LL-L "Etymology" 2008.02.25 (04) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  - 26 February 2008 - Volume 04
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From: foga0301 at stcloudstate.edu
Subject: LL-L "Etymology"

Queridos amigos (Ron y Luc y todos),

   Thank you Luc for your astute additions to this geographic quest for the
world soul, or whatever soul-space we're seeking here. And also Ron, you add
a lot of content, so also Jacqueline.  However, I'm still holding an
"otherwise" thought here to all this emphasis on walls and the fear of the
other.  Yes, that's a universal quality that humans have to build walls, but
the way this activity works its way into the ideal space of literature and
hidden inner meanings is still up for grabs *structurally*…It is here that I
still wish to speak of how a diversity of structures can be seen reflected
in visible things that are *culturally distinctive* [different elsewhere
from the European/western experience].

   After teaching in Bangkok and Kolkata and walking around those cities for
fun, I notice two things: *more* cultural diversity and a *less* organized
way of separating one ethnic enclave from another [in space]. Granted
civilizational boundaries have the highest walls and marriages are still
ever so specific to in-groups everywhere, but there is a subtle shift in how
we talk about things so serious as paradise or the king's *bāġ* باغ.  Luc,
your European rendition of the wholeness of this paradise beyond the wall is
wonderfully western yet still faithful to the meaning of park (vs. garden).
It takes the true meaning of this "integral unity of a 'body', of a 'whole'"
into account. But there is still a *difference* between its wholeness and
that of its eastern counterpart. This has to do with the social
*location*and imagined
*geography* of the subtle passageway between public and private [group facts
and individual verification of them].

  Let me use a Byzantine/Roman distinction to explain. After studying
Russian theology, I notice that Augustine's western view of the
*Trinity*castes it onto a distant place [the western location of
*heaven*, perhaps]. Since it is a distant place, one can see the whole of
it, and as you mention so well this is a wonderfully complicated whole. But
when walking in Bangkok, I got the best (only?) view of the whole by
transversing a lot of cluttered neighborhoods. Now one metaphysical vision
could ever predict this whole—it's too, too big and as Jacqueline said so
well, each individual child adds something vital to this whole.  You have to
talk with a 'whole' lot of people to even get a small taste of this
immensity, yet this talk needs also to resist quick labeling. It needs to
come from the heart and speak to the heart of the other.  This takes lots of
talent, bravery, and a sense of the holy within the self (more than I have).
 Such people kind of glow if they get really good at this.  Oh, and in the
images of inner soul space I read about in the Eastern side of Byzantium,
people talk of this inner space as being shaped like a tree growing inward
with lots of branches.  If this tree grows large and all these branches bear
lots of fruit (free of deceit), one is considered holy. Putting this in
spatial terms, we can then say that a holy man's *bāġ* باغ is the place
where such reflections are imagined to reside.  This space is, in turn,
located within the walls of a house as an inner courtyard. Here, meditation
is the way to paradise, it's visible in one's eyes not on the horizon.

   For sure, here inside the western individual one also finds this link
between self and world, since someone like Augustine is probably also doing
this in his house too and storing it in his head. But in the west, it seems
that there is still this outer sense of distance…of something that is viewed
from afar. Funerals include stories of needing food for the journey.  And
also like Hieronymus Bosch shows so well
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/GardenED.jpg, there is
this sense of duality between heaven and hell where both are *material* *
places* connected spatially to one's earthly home.

    In the east though, this 'triptych' view of the whole is but one of many
that one encounters on the daily journey across town. What does one do then
to unite this larger more spatially cluttered whole? At minimum the
philosopher needs to discuss this with an equally fearless friend.  That's
were Russian theology starts, with letters between friends, dialogue, poetry
readings, and quiet meditations on mystery.  It's no wonder the Christian
church cracked up into pieces.  But what wonderful pieces these are! Then
add all that exists beyond these and you have something like a whole. The *
bāġ* باغ  that Kipling recounts in *Just So Stories* in his story of Solomon
and the butterfly is intimately connected with this larger whole
*despite*the physical walls he has put up.  But as a wise man, this
invasive presence
of the other does not pose a problem for him. Even the sea monsters are
present to him as his friends adding insights to his thinking. Hope this
makes sense.

Blessings to you all,

Gael Fonken
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