30.11.13

Cuando escuché al docto astrónomo

 Steve Jurvetson. La Vía Láctea.

Cuando escuché al docto astrónomo,
cuando me presentaron en columnas
las pruebas y guarismos,
cuando me mostraron las tablas y diagramas
para medir, sumar y dividir,
cuando escuché al astrónomo discurrir
con gran aplauso de la sala,
qué pronto me sentí inexplicablemente
hastiado,
hasta que me escabullí de mi asiento y
me fui a caminar solo,
en el húmedo y místico aire nocturno,
mirando de rato en rato,
en silencio perfecto a las estrellas.

Cuando escuché al docto astrónomo
Walt Whitman

Versión de Leandro Wolfson 

glass cube galaxy


Using three-dimensional data from Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory, 80,000 stars in the Milky Way is laser-etched in a glass cube. The earth is placed in the located directly in the center.


Lembra-me uma passagem de Auguries of Innocence de William Blake:

“To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.”

Reminds me of a passage from Auguries of Innocence by William Blake

.

22.9.13

Try to remember some details

(born Ludwig Pfueffer, May 3, 1924 – September 22, 2000)



Try to remember some details. Remember the clothing
of the one you love
so that on the day of disaster you'll be able to say: last seen
wearing such-and-such, brown jacket, white hat.
Try to remember some details. For they have no face
and their soul is hidden and their crying
is the same as their laughter,
and their silence and their shouting rise to one height
and their body temperature is between 98 and 104 degrees
and they have no life outside this narrow space
and they have no graven image, no likeness, no memory
and they have paper cups on the day of their rejoicing
and disposable paper plates.

Try to remember some details. For the world
is filled with people who were torn from their sleep
with no one to mend the tear,
and unlike wild beasts they live
each in his lonely hiding place and they die
together on battlefields
and in hospitals.
And the earth will swallow all of them,
good and evil together, like the followers of Korah,
all of them in their rebellion against death,
their mouths open till the last moment,
and blessing and cursing in a single
howl. Try, try
to remember some details.

~
Yehuda Amichai, The Art of Poetry No. 44, Interviewed by Lawrence Joseph (The Paris Review)

o deserto

Lehner & Landrock, 1924

Dios creó una tierra llena de agua para que los hombres pudiesen vivir y una tierra sin agua para que los hombres tengan sed, y un desierto; una tierra con agua y sin ella, para que los hombres encuentren su alma... 

Proverbio tuareg ~ Traducción de Plácido de Prada




“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it”

George Santayana

9.9.13

...las Ítacas

Konstantino P. Kavafis, 1900 Alejandría. Fuente: Wikipedia
Constantino Petrou Cavafis  (Κωνσταντίνος Πέτρου Καβάφης.)

Alejandría, Egipto; 29 de abril de 1863 – 29 de abril de 1933

Ιθάκη


Σα βγείς στον πηγαιμό για την Ιθάκη,
να εύχεσαι νάναι μακρύς ο δρόμος,
γεμάτος περιπέτειες, γεμάτος γνώσεις.
Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον θυμωμένο Ποσειδώνα μη φοβάσαι,
τέτοια στον δρόμο σου ποτέ σου δεν θα βρείς,
αν μέν' η σκέψις σου υψηλή, αν εκλεκτή
συγκίνησις το πνεύμα και το σώμα σου αγγίζει.
Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον άγριο Ποσειδώνα δεν θα συναντήσεις,
αν δεν τους κουβανείς μες στην ψυχή σου,
αν η ψυχή σου δεν τους στήνει εμπρός σου.
Να εύχεσαι νάναι μακρύς ο δρόμος.
Πολλά τα καλοκαιρινά πρωϊά να είναι
που με τι ευχαρίστησι, με τι χαρά
θα μπαίνεις σε λιμένας πρωτοειδωμένους·
να σταματήσεις σ' εμπορεία Φοινικικά,
και τες καλές πραγμάτειες ν' αποκτήσεις,
σεντέφια και κοράλλια, κεχριμπάρια κ' έβενους,
και ηδονικά μυρωδικά κάθε λογής,
όσο μπορείς πιο άφθονα ηδονικά μυρωδικά·
σε πόλεις Αιγυπτιακές πολλές να πας,
να μάθεις και να μάθεις απ' τους σπουδασμένους.

Πάντα στον νου σου νάχεις την Ιθάκη.
Το φθάσιμον εκεί είν' ο προορισμός σου.
Αλλά μη βιάζεις το ταξίδι διόλου.
Καλλίτερα χρόνια πολλά να διαρκέσει·
και γέρος πια ν' αράξεις στο νησί,
πλούσιος με όσα κέρδισες στον δρόμο,
μη προσδοκώντας πλούτη να σε δώσει η Ιθάκη.

Η Ιθάκη σ' έδωσε το ωραίο ταξίδι.
Χωρίς αυτήν δεν θάβγαινες στον δρόμο.
Αλλο δεν έχει να σε δώσει πια.

Κι αν πτωχική την βρεις, η Ιθάκη δεν σε γέλασε.
Ετσι σοφός που έγινες, με τόση πείρα,
ήδη θα το κατάλαβες η Ιθάκες τι σημαίνουν.


ÍTACA


Si vas a emprender el viaje a Ítaca,
pide que tu camino sea largo,
rico en experiencias, en conocimiento.
A Lestrigones y a Cíclopes,
al airado Poseidón nunca temas,
no hallarás tales seres en tu ruta
si alto es tu pensamiento y limpia
la emoción de tu espíritu y tu cuerpo.
A Lestrigones y a Cíclopes,
ni al fiero Poseidón hallarás nunca,
si no los llevas dentro de tu alma,
si no es tu alma quien ante ti los pone.
Pide que tu camino sea largo.

Que numerosas sean las mañanas de verano
en que con placer, felizmente
arribes a bahías nunca vistas,
detente en los emporios de Fenicia
y adquiere hermosas mercancías,
medreperla y coral, y ámbar y ébano,
perfumes deliciosos y diversos,
cuanto puedas invierte en voluptuosos y delicados perfumes;
visita muchas ciudades de Egipto
y con avidez aprende de sus sabios.
Ten siempre a Ítaca en la memoria.

Llegar ahí es tu meta.
Mas no apresures el viaje.
Mejor que se extienda largos años;
y en tu vejez arribes a la isla
con cuanto hayas ganado en el camino,
sin esperar que Ítaca te enriquezca.

Ítaca te regaló un hermoso viaje.
Sin ella el camino no hubieras emprendido.
Mas ninguna otra cosa puede darte.

Aunque pobre la encuentres, no te engañará Ítaca.
Rico en saber y en vida, como has vuelto,
comprendes ya qué significan las Ítacas.


Poemas Canónicos(1895-1915)
(Traducción de José María Álvarez)
Constantino P. Kavafis

31.8.13

Ruta & Daitya



'De um certo ponto adiante não há mais retorno. Esse é o ponto que deve ser alcançado." 
Franz Kafka

Majakowski
Alexander Rodchenko, 1920's


Amar não é aceitar tudo.

Aliás: onde tudo é aceito,

desconfio que há falta de amor.

Vladimir Maiakóvski

30.8.13




Pureza

                          Lá onde
a raiz da tua alma principia
há uma virgem que de ti se esconde
             e foge como estrela à flor do dia


Luís Veiga Leitão

(1943-1983)

imagem: Pina Bausch

Ojime

Ojime . ca. 1920. Ivory.
2 cm. ( 0.75")
 
Japanese netsuke are little carvings, mostly made out of ivory or wood, as handling pieces, or toggles.

A netsuke will always have a couple of linked holes, or a deliberate gap often between a tail or leg, for a cord to be attached so that they could be used as a toggle. They were then most often attached to an inro.

An inro is a decorated lacquer container, consisting of a number of interlocking compartments, usually there are between 2 to 6 compartments, all held together on a cord.

An ojime, this is a decorative bead, is then threaded onto the cord so that once pushed down towards the inro, it keeps all the compartments closed. Ojime can be carved metal, ivory or stone beads. These inro were then used for carrying such small personal items as seals and pills and became fashionable with the Kimono.

The kimono had no pockets so the inro, held closed by the ojime, would be worn hanging from the sash; the netsuke was then, pushed up under the sash, thus trapping and holding the inro in place. (Edited text from John Neville Cohen website )



maravilhamento


"em pequeno, costumava maravilhar-me com o facto de que as letras de um livro fechado não se misturassem e se perdessem no decorrer da noite".  ~ Jorge Luis Borges


Un bambino che legge sarà un adulto che pensa...
Photo · Alicja Dybowska

17.8.13

Ítaca




«Cuando emprendas tu viaje a Ítaca
pide que el camino sea largo,
lleno de aventuras, lleno de experiencias».

Konstantino P. Kavafis

Zen Meditation: It’s Not What You Think!

 
In Zen meditation, there is nothing mysterious magical nor; is it a mental exercise as precise, practical and effective as is physical exercise and breathing for energy. In fact, words do not exist that can accurately describe what happens during the “inner alchemy” of deep meditation Before turning the page and abandoning this article because it does not relate to your current interests or because “I don’t have time”, or because it seems “New Age” or related to Hari Krishna, hippies, or who knows what other obscure religion, Zen Meditation goes beyond acts of faith, although it has become a part of Buddhism. It is an age old practice originating in China, but it has penetrated other cultures like Korea and Japan, due to its “effectiveness” and, has not only survived, but even arrived in the West years ago, it has since been recognized for its “health benefits”. Like allopathic medicine, it is based on scientist research. Sit in a comfortable position and try to achieve calmness and freedom from mental debris through an inner dialogue, slow down and regulate your pulse and all your vital biorhythms, especially those of the heart and respiratory system, that in turn regulate all the others body functions. This is why meditation is an excellent therapy for sufferers of hypertension, nervousness, premature ejaculation, indigestion, chronic anxiety and other side-effects of stress and tension and the subsequent imbalance of vital functions.
We know that while we sleep, our body rests and recovers energy, but the mind moves through other realities and fantasies, on such an exciting trip that some people don’t want to move during the night. That’s why, for those practicing meditation, it is the only way to provide “complete mental tranquility”, because the body relaxes so completely that it brings about restoration of overall vitality of the body.
In fact, words do not exist that can accurately describe what happens during the “inner alchemy” of deep meditation, that opens localized fields of consciousness well beyond the reach of words and rational thought. The true intention is to sit quietly without doing anything. It consists of completely emptying the mind of all conceptual thoughts and to leave the spirit to dwell in the emptiness, the silence and the calm.
In Zen meditation, there is nothing mysterious magical nor; is it a mental exercise as precise, practical and effective as is physical exercise and breathing for energy. Most important, it is a discipline and to learn the techniques that facilitate the accomplishment of this mental exercise, you can find it in books, but it is better if someone with experience guide you;

Hokusai

 The Great Wave off Kanagawa


What is Zen?



The answer that my grand teacher would always give to this question was, “Zen is very simple. What are you?” In this world today, as it has been since human beings began to discriminate and to think, we all began searching for satisfaction outside of ourselves; however, because it seems almost counter-intuitive very few of us ever seek to find happiness within ourselves. Listening to typical conversations we hear others speak of this thing that is labeled “I.” Also, if we have enough internal witness and we listen to our own speech it may surprise us how many times we also use the word “I’ in our conversations. We all talk about this “I” as if it had a separate self, as if this “I” were somehow existent outside of us. We say things like, “I want this,” or “I am like this” but how many of us truly understand this “I” of which we speak, and where does our “I” come from?

In Zen we sometimes ask, “before you were born, before your mother and father conceived you, what was your original nature?” Along these same lines we might ask; when we die, where will we go? If we can sincerely ask ourselves, ‘What am I?’ Eventually we will run into a wall where all thinking is cut off. In our Zen Lineage we call this ‘don’t know;’ however, this state of perception is not exclusive to Zen and other traditions call this state by different names. Christians may call it Christ Consciousness, Jews may call it, YHWH, Daoists might call it the Great and Ineffable Dao, the great twentieth Century Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki Roshi called it Beginner’s Mind, consequently each path has a separate name for this one state of mind. So, Zen practice is about keeping a don’t-know mind always and everywhere.

when walking, standing, sitting, lying down, speaking,
being silent moving, being still...
at all times, in all places, without interruption–what is this?
one mind is infinite kalpas. Zen Master Seung Sahn

We define meditation in Zen as maintaining a don’t-know mind when bowing, chanting, as well as during seated meditation. Yet, for us in this modern twenty first century it is highly important to keep this don’t know mind every minute of our waking life. There are no special forms of existence or places that will take us out of our current situation or condition; this is the place where we try to escape reality by using drugs, alcohol, video games, the company of others, etc. In and of themselves, these actions are not good or not bad, it is just that it all boils down to a simple question. “Do you control your thinking, or does your thinking control you?” For most of us we have a constant dialog going on in our heads, but who is it that we are talking with? We create this separation inside our own heads. If we can stop this endless train of thoughts, this constitutes what we call formal Zen practice, and it isn’t what we think. We may think that we must meditate, or go off to a mountain top in silence to find ourselves; but Buddha taught that if we are ever to wake up to our own humanity it must be in this very moment. By keeping a don’t know mind when we are doing something, we can just do it. When driving, we just drive; when eating, we can just eat; when working we can just work.

Eventually our don’t know-mind will become clear. Then when we see the sky, there is only blue—when we see the tree, there is only green. Our mind becomes like a clear untarnished mirror­­­—if red appears the mirror reflects red; if white appears the mirror reflects white. If a hungry person arrives, we can give some food; if a thirsty person arrives, we can give something to quench their thirst. In the end there is no desire for myself, only for all sentient beings. This mind is already enlightened; it is what we call Great Love, Great Compassion, and the Great Bodhisattva Way. Zen is very simple, it is not difficult!

Posted by Rev. Paul Dōch'ŏng Lynch  Zen Mirror: What is Zen?


Understanding is the essence of love.

Okimono

 Okimono in the shape of a pine cone. 19th C.
Ivory. 50 cm. Made in Japan.@ The British Museum

Okimono is a Japanese term for objects for display in front of religious altars, in a tokonoma, or in other such special spaces for setting objects to be appreciated.
An okimono may be a small Japanese carving, similar to, but larger than netsuke. Unlike netsuke, which had a specific purpose, okimono were purely decorative and were displayed in the tokonoma.


13.8.13

breathe | zen habit

The Jiangyou Figure Hill Temple. Simple iron chain bridge, China, 1930's


smile, breathe & go slowly



The Art Of Imperfect Beauty




Wabi-sabi (侘寂)
O expoente máximo de todos os valores estéticos: encontrar beleza em tudo, tal como são na verdadeira essência... depois disto o conceito de arte (como se conhece) deixa de ter qualquer importância... ficam uns links para quem quiser saber mais




Time and Space

Time and Space, 2nd edition by Barry Dainton
2010 | 448 Pages | ISBN: 1844651916 , 1844651908 | PDF | 5 MB


The first edition (2001) quickly established itself on courses on the philosophy of time and space. This fully revised and expanded new edition sees the addition of chapters on Zeno's paradoxes, speculative contemporary developments in physics, and dynamic time, making the second edition, once again, unrivalled in its breadth of coverage. Surveying both historical debates and the ideas of modern physics, Barry Dainton evaluates the central arguments in a clear and unintimidating way and is careful to keep the conceptual issues throughout comprehensible to students with little scientific or mathematical training. The book makes the philosophy of space and time accessible for anyone trying to come to grips with the complexities of this challenging subject. With over 100 original line illustrations and a full glossary of terms, the book has the requirements of students firmly in sight and will continue to serve as an essential textbook for philosophy of time and space courses.




do silêncio dos livros



Um dos primeiros ... livros do mundo.
É chamado "Cilindro de Ciro" e contém um conjunto de leis e indicações para o bom governo do povo.
Foi mandado fazer pelo rei persa, Ciro, o Grande, após a conquista da Babilónia em 539a.C.
Mede cerca de 24,5 cm de comprimento está gravado em argila numa escrita cuneiforme acádio.

Em 1971, a ONU publicou o texto completo em todas as línguas dos países membros como a primeira declaração de direitos humanos da história.
[British Museum, Londres]

11.8.13

"Figuras do Espanto"

A Noiva Manchú
John Thomson, primeiro fotojornalista. 1867.





Para ser grande, sê inteiro: nada
     Teu exagera ou exclui.
Sê todo em cada coisa. Põe quanto és
      No mínimo que fazes.
Assim em cada lago a lua toda
       Brilha, porque alta vive.

                                                                 (1933)

Fernando Pessoa - Odes de Ricardo Reis



Max Ernst - The Marriage of Heaven and Earth (1962)

Há pessoas que transformam o sol
numa simples mancha amarela, mas
também há aquelas que fazem de uma
simples mancha amarela o próprio sol...

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)




A linha que nos separa de um bom trabalho e um mau trabalho não é nítida

a fronteira entre a excelência e a mediocridade é ténue
facilmente caímos na vulgaridade
muito, muito facilmente, caímos na merda


 

!!!!!! ~~~~~~ : )

A uma bicicleta desenhada na cela

Stanko Abadzic / Bicycle art on wall, 2008


A uma bicicleta desenhada na cela


Nesta parede que me veste
da cabeça aos pés, inteira,
bem hajas, companheira,
as viagens que me deste.

Aqui,
onde o dia é mal nascido,
jamais me cansou
o rumo que deixou
o lápis proibido…

Bem haja a mão que te criou!

Olhos montados no teu selim
pedalei, atravessei
e viajei
para além de mim.


Luís Veiga Leitão

9.8.13

la mar

El viejo y el mar 1982 by Edouard Boubat

Sempre pensava no mar como la mar, que é o que o povo lhe chama em espanhol, quando o ama. Às vezes, aqueles que gostam do mar dizem mal dele, mas sempre o dizem como se ele fosse mulher. Alguns dos pescadores mais novos, os que usam bóias por flutuadores e têm barcos a motor, comprados quando os fígados de tubarão davam muito dinheiro, dizem el mar, que é masculino. Falavam dele como de um antagonista, um lugar, até um inimigo. Mas o velho sempre pensava no mar como feminino, como algo que entrega ou recusa favores supremos, e se tresvariava ou fazia maldades era porque não podia deixar de as fazer. A lua influi no mar como as mulheres, pensava ele.

Ernest Hemingway - The old man and the sea - O Velho e o mar, trad. Jorge de Sena, ed. Livros do Brasil, 1956.

Los amantes de Valardo




Fornicar - pensava Beno -, fornica-se com quem quer que seja ou quem seduzimos e desejamos. Mas dormir, dormir é muito mais complicado, leva tempo até se perder o medo de se entregar o corpo, assim... ao outro.

E a lassidão dos corpos abandonados aos segredos do sono um do outro... é bela!


Al Berto in Lunário
imagem: Los amantes de Valardo o el abrazo de 6000 años

8.8.13

Gogo No-Eiko




Digo-te uma coisa, no entanto: por mais tempo que se passe no alto mar, nunca conseguimos habituar-nos às tempestades. Quero dizer que de todas as vezes que se está no meio duma, pensamos que chegou a nossa vez. E olha que no dia anterior a esta, o pôr-do-sol parecia mesmo um incêndio, o vermelho do céu estava tingido de negro e a água do mar tinha ficado calma de repente, como um lago. Eu tinha a sensação de que ia passar-se qualquer coisa.

Yukio Mishima ~ O marinheiro que perdeu as graças do mar, Assírio&Alvim 1985
The sailor who fell from grace with the sea

photo: Pedro Luis Raota

Los agachados

Los agachados, 1934
Manuel Álvarez Bravo, fotógrafo mexicano (1902 – 2002)

O Velho e o Mar





A vida de um Poeta, seja qual, é sempre maior que a sua poesia, qual a maior. Rimbaud ou Rilke. Porquanto nele as palavras, todas as palavras intactas se quebram. …No fundo o poema, qualquer poema, é um canto de derrota: silêncio e voz de fracturas.

Luís Veiga Leitão
(1943-1983) 

photo: Arseniy Semyonov

O silêncio dos livros

Walter Benjamin

1.8.13

!!!!!!

Walter Benjamin's library card, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1940
“There are perhaps paths that lead us again and again to people who have one and the same function for us: passageways that always, in the most diverse periods of life, guide us to the friend, the betrayer, the beloved, the pupil or the master."
Walter Benjamin 

o homem invisível



Aquele homem era invisível, mas ninguém se apercebeu disso.

Aquel hombre era invisible, pero nadie se percató de ello.
Por Gabriel Jiménez Emán

imagem: ca. 1870, “Top Hat”, Eli W. Buel ~ via the George Eastman House Collection, Carte de Visite and Cabinet Cards on Flickr

31.7.13

no answers, just stories...


I am almost a hundred years old; waiting for the end, and thinking about the beginning.
There are things I need to tell you, but would you listen if I told you how quickly time passes?
I know you are unable to imagine this.

Nevertheless, I can tell you that you will awake someday to find that your life has rushed by at a speed at once impossible and cruel. The most intense moments will seem to have occurred only yesterday and nothing will have erased the pain and pleasure, the impossible intensity of love and its dog-leaping happiness, the bleak blackness of passions unrequited, or unexpressed, or unresolved.
You get old and you realize there are no answers, just stories...

― Meg Rosoff, What I Was
Photography: Ania Powalowska
www.fotografka.eu/


29.7.13

ideias... pedras... e amor


Dry stone wall with tree built by Eric Landman in memeory of his wife Kerry. 

[Kerry Landman Memorial, Island Lake Conservation Area, Mono, Ontario. The main wall is Limestone with local rounded granite fieldstones that were found on site to represent the leaves. A lot of them had green moss on them that added to the effect of the stones looking like foliage.]

o resto está aqui contado

Source - stoneartblog.blogspot.com