Book of Mercy #41-45

[DBCohen]

Mat

“A lemon is a lemon is a lemon”? Well, I know to a Platonist like yourself that’s so, because they all follow the eternal idea of the Lemon, but for me… While I don’t necessarily wish to be called Aristotelian, I would probably still wish to taste each lemon individually. On the other hand, I would say that since human experience is basically the same, it must be as you say, but I think I’m stating this from a somewhat different viewpoint than your good self. Yes, and I believe we’ve been through all this before, so there’s no need to repeat it once again (so why do I do? I guess I liked your citrustic simile ). Indeed, it’s hard to break new ground after nearly three years of discussions, but it’s good that we can still discover some new data and insights.

[mat james]

Ah! one can take a horse to water... but

[mat james]

still #41

I turn to you, my song in the house of night,
my shield against the quarrels.
I turn to you, who unifies the upward heart.

Very Neo-Platonic for this bird.

“The One
The primeval Source of Being is the One and the Infinite, as opposed to the many and the finite. It is the source of all life, and therefore absolute causality and the only real existence. However, the important feature of it is that it is beyond all Being, although the source of it. Therefore, it cannot be known through reasoning or understanding, since only what is part of Being can be thus known according to Plato. Being beyond existence, it is the most real reality, source of less real things. It is, moreover, the Good, insofar as all finite things have their purpose in it, and ought to flow back to it. But one cannot attach moral attributes to the original Source of Being itself, because these would imply limitation. It has no attributes of any kind; it is being without magnitude, without life, without thought; in strict propriety, indeed, we ought not to speak of it as existing; it is "above existence," "above goodness." It is also active force without a substratum; as active force the primeval Source of Being is perpetually producing something else, without alteration, or motion, or diminution of itself. This production is not a physical process, but an emission of force; and, since the product has real existence only in virtue of the original existence working in it, Neoplatonism may be described as a species of dynamic pantheism. Directly or indirectly, everything is brought forth by the "One." In it all things, so far as they have being, are divine, and God is all in all.”


"Practice
Here, then, we enter upon the practical philosophy. Along the same road by which it descended the soul must retrace its steps back to the supreme Good. It must first of all return to itself. This is accomplished by the practice of virtue, which aims at likeness to God, and leads up to God. In the ethics of Plotinus all the older schemes of virtue are taken over and arranged in a graduated series. The lowest stage is that of the civil virtues, then follow the purifying, and last of all the divine virtues. The civil virtues merely adorn the life, without elevating the soul. That is the office of the purifying virtues, by which the soul is freed from sensuality and led back to itself, and thence to the nous. By means of ascetic observances the human becomes once more a spiritual and enduring being, free from all sin. But there is still a higher attainment; it is not enough to be sinless, one must become "God", (henosis). This is reached through contemplation of the primeval Being, the One - in other words, through an ecstatic approach to it. Thought cannot attain to this, for thought reaches only to the nous, and is itself a kind of motion. It is only in a state of perfect passivity and repose that the soul can recognize and touch the primeval Being. Hence the soul must first pass through a spiritual curriculum. Beginning with the contemplation of corporeal things in their multiplicity and harmony, it then retires upon itself and withdraws into the depths of its own being, rising thence to the nous, the world of ideas. But even there it does not find the Highest, the One; it still hears a voice saying, "not we have made ourselves." The last stage is reached when, in the highest tension and concentration, beholding in silence and utter forgetfulness of all things, it is able as it were to lose itself. Then it may see God, the foundation of life, the source of being, the origin of all good, the root of the soul. In that moment it enjoys the highest indescribable bliss; it is as it were swallowed up of divinity, bathed in the light of eternity. Porphyry tells us that on four occasions during the six years of their intercourse Plotinus attained to this ecstatic union with God."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism
and maybe this is the relationship and state of being ( in Love )that our soulful bird, Leonard, sings about from his branch on that burning bush of Moses. At least for me it seems to be a similar song.

I’m off on my psychocitrustic trip still; and always. Never mind.
The above quotes from wiki... are a good read for any Quester.

“Blessed is the name that holds this house in the firmness of mercy, and binds this song to the rock.”

I love this outpouring of “song”.
Go Leonard!
Go, “The One”.

MatbbgJ,

wire tapping;
tip-toeing the outer reaches of some fire-y twig,
lemon scented
like some honkey-tonk "bird on a wire",
musing with Moses;
looking forward to the next "Merciful" verse/song ...

.

[DBCohen]

Great job, Mat! Plotinus loves you (and probably LC as well).
I’ll be away for a couple of days, and will surely reread it more carefully once I’m back.

[Cate]

wire tapping;
tip-toeing the outer reaches of some fire-y twig,
lemon scented
like some honkey-tonk "bird on a wire",
musing with Moses;
looking forward to the next "Merciful" verse/song ...

.

Nothing to add right now, just wanted to say that liked this and thank you for the Neoplatonism link - most of it is new to me but very interesting.

[DBCohen]

Mat,
You’ve concluded your last posting with that nice little poem, quoted above by cate, which ends with the line “looking forward to the next "Merciful" verse/song ...”. So I thought I’d oblige with the next installment:

II. 44

The meditations of the great are above me, and the entwining of the letters is beyond my skill. I cannot climb down to the vehicles of holiness, and my dreams do not ascend. But you have taught the heart to search itself in simple ways, with broom and rag, and you do not abandon my heart to the dust. I come to you for mercy and you hear my cry, and you shelter me in my portion, and you make my deeds a warning. Blessed are you who hears the cry of each man’s portion. You cast me away to draw me back, you darken every expectation which is not you. You have taught me with a voice, you have rebuked me with a cheap reward. I cry from my defeat and you straighten my thought. It is your name that makes the cry a healing, it is your mercy that guards the heart in the panic of yes and no. Let the heart speak to its friend, you who decipher the world to a child. Let the heart speak of the love that humbles it for wilder love, and let my whispered gratitude uphold me through this day. In the hopelessness of every other thing, you make your place, you strengthen your presence, and I ask to bow down before the lord of my life.

The meditations of the great are above me – The following parts of this sentence refer mostly to Jewish traditions, but I guess LC includes among “the great” those mystics of all traditions who thought to approach the divine through their meditations.
and the entwining of the letters is beyond my skill - This must refer to the Jewish traditions, including the Kabbalistic one, of finding hidden meaning in the letters of the Torah through numerical values and other methods (if you’re interested, look up “Gematria”).
I cannot climb down to the vehicles of holiness – This refers to one of the most ancient trends of Jewish mysticism, known as “Heichalot and Merkavah”, which speculates about the heavenly palaces, angles and so on. The “vehicles” in this sentence refers to the Merkavah (or Merkaba), which means “chariot”, and which had its start with the vision of Ezekiel in the Bible. Although the Merkavah is a heavenly vehicle, for some obscure reason those who speculated about it called themselves “those who climb down into the vehicle”. There is no good explanation for this paradox yet, but it is clear that LC is well familiar with the term.
and my dreams do not ascend - In Jewish mystical tradition, as well as in many other traditions, dreams are another means of gaining divine knowledge. In Kabbalah there is a ritual of asking a question and expecting the answer in a dream, and there are dream journals written by famous Kabbalists.
with broom and rag – The speaker here, admitting ignorance of the more sophisticated means of receiving divine knowledge, turns to simpler, mundane means, and to the heart. The “broom and rag” brings to mind also the practice of Zen monks, who between meditations clean the temple (sometimes doing it while running, to spend off extra energy gained during meditation).
and you shelter me in my portion – “Portion” is another important term in Jewish tradition. It often refers to the portion each person will have in the world to come, after the redemption. According to the Talmud, each person has this portion reserved for him, but he might lose it through religious transgressions. A biblical verse (Book of Lamentations, 3:24) declares: “The Lord is my portion, says my soul”; a famous poem – of which LC may have been aware – is based on this verse. It is by the great poet and philosopher Yehuda Halevi (born in Spain before 1075, died in Egypt or Palestine around 1140), translated by T. Carmi:

The slaves of Time are the slaves of a slave;
only the slave of the Lord is free.
Therefore, while other men seek their portion,
‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul.

[Cate]

Hi Doron,

thank you for the explanations you provide regarding Jewish traditions. It adds quite a bit my appreciation of many of these pieces.

~ ~ ~

One aspect that I enjoy about this prayer/poem is the sense of motion throughout it.

The meditations of the great are above me, and the entwining of the letters is beyond my skill. I cannot climb down to the vehicles of holiness, and my dreams do not ascend ...

[DBCohen]

Cate,

Thank you very much for your comment.

Mat has gone on vacation so we miss our regular contributor to this thread, but I hope others will fill in. Everybody is most welcome.

[Judy]

Hi everyone,

I've been enjoying reading this thread for ages ... thank you to all of you.

As there seems to be a lull ... here's how I very simply understand # 44, which is easier to relate to, for me anyway, than the others songs/psalms probably because of the "broom and rag" part but thank you, Doron for explaining the symbolism.

He is being so very humble here, but he does say again that his cry was heard and he was sheltered although he still needs to be careful. He's acknowledging that he has reached the bottom ... oh my goodness he really is laying bare his soul to whoever reads this and the only way to survive is through pleading for mercy. I think he has said this somewhere else more recently. This pleading for mercy works for him and so he is humbly asking to be allowed to give thanks.

I don't understand the word "portion", it sounds strange to my ears .. just like the word "letter" in The Window ... but maybe it's just as well because otherwise it would be perfect

Hope Mat will be back soon ...

[DBCohen]

Judy,

It’s good to see you on this thread. Please keep it up. I agree with you about his asking for mercy as his final stand. Now how about the following lines from “The Law”, which I’m sure I’ve quoted once before during our discussion:

I’m not asking for mercy
Not from the man
You just don’t ask for mercy
While you’re still on the stand
There’s a Law, there’s an Arm, there’s a Hand

I guess you might say that he will not ask for mercy from a man, but he will from a higher being, or, alternatively, that he will not ask for it while still on the stand, when everything is not finished yet, but he will once he’s desperate enough.

I think I see why the word “portion” bothers you, but, as I’ve tried to explain, it’s coming out of his old tradition, and it probably means to him something a little different.

[Judy]

Yes, thank you Doron, OK now for the meaning of "portion" ... it's probably just the "sound" of the word that bothers me.

"The Law" was written before BoM, wasn't it ? It's honest and defiant ... not desperate enough yet, as you said.

[DBCohen]

“The Law” is on Various Positions, which came out a few months after BoM. The book and the album must have been created during the same period, and in our discussion we’ve often pointed out the similarities between the two. It is really worthwhile listening to the album after reading the book, and vice versa.

[Cate]

Portion, I was reading it as what you're allotted at the beginning of your life – what’s put on your plate.
The implication that this goes further – beyond this life is an interesting one – talk about pressure to do well in this life.
- - -
Movement seemed important to me in this piece.

First he seems stuck he can’t go above, he can’t go beyond, he can’t climb down – even his dreams seem stuck and unable to ascend.
And then ‘you’ comes along and there’s movement.
The broom and the rag which brings to my mind the sense of back and forth and for me that sense of motion is repeated when he says “You cast me away to draw me back”. Perhaps he has become the broom in her/his hands.

Of course like a lot of these prayers there’s an undercurrent of the sensual running through – here it feels connected to the motion of the piece.

(edit - tried to be more focused with what I had wanted to say)

[mat james]

BOM, 11.44

“Let the heart speak to its friend, you who decipher the world to a child. Let the heart speak of the love that humbles it for wilder love, and let my whispered gratitude uphold me through this day. In the hopelessness of every other thing, you make your place, you strengthen your presence, and I ask to bow down before the lord of my life.”

“Let the heart speak to its friend, you who decipher the world to a child. Let the heart speak of the love that humbles it for wilder love,”

These words convey the same feeling as the quote below.

“Unless you come to me as a little child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”

(J.C.)
It seems to me that Leonard is acknowledging the perspective of the Jew, Jesus.
It seems to me also that Leonard is suggesting/saying that if you move toward god with innocence and simple acceptance, the heaven (wilder love) will be the bounty and reward.

Leonard seems to have deep gratitude to Jesus and his perspective/rule of gentle love. This embracing of the Christian Way is not, I suppose, really acceptable to his Jewish community, so he defines his appreciation as “whispered gratitude”

MatbbgJ

[DBCohen]

Mat,

Welcome back. I believe you’ve made a very good point. The image of Jesus can often be found in unexpected places in LC’s work, and this may be one of them.


Cate,

I believe you’ve also made a good point about the movement (enjoyed both your original and edited versions).


Let’s give the discussion of #44 another chance for a few more days, before introducing #45.