Bardo blues - the morning after Bangla Sahib trip
The 'nutmeg' is a symbol. It is a world that needs to be unwrapped. Like a planet that has several layers. I prefer thinking about the nutmeg, the Banda Islands, rather than thinking about a broad term like 'post-development' (PD). Yesterday I had to sit through a session on PD which made me appreciate Amitav Ghosh's writing.
George Saunders's bardo is where all will pass through and some will stay. A place with its own histories, moods and magical rules. Angels are here, and they are telling us things. How well we listen to them is as much about us as it is about their ingenious methods. The bardo is an image to tell a story about an old man (Lincoln) who is heartbroken. Lincoln uses his loss of love to heal. A true Buddhist (?).
Journals: The everydayness of Andre Gide and how he talks to his own mind. This is a text I wish to always have. The soul of Gide is deep and has branches and layers of leaves and sheets. Like that Langston Hughes poem where he thinks of his soul as a river. An ancient river. Gide's vision is my vision and even his loneliness feels like my own. A true gift, his journals.
How well do we listen to that which goes on around us? My only prayer is to have the discretion to know where I am. To listen to the river. The sound of the river that Vasudeva wants us to listen to.
How great it would be to always be in touch with the river. To constantly be reminded of its flow. To identify oneself with it.