Between cinema and reality there is inevitably a difference (it is both an absence and an abstraction), the goal of which is twofold and somewhat paradoxical: first, it turns cinema into something which is its own universe, governed by its own rules and principles, a something-else-ness whose reason for being resides in itself; secondly, because… Read More Disparate notes on cinema
”Something that Vimalananda emphasized over and over again: there is no limit to knowledge. And here in this very country, India, there have been people who have been focusing on trying to understand reality from all its perspectives and they have been focusing for thousands of years and the amount of things that have been… Read More The experiencer, aghora tantra. Fragments by Robert Svoboda.
Possession. Jung I’d very much like to know what Jung had to say about possession cults and the deeper reasons behind such experiences. Especially since I’ve always wondered if the entities which supposedly possess the initiate could be regarded as aspects of one’s Self. As far as I know, though, Jung spoke about possession in… Read More Notes on possession trance. Jung. “The Miracle of Bali” (1969)
1. “Let those who suffer from the toils of samsara seek release: the perfect devotee does not suffer; for he can both visualize and experience life and the universe as the revelation of that Supreme Divine Force (sakti) with which he is in love, the all-comprehensive Divine Being in its cosmic aspect of playful, aimless… Read More Two quotes from H.Zimmer and the Tantras
As I got out of bed a couple days ago, I spontaneously decided to play a little game: I would ask in my mind “What do I need to know today?” and open, at a random page, the little golden quote book I had set my eyes upon, which I haven’t leafed through in many… Read More Synchronicities. Rilke
I discovered and watched the largest part of this splendid series some years ago, but only got to see its final episode today. I was struck by the same feeling of deep-seated warmth and vigour and, for reasons that I am yet to fathom and which, dare I say or like to think, have accompanied… Read More “The History of Africa” BBC series
I’m a rather firm believer in free will and I also resonate strongly with the concept of destiny. I’m aware the two seem to contradict each other and as with many other grand questions regarding life, I tend to answer with both yes and no – because this is the only way language can attempt… Read More Prompted by a passage from “The Angel of Darkness” by Sabato
In 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 Gilbert Rouget argues that “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.” In other words, there is no intrinsic power of music which induces trance. Music here acts not on the physiological level, but as a code (a). It plays a symbolic role,… Read More On music and its effects. Notes and quotes without a conclusion. Digressions and ricochets + a video of a dancing parrot
When L. imagines how, in a few years, the new students will “close their eyes with the tiredness of being alive”, one can easily replace “being alive” with “identity,” since being alive (incarnated), means being subjected to certain limitations, conditions, and contingencies, all of which are limited and limiting (even the very fact of having… Read More Payal Kapadia’s “A Night of Knowing Nothing”
