Book of Mercy #11-15

[lazariuk]

Tom's publishing, on his website, the edited version of this entire discussion

Is that the same Tom that sometimes deletes posts on this forum?
Tom does the editing?

[Manna]

As a Ted Kooser fan, a folksy girl, and as one who both trusts and mistrusts herself, I tend toward the less-mystical-more-linear-less-symbolic-more-oriented sensibility. So I guess I’ll do my best, out of context as it may be, to figure this out. And if I'm repeating someone without credit, I hope you can take it as our thoughts being in agreement rather than as plagiarism.

Blessed are you who, among the numberless swept away in terror, permitted a few to suffer carefully.

Some die quickly, some suffer, sometimes suffering brings one to a place they wouldn’t have otherwise achieved. It’s not the ones who suffer who are blessed, but the one who has allowed the suffering. Why is this? Some regard life itself as suffering. Leonard may have been one the day he wrote this.

Who put a curtain over a house so that a few could lower their eyes. Blessed be Ishmael, who taught us how to cover ourselves. Blessed are you who dressed the shivering spirit in a skin. Who made a fence of changing stars around your wisdom.

“Curtain over a house” sounds like the way the tabernacle was constructed. “So that a few could lower their eyes,” hmm. Not few, but a few. So I guess these are the same few who survive & suffer. And if they are to lower their eyes, then I guess their eyes were turned upward, unable to think about anything but G-d. And I think I agree that all these coverings are “various positions” on the idea of G-d’s hiding. I guess these few sentences say that it’s hard to know G-d, and that G-d designed it that way. If you have a tabernacle, you have a place where you can go when you need to have that connection, but you can’t spend your whole life there. Go live.

Blessed be the teacher of my heart, on his throne of patience. Blessed are you who circled desire with a blade, and the garden with fiery swords, and heaven and earth with a word. Who, in the terrible inferno, sheltered understanding, and keeps her still, beautiful and deeply concealed. Blessed are you who sweetens the longing between us. Blessed are you who binds the arm to the heart, and the will to the will. Who has written a name on a gate, that she might find it, and come into my room. Who defends a heart with strangerhood. Blessed are you who sealed a house with weeping. Blessed be Ishmael for all time, who covered his face with the wilderness, and came to you in darkness. Blessed be the covenant of love between what is hidden and what is revealed. I was like one who had never been caressed, when you touched me from a place in your name, and dressed the wound of ignorance with mercy. Blessed is the covenant of love, the covenant of mercy, useless light behind the terror, deathless song in the house of night.

But it’s also important to try – to look for and find G-d. And he is revealed in such things as death (seals a house with weeping), orgasm (sweetens the longing), love, life, mercy. In being human we can find G-d. Binding the arm to the heart means acting in a way that is not a self-betrayal. This is about the made-in-the-image thing and coming into G-d’s love.

As for she being the author’s soul, could be, I don’t know. You’d think his own soul would already be in his room, his body. It’s an interesting idea, though.

[lizzytysh]

Is that the same Tom that sometimes deletes posts on this forum?
Tom does the editing?

Tom, who is Jarkko's assigned assistant on this site [exact title doesn't matter], serves a number of functions on Jarkko's behalf and at Jarkko's pleasure. As part of this function, he has deleted some postings.

Tom also has a site of his own on Leonard that is excellent, as well; albeit not as complex [yet] as Jarkko's. There was mention of his pulling from the discussion in this section and group of threads on the Book of Mercy, so as to have a very functional piece available for those who visit his Croatian site and are interested in the book and wanting/needing clarification[s] for understanding and interest.

As one reads through the threads and postings, it is abundantly clear that not all of everything that's been written would be useful, informative, or appropriate for this compilation. With it being his site, that would be the ultimate destination for this material, he would of course be the one to determine what's best for inclusion and what is non-essential.

So, from that, I'm hoping you'll find the answer you're seeking, Jack.


~ Lizzy

[lazariuk]

Thanks Lizzy

You are so wonderful. If I ever meet Leonard on the streets of Montreal I will tell him that he should go over to Florida and kiss you for how much you go out of your way to be kind to those who have an interest in his stuff. You answered many of my questions.

You know what would be fun? If at the end that people go back and edit everything they wrote. Decide for themselves what they think is relevant after refecting on what they learned. It probably would end being a little kinder.

[lizzytysh]

If at the end that people go back and edit everything they wrote . . . It probably would end being a little kinder.

That's a good idea, and yes, you're right, it would be a little kinder.

Decide for themselves what they think is relevant after refecting on what they learned.

This would probably make it all much more concise; yet, part of the joy of learning is the discovery process and the way that thoughts evolve. I don't know that I [personally] would want it all whittled out of there. For this very reason, I feel it will be a difficult process for those who undertake it. It's also why I'm glad that these threads in this section will also remain in place. People can choose. It doesn't mean that the editing process you've suggested wouldn't serve their remaining here just as well, though .

I'm glad you found my explanation[s] helpful... of course, you must know that I'm wondering about the "many of" and what in your question might have been left unanswered... or, perhaps, some just went unasked.

If you ever meet Leonard on the streets of Montreal, just tell him I said Hi and that I wish him well... the him, of course, meaning Leonard and all of his loved ones. Thanks for such a delightful thought... if I weren't so reality-based, I might even find myself waiting . [I know you don't like those emoticons, but sometimes they just belong alongside certain things said.]


~ Lizzy

[lizzytysh]

Hi Manna ~

I appreciated reading your comments here. I especially liked this:

Some die quickly, some suffer, sometimes suffering brings one to a place they wouldn’t have otherwise achieved. It’s not the ones who suffer who are blessed, but the one who has allowed the suffering. Why is this? Some regard life itself as suffering. Leonard may have been one the day he wrote this.

I'm enjoying the way those posting here, including you, are revealing G~d as being in a hide-and-seek game with us. I liked your comments here on that:

But it’s also important to try – to look for and find G-d. And he is revealed in such things as death (seals a house with weeping), orgasm (sweetens the longing), love, life, mercy. In being human we can find G-d. Binding the arm to the heart means acting in a way that is not a self-betrayal. This is about the made-in-the-image thing and coming into G-d’s love.

~ Lizzy

[lazariuk]

Tom also has a site of his own on Leonard that is excellent, as well; albeit not as complex [yet] as Jarkko's.

Yes I just went and looked at it. Very good site. it had a reference to a song on it called "Anthem for the Broken Hearted" I was wondering if anyone knew if that was an older version of Anthem.

[Simon]

From A.M. KLEIN's Greeting on This Day

The muezzin upon the minaret
Announces dawn once more; the Moslem kneels;
Elation lifts the Jew from off his heels;
Izak and Ishmael are cousins met.
No desert cries encircle Omar's dome,
No tear erodes the Wall of ancient pain;
Once more may brothers dwell in peace at home;
Though blood was spattered, it has left no stain;
The greeting on this day is loud Shalom!
The white dove settles on the roof again.

I'm not quite sure yet how relevant this lead may be. Interesting essays on this poem by Klein;

Klein's Hath Net a Jew: in Search of Vision, by Rachel Feidhay Brenner>>>

"Greetings on This Day," however, concludes with a vision of peace. When the war is over, the humanistic ideal of brotherhood will finally materialize:

Izak and Ishmael are cousins met.
No desert cries encircle Omar's dome,
No tear erodes the Wall of ancient pain;
Once more may brothers dwell in peace at
home;
Though blood was spattered, it has left no
stain;
The greeting on this day is loud Shalom!
The white doves settle on the roofs again.
(CP, p. 128)

The concept of national rebirth redeems the Jew from his passivity and presents him with a new self-image of a proud, independent human being. The long tradition of queries, complaints, and arguments addressed to God by the self-pitying, weak Jew has been transformed into a song of triumphant self-assertion. Klein, therefore, celebrates Zionism not only as a political movement, but also as an indication of possible redemption. The undertaking of an active role in forging man's present and future signifies a process of emotional healing and maturation. Weakness has been replaced with potency; the restoration of Jewish self-respect and self-reliance will result in renewed brotherly relations between "Izak and Ishmael." In Klein's representation of the future, Isaiah's prophetic vision of universal peace comes true. The Jewish farmer and the Arab fallah will cultivate the land together. The moral rebirth of human society will start in the Promised Land: the Zionist orientation transcends the limited concept of a political answer to a national need and reminds mankind of its sacred responsibility to strive towards peaceful coexistence among individuals and nations.

Also:

(Jack, you will find here reference to Esther, King Ahasuerus and Vashti.)

IZAK AND ISHMAEL: A.M. KLEIN'S ZIONIST POETRY AND THE PALESTINIAN CONFLICT. by Richard Lemm >>>

It may also be interesting, in the context of this psalm, to have a look at Layton’s The Covenant, published in 1977.

And finally, for some reason, I find an echo in this psalm with the words of F. R. Scott in Villanelle For Our Time, that LC used on Dear Heather. Just after the words in the album's booklet he place the shield of the Order of the Unified Heart....

Words by Frank Scott (1899-1985)
Music by Leonard Cohen

From bitter searching of the heart,
Quickened with passion and with pain
We rise to play a greater part.
This is the faith from which we start:
Men shall know commonwealth again
From bitter searching of the heart.
We loved the easy and the smart,
But now, with keener hand and brain,
We rise to play a greater part.
The lesser loyalties depart,
And neither race nor creed remain
From bitter searching of the heart.
Not steering by the venal chart
That tricked the mass for private gain,
We rise to play a greater part.
Reshaping narrow law and art
Whose symbols are the millions slain,
From bitter searching of the heart
We rise to play a greater part.

Could the covenant be to rise to play a greater part in Love and Mercy, From bitter searching of the heart?

[tomsakic]

Hi Jack,

there's no relation between "Anthem of the Broken Hearted" from Songs for Rebecca - the only song from that abandoned album which didn't surfaced on bootlegs - and "Anthem", that's what at least the original author (William Ruhlmann) who wrote an article about that lost project said (or was said to, by Leonard). More about it on http://www.leonardcohenlive.com/storeroom/rebecca.htm - that's on Quebecois site I'm Your Live Man done by Jean-Francois, I had the opportunity to help him a little with some research.

After the album's release, Cohen and Lissauer began work on a new album that has never been released. "We did, I'd say, a side and a half," Cohen recalls, "I mean, six or seven songs together. I don't know why I squelched that. It just didn't have the... It had some great tunes on it, and I finally used one of them, "Came So Far From Beauty,' on a record [1979's Recent Songs]. But there were lots of tunes. There was 'Guerrero,' that nobody's ever heard or seen, but we did it on the tour and recorded it. There was an early song called 'Anthem,' no relation to this 'Anthem' [on The Future]. I can't find the thing, I can't find the tapes of it."

"The Stranger Music of Leonard Cohen", by William Ruhlmann, Goldmine, February 19, 1993. Reprinted on Speaking Cohen site


Idea of "editing" this discussion for online publishing follows the idea done for http://www.dearheather.com (which is hosted on my site, but it's actually part of DH.com) - I am referring to Old Ideas, a kind of discussion about Dear Heather songs, which was pulled of the discussions we had here in Dear Heather section when the album came out. The idea that we do similar with this, for each prayer, was mentioned earlier, particularly as Speaking Cohen site and mine are preparing small sub-page dedicated to BoM, which will contain two mp3s with the recitations from 1985, many reviews gathered and scanned by Simon (and posted earlier in this thread), interviews (same source & man:-), translations in 5-6 languages with all foreign covers (pulled from pages I did with Jarkko last year (Cover Gallery of Leonard Cohen's Books), and some quotes from Leoanrd and similar stuff. Thanks for Goddard reference, I tried hardly to trace it since you mentioned it. I always keep to forget that Rawlins/Dorman book as it has no index, and it's too tiny print and it's too big... Will use it on the BoM page (Speaking Cohen's, not the possible idea about making this discussion as an online article).


Sorry for off-topic-ing.

[lazariuk]

Thanks for Goddard reference, I tried hardly to trace it since you mentioned it. I always keep to forget that Rawlins/Dorman book as it has no index, and it's too tiny print and it's too big

It's amazing that a book with as much research as that one with information scattered in it so much would not have an index.
Very annoying.

Excellent site Tom

[tomsakic]

Thanks, we're trying as much we can.


"Very annoying" is even too little to say. This Goddard reference shows the problem, I even didn't pick up that book for couple of years now and it's probably full of unique references and ideas. I also didn't note anybody quoting it, while Nadel's is constantly quoted. I guess I should read it again, and note all good pages with "post-it" stickers Anyhow, I recall that book was given very bad reviews and feedback from many scholars (as being hagiography, or something like that) so it was never finished (announced 2nd book never came out), but recently I grew up enough to read Nadel's new edition with objective approach and see it's not less a hagiography and written very literary, but without objectivization outside of Cohen's perspective. Rawlins and Dorman were also criticised for their use of Cohen's texts as proofs, while Nadel also proves facts and events from Leonard's life with quotes from novels and songs

[mat james]

That's what these psalms are about - trying to locate that source of mercy

Jack's Leonard quote.

It seems to me DB that your response to my interpretation, and it seems Leonard's as well, was intriguingly dismissive.
Poor Leonard. You are telling him that his interpretation of his psalms is only one of many possible interpretations.

You people really know how to make a simple answer complicated.
Leonard is telling us how he locates that "source".
In fact he is rather repetative, in stating and re-stating this goal throughout these psalms so far..

What was that old saying about the blind leading the blind???


I would like to continue being polite:
but I can no longer do so.

I'm reminded of the Biblical saying " Do not throw your pearls before swine lest they trample them into the mud and turn on you to attack."

Leonard is a mystic.
He has experienced his G~d
and he is telling, through his Book of Mercy; how he did it.

Simple. Complete unto itself. End of story.

So wake up!!!!

Your's, not so humbly, Matj

[DBCohen]

OK, I've had enough. I'm out of here.

[lizzytysh]

Well, I'm a little baffled, Mat, in that even Leonard allows for differences in interpretations of what he writes, once what he's written is 'out there' ~ that's one of the beauties of what Leonard writes... that there's still room for us and our own interpretations; for application in our own lives, within it.

I'm just very interested in the Jewish tradition origins of what he's written; and, then, in the layers of mysticism, Christianity, other traditions and disciplines, as well as our personal interpretations and applications. They all come together into One, for me, with each their place... layer upon layer, none dross, for purposes of these threads... as, for me, each has its sparkle. Editing can come later for other applications. It reminds me, in a way, of that animated film about reality... and how each of ours varies so markedly. Such a great word, isn't it? Dross.


~ Lizzy

[tomsakic]

"Air! Air! Give us air!", as Leonard shouted in Death of a Lady's Man (p 129). Getting some fresh air over this nice weekend will help;-)