Saturday, September 30, 2023

The Ballad of the Piano Man and the Pirate: The Eternal Principle


The Sphere at Las Vegas

"Where your treasure is there is your heart also " - Matt: 6:21 










"Go into the the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not 

a way to make a living.They are a human way of 

making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how

 well or badly , is a way to make your soul grow, for

 heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio.

Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. 

Do it as well as you possibly can. 

You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something."

- K. Vonnegut

"Are you willing to keep writing and telling stories knowing you 

will get nothing in return?"

- Whit Burnett to JD Salinger 

Do know where you are going and why?









The Inspiration :

The Eternal Principle - Bill Moyers with Joseph Campbell

 (In preparing this post the author "coincidentally" saw this video     

  confirming the original inspiration.

https://youtu.be/qX8j9TE7P38?si=uKDY83dzHjpC_l9D

"He who is not being born is busy dying" - B. Dylan                                     

"The River flows ,it flows to the sea. 

Wherever the river flows ,that's where I want to be " 

- R. McGuinn ( The Ballad of Easy Rider)









------------------

The Writing:

The Ballad of the Piano Man and The Pirate : The Eternal Principle

The Piano man and the pirate joined 50,000 souls in the 

Cathedral of the Field of Dreams as they were

Christened novices of the Sgt Pepper's Broken Hearts Club Band.

They never dreamed that within a half century they would

Become fully consecrated Jedi,

Thanks to the the holy order of the Supreme Surgeons 

Of the Sacred Heart.

They were one but not the same. 

Sometimes in those magical moments

The self proclaimed dynamic duo got to carry 

Each other from a distance.

The piano man tickled the ivories in between

Seconds of solemn solitary silence 

echoing sentiments in songs

Of Chaucer tales while the pirate strayed along

The rivers and roads in the rain somehow searching

For that promised hidden treasure.

The Pirate weaving in and out

Those un-forecasted storms in the arriving autumn.

Estragon's commentary "perhaps one could dance first and think 

Afterwards"  echoed constantly as they waited .

Selecting two separate roads less travelled, 

both leading to Emmaus,

The distracted two were not aware that maybe that secret

Treasure they had been seeking , just may be 

Everp-present in all aspects of creation.

The pirate perturbed by the possibility 

that the two reborn easy riders

Might come to the conclusion 

Of their predecessors , Wyatt and Billy.

In the end Wyatt solemnly reflected - "We blew it."

The piano man piously postulated how 

The circle would be unbroken,

Proposing that their Vegas venture would be a

Just another excursion on the way to Mandalay .

        - JF Sobecki

-------------

The Poems and Such:

"Poetry is a gateway into intuitive consciousness. It knocks on the doors

 of the heart and the heart opens" 

 - Mirabai Starr

"Poetry is an Act of Peace . Peace goes into the making of a poet

as flour goes into the making of bread."

- Pablo Neruda

" To see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower.'

- Wm. Blake

When you are Old - WB Yeats as read by Cillian Murphy


The Holy Longing - J W Goethe (Trans.R. Bly)
Tell a wise person, or else keep silent
because the mass man will mock it right away.
I praise what is truly alive,
what longs to be burned to death.

In the calm water of there love-nights
where you were begotten, where you have begotten
a strange feeling comes over you,
when you see the silent candle burning.

Now you are no longer caught in the obsession with the darkness
and desire for higher love-making sweeps you upward.

Distance does not make you falter.
Now, arriving in magic, flying,
and flying insane for the light,
you are a butterfly and you are gone.
And, so long as you haven't experienced this: to die and so to grow,
you are only a troubled guest on the dark earth.
______________

The Music:

(Musical reflections on the inspiration)

Roads and Rivers - Head and Heart

Oh Las Vegas -  Emmy Lou Harris (G Parsons)
Some Musical Pieces/Videos for Meditation For Readers:

Queries: Remember those you met along the way -
those who touched you, those you may have 
touched, the accidental encounters and the life
long relationships... how all in this experience and universe
 is interconnected.
" Time it was , and what a time it was , it was...a time of innocence,
 a time of confidences. Long ago it must be , I have a 
 photograph. Preserve your memories they're all that's left you."  
 - P. Simon

Old Friends- Simon and Garfunkel
" And the seasons go round and round,
the painted ponies go up and down.
We're captive on the carousel of time.
We can't return , we can only look behind from where we came.
And, go round and round in the circle game"
Circle Game - Tom Rush ( J Mitchell)

And a post script:
Beatles at Shea Stadium 1965
https://youtu.be/M6DfG7sml-Q?si=Bd75aPXlZhHk4hWv

Still Haven't Found What I am looking For - U2 (video made in Las Vegas)
https://youtu.be/e3-5YC_oHjE?si=HCWgWuXvDvbJ_XZl
         
"One day I will find the right words , and they will be simple."
- Jack Kerouac
"The most important thing is not why we write but how we write.
Write dangerously , Beckett.." 
- James Joyce ( From the new biopic on S. Beckett " Dance First.")

Remembering : Doc Sullivan , Jim B , Irving  and all
 those who's souls have moved on their journey..

AMDG
Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC



























 




Friday, September 1, 2023

Santosha and The Magnificence

 

Repeat when necessary...

The rich industrialist from the North was

horrified to find a Southern fisherman lying

lazily beside his boat, smoking a pipe.

"Why aren't you out fishing ?" said the 

industrialist. 

"Because I have caught enough fish for the day,"said 

the fisherman.

"Why don't you catch some more?"

What would I would with it?"

"You could earn more money' was the reply. "With that you could have a motor fixed to on

your boat and go into deeper waters and catch more fish. Then you would make enough to buy 

more nets. These would bring you more fish and more money. Soon you would have enough money to

own two boats ...maybe even a fleet of boats.Then you would be a rich man like me."

"What would I do then?"

"Then you could really enjoy life."

"What do you think I am doing right now?"

 - The Song of The Bird, Anthony DeMello SJ


"The Purpose of life is not to be happy.It is to be useful , to be honorable , to

be compassionate , to have it make some difference that you have lived 

and lived well."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson


The Inspiration :


Labor Day articles indicate a current rise in  unhappiness , stress and dissatisfaction with 

life amongst the global population. There are lengthy analyses about the correlation

 between work dissatisfaction and one's level of stress. What seems to complicate these

issues is how stress has become a primary indicator of various diseases ; including

cardiovascular disease and the longevity of ones life ( the more stress, the more likely 

one is likely to develop physical anomalies and possibly end one's life earlier than 

necessary) Though some statistics indicate some improvement, the overall trend 

does not bode well for many.  Consequently medical  research has indicated 

that the day and time of the week that has the highest percentage of heart attacks 

in many working men is....Monday mornings ( just before heading off to work.)

https://news.gallup.com/poll/507725/global-rise-unhappiness-stalls.aspx





The Writing:


Santosha  and The Magnificence


How many morning meditations on the ocean bathed beach

does a pilgrim need to nurture that nirvana

that seems to wave gently just off the shoreline

from that peace-filled pod of dolphins?

Is there anything that a pilgrim really needs

that constantly burns the flame of their desires?

"Satis" the choir sang in some ancient Latin chant.

"Sometimes you just get what you need" hymned 

the consort's voices .

The contemplative Yogi  suggests 

genes of sentient beings are transcendental

pieces that of their ancestors , now

flourishing in the children of their children.

Asking his novitiates, "Is it not possible that the same is true concerning

the ever mysterious spark of that cosmic creator of the universe ;

the creator in all creation ? "

Seeds of love, seeds of peace, seeds of compassion and generosity-

living in every aspect ...coming and going...being ... sacred

proof of the access to the magnificence of  santosha all-ways . 


- JF Sobecki

-------------

The Poems and Such:

"Poetry is a gateway into intuitive consciousness. It knocks on the doors

 of the heart and the heart opens" 

 - Mirabai Starr


"Poetry is an Act of Peace . Peace goes into the making of a poet

as flour goes into the making of bread."

- Pablo Neruda


" To see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower.'

- Wm. Blake


Fluent 

I would like to live

Like the river flows

Carried by the surprise

Of it's own unfolding.


- John O'Donohue


I am Going to Start Living Like a Mystic


Today I am pulling on a green wool sweater

and walking across the park in a dark dusty snowfall.


The trees stand like twenty-seven prophets in a field,

each station is a pilgrimage--silent pondering.


Blue flakes of light falling across their bodies

are the ciphers of a secret , an occultation.


I will examine their leaves as pages in a text

and consider the bookish pigeons, students of winter.


I will kneel on the track of a vanquished squirrel

and stare into a blank pond for the forge of Sophia.


I shall begin scouring the sky for signs

as if my whole future were constellated upon it.


I will walk home alone with the deep alone,

a disciple of shadows , in praise of the mysteries.


- Edward Hirsch

_________________

The Music:

(Musical reflections on the inspiration)

Look Within - Poco

Wasted OnThe Way - Crosby, Stills and Nash
https://youtu.be/nWlEsta4xS8?si=ZqK-bcXwf_l2b6vB

Watching the Wheels - John Lennon
https://youtu.be/pTvbB4br1pA?si=Pfhpb8XuxVbxaJV2


Coda: For your listening/viewing pleasure if you desire:

What Makes a Good Life - Longevity Study( TED Talk) - R. Waldinger

Field of Dreams - Is This Heaven? ( Final scene)
https://youtu.be/lXjz-M_6eN8?si=bkf6TXIzrsXqAymJ


Some Musical Pieces/Videos for Meditation For Readers:

Queries: What do you to "let go" "to be ?"
               How do you find contentment/peace?

There is so Much Magnificence - S. Gold
https://youtu.be/vNHbGfjhH5I?si=_hbQ7iXABpStVX3I

Sri Angala Stotram( I Want To Know What Love is)- Krishna Das
( Read the translation on the video - listen through the end)

Embryonic Journey - Jefferson Airplane
https://youtu.be/k6PsMeU4_9Y?si=Ds6cmGZehhOPZ95K

Happy Birthday G!

"One day I will find the right words , and they will be simple."
- Jack Kerouac


AMDG


Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC