tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post2958276399354547920..comments2024-03-27T11:16:36.951-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Life and Death Are Like Night and DayGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-72068670354553522292009-12-16T18:47:54.987-08:002009-12-16T18:47:54.987-08:00Another Arvo Part fan here. One of the things to ...Another Arvo Part fan here. One of the things to appreciate about his music is its lack of familiar lyrical gesture. If you listen to pop music long enough, you begin to realize they all move their musical limbs in the same way, usually for the same purposes. It becomes painfully routine and predictable. Totally conformist.<br /><br />Part's music is built differently and is trying to achieve different ends. It sounds fresh, newly-discovered, strangely objective, and terrifying. Shocking, even, as if someone threw aside a curtain on a million beating wings of iron. Pretty extraordinary.Gradusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-9901696760270504232009-12-16T17:23:01.207-08:002009-12-16T17:23:01.207-08:00Van and Bob,
Excellent comments.
>> Aristo...Van and Bob,<br /><br />Excellent comments.<br /><br />>> Aristotle (sorry to keep bringing him up)<br /><br />Oh, don't apologize for that to a neo-Scholastic, logic-chopping pest like me.<br /><br />As I said, I have no problem with the apophatic approach - think very highly of it, in fact. I'm just concerned with the idea of pushing "daytime" logic as far as it can go. Because even if it can't go all the way, it can still go a lot farther than many people seem to realize. It's not only an invaluable tool, but actually a miracle.Warrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13623170987747998335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1956672206431787802009-12-16T15:49:44.104-08:002009-12-16T15:49:44.104-08:00Great post. And comments. Especially like the re...Great post. And comments. Especially like the reminders about the day and night sides to Christianity, and the male and female aspects. Well done. <br /><br /> But sleep is not always restorative and creative. A good feminine... Sometimes just a foxhole in which one finds temporary shelter from the artillery fire. Bandages one's wounds. Chews mouldy bread. <br /><br /> For some, sleep is to open the floodgates of nightmare. Even distracted busyness may seem preferable to some than the horrors. Unadulterated. Hence the popularity of the story of the boy with the finger in the dyke... <br /><br />Agree with J of A about control. But sometimes a traumatized or deeply disturbed person dares not let go. Also, not all can afford or endure analysis (however valuable for those who have pursued it) <br /><br />This isn't to disagree with what you say about the value of sleep, and balancing the light and the dark. You are on the right track. But for some, finding that balance is like trying to walk across a tightrope with no safety net holding a bag of wriggling rats with sharp teeth about to gnaw thru.<br /><br /> When I worked for a church, the only way I could find time to write sermons was by staying up half the night while my children slept. Even now, in "just" a job, since I work and do family chores about 12 hours a day, the only way to pray, study, reflect (if at all)is to steal it from sleep or rest. Obviously, I relax a few hours with family and pets and exercise, etc. But one starves slowly without the time to quiet oneself and learn. And sometimes only "sleep" time is left... It's probably less a problem for people with healthier kids than mine.<br /><br />I have always been rather fond of the Coffee ad that says "You can sleep when you're dead."Retrieverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09036341287285545932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-68562210055507771072009-12-16T15:38:35.605-08:002009-12-16T15:38:35.605-08:00Jack--
I quickly built up my ECM collection by pu...Jack--<br /><br />I quickly built up my ECM collection by putting a bunch of titles in my wish list and then watching the prices. They often go down to 5, 6, or 7 bucks. You should also be aware that often they have two editions of the same title, and that one will be much cheaper, even though they are identical in every way...Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-53920623936527536072009-12-16T15:20:54.457-08:002009-12-16T15:20:54.457-08:00Sorry, I should have been more specific.
"I...Sorry, I should have been more specific. <br />"I do project that all of us touch ourselves."<br />And do all nature of things which I need psychic company with.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-57740892736861472642009-12-16T14:55:03.971-08:002009-12-16T14:55:03.971-08:00Great subject. My take away from Fr. Rose’s book w...Great subject. My take away from Fr. Rose’s book was that there will be temptations after we leave the earthly realm (after the third day). Of course the tempters will know our weaknesses and will try to exploit them. I am pretty sure, assuming Fr. Rose is correct (which I think he is) that all the seven deadly sins will be tested along with others an the twenty or so “toll houses”. I think that if we have not conquered a challenge God has presented to us here we will get sidetracked on our assent to Heaven. I think as an example, that in the case of the Islamist (and anon) and the deadly sin of Lust, it could be terminal.<br /><br />I recommend reading the book and reflecting on whatever weaknesses you may have in regards to the Commandments of God and His Law. Overcome all your weakness here so you are prepared for what is to come. If you can’t say no in the here and now you probably won’t do so well in your assent to God.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16202441664961886198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-86293804479332815542009-12-16T14:27:28.456-08:002009-12-16T14:27:28.456-08:00Though I've been a fan of Part for a few years...Though I've been a fan of Part for a few years, I am only now becoming acquainted with some the Jazz side of ECM (thanks in large part to the Raccoon store!). And have to agree that many of the artists have the same ability to "sonify" silence.<br /><br />Reminds me of a favorite Monk quote: <br />"It's not the notes you play. It's the notes you leave out"<br /><br />I love Jon Christensen's four rules, #3 in particular rings true for me. In listening to the beginning Alaap section of N. Indian music it seems to point towards a "virtuosity of slowness" which can then be applied to any tempo. I will keep digging into the ECM archives as I am able. <br /><br />R.R.- Part is some really fantastic stuff. I am glad you like it. I wholeheartedly agree that it's hard to listen and not know the Reality of Spirit. Truly extraordinary.Jacknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-84000813260679828812009-12-16T13:50:17.267-08:002009-12-16T13:50:17.267-08:00Gagdad said "...there must be a oneness under...Gagdad said "...there must be a oneness underlying the threeness, just as there is threeness in the oneness... Just two different human perspectives on the unthinkable...."<br /><br />Yes, for all the dueling between the dualists and non-dualists, it is after all, in the end, One Cosmos.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-993777754142391942009-12-16T13:47:46.704-08:002009-12-16T13:47:46.704-08:00Warren said " I would be the last to say that...Warren said " I would be the last to say that there is no value in it. And yet, and yet... I wonder if there doesn't come a point where we have to take out our sword (or battle-axe) of discrimination.<br />For example, non-dualism, for all its spiritual insights, etc, is - when taken as an all-explaining Theory of Everything - logically incoherent and self-contradictory (just like its twin brother, materialism, and for the same reasons)."<br /><br />It does have it's place, like an entryway, but if you just stand there and never open the inner door, you never make it into home. Aristotle (sorry to keep bringing him up, reading a bunch) considered some earlier theories that the earth revolved around the sun, but noting that there was no proof, no reason for supposing so other than it seemed a cool idea, he dismissed it, for from the visual evidence he had, the sun revolved around the earth. <br /><br />And he was right for the right reasons, as the earlier heliocentric theorists were wrong, for the wrong reasons. When more observations began exposing more problems than more epicycles could do away with, and better instruments enabled better observations and better theories, <i>then</i> it became possible to <i>know</i> that the sun revolving around the earth was only true on the surface, and deeper investigation and consideration led to deeper, truer, understanding of not only how the earth revolved around the sun, but of night and day as well.<br /><br />Non-dualists do state some fine spiritual insights, but it isn't enough to 'have the right answer', if you have it for the wrong reasons, or don't fully understand what you've concluded is the 'answer'; that could lead you into thinking that because you think, therefore you are... and nothing but night follows that one.<br /><br />Sometimes the wrong answer is arrived at for the right reasons, and will lead to deeper, better, truer answers, in the long run. Most qualities are only discovered as a result of repeatedly experiencing their particular quantities. A word or phrase may be the particular label for a depthless concept, like "Let there be light...", but if you don't pursue it, it can leave you as lost upon the literalist horizontal planes as yin & yang can... and vice versa.<br /><br />It's not enough to merely identify, or swing the sword and discriminate... and stop... it must be a continual process cutting deeper and deeper by stages of observing and considering, over and over, like night and day.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-49700259439891440982009-12-16T13:47:04.676-08:002009-12-16T13:47:04.676-08:00"I do note that all of us touch ourselves.&qu..."I do note that all of us touch ourselves."<br /><br />You do not know this.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-16093611479423100102009-12-16T13:41:05.703-08:002009-12-16T13:41:05.703-08:00I do note that all of us touch ourselves.
Procl...I do note that all of us touch ourselves. <br /><br />Proclivities are installed in human beings by the Primary Programmer so if you have a beef with them then you need to talk to Him. Don't pest or fault yourself, fellow humans, etc, for yours our their proclivities.<br /><br />The approach to these items is not working now, has not worked in the past, and is unlikely to be comfy n the future. How to let them hosses run free?<br /><br />That is the question.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-61332432399354738772009-12-16T13:28:58.286-08:002009-12-16T13:28:58.286-08:00We had one too. Invaluable for when the nameless ...We had one too. Invaluable for when the nameless guest is trying to push against your bladder all night.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-88736140149801894692009-12-16T13:11:39.688-08:002009-12-16T13:11:39.688-08:00Julie said "... a contoured body pillow for p...Julie said "... a contoured body pillow for pregnancy, so I can sleep better the next few months. Priceless. Works great, too."<br /><br />Yep, I can vouch for that, NB, do yourself a favor, buy her one of those!Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-62266721791853057492009-12-16T13:06:03.363-08:002009-12-16T13:06:03.363-08:00"To cite a vivid example, the narcissist is a..."To cite a vivid example, the narcissist is always masturbating, even -- or especially -- during sex."<br /><br />While never quite putting it into quite those words, that's something I've long suspected... another instance of the perpetual fixation on appearances and fear of penetrating beyond the surface, that locks you into a depthless prison of the pinball perceptual. Unless you pause, look past your own reflection, and into the object of your affections, you'll never receive the satisfaction of depth, never penetrate to the truth within and its interconnecting paths without. <br /><br />Stopping at the surface, you admire your own reflection until the sensation dulls, and then you're off to find some shiny new distractions to dazzle your I's and senses, never having actually engaged in anything but your own stimulation.<br /><br />"Absolutely -- this is the very reason liberals are always giving each other awards -- Nobels, Pulitzers, Oscars, Emmys, fellowships, whatever. It's all masturbatory."<br /><br />Ba da bing.<br /><br />wo... honest, wv:jercl<br />Sometimes it seems to be going in circlesVan Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-69848589379654029112009-12-16T12:53:19.989-08:002009-12-16T12:53:19.989-08:00Ricky,
I don’t at all regret what happened to me,...Ricky,<br /><br /><i>I don’t at all regret what happened to me, as terrible as it seemed. What I found down there, needed to be found, and is not replaceable. It was for me a necessary stepping stone to something closer to what you are talking about.</i><br /><br />Yes, just so.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-43562728487251141482009-12-16T12:45:28.869-08:002009-12-16T12:45:28.869-08:00“Father Rose discusses the intense feelings of pea...“Father Rose discusses the intense feelings of peace and tranquility people reportedly experience during near-death experiences, but here again, these could be deceptive.”<br /><br />I have to say that this “sorting-out” is important – maybe all serious seekers will do this naturally. It’s very helpful and reaffirming to hear, Bob. You know, when you “discover” what or that others have been here before you.<br /><br />RRRickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81393987588931700262009-12-16T12:39:26.035-08:002009-12-16T12:39:26.035-08:00You can't listen to it and not know that the s...You can't listen to it and not know that the sacred is a real reality.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-35172571120827180452009-12-16T12:39:02.908-08:002009-12-16T12:39:02.908-08:00Joan,
Well said. Thank you.
I don’t at all regret ...Joan,<br />Well said. Thank you.<br />I don’t at all regret what happened to me, as terrible as it seemed. What I found down there, needed to be found, and is not replaceable. It was for me a necessary stepping stone to something closer to what you are talking about.<br /><br />RRRickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81241447861992063622009-12-16T12:32:11.772-08:002009-12-16T12:32:11.772-08:00BTW, Jack, thanks so much for sharing Arvo Part. I...BTW, Jack, thanks so much for sharing Arvo Part. I downloaded last night the "intro" collection Bob raccoomended called "Tribute..". It recalls some of the best parts of the Lord Of The Rings score...of which I always wished there was more. This stands on it's own and greatly exceeds that.<br />So I'm blown away last night listening and then remember Bob saying this collection was a good intro to Arvo, and thinking, "It get's better than this?"<br />:-)<br /><br />RRRickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32744702037749154072009-12-16T12:27:56.495-08:002009-12-16T12:27:56.495-08:00One ECM artist, drummer Jon Christensen, has four ...One ECM artist, drummer Jon Christensen, has four rules for playing:<br /><br />1) Band feeling is more important than bravura.<br />2) Less is more.<br />3) How fast can you play slow? <br />4) A beat is not always what you think it is.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81472548194027196332009-12-16T12:21:35.258-08:002009-12-16T12:21:35.258-08:00Jack:
Cooncur about Part. His music very definit...Jack:<br /><br />Cooncur about Part. His music very definitely emerges out the space of silence. Speaking of which, his primary label -- ECM -- started out as an exclusively jazz label, except with a decided European classical, or chamber, quality. Their motto is "the next best sound to silence." Many of their artists have this ability to convey the pregnant spaces between the notes.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-77120315466184036132009-12-16T12:11:38.586-08:002009-12-16T12:11:38.586-08:00The following from Father Teilhard on what he call...The following from Father Teilhard on what he called "Nostalgia for the Front" while serving for four years as a stretcher bearer during WWI may bear some relation to night/day, asleep/awake in today's post:<br />"...the front cannot but attract us because it is, in one way, the extreme boundary between what one is already aware of, and what is still in process of formation. Not only does one see there things that you experience nowhere else, but one also sees emerge from within one an underlying stream of clarity, energy, and freedom that is to be found hardly anywhere else in ordinary life - and the new form that the soul then takes on is that of the individual living the quasi-collective life of all men, fulfilling a function far higher than that of the individual, and becoming fully conscious of this new state...This exaltation is accompanied by a certain pain. Nevertheless it is indeed an exaltation."<br /><br />(The first rule of Fight Club is we don't talk about Fight Club.)bob f.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-86223741737824709242009-12-16T11:51:21.766-08:002009-12-16T11:51:21.766-08:00I've been thinking more about Arvo Part and my...I've been thinking more about Arvo Part and my resistence to calling what he does "music" (it just seems incoherent to put him and say, Brittany Spears, in even the most broadly defined categories. Even some of my favorite pop music seems fundamentally alien to what Part does).<br /><br />Certainly Part uses the same basic materials i.e. pitch, rhythm, form, harmony, melody etc. So in a "cataphatic" sense he creates music just like everyone else...including *sigh* Brittany...though at a significantly higher level of organization.<br /><br />Perhaps where he differs is how he "apophatically" creates music. Though "creates" seems like the wrong word in this instance. Maybe it is more how he is a *conduit* for "apophatic music"? Regardless there is a profound silence at the core of his music. I find this to be a relatively rare occurance in Western Music--outside of say gregorian chant etc.<br /><br />Don't mind me. I'm just trying to work this through!Jacknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-83230773129067390432009-12-16T11:40:37.162-08:002009-12-16T11:40:37.162-08:00Over the past few months (or more) I've had tr...Over the past few months (or more) I've had trouble sleeping usually in the early morning time I started to call the "witching hour". Sometimes it could be 2-3 hours of anxiety rolling through my mind before I finally nodded off.<br /><br />I mostly sleep through the night. So I ask myself what changed?<br /><br />To be honest I saw a "Klavan on the Culture" a while back about prayer. So I tried it (Note: And while I have meditated for a while now, I have never really attempted discursive prayer before). So basically instead of endlessly obsessing about aspects of my life...I prayed about them.<br /><br />I now pretty much sleep like a rock through the night.<br /><br />Funny how that works.Jacknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-34296333248976443902009-12-16T11:26:35.546-08:002009-12-16T11:26:35.546-08:00To put it another way, there must be a oneness und...To put it another way, there must be a oneness underlying the threeness, just as there is threeness in the oneness... Just two different human perspectives on the unthinkable....Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.com