Doesn't seem controversial to me. It was a good read. Man was a troubled genius.
Spirituality, Meditation, Prayer?
- Thread starter saj
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Why, thank you Mr. Ambassador!
Is that your first exposure to "This Is Water"? I am guessing not, given your reference to DFW as a troubled genius.
I think the whole "This Is Water" speech is an incredible piece of work. Although I am not certain it really hangs together as well as one might think after hearing it, and I do not necessarily see the themes he lays out in that speech in the rest of his body of remarkable work. I suppose he does state that "the mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master," elsewhere, but, if I recall, he does not go into a lot of explanation of how to insure that the mind stays a servant! Still "This Is Water" to me is quite the paper in support of mindfulness.
We could certainly do entire threads on this speech, much less on his other writing. Especially given his reputation as a "bros" writer, I think he is an excellent fit for B&B. Some female wit quite aptly said that every "d-bag bro she had ever been out with had a copy of Infinite Jest sitting on his nightstand." I forget whether she said "unread."
I agree that DFW was a troubled genius. I suppose there were some drug/alcohol issues early on, but by appearances the real trouble was full-blown mental illness kept reasonably well in check by anti-psychotic medications, until they didn't anymore, and that illness murdered him. Reading various biographies, though, DFW seems to have had some rather psychopathic tendencies, too, and was pretty hard on the women in his life, although--and this is not inconsistent with psychopathy--his charm could be extraordinary. His understanding of people, of human nature, profound. The kind of undergrad professor we all wished we had, except for his extremely hard grading. Probably the finest mind to come out of Amherst undergrad, and that is saying something. I hear they hold him in high esteem there.
To me one of the very finest and broadest ranging authors of his generation, so sadly taken away from us by his own hand. To me, his prose is exquisite, although he has not been as influential as one might have expected. Many it was just to difficult to write in his style and still have things easily understandable. He brought the footnote to fiction! (Don't we all hate footnotes, though?)
Hilarious that you mentioned footnotes!
I'm just about illiterate aside from B and B, my local library app, but currently reading a book that I absolutely love for this one simple fact: if I touch the asterisk for a footnote, I am instantly teleported to said footnote, read it, touch the asterisk, and am teleported back to my place in the book!
Why is this so fun? I actually am beginning SLOWLY, to enjoy ebooks more than a real book! I got a 10" Fire tablet from my bride for Christmas, and it's just the right size.
One of the things I DESPISE about asterisks is the fact that it's there, and in my dyslexic, ADHD mind I have some MUCH drama going on in my brane about it! Do I jump to the footnote, reading it before I get to the asterisk? or do I read and reread the paragraph containing the asterisk, not absorbing any of the ideas of the author?!?
I am a mess, not for removed from DFW in a lot of ways. As I psych nurse, I learned that the line between genius and madness is ever so fine. I never let my patients/clients know that most days I could have traded places at the table with them.
I sure know what you mean about footnotes and I think in his heart DFW did, too! Dyslexia cannot help that. I am pretty ADHD myself. I am guessing I skim a lot when I read anyway! I mostly listen to Audible books these days.
Wish respect, I suggest that dyslexia and ADHD are not likely to make you hang yourself on the patio for your wife to find you as DFW did! And, as for genius and madness being a fine distinction, I do not think DFW managed to do very much at all, much less write the last year or so of his life. He probably really should have been sitting at that table you were managing! He was under extensive psychiatric care though. Such a shame.
Wish respect, I suggest that dyslexia and ADHD are not likely to make you hang yourself on the patio for your wife to find you as DFW did! And, as for genius and madness being a fine distinction, I do not think DFW managed to do very much at all, much less write the last year or so of his life. He probably really should have been sitting at that table you were managing! He was under extensive psychiatric care though. Such a shame.
Actually it's Hail Odin!Hooray Odin!
It is not exactly on point, I suppose, but I offer an excerpt of David Foster Wallace's commencement speech at Kenyon University, "This Is Water," which, without quite saying so is something of an explanation or defense, of the benefits of mindfulness practice. Or at least of the benefits of considering what is the ordinary, "automatic," as he puts it, thinking that fills our head each today as compared to the capital "T" truth, as he also puts it, whatever that really is. And this Wallace quote probably supports all of the prayer and meditation methods we have addressed in this thread. It is not intended by me to be controversial or partisan.
"Heady" stuff, so to speak. Believe me, I do not pretend to be on the level he is talking about, and I do not not necessarily buy everything he says, even when I understand it, which I do not always.
I do think that meditation practice can help sort out what is just a flood of "monkey brain," pointless, superficial thoughts and feelings from what may be a clearer vision of who we might really be, or be capable of being. If one is going to meditate, one ought to have something of an idea why they are doing it, right?FWIW: [whoops, I am going to try posting the quote in a separate entry. The formatting came out all screwy when I tried to put it in this message!!]
But seriously you should read the Havamal ( The sayings of the high one) from the Poetic Edda.it may strike a chord, it did with me! Think of the days of the week and who they're named after!
While listening to this.
Interesting story about the site that video was filmed in.
Heilung release new video for Norupo - https://www.loudersound.com/news/heilung-release-new-video-for-norupo
Interesting story about the site that video was filmed in.
Heilung release new video for Norupo - https://www.loudersound.com/news/heilung-release-new-video-for-norupo
I wake up about one in the morning. I start by writing a "column" of the Torah in English. Then I write notes from my readings in the Midrash, Talmud, and a couple of other commentaries. I spend five or six hours a day doing this.
Heilungs live show 'Lifa' is amazing it's on YouTube. Give it a go, your heathen ancestors will be pleased!
Heilungs live show 'Lifa' is amazing it's on YouTube. Give it a go, your heathen ancestors will be pleased!
I live near two megalithic stone circles Castlerigg and Long Meg and her daughters, approximately 5,000 years old. And trust me, you can feel the ancient powers when you're there!
Heilungs live show 'Lifa' is amazing it's on YouTube. Give it a go, your heathen ancestors will be pleased!
I live near two megalithic stone circles Castlerigg and Long Meg and her daughters, approximately 5,000 years old. And trust me, you can feel the ancient powers when you're there!View attachment 1394527View attachment 1394528
I've listened to all I could find. The TV series Vikings turned me on to that music with this song. I really like this live version;
I sure feel it from the music. It stirs something very old and powerful in me, some kind of connection. I've listened to this song many times while just focusing on the feelings it creates and losing myself in the music, which is what music is meant to do.
True, He doesn’t mind what you call him but you better call him something……!
We are all from ancestral hunter gatherer tribes it’s in our D.N.A. It’s literally who we are. Standing in those stone circles knowing your ancestors stood there 5000 years ago and longer to commune with God and Nature! It’s a buzz! Like rhythmic drumming speaks to something deep inside of us, Heilungs music takes us back to our shamanic ancestors.
No to all three.
Subscribe to “Inspire” on YouTube and you might enjoy. I do.
A lot of **** happened to me when I was pretty young, so I was looking for a spiritual path to get me through life. I tried different things. I found Falun Dafa online on some AOL chat or something similar, and first dismissed it because it was free... (I thought nothing valuable could be free - boy was I wrong).
Not hard to find. Here is their newspaper's web site. The Epoch Times - Truth & Tradition. Fact Based. Unbiased. Accurate News - https://www.theepochtimes.com/
My FIL was part owner of a buffet.
He had a lady that lined her handbag with aluminum foil that visited once. She had quite the spread when he stopped her at the door!
He had a lady that lined her handbag with aluminum foil that visited once. She had quite the spread when he stopped her at the door!
For a really good book of deep prayers, The Valley of Vision is very good.
