counselo@uvm-gen.UUCP (Counselor) (08/05/85)
Thank you to all of the people who sent me affirmative responses to my query.
I understand that there is a "New Age digest", can someone tell me more about
it ?
Is there anyone out there who uses the I Ching and has read "the Ho Map Lo Map
Rational Number Theorem" (it is currently marketed under the confusing
title of "I Ching Astrology") It is however a fascinating book which applies
the cycles of the I Ching to change over time, allowing one to plot out
the cycle of yearly, monthly and daily changes. For anyone who is familiar
with the I Ching, this method shares the Ching's propensity for being annoyingly
(I am having problems with this editor. Next time i'll use emacs ) ...
as I was saying...annoyingly accurate. (As the I Ching is (from the vantage
point of the Chinese religious paradigm) an embodiment of my cosmological
beliefs /religous beliefs, I put this here rather than on net.philosophy.)
To shift paradigms, I'm going to make a quantum jump over to Sufism.
(Sufism is the esoteric branch of Islam. (or at least Islam gave birth to it.)
A little religous poetry from Jalalu'l-Din Rumi (1207-1273)
The Song of the Reed
---------------------
Hearken to the Reed forlorn,
Breathing, even since 'twas torn
From its rushy bed, a strain
Of impassioned love and pain.
"The secret of my song, though near,
None can see and none can hear.
Oh, for a friend to know the sign
And mingle all his soul with mine!
'Tis the flame of Love that fired me,
'Tis the wine of Love inspired me.
Wouldst thou learn how lovers bleed,
Hearken, hearken to the Reed!"
Mystics Know
-------------
Since Wisdom is the true believer's stray camel, he
knows it with certainty, from whomsoever he may have
heard of it.
And when he finds himself face to face with it, how should
there be doubt? How can he mistake?
If you tell a thirsty man- "Here is a cup of water: drink!"-
Will he reply? -"This is a mere assertion: let me alone,
O liar, go away."
Or suppose a mother cries to her babe, "Come, I am mother:
hark my child!"-
Will it say? -"Prove this to me, so that I may take comfort
in thy milk."
When in the heart of a people there is spiritual perception,
the face and voice of the prophet are as an evidentiary miracle.
When the prophet utters a cry from without, the soul of
the people falls to worship within,
Because never in the world will the soul's ear have heard
a cry of the same kind as his.
That wondrous voice is heard by the soul in exile-
the voice of God calling, "Lo, I am nigh."
"No Monkery In Islam"
----------------------
"O Peacock, do not tear out thy feathers, but wean thy heart from
pride in them: the existence of a foe is indispensable
for waging the Holy War.
There cannot be self-restraint in the absence of desire:
when there is no adversary, what avails thy courage?
Hark, do not castrate thyself, do not become a monk:
chastity depends on the existence of lust.
The Divine command 'Eat ye' is the lure for appetite;
then comes 'Do not exceed': that is temperance.
Without the pain of self-denial there is no protasis;
hence the apodosis does not follow.
How admirable is that protasis and how delightful is that apodosis-
a recompense enchanting the heart and increasing the life of the
spirit!"
I am tempted to make another quantum leap to Buddhism as this reminds me
of a speech I heard the Dali Lama give last year, but its time for the
changing of the guard here. Thats all for now from the Hagbard Celine
fan club.
-Doug Nelson
::
:q