Not this crude matter.
- Master Yoda
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Innumerable suns exist. Innumerable Earths revolve around these. Living beings inhabit these worlds. - Giordano Bruno, 1548 -1600 (burnt at the stake for heresy)
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Most blest is he who lives free and bold
and nurses never a grief,
for the fearful man is dismayed by aught,
and the mean one mourns over giving.
Havamal, Verse 48
and nurses never a grief,
for the fearful man is dismayed by aught,
and the mean one mourns over giving.
Havamal, Verse 48
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Hare Krishna reggae
The recording is incomplete but I love the beat! Indradyumna Swami, one of the gurus of ISKCON, also offers pretty ecstatic and fun versions of the mahamantra in ska and reggae versions.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Ogres, Trolls, etc = Neanderthals?
I was watching the documentary Journey of Man which deals with the discoveries made by the Genographic Project regarding the early migratory patterns of modern humans.
The film does not go into detail about other hominid races, like the Neanderthal and the Flores hobbit, but it occured to me that as these migrations took place between 60-15 thousand years ago, there were other hominid races in Africa, South Asia, and Europe not mentioned in the documentary, and that many of the myths and fairy tales that we received from the ancestors probably originated from these exchanges.
The program indicates that humans arrived in Europe 40,000 years ago from Central Asia, not via the Turkey route that we would expect. We also know that Neanderthal man did not disappear in Europe until 30-25,000 years ago. This means that for a period of between 10-15,000 years, Neanderthals and Humans coexisted in Europe.
What the program does not indicate is that Neanderthals were most likely the reason why humans waited so long to inhabit Europe - this was their territory. In Norse myth, there are several hominid races that appear to live in separate garths or territories, which means that the people who originated these myths knew of certain boundaries which were dangerous to cross, beyond which there was hostility (Jotunheim, Alfheim, etc.) or which were simply territories of another people ...
We have no way of knowing what was the nature of interaction between the two species. We know that they were unable to produce offspring if they intermarried, and that for many thousands of years they were neighbors in Israel and surrounding areas because some fossils have been found in close proximity and aged to around the same time - so that there was some interaction in some places.
But beyond that we do not know if there was hostility or animosity and how much, if one species enslaved the other, if there were slave uprisings, if they hunted mammoth together or hunted each other, etc. These would be interesting things to look into.
Some Neanderthal remains show signs of cannibalism. However humans still consume chimpanzees and monkeys in many parts of the world, and until relatively recent times we have evidence of human cannibalism, so even the idea that that humans literally hunted the Neanderthal to extinction and consumed them is not so far fetched and should be considered as one possibility.
Maybe what Norse myth calls Swartalf, Ogres, Dwarves, Trolls, etc. were really based on historical encounters with Neanderthals or even other races? Maybe after they died out the stories about them became more magical and mythologized?
In the epic of the Ramayana, from India, we see primitive humans and an ape race fighting together against a common enemy. This, today, is unthinkable. The closest surviving hominid is the bonobo ape, who is more humanlike than other chimps, his head is more round and walks already on two legs for long periods of time, but has not evolved language skills, etc.
The Flores man (so called hobbit) may have been an isolated population but, if Indian travelers did come across them, it would not have been unthinkable that some of them were either taken as prisoners or enslaved, or that many of them may have migrated into India in remote times and coexisted for some time with ancient Indians. There is no archeological evidence of man in India 40,000 years ago, yet we know people were there from the findings of the Genographic project, which traced the Y-chromosome of one man in South India to the same group of people who eventually colonized Australia, which indicates coastal migrations.
What this means is that absence of archeological evidence should not be a reason to discard human and hominid activity during that age because genetic evidence shows that there was a coastal migration in spite of lack of an archeological presence.
The documentary Journey of Man also makes mention of the fact that during the Ice Age, the ocean levels were lower and migration between the islands all the way to Australia would not have been so dangerous as it is today because the shorelines were not as spread apart - which also tells us that fossil records from the Ice Age should be found undersea.
If this is the case, then it may be that the monkey-God Hanuman and the race of apes that is mentioned in the Ramayana (they were fighting in alliance with King Rama against King Ravana) may be based on actual hominids who lived as neighbors of humans in the ancient past in South India.
Indian folklorists have made much of the fact that the bridge that the apes and men built between South India and Sri Lanka can still be seen from outer space - and it's true: the shallowness of a path in the water is evident.
The Ramayana is interesting also in that it presents CULTURAL differences between the apes and humans which indicate both human and apeish traits - like the fact that when the monkey king Rakshasa died, his two sons fought to see who'd become the alpha male, "as required by ape law".
But then Ramayana also indicates that the territory of the ape people had watchers at their entrance and that they had an army, which resembles the organization of a human village or city, and that they were very intelligent strategists and politicians. Which is a bit too sophisticated for apes: and so it should not be ruled out that Ramayana may have included characters that historically were Neanderthals or Flores men. If this was the case, I am inclined in favor of Neanderthal man who was more bulky and physically stronger than humans, since according to the Ramayana it was the ape race that did most of the hard labor during the construction of the bridge.
The Yeti legends of the Himalayas may also refer to ancient Neanderthal man since Yeti had white skin, and we know neanderthal had white skin and blond or even red hair. The monkey God himself, Hanuman, is depicted as 'golden-hued' by his devotees. At the end of Ramayana, Hanuman is said to have 'retired' and gone to the Himalayas.
The film does not go into detail about other hominid races, like the Neanderthal and the Flores hobbit, but it occured to me that as these migrations took place between 60-15 thousand years ago, there were other hominid races in Africa, South Asia, and Europe not mentioned in the documentary, and that many of the myths and fairy tales that we received from the ancestors probably originated from these exchanges.
The program indicates that humans arrived in Europe 40,000 years ago from Central Asia, not via the Turkey route that we would expect. We also know that Neanderthal man did not disappear in Europe until 30-25,000 years ago. This means that for a period of between 10-15,000 years, Neanderthals and Humans coexisted in Europe.
What the program does not indicate is that Neanderthals were most likely the reason why humans waited so long to inhabit Europe - this was their territory. In Norse myth, there are several hominid races that appear to live in separate garths or territories, which means that the people who originated these myths knew of certain boundaries which were dangerous to cross, beyond which there was hostility (Jotunheim, Alfheim, etc.) or which were simply territories of another people ...
We have no way of knowing what was the nature of interaction between the two species. We know that they were unable to produce offspring if they intermarried, and that for many thousands of years they were neighbors in Israel and surrounding areas because some fossils have been found in close proximity and aged to around the same time - so that there was some interaction in some places.
But beyond that we do not know if there was hostility or animosity and how much, if one species enslaved the other, if there were slave uprisings, if they hunted mammoth together or hunted each other, etc. These would be interesting things to look into.
Some Neanderthal remains show signs of cannibalism. However humans still consume chimpanzees and monkeys in many parts of the world, and until relatively recent times we have evidence of human cannibalism, so even the idea that that humans literally hunted the Neanderthal to extinction and consumed them is not so far fetched and should be considered as one possibility.
Maybe what Norse myth calls Swartalf, Ogres, Dwarves, Trolls, etc. were really based on historical encounters with Neanderthals or even other races? Maybe after they died out the stories about them became more magical and mythologized?
In the epic of the Ramayana, from India, we see primitive humans and an ape race fighting together against a common enemy. This, today, is unthinkable. The closest surviving hominid is the bonobo ape, who is more humanlike than other chimps, his head is more round and walks already on two legs for long periods of time, but has not evolved language skills, etc.
The Flores man (so called hobbit) may have been an isolated population but, if Indian travelers did come across them, it would not have been unthinkable that some of them were either taken as prisoners or enslaved, or that many of them may have migrated into India in remote times and coexisted for some time with ancient Indians. There is no archeological evidence of man in India 40,000 years ago, yet we know people were there from the findings of the Genographic project, which traced the Y-chromosome of one man in South India to the same group of people who eventually colonized Australia, which indicates coastal migrations.
What this means is that absence of archeological evidence should not be a reason to discard human and hominid activity during that age because genetic evidence shows that there was a coastal migration in spite of lack of an archeological presence.
The documentary Journey of Man also makes mention of the fact that during the Ice Age, the ocean levels were lower and migration between the islands all the way to Australia would not have been so dangerous as it is today because the shorelines were not as spread apart - which also tells us that fossil records from the Ice Age should be found undersea.
If this is the case, then it may be that the monkey-God Hanuman and the race of apes that is mentioned in the Ramayana (they were fighting in alliance with King Rama against King Ravana) may be based on actual hominids who lived as neighbors of humans in the ancient past in South India.
Indian folklorists have made much of the fact that the bridge that the apes and men built between South India and Sri Lanka can still be seen from outer space - and it's true: the shallowness of a path in the water is evident.
The Ramayana is interesting also in that it presents CULTURAL differences between the apes and humans which indicate both human and apeish traits - like the fact that when the monkey king Rakshasa died, his two sons fought to see who'd become the alpha male, "as required by ape law".
But then Ramayana also indicates that the territory of the ape people had watchers at their entrance and that they had an army, which resembles the organization of a human village or city, and that they were very intelligent strategists and politicians. Which is a bit too sophisticated for apes: and so it should not be ruled out that Ramayana may have included characters that historically were Neanderthals or Flores men. If this was the case, I am inclined in favor of Neanderthal man who was more bulky and physically stronger than humans, since according to the Ramayana it was the ape race that did most of the hard labor during the construction of the bridge.
The Yeti legends of the Himalayas may also refer to ancient Neanderthal man since Yeti had white skin, and we know neanderthal had white skin and blond or even red hair. The monkey God himself, Hanuman, is depicted as 'golden-hued' by his devotees. At the end of Ramayana, Hanuman is said to have 'retired' and gone to the Himalayas.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Om Namoh Bhagavate Vasudevaya
... so the other day I started organizing all my music and came across a CD that was apparently given to me years ago by a Vaishnava brother from the temple and I had completely forgotten it was there, it didn't even have a label ... I played it and I remember having heard the music before but apparently I had heard, but not LISTENED to it.
I had a hidden trasure at home!
It turns out it was a live recording of a performance by Atmarama Das in Barcelona, Spain. Atmarama Das has an endearing, soothing voice and is usually accompanied by a guitar. Another sample of his devotional songs is his awesome rendition of Radhe Radhe Govinda.
Om Namoh Bhagavate Vasudevaya is a mantra that salutes one of the names of Krishna. Enjoy! All glories to the devotees!
In sweet converse call the righteous to thy side,
learn a healing song while thou livest.
- Havamal 119
I had a hidden trasure at home!
It turns out it was a live recording of a performance by Atmarama Das in Barcelona, Spain. Atmarama Das has an endearing, soothing voice and is usually accompanied by a guitar. Another sample of his devotional songs is his awesome rendition of Radhe Radhe Govinda.
Om Namoh Bhagavate Vasudevaya is a mantra that salutes one of the names of Krishna. Enjoy! All glories to the devotees!
In sweet converse call the righteous to thy side,
learn a healing song while thou livest.
- Havamal 119
Saturday, March 7, 2009
The Bugs: a Declaration of Emancipation
I've noticed that silence is hard to come by in this society that we have created, and I find myself craving it more and more. Not just silence, but true rest.
We've replaced the background noise of the jungle with an urban alternative just as fierce: the trucks and vans have replaced our large land animals, they are mammoths, elephants and hordes of aurochs. Maybe it's good that they announce their coming, so that we can get out of their way, but our minds are hard-wired to feel threatened by loud noises and in the city we become enraged by the constant bombarding of the moans, the mooing and the roars of our four wheeled friends.
When it's not the noise from traffic, it's the cacophony produced by the bugs that technology has given us. I don't mind losing some of my privacy by having a cellphone: I can just turn it off, or not answer it.
But the invasion of a new kind of bug in our homes became annoying when I purchased one of those computers with blue lights that won't stop blinking even if they're supposed to be idle (sleeping, as they say). There's no option to avoid that, except by turning it off. My first thought when I realized how annoying this was had to do with the image, now stamped in the back of my head, of the omnipresent ghost of Bill Gates. His tentacles truly are everywhere.
Some weeks back the machines rebelled against me and stopped working, almost in unison. When I realized how frustrating this was I told myself that I would diminish (slowly ... of course) my dependence on bugs and machines, and live a more natural and personal life. I've noticed that the machines have replaced nature and they're now replacing people and personal relations. I'm not having it anymore. I won't get rid of them, but they're tools and they can't run my life.
I'm not posting blogs as often as I used to. I'm having silent days and computer-less days more often now, taking more time out for my friends, for exercising, and for reading old-fashioned books and not webpages.
And I've purchased ear plugs. They've tremendously improved the quality of my sleep.
We've replaced the background noise of the jungle with an urban alternative just as fierce: the trucks and vans have replaced our large land animals, they are mammoths, elephants and hordes of aurochs. Maybe it's good that they announce their coming, so that we can get out of their way, but our minds are hard-wired to feel threatened by loud noises and in the city we become enraged by the constant bombarding of the moans, the mooing and the roars of our four wheeled friends.
When it's not the noise from traffic, it's the cacophony produced by the bugs that technology has given us. I don't mind losing some of my privacy by having a cellphone: I can just turn it off, or not answer it.
But the invasion of a new kind of bug in our homes became annoying when I purchased one of those computers with blue lights that won't stop blinking even if they're supposed to be idle (sleeping, as they say). There's no option to avoid that, except by turning it off. My first thought when I realized how annoying this was had to do with the image, now stamped in the back of my head, of the omnipresent ghost of Bill Gates. His tentacles truly are everywhere.
Some weeks back the machines rebelled against me and stopped working, almost in unison. When I realized how frustrating this was I told myself that I would diminish (slowly ... of course) my dependence on bugs and machines, and live a more natural and personal life. I've noticed that the machines have replaced nature and they're now replacing people and personal relations. I'm not having it anymore. I won't get rid of them, but they're tools and they can't run my life.
I'm not posting blogs as often as I used to. I'm having silent days and computer-less days more often now, taking more time out for my friends, for exercising, and for reading old-fashioned books and not webpages.
And I've purchased ear plugs. They've tremendously improved the quality of my sleep.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
One Woden'sDay Morning
This morning I dreamt a dream of battles
I dreamt that a warrior was born
This morning as Thor lifts his hammer
he hallows my hearth's door
I dream of a hero
lifting chariots of iron
and rushing to save his clan
I dream of protection
and dread that I need it
man too is the dread of man
A bluish ice-shield
with spells I chant
a mighty wall made of runes
It keeps my foes outside
but it also imprisons and wounds
I belong to a tribe of poets
dispersed through Midgard and Time
So few of my brethren I know
that I might as well have no tribe
I dreamt that a warrior was born
This morning as Thor lifts his hammer
he hallows my hearth's door
I dream of a hero
lifting chariots of iron
and rushing to save his clan
I dream of protection
and dread that I need it
man too is the dread of man
A bluish ice-shield
with spells I chant
a mighty wall made of runes
It keeps my foes outside
but it also imprisons and wounds
I belong to a tribe of poets
dispersed through Midgard and Time
So few of my brethren I know
that I might as well have no tribe
Monday, March 2, 2009
Hare Rama!
With a heart that's full of love
repeat the name of Ram!
Harer nama
Harer nama
Harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva
nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha
Translation: "In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way." - Brhan-naradiya Purana 38.126
Chanting the holy and most auspicious names of the Lord is the yoga method most widely recommended for this era. It is also easy to perform and blissful. Enjoy!
repeat the name of Ram!
Harer nama
Harer nama
Harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva
nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha
Translation: "In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way." - Brhan-naradiya Purana 38.126
Chanting the holy and most auspicious names of the Lord is the yoga method most widely recommended for this era. It is also easy to perform and blissful. Enjoy!
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