The Adventure begins on Thursday the 6th of February
I’m looking forward to seeing you all on the 6th.
I saw this rather extraordinary photo the other day of two female gorillas participating in a selfie
Mathieu Shamavu
It’s a park ranger from a gorilla shelter in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He spoke of how the gorillas learn through imitation. I find their presence amazing.
We shared a common ancestor with gorillas between 6 and 7 million years ago. How time flies.
As the keepers and I are using sophisticated tools it apparently means we are superior to these other beings .. and all those other beings we have dispossessed .. Twelve thousand years of separation from a sense of being part of a unified world seems to be coming to a head at the moment.
It’s easy to be despondent. One wonders if our planet may have been better off if we didn’t take that separate path. Perhaps the long view is the best one. As they said in the movie ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ - ‘It all works out in the end. It’s just that we’re not at the end yet.”
I’m lucky enough to be fulfilling one of my dreams by visiting the Khymer temple complexes around Siem Riep in January.
Ko Hon Chiu Vincent
This particular temple, Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman the second. It’s a map of heaven placed with a startling sense of proportion and precision that aligns it with the movement of earth relative to the Sun. One theory is that soil degradation was a major factors in the demise of this remarkable civilisation.
A little later in Iran, one of my heroes was born. The poet, Sufi mystic and theologian who founded the Mevlevi order. Rumi was a dancer.
They spin like this for hours. Have you tried it?
I love this Rumi poem about the discipline of practice - (Please interpret ‘God’ and ‘praise’ in your own way.)
Praising Manners
We should ask God
To help us towards manners. Inner Gifts
Do not find their way
To creatures without just respect.
If a man or woman flails about, he not only
Smashes his house,
He burns the world down.
Your depression is connected to your insolence
And refusal to praise. If a man or woman is
On the path, and refuses to praise-that man or woman
Steals from others every day-in fact is a shoplifter!
The sun became full of light when it got hold of itself.
Angels began shining when they achieved discipline.
The sun goes out whenever the cloud of not-praising comes near.
The moment that foolish angel felt insolent, he heard the door close."
From, The Soul Is Here For Its Own Joy, Sacred Poems From Many Cultures,
edited by Robert Bly
Rumi’s father, an influential Islamic scholar, anticipated the Mongol invasion of Persia and took his family further West to Turkey.
It used to be that insatiable people like Genghis Khan used conquest and war to bolster their kingdom. Now it seems an impending election is enough.
I hope there is a Recreation Centre still in Avalon when I return and that the cultural heritage of Iran is intact too.
I am inspired by the possibility of lucid stillness and look forward to many adventures with you this coming year. Goodness knows we need that great leap inward.
with love
David