Time to ponder!

Kahlil Gibran's Little Book of Secrets, 2019
Kahlil Gibran, Neil Douglas-Klotz (Editor)

(first published 1932)

That is it. There is no secret. Like every seed we sprout, each extracting our own energies, in different shapes, forms and sizes, build our leaves and flowers, but have to face the sun to get our nourishments. We may take different routes like that, but lest we forget, all roads lead to Rome.

Secrets? There are none. The answers are all within us. The problem is that the more answers we seek, the more questions pop up.

Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese Christian from the Eastern Christian Church, landed in the USA after spending a fair amount of formative years in Lebanon. Exposed to either side of the hemisphere, his outlook on life is quite profound. Here is an example of his thoughts and invitation to think.

A clergyman who preaches the dangers of sin and the need to follow the spiritual path meets a dying man during his travels. He was about to help him but was warned by the man about saving him. For he was Satan. Nursing him back to health would mean saving Satan. On the other hand, what work is there for the preacher if Satan stops his evil? The preacher would be out of a job. What evangelism is there any more? There is no Satan to spew his venom. In a way, both depend on each other to prosper. Without sin, there is no need for salvation. Without the poor, there is no one for the rich to flaunt. Without the slave staying dumb, the master cannot continue squeezing the noose on the poor.

Another point to ponder...

"Maybe a funeral among human beings is a wedding feast among the angels." Whilst man mourns the loss of one of his kind, the angels have a new member. Akin to the birth, the ushers smile when the entree (baby) cries. At death, the exiting member is happily relieved of his worldly pain, but the mourners wail in pain, unable to bear the separation.

N.B.

Kahlil Gibran (Arabic: جبران خليل جبران ) was a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer.
Born in the town of Bsharri in modern-day Lebanon (then part of Ottoman Mount Lebanon), as a young man, he emigrated with his family to the United States, where he studied art and began his literary career. In the Arab world, Gibran is regarded as a literary and political rebel. His romantic style was at the heart of a renaissance in modern Arabic literature, especially prose poetry, breaking away from the classical school. In Lebanon, he is still celebrated as a literary hero.
He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of inspirational fiction, including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, gaining popularity in the 1930s and again, especially in the 1960s counterculture.
Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.

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We, the angels and demons!

Evil (Miniseries; 2016-22)

S1-S3, 36 episodes.

Is evil something extrinsic, or is it something within ourselves? Is the world comprised of two equally opposing powers trying to dominate the other? Is there a rational explanation for all the bizarre things that happen around us? Can science adequately explain them?

A long time ago, actually, it all depended on where one hailed from. It was utterly acceptable to blame one's socially unacceptable acts on the forces of evil and get away scot-free. In ancient times, some civilisations preached we were responsible for our actions and needed to be repaid in this birth or next. The source of evil is the suppressed desires of the reptilian brain, whose ill thoughts are cancelled off by the conscious mind.

Almost apologetically, some Middle East religions blame all misdeeds on rogue angels who strayed God's path. These deviants try to recruit mortals to their camp to give God and his teaching a run for his money.

In the modern world, increasingly, science comes up with rational explanations for events that happen around us.

The myths surrounding the pale-looking Count Dracula and his nocturnal activities can be understood when we realise that the Count suffers from congenital erythropoietic porphyria. Sufferers are pale with anaemia and stay indoors due to photosensitivity. They may have an aversion to garlic, or it could be folklore. The fear of the Cross could be reactionary if the whole mob ran towards them, chanting prayer hymns. Pellagra and rabies have been suggested as possible reasons for Count Dracula's bizarre behaviour, appearance and dentition.

Fast forward to the ICT age, and we have another demon to struggle with. The dopamine-inducing ding of a 'like' on social media has turned us into narcissistic Pavlov's dogs, gratified with peer validation, to be a herd member and to terrorise behind the cloak of anonymity. The algorithmic targeting of potential customers to clickbait is doing much damage to our civilisation. These acts are man-made with their rapacious desire to be blessed with insurmountable wealth. Allegiance to Money God seems more important than being kind to fellow kind.

The race to excel, to attain the impossible, perfection has turned into self-centred devils, giving two-hoots to fellow travellers of life.

Electromagnetic waves, radio signals, modern plumbing issues, seismic activities, psychological conditions and simple foolhardy have all been blamed as the work of God's antithesis, Satan. More often than not, there is a plausible rational explanation for everything. It is a work in progress for those for that we cannot give an acceptable reason. In the interim, invoking the name of God and Satan gives a temporary reprieve to the faint-hearted.

Not to forget the dark web, where one can find all the things that are banned by society if the buyer knows what to ask, including magic mushrooms, cocaine and sexual services of the kinky kind.

This miniseries, which has completed 36 episodes in 3 seasons, talk precisely about this. Three modern-day ghostbusters, a pastor in the making (who gets ordained later in the series), a psychiatrist and a techie, are summoned by a Roman Catholic Church to assess demonic possessions and determine whether there was a rational explanation for them. Invariably, there seems to be a logical explanation for all the mayhem. If previously, in the pre-internet era, when hysteria and other psychological affection were blamed for 'demonic' possessions, now, even the Church thinks there could be a rational explanation for all the bizarre occurrences. Increasingly, social media is enslaving people to be irrational, become narcissistic, pretend, be insecure and all the negative things that a religious person would label as the work of the devil. I guess Lord Highness of the Dark need not ascend to Earth to carry out his nefarious activities. Human beings are pretty capable of self-destroying themselves.

Along the way, in the series, we encounter Satan, making his presence and luring the investigators and their loved ones to the dark side. Much self-restraint and willpower are crucial to combat these negativities.

With or without angels and demons, we are responsible for our actions. We do the crime and the time in this life or the next. No 'Get Out of Jail Free cards' exist to absolve one from his crimes. We use our God-given faculties (angels) to fight our inner demons to do the right thing. We are the Atma that forms part of the Paramathma.

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What if Jesus returns?

Nenjam Marapathilai (நெஞ்சம் மறப்பதில்லை, The heart never forgets; Tamil; 2021)
Story and Director: Selvaraghavan

This film may not resonate with the average Kollywood movie-goer. It is supposed a thriller, a ghost story with corpses, gore and blood, but it is plentiful with hidden messages and symbolism. It is for the viewers to connect the dots and draw their own conclusions.

A casual viewer would surmise the whole offering as a poorly made horror flick with poor VFX about an orphan, Mariam, from a Church taking up a childminder's job in a dysfunctional family. The man of the house is a two-faced eccentric tyrant, Ramasamy @ Ramsay. He is married to his bosses' daughter and is under her thumb. He appears to courteous to everyone, but beneath his pleasant demeanour, evil lurks. 

Long story short, the minder is gang-raped by Ramsay and his servants, killed and buried in the large home compound. Mariam comes back as a spirit to avenge her bizarre death.

In an interview, the director, who also wrote the story, asserts that it is a good versus evil story. In the form of a servant, Jesus comes to Earth to fight Satan, who is in the form of Ramsay. Along the way, the iconic representations of biblical events - Jesus carrying the Cross, Mary with infant Jesus, fish, bread, representation of angels and many more.

From the dialogue, one can make out the story takes a whack on the whole of human civilisation; Indian culture of needing the safeguard reputation, turning a blind eye to injustice, blatant disregard to decency, class discrimination and more. It seems that evil is more prevalent than good. People in power dictate terms, and the weak follow blindly without agency. The agency bestowed with the responsibility of upholding justice is flawed and corrupt. People can get away with murder and joke about it. Maintaining prestige and social stigma are more valuable than human lives. Money can buy everything, even love and care.

The dialogue gives a sense of deja vu. Then it hits you. There are plenty of references to dialogues from Sivaji Ganesan's movies. There is even a song from one of the movies he acted in -' Enga Mama' -'Chelakkiligalam Palliley'. The message the writer probably conveys is that the devil wears Prada and appears suave as well charitable. However, political leaders are not altruistic, there are only worried about the next elections' result and dancing to the party line's tune.

What I want to know is why Ramsay, aka Satan himself, is portrayed in a Hindu home where Durga Devi Stotram is heard in the background? Is there another veiled message there? Ramsay is the contraction of Ramasamy - Lord Rama!

This director has a penchant for naming his movie after pre-existing ones. Actually, in 1963, legendary filmmaker C V Sridhar directed 'Nenjam Marapathilai'. If the former was about unfulfilled love and reincarnation, the latter, in a way, is about the same. Jesus coming back to Earth to resolve an unsettled score. But then, reincarnation in Christianity? The scriptwriter would probably invoke their creative licences to squeeze more creative juices. And Jesus in the form of a lady?

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Aummm…Shri…Sound…Music!

21.5.2010

Aum…Shri…Sound…Music!

In most cultures, music is synonymous with joy, celebration, victory and worship. In Indian folklore, I have heard of divine music healing the moribund and maybe raising the dead. Probably, only in the Indian (particularly South) subcontinent do you have songs sung to denote melancholy, tragedy and helplessness!

No wedding, birthday celebration, church service, temple prayers, funfair, circus, street celebration or even sports event is complete without music accompaniment. Hence, one can say that the story of music is the story of the evolution of mankind itself. Now, have you heard of the Dark Forces using their subtle ways to pull us over to the Dark Side?

From the turn of the 20th century, people have associated certain music with Satan's dark forces. Islamic fundamentalists like the Taliban also link music to evil, as it is addictive and hinders mankind from fulfilling their obligations to God. Hence, radio transmissions in Taliban Afghanistan can only comprise Quranic recitals. When 'Rock and Roll' started rolling into our radio transmissions, purists started preaching on moral decadents, Armageddon, and so forth. Elvis Presley (The Pelvis) was condemned for his socially unacceptable gyrating pelvic movements. Publications of negative news on singers' behaviour further flared up the hell-like flame of despair, e.g. with the spread of tabloid information like Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his 13-year-old first cousin and John Lennon announcing, in 1966, that at the time, the Beatles was more famous than Jesus Christ!

"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock and roll or Christianity." - said John Lennon in a 1966 interview.

In that era, the news was rife with certain Beatles songs (if played backwards) that would glorify drugs and the devil. Their association with the mystical cultures of the East gave the Believers a field day at their assault. (e.g. Lucy in the Sky of Diamond and LSD, Let it Be refer to the carefree attitude after indulging in drugs –Mother Mary denoting a colloquial term for heroin etc.) Soon after the flower power days and its sexual liberation came the lack of inhibition days of punk rock and the decadent behaviour of the heavy metal bands.

The phenomenal successes of certain songs were attributed to the fact that their performers have sold their souls (pun not intended) to the devil! In this category are songs like Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin), Heaven is a Place on Earth (Belinda Carlyle) and The Ballad of Yoko (Beatles)- where the lyrics mention 'They are going to crucify me'.

In 1978, a country-rock band named 'Eagle' led by Don Henley, came up with a massive hit song called Hotel California. This song has stood the test of time and has remained evergreen and a classic to date. Its melodious catchy song and equally skilful guitar work make it one of the most popular songs of the 20th century. Well, and okay. Do not ask the naysayers…. They will have a different story to tell you!
Here is the story now…

Apparently, the whole song and album cover are about Satan worship! The band members are allegedly members of the Church of Satan, situated in the Navajo desert in California, commonly referred to as Hotel California by its members. The album cover supposedly depicted a picture of a hotel lobby with the image of the founder of the Church of Satan (Anton LaVey). In the song, they sing of decadent lifestyles, drugs and human sacrifice (? cannibalism). Let us peruse the piece…

"Hotel California"

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy, and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be Heaven, or this could be Hell'
Then she lit up a candle, and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

It is alleged that they are talking about a confluence of its congregation at their church in the Navajo desert, coming from all over the country.

Welcome to the Hotel California

Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here
Her mind is Tiffany twisted; she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

Is this about cross-gender dressing, decadent lifestyles and drug addiction?

So I called up the Captain,
'Please bring me my wine'
He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since 1969'
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Wine refers to the Holy Spirit. 1969 is the year of the establishment of the church of Satan. The voices refer to sacrificial souls?

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis

Alibis – new intakes?

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said, 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device.'
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast

Are they talking about drugs, amphetamines? Killing the body, not the soul, the Holy Spirit?

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
'Relax,' said the night man,
'We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!'

The Eagles have categorically denied all of the above. It is supposed to be telling about the changing materialistic American lifestyle. To quote…
Members of the Eagles have described the album as a metaphor for the perceived decline of America into materialism and decadence. In an interview shortly before the album's release, Don Henley said:

This is a concept album, there's no way to hide it, but it's not set in the old West, the cowboy thing, you know. It's more urban this time (. . . ) It's our bicentennial year, you know, the country is 200 years old, so we figured since we are the Eagles and the Eagle is our national symbol, that we were obliged to make some kind of a little bicentennial statement using California as a microcosm of the whole United States, or the entire world if you will, and to try to wake people up and say 'We've been okay so far, for 200 years, but we're gonna have to change if we're gonna continue to be around.'

In the meantime, let the conspiracy theories come and go while we sit down and enjoy the music without a care in the world while the world outside cracks its head about nothing. Let there be eternal peace …Aum……………. Om, Shanti, Shanthi, Shanthihi….