…
Those to whom awareness of the ineffable is a constant state of mind know that the mystery is not an exception but an air that lies about all being, a spiritual setting of reality;
not something apart but a dimension of all existence.
—
Abraham Heschel
(Thank you, johnsparker)
(via parkstepp)
Everyone should make a list of 15 songs that saved your freaking life.
(Source: Spotify!)
This week the unlikely namesake of my band Ohler passed away. It was never supposed to mean anything that we decided to name the band after our latin teacher from high school, it was just an appreciation for the aesthetics of the sound of his last name and fatigue with sharing the name of our previous project with at least least 10 other groups. “Ohler” was surely unique.
The man was as unique as his name. Joe meant something to us and to a lot of people that knew him. He was pretty obviously a depressive, a man who felt the world had let him down and had struggled with what that means. He was corrupt and often mean, but he carried himself with absolutely no apologies and no self consciousness and in a real way that made me admire him. Growing up there were not enough adults living as complete and eccentric individuals and he was one and so we loved him for and against his flaws and his sadness.
Here’s an Ohler song for you, Joe. We didn’t make it for you in 2004, but it is my favorite of all the work we did and I’m giving it to you now.
In it, Tolstoy related a Russian fable about a man who, being chased by a monster, jumps into a well. As the man is falling down the well, however, he sees there’s a dragon at the bottom, waiting to eat him. Right then, the man notices a branch sticking out of the wall, and he grabs on to it, and hangs. This keeps the man from falling into the dragon’s jaws, or being eaten by the monster above, but it turns out there’s another little problem. Two mice, one black and one white, are scurrying around and around the branch, nibbling it. It’s only a matter of time before they will chew through the branch, causing the man to fall. As the man contemplates his inescapable fate, he notices something else: from the end of the branch he’s holding, a few drops of honey are dripping. The man sticks out his tongue to lick them. This, Tolstoy says, is our human predicament: we’re the man clutching the branch. Death awaits us. There is no escape. And so we distract ourselves by licking whatever drops of honey come within our reach.
— The Marriage Plot: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides
thanks for that, Ayn Rand
all the early 90s hits. my hair is gray enough for you to believe me that this was the music.
(Source: Spotify!)
Life is a pilgrimage to nowhere, from nowhere to nowhere. And between these two nowheres is the Now-Here
— OSHO (via harrychillboy)
Worrying is praying for something you don’t want.
— Bhagavan Das (via moreofamore)
(Source: dew-rite, via moreofamore)
There are ancient manuscripts in which the Gospel of Mark ends, “Then they went out and ran from the tomb, beside themselves with terror.”
-Guy Davenport
If philosophy serves any purpose, it is to take away the
chalice of sad passions and to teach us that pity is not a
loyal affect, that our plaints do not mean that we are right,
and that victimhood is not the starting point for thought.
On the one hand, and as Plato teaches us once and for
all, licit passions and all creations with a universal intent
originate in Truth, which, if need be, can go by the name
of Beauty or the Good. On the other hand, as Rousseau
knew, the human animal is essentially good, and when
it is not, that is because some external cause forces it to
be evil, and that cause must be detected, rooted out and
destroyed as quickly as possible and without the least hesitation. Those who claim that the human animal is wicked
simply want to tame it and turn it into a morose wage-earner or depressed consumer who helps capital to circulate. Given their ability to create eternal truths in
various worlds, men have within them the angel that religions saw as their double. That is what philosophy, in the true sense of the word, has always taught us. Before that inner angel can manifest its presence, it must have a principle or maxim, and ultimately it is always the same, even though it can take a wide variety of forms. Let us choose Mao’s: ‘Cast away illusions, prepare for struggle.’ Hold to the truth, cast away illusions, and fight rather than surrender, whatever the circumstances.
— Badoiu, Pocket Pantheon
just so much bad news lately. but don’t get me wrong: i have no regrets and if you asked me to i’d shy away from changing a thing. i just miss my daughter is all, I guess.
But in any case sometimes you need some music that understands that you want to sit in a dark room and listen.
this is that for me.
(Source: Spotify!)
The Ni To Ichi Way of strategy is recorded in this the Book of the Void.
What is called the spirit of the void is where there is nothing. It is not included in man’s knowledge. Of course the void is nothingness. By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the…
- Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy
- Submissive to everything, open, listening
- Try never get drunk outside yr own house
- Be in love with yr life
- Something that you feel will find its own form
- Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
- Blow as deep as you want to blow
(Source: brainpickings.org)
