I finally read
The Aphorisms of Patanjali (Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood) last weekend and was astounded at its depth and directness. Not that it had depth or directness but that it was accessible to my western way of thinking. It wasn't the hard read some part of me feared at all. Today I read
R.K. Narayan's narration of a shortened, prose version of
The Ramayana. What a delight - even as only an overview of the epic. Come for the literature. Stay for the world class storytelling.
Here in the United States I'm betting a lot of people haven't read
The Ramayana. More have most likely read Patanjali because it's yoga. Whatever the case, you're in for a treat. I'm sure Narayan's text played a big part in the pure pleasure of my read. Also, while roaming the aisles of Half Price Books another abbreviated treasure popped out by Prabhavananda/Isherwood. This one, a translation of the
Bhagavad-Gita - The Song of God. Had to go for that. I have never read that before either. Heavens.
Aldous Huxley wrote the introduction and sets up a comparative literature framework, which appeals to the analyst in me. So that's what's on for tomorrow.
The only thing really missing from this grouping is Peter Brooks' film version of The Mahabharata. It was so long I never sat through the whole 9 hour version.
Parabola's video library has a 3hour edited version. I found a six-hour version at the local library this afternoon.
Just before leaving Half-Price books, a dusty cloth covered copy of Margaret Mead's
Coming of Age in Samoa found it's way into my basket. I plucked it out, put it back with an apologetic glance and made a mental note for the next wave of reading/research.
Afterthoughts: A few days ago I asked my brother how his experience was of rereading the Bible (which he is doing at my father's request). Here's what I came away with - our conversation was cut short as he had previous appointments:
- He had gone straight to the New Testament (my birth family is Christian). The gospels, in fact. I find that rather surprising, seeing as how Christianity is based on the Old Testament, Jesus was a Jew and some of the best stories transpire in it. But then, he had already studied it long and hard in college and for years afterward.
- He was also experiencing a lot of negativity from his own mind. Wishing to honor my father, but not wishing to read. My brother is a seeker who does not ascribe to any religion. He lives by a moral, ethical code but believes only in the scientific.
As I made the call and was attempting to interview him - I asked him if he thought of reading it as literature. He had just come to that conclusion. So that's perfect.
There's a great little book by Northrup Frye called
The Educated Imagination. In it Frye argues for a foundation in the classics, especially the scriptures of all nations, and he does so without religion. Here are a few salient quotes from Educated Imagination.
"The myths and images of literature ... enter into and give form to all the structures we build out of words."
"A great work of literature is ... a place in which the whole cultural history of the nation that produced it comes into focus."
"The poet's job is not to tell you what happened, but what happens: not what did take place, but the kind of thing that always takes place."
"The end of literary teaching is not simply the admiration of literature; it's ... more like the transfer of imaginative energy from literature to the student."
While speaking to a group of students in the digital media program at the Austin Art Institute, we broached the subject of the need for writers to stay tuned to the media/box office about what's hot and what's topical because this is an excellent way to get a read on what the execs are hoping to find and buy. As a case in point, I told them that now that The Kids are All Right has won a couple of Golden Globes and been nominated for no less than four Oscars, there will be more gay and lesbian relationship movies. 
