Nightly Poem #2

Feel the calm while Paganini whistles
and in the background our dreams will meet.
You'll call my name and I will answer
and turn my face towards the reeds.
    Sit and drink some wine.

Late Night Post #8

Earth Could Not Answer - by Adelaide Hanscom (1875-1931)

  - by Mohammad Reza Shajarian

This meadow is our happiness just today,
but who will play in the meadow of our dust?

Omar Khayyam

چون ابر به نوروز رخ لاله بشست

بر خیز و به جام باده کن عزم درست

کاین سبزه که امروز تماشا گه توست

فردا همه از خاک تو بر خواهد رست

ابر آمد و زار بر سر سبزه گریست

بی بادۀ گلرنگ نمیشاید زیست

این سبزه که امروز تماشا گه ماست

تا سبزۀ خاک ما تماشا گه کیست

Reference:
Omar Khayyam; the hedonist; the mystic ;the heretic ;the sufi by Sophia Khan
Quatrain 6 by Barney Rickenbacker


Late Night Though

Many years ago I had the habit of walking alone at night through the most obscure of places and through some unexplained innocence I felt protected from any kind of harm. All I had with me was a small poetry book, a CD player and an old mobile phone. During those walks I wrote down my thoughts in the phone in the form of verses, I was in a bubble floating through the streets, I was observing but unperceived. Moments of pure madness in which I declared myself a refugee, a rebel in a world of illusions, a soul forever in conflict with diversions.

Time passed and that teenage rebellion morphed into a strong desire to learn and to know God. Slowly, I was forced to accept this world's cold embrace and bow down to her will. Wherever you go, God is with you.  

Passing Thought: Man

by Lesser Ury (1922)

I know his thoughts,
his eyes are mine.
I see his life
flow down with time.
This is our joy
of breathing the air
of lies, we are
the night.

                           Lyrics / اشعار: 
(Soheil Nafisi - Oh, Human! from the album Rira)

آی آدم ها که بر ساحل, نشسته شاد و خندانید
یک نفر در آب, دارد می سپارد جان
یک نفر دارد, که دست و پای دائم می زند, روی این دریای تند و تیره و سنگین
آی آدم ها که بر ساحل بساط دلگشا دارید!
نان به سفره, جامه تان بر تن
یک نفر در آب می خواند شما را
موجِ سنگین را به دستِ خسته می کوبد
باز می دارد دهان با چشمِ از وحشت دریده
سایه هاتان را ز راهِ دور دیده
آب را بلیعده در گود کبود و هر زمان بی تابیَش افزون
می کند زین آب ها بیرون گاه سر گاه پا
آی آدم ها
او ز راه دور این کهنه جهان را باز می پاید
می زند فریاد و امیدِ کمک دارد
آی آدم ها که رویِ ساحل آرام, در کار تماشائید!
موج می کوبد به رویِ ساحل خاموش
پخش می گردد چنان مستی به جای افتاده بس مدهوش
می رود نعره زنان وین بانگ, باز از دور, می آید:
آی آدم ها

Late Night Post #7

Chinese representation of Fu Xi by an anonymous artist.

Lei Qiang - The Flickering of the Candle Flame
Chinese music might  be somewhat of an acquired taste for some so be patient, give it time and it will grow on you.

Life is a gift, however this gift is reserved for a few, lucky enough to be born under more auspicious circumstances than others. For the vast majority life is a challenge, a contest, a fight for survival and so they made their philosophies and religions accordingly. In my short existence, till now, I have made a few conclusions which I would like to share with those who care. Trust is most often a Trojan horse and maybe that's why people tend to place their trust in the most "nonhuman" places like trust in God, trust in science, trust in philosophy and so on. A divinity, universal and personal at the same time, a concept or a branch of human activity and even objects end up with our trust more often than other humans or even ourselves.

Novalis, Marx, Lenin were all right when they said in their own ways that religion is like opium for the people. However I tend do disagree on the actual significance of such a statement, as I have seen, without a religion to either dominate through fear or enlighten through example, humans are indeed the most savage animals on this planet, it is simple as that, it's in our nature.  We bring destruction to ourselves but we don't see, actually it's even worse, we tend to seek dark and muddy places because the actual concept of enlightenment is very distant from most of us.

For me it's hard to see suffering and violence because it's all based on lies, on suspicions or on misunderstandings, greed and power. People dying for what... for nothing. It doesn't matter if you are a Christian or not, the story of why and how Christ was crucified is the story of our species, the story of the few that have to live in a world of savages, divine grace can only do so much when it comes to the wickedness of man.

Art should be the creation of a well balanced mind and a worm soul like that of ancient Chinese scholars who used to retire in the mountains, often alone, and painted only to express their spiritual experiences and philosophical ideas (Dao), like they also did with music. Antiquity, generally, viewed art as it truly should be viewed, now we live in a world where this form of expression is with nothing less different from the cinema in the book "Brave New World", an experience for the senses packed with action and grotesque emotional drives. This is the art for the masses. While some artists try to uplift people, most like to see others dance in their slime, they usually are the stars because the "people in the markets" simply love them. As I have stated in past articles, I don't place myself apart from the "people in the markets", however I have glanced at better things and I have faith.

This site was planed to galvanize people around a few simple ideas and grow from there into a community of men and women who seek God and want to understand and help others to understand. God can stand for enlightenment, for inner peace, generally understood as opposing ignorance. During these years I have indeed met great people who helped me in my journey and I hope that I was a good influence to at least one of you. I apologize for my shortcomings. This being said I plan to take some time off from writing, maybe if conditions will prove favorable I will someday return. All the best to you all.

Passing Thought: Synthetic Meat

The first synthetic meat burger has been cooked and eaten, what next? While most people are arguing whether this type of food is healthy and others imagine it will end hunger once it's price will be drastically lowered, some think this technology will prove more useful in space exploration. NASA has been experimenting with this technology for some time, however the pioneers of synthetic foods are the Russians. Seeing how the US no longer has an active manned space exploration program, Russia, China and private projects like Mars One will most likely pick up on the technology and ultimately put it into practice.

Late Night Post #6

  Music: Crown of Thorns - Pictures

There is a deep void of spiritual and intellectual understanding of the world, acting like a black hole engulfing everything in its vicinity. Apparently this situation is not limited to our time, from Confucius to Nietzsche the vast majority of scholars agree that when it comes to the "people in the market" there aren't many things you can expect. I'm one of them from time to time, like most of us, we can't actually break free from ourselves and self-overcoming can only do so much.

Our lives are centered around technology, our education is mostly centered around technology and this wouldn't be a bad thing if it wouldn't neglect spiritual development. Through this spiritual aspect I understand both religious education and philosophy, helping everyone develop in their own way and own pace. Less standardization and more efficient usage of man's capabilities. The most difficult aspect of this reform would be finding all the right teachers. We are so busy with building better machines that we have stopped ourselves from climbing to our own heights, we are even contemplating falling in a valley of emotional hypocrisy and violence.

[Crown of Thorns was a Canadian New Wave / Synth-Pop band, the song is from 1983]

Late Night Post #5

Strange ways by Mikko Lagerstedt

-  Сиануквиль by СПЛИН 

There are some who think they are the bearers of the ultimate truth, their opinions transforming into unshakable certainties and with any occasion, compelled to give the final verdict. Sick people, people who regard their mirror image as the source of everything, their essence, a child of countless trivialities. This place should only be regarded as a stepping stone across the river of trivialities, find inside yourself that place which will set you free and keep it secret.

Passing Thought: Atomic Age

The flower's blossoming is faster than her withering, her colors never cease to change. Sparks fly around me and grow through me. Here I am, in Chernobyl, drinking a cup of tea as my throat is slowly burning.

Late Night Post #4

Josh Garrells - Resistance

We, the ones that choose not to dance their dance choose to be alive, through our resistance let's be free and liberate.

Noi, cei care alegem să nu intrăm în hora lor să alegem să fim vii, prin rezistența noastră să fim liberi și să eliberăm. 

 کسانی که رقصیدن رقص انها انتخاب نمی کنیم زنده بودن انتخاب می کنیم بواسطه مخالفت ازاد هستیم و ازاد کردن

---

Now it seems more then ever that the human mind became a precious target for various groups, there's a great weight on your shoulders, it's the need for you to free yourself. Even if inertia continues to liberate people from their constraining minds which seems to have followed us like a shadow, at least in Europe and it's colonies, obstacles stop most people somewhere in the middle. Partially awakened they have an incomplete understanding of events and so can easily fall in the traps of a world built on illusions. My intention is not to throw dirt on religions and philosophies because these are our keys to the cells, it may be a paradox for some, but our freedom lies within them. All we have to change in our mind is the way in which it functions, we must give her the power to search, search for a way.

Recent events and the reactions people had to them made me think of how low the level of perception is for the population of the world. I'm talking about the perception of life, the exoteric and esoteric aspects of it. Surprisingly, the people consider educated have not escaped this plague or maybe they're just cowards.

Two people however instantly come to mind as heroes in their own ways, Chomsky and Hawking. God bless them, even if, ironically, they don't believe.

---

Acum parcă mai mult ca oricând mintea umană a devenit o țintă prețioasă a diferitelor grupuri, asupra umerilor tăi se află o mare povară, e obligația de a te elibera. Însă chiar dacă există o inerție în eliberarea oamenilor de gândirea constrângătoare ce parcă ne-a urmărit ca o umbră, cel puțin în Europa și în coloniile ei, obstacolele îi opresc pe mulți la jumătatea drumului. Parțial treziți din somnul lor, ei înțeleg lucrurile pe jumătate și pot cădea ușor în capcanele unei lumi ridicată din iluzii. Intenția mea nu este să arunc în religii și filosofii cu noroi fiindcă, paradoxal pentru unii, eliberarea noastră se găsește în ele. Tot ce trebuie să schimbăm în mintea noastră este modul în care ea funcționează, să îi dăm acesteia curiozitatea și libertatea să caute.

Evenimente recente și reacția publicului la ele m-au făcut să mă gândesc în mod serios la nivelul îngrozitor de scăzut al percepției pe care populația lumii o posedă. Este vorba de o percepție a vieții, a exteriorului și al interiorului nostru și în mod surprinzător, cei pe care îi considerăm elită intelectuală nu au niciun cuvând de spus, sunt oare ignoranți sau sunt doar lași?

Totuși, un interviu cu Cristian Tudor Popescu m-a făcut să-l apreciez cum nu credeam vreodată, există și speranță.

Passing Thought: Path

You've traded your chains for handcuffs and now you pride yourself to others while they look at you with envy, there is a way for all of us however few have the courage to walk their untraveled path.

Ți-ai schimbat lanțurile pentru cătușe, bucuros le porți prin mulțime și mulțimea te invidiază, există o cale pentru toți însă puțini au curajul să meargă pe un drum neumblat.

زنجیرهایی تو از دستبندهای سرد تبدیل کرده ای. سربلند می شوی وآنها حسادت می کنند. یک راه برای همه مردم است اما چند از آنها تجاعت دارند روی راه آنها بروند

Finished reading "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", including the daunting forth part.  Assimilating the text was harder then I anticipated mainly because I approached the work with distrust (a distrust on my apparent understanding of it) based on the long tradition of misunderstanding Nietzsche with special attention to the idea of "Overman", as it might of been obvious, and to Nietzsche's perception of humans with their society and culture.

Late Night Post #3

"The Train" by Andy Pulmer

"Remembrance" by Delerium, "Karma" 1994

Watching them I see myself. Fearful, patient like in an almost abandoned station; the train will surely come, they don't know when, what happens here, ephemeral like the rest.

Maybe that`s why we invented dances, so we can dance while we wait, maybe that's why we created music so we can have something to dance to, let's see the world through art, through the eyes of dices thrown on tarot cards while sipping from a cup of coffee in the morning light.

There`s no such thing as depth, there are only surface cuts in varying degrees, yet they believe they've seen the deepest depths.

---

Privindu-i mă văd pe mine. Temători, răbdători ca într-o gară aproape abandonată; trenul cu siguranță vine, ei nu știu când, ce se-ntâmplă aici, efemer ca restul.

Poate de aceea am inventat dansul, să dansăm cât așteptăm, poate de aceea am creat muzica, să avem pe ce dansa, să vedem lumea prin artă, prin ochii zarurilor aruncate pe cărți de tarot la o ceașcă de cafea.

Nu există profunzime, există doar tăieturi pe suprafată mai adânci sau mai fine însă ei se cred în adâncimi.

Late Night Post #2

Fragment from "Outstanding in the field" by Anna Keibler

Kerogen - "Sirens"

I watch the sky change its color into gray and how the sun transforms into a piece of coal, our attraction for degradation has been deeply seeded in us until it climbed to the rank of religion.

Our search for meanings often leads us to tough conclusions, the understanding of them we can not guarantee. How lucky are the ones who live in simplicity, they don't have reasons to burden themselves with all the shades of color. Anything, in theory, has an infinity of ways in which to be viewed, perceived and understood and trying to see everything as a whole can get you lost; but if you can unlock the locks then you will become someone else, maybe better.

What is a pen? It can be a weapon in the hand of those who see only its sharpness and who have in their soul the need for freedom or revenge. The man in front of you, what is he? Is he an animal, a gift, an accident or maybe he's what you want him to be. 

---

Privesc la cer cum devine gri și soarele se transformă-ntr-un cărbune, atracția față de degradare este adânc sădită în noi, până la rangul de religie a ajuns să se ridice.

Căutarea noastră pentru semnificații ne duce adesea către concluzii grele, pentru a căror înțelegere nu putem garanta că suntem pregătiți. Cât de norocoși sunt cei ce trăiesc în simplitate, nu au de ce să se-ngreuneze cu atâtea nuanțe de culori. Orice lucru are, teoretic, o infinitate de moduri de a fi văzut, receptat, înțeles iar căutând să vezi totul în ansamblu riști să te pierzi; dar dacă reușești să desfaci lacătele, vei deveni altcineva, poate mai bun.

Ce este un stilou? Poate să fie și o armă albă în mâna celui care-i vede numai ascuțimea și are-n suflet dorinta de libertatea sau răzbunarea. Omul din fața ta ce este, e un animal, un dar, o întâmplare sau poate e ceea ce vrei tu sa fie.

Late Night Post #1

Scene from Equilibrium.

- Music: Nu - Man o to (Persian for "Me and You")

We surround ourselves with ideas, concepts and opinions, we carefully study other
people's thoughts till we consider ourselves experts but it could all be just a wall raised around our souls.

Or, maybe, these ideas and intellectual endeavors have the purpose of lifting us higher by opening doors toward knowledge or just by giving us examples which to copy either knowingly or unknowingly. Maybe even what we want, what we search for (if indeed we search for something) are things seeded by accident, by chance or through the will of someone else. So, who are we, who am I and who are you? Could we be the prisoners of concepts and ideas or can we consider ourselves free and above any kind of destiny. Ultimately, the things I wrote here are themselves ideas which I will not assume as mine.

When it rains is a time I like the most, I open the window and listen, there isn't a happier moment than rediscovering yourself in every drop of rain.

---

Ne înconjurăm cu idei, gânduri, concepte și păreri, studiem atenți anumite domenii și devenim experți, dar totul este ca o armură pe care o croim în jurul sufletelor noastre.

Sau, poate, aceste idei și strădanii intelectuale ale semenilor au drept scop să ne înalțe și pe noi la nivelul lor, fie copiindu-i conștient sau inconștient, fie deschizandu-ne porți către cunoaștere. Poate până și ceea ce dorim, ce căutăm, ne-a fost cumva însămânțat in mințile noastre de copii prin cine știe ce accidente, întâmplări sau din voința altora. Așadar, cine suntem noi, cine sunt eu și cine ești tu? Suntem oare prizonierii unor concepte și idei sau putem sa ne considerăm liberi, deasupra oricărui destin. Până la urmă și cele ce le-am scris aici sunt doar idei pe care nu mi le pot însuși însă am vazut cum s-au copt de-a lungul zilei și am considerat util să le împărtășesc cu voi.

Cel mai mult îmi place când plouă și deschid larg geamul și ascult, nu există lucru mai frumos ca a te regăsi în stropii de ploaie.

Imagining the unimaginable, Juche United Korea

Reminds me of George W. Bush for some reason.

The gap between North and South seems so deep and wide from outside that a union  would come as an almost unthinkable event. First we have living standards far from being similar, then we have culture, equally incompatible. For the two countries to unite, sadly, some kind of event of cataclysmic proportions needs to happen, I don't see any other way for the two very different peoples of the Korean Peninsula to sit at the same table without ultimately feeling the magnitude of their differences.

How would a Juche South Korea look like? This question shows I have a lot of spare time today but for entertainment purposes let's proceed.
- Your Samsung Galasy S III will get a forced update with all the works of Eternal President Kim Il-sung, 100 volumes of wise thoughts from the founder of the largest maximum security prison on Earth.
- There will be a five year plan to make the South as prosperous as the glorious North. Food rations will be implemented in order to stop waste while all excess food will be divided brotherly among the top members of the Workers' Party of Korea.
- The body of "eternal leader" Kim Jong-il would be enshrined in the building of the National Assembly in Seoul.
- The Ryugyong Hotel will finally be finished.
- A Museum of Love and Cooperation marking the moment of unification would be made with the voluntary help of thousands of South Korean businessmen.
- Your Kia will come, as a standard feature, with a plastic statue of Kim Jong-un next to the driver's seat, in this way his great mind and spirit will guide you to your destination better than a GPS.
- Due to the enormous insanity that would follow in the Korean Peninsula, the Chinese People's Party will dissolve and America will turn fascist.
- Pizza will be outlawed.
- All citizens would be cut off from the Internet and instead, added to the Kwangmyong where they will be able to deepen their research of the exterior, barbaric world with no fear of being deceived by deviant thoughts. (1)
- South Korean cinema will learn how to make scenes of thousands of people crying simultaneous like their life depended on it.
- The border will not be opened immediately, oh no... a decade or so would have to pass before the South catches up with the North, otherwise North Koreans will realize they live in hell and South Koreans will know where they are headed. 

To be honest this is nothing to joke about and I sincerely hope that North Koreans will be freed from their prison as soon as possible. For a hands on approach to the Juche republic you can read this article by Marc Bennetts on his Deeper than oil column on RIA Novosti. 

Not an interesting day (Journal)

Today it was a cold and rather foggy autumn day in Bucharest. Didn't do much except reading, learning Persian and cooking some potatoes and rice. Wanted to go to the movies with Alexandra but nothing worth the price of the tickets was on. I'm reading an interesting book about the Ch'in and Han dynasties and when finished I'll sorely do a review here and present it to you all. Being at the Warring States period I remembered watching a Chinese movie with the same name some time ago, it was amazing, I recommend it.

Hard Work for Knowledge

For the past weeks I worked hard at AWIL magazine and a couple of other projects along with the day job and I must say that I am overwhelmed with all the activities. The release date of AWIL 7 was changed (again), you can expect the issue to be on-line till the end of November. As I see the situation, the magazine needs at least 10 writers to ensure normal activity, at the moment we are 5 (yours truly included), two in the art department, two in the socio-political and me. I don't like to talk about something that is not finished yet, but number seven will be fascinating.

Now let's go to some more interesting things. I was just reading "The Dogmatic Aeon" by the Romanian philosopher Lucian Blaga, a book that is part of his "Knowledge Trilogy" and wanted to share with you the fact that having read "The Early Christian Doctrines" by John Norman Davidson Kelly more than a month ago really helped me understand the present book. I undoubtedly recommend it (the Dogmatic Aeon) to all those interested in epistemology and metaphysics but sadly I am not aware of any English version on-line. I'll get back to you after I go through the other two books of the trilogy and after i eventually understand the texts in a satisfactory manner. I just couldn't stop myself from starting it even if I know I hadn't actually finished with the Golden Verses of Pythagoras and all the related texts... eh... I'll manage.

I found some time for a little entertainment here and there and now I'm hooked on Supernatural. I really enjoy this TV show but for its genre, X-files is still the best. Just started season three, hope it won't get shitty with time like Lost did although it has a lot more hot chicks that's for sure. Oh, and before I throw my head to the pillow I like to thank my girlfriend for being so understanding.

And some really good music for you people reading this blog, "Rock and a Hard Place" by The Rolling Stones.

The Disadvantage of Being Born - Cioran

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Largely regarded as an "incarnation" of pessimism, Emil Cioran (April 8, 1911 – June 20, 1995) is for me an excellent example of a man trying to overcome obstacles in the search for his own evolution. People tend to understand through his rejection of the world and ultimately, of humanity, only a dark vision fed by an anxious spirit. Although this may be the case, we also find incredible teachings about human nature hidden from those who do not search for them.

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1.  "WITH what right do you start praying for me? I don't need an intercessor, I can make it on my own. From a miserable man, I'll accept, but from no one else, be he a saint. I can't accept others to be preoccupied by my own salvation. If I fear it and try to escape it, nothing more annoying than your prayers. To hell with them; anyway, we're not in the service of the same gods. If mine are incapable, I have every reason to believe that yours are not that great either. Assuming though that they are just as you imagine them, they will still lack the power to save me from a fear older than my own memory."

[ The idea of a salvation is possible only if it is a conscious undertaking. We should look carefully at the highly personal language used here . About the same subject he also writes: ]

2.  "I like the Hindu idea according to which we can entrust our salvation to somebody else, of preference to a "saint", allowing him to pray on our behalf, to do anything to save us. Meaning to sell your soul to God."

[ Once again, salvation/enlightenment is something one must fight for on his own. At first sight there is a contradiction, he is saying that he "likes" the idea (that he rejected in the first fragment) and that one's salvation could be entrusted to somebody else, to be preferred a "saint". But the ending "meaning to sell your soul to God" gives us his actual belief about the idea. ]

3.  "TO undo, to "un­-"build is the only task that man can set himself, if he aspires, as everything shows, to distinguish himself from the Builder."

4.  "DURING the centuries, man tried his best to believe, he passed from dogma to dogma, from one delusion to another and reserved very little time for doubts, short respites between his periods of blindness. Properly speaking, those were not doubts, but interruptions, moments of rest, that followed the weariness of belief, of any belief. "

[ Here we can clearly see what Cioran thinks about humanity, that we are in a way best described through this blindness, belief as opposed thought. “The dream of reason produces monsters”, a quote by Goya. ]

5.  "A very long time I lived with the idea that I am the most normal being that ever existed. This idea opened my taste, my passion even, for being unproductive: what's the use of highlighting yourself in a world populate by madmen, submerged in stupidity and madness? "

6.  "IF the disgust for this world is enough to confer holiness, I don't see how I can avoid canonization."

[ Cioran often makes use of cynicism and irony in his work. ]

7.  "THE smallest atmospheric change makes me rethink my projects, even, why not say it, my beliefs. This type of dependence, the most humiliating of all, doesn't cease to overcome me, while it scatters the few delusions that remained concerning the chance of being free, of liberty, pure and simple. What's the use of being filled with pride if you are at the discretion of Moisture and Dryness. You'd like a slavery less worthy of mercy and a different kind of gods."

[ Man must learn to be free of all external forces in order to gain his freedom. This idea can be often seen in many philosophical schools. ]

8.  "YOU don't envy the ones that have the power to pray, while you are filled with malice against property owners, against those that know wealth and glory. It is strange that you live with the redemption of another, but not with the passing advantages that he can enjoy. "

[ Another lesson meant to open our eyes to the strange, or better said, faulty mentality that we can fall victim of. Many people don't think about what is important, they just stop at the surface. ]

9.  "WE always have the impression that we can do better what someone else does. Sadly, we don't have the same conviction when it comes to what we do ourselves."

10. "THE thing that makes those poets that have no talent even more clumsy is that they only read other poets (just like philosophers that have no value read only philosophers), although they would have more to gain from a botany book or a geology book. You can enrich your spirit only by entering into contact with disciplines distant from yours. A true thing, evidently, only for subjects where the ego does havoc."

More in the 6th issue of AWIL Magazine