pot, though, I think one of the problems with it is that the dosage really can't be titrated the way alcohol can. You can't really have the equivalent of two glasses of wine with dinner in the sense that if you smoke cannabis you become truly and essentially altered.

And it's amazing how it arrests development so insidiously. I find it so sad to talk to the young ones these days who harbor the same self-destructive attitudes about pot that we did when we were young. Just try arguing with a 17 year-old who says there's nothing wrong with it, that everybody does it, right after they got kicked out of school for possession or for testing positive.

Anonymous said...

chuck the canuck:

We ARE SO like that. You have to point the picture on the bottle toward Saskatoon.

Far less mukluk drool.

Anonymous said...

Something tells me Smoov is back on his "meds."

Van Harvey said...

Hoarhey, I had the same thought after the Allman Bros ref.

;-)

Cheer's NB.

(I think the aspirin's in the back of the cabinet. Just sayin')

Van Harvey said...

NB ref'd Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Beesknees... I don't care who, if classical music is carried on, the ideas will follow in their wake and the West will survive no matter what becomes of it's traditional carriers.

Anonymous said...

Petey sees all, knows all.

BUT Dupree makes change.

NoMo said...

Ben -
I'm 55, been joyfully married for 33 years, have 3 grown sons, 3 lovely daughters in law and 3 beautiful grandkids (with another on the way)...and you inspire me. Thanks, man!

James -
I was once as you are. In my case, high more of the time than straight. Today's weed isn't what it was back then - much more potent with greater potential for serious problems (my two half-brothers are "living" testimony).

Take at least a few weeks off to really get your head clear. You will find that God very much prefers relating to the real you - without the artificial alteration. The greater the clarity, the fewer the stumbles. Even now, when I allow myself the extra glass or three of wine, I regret it (not just in the morning).

And keep looking up!

Smoov / NB? - Just yesterday I was wondering about you. It's good to know you are still among the living.

8]

Ephrem Antony Gray said...

Hum, we reach a point when we realise that the pleasure of drinking a cup of water is greater than that of any drug. If we truly grasp this in its fullness, there is no drug which can entice us. How much more pleasure would we find in the holy mysteries? Or perhaps it is simply the result of the Theophany - all water is being made holy.

Van Harvey said...

River said "Hum, we reach a point when we realise that the pleasure of drinking a cup of water is greater than that of any drug. If we truly grasp this in its fullness, there is no drug which can entice us."

No argument on the better off without, than with even a sip... but... how to put it.... Like a good high school footbal player, not a gridiron star, but good, solid and at times devastating, who knows that by applying himself he could get a scholarship, and does... but the pro's? He takes stock of himself... and studies hard and gets his degree.

A Man's got to know his limitations.

(If Will's right, maybe I'll make the dry cut next time around)

8-)

Ray Ingles said...

NB - I've seen it in person. I was struck by the lack of sadness in Mary's face. Alienating, really; even 'in context' Mary wasn't quite that serene.

Van Harvey said...

Ray said "...Alienating, really; even 'in context' Mary wasn't quite that serene."

Northern Bandit... you're not really surprised, are you?

Ray! Quick! Two blocks back, hang a right and take the Overpass... you may still be able to catch up with the point you missed... not likely of course... but possib....

(blink)

nNnyahhh.

Fuhgedaboudit.

Ray Ingles said...

Van - I got the point. I just don't agree with the point.

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