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Some by maturing, some by germination

When he had gone through all sorts of asceticism,
when he lay wasting in the gutter,
when he was being nursed by a whore
who sold herself more often now to cover the expenses,
it gradually dawned on him that possibly,
just about possibly,
a living body is not meant for us to harm it.

When he had gone through all sorts of ideas,
when he was sitting under a tree,
still recovering,
although not by his own merit,
it gradually dawned on him that possibly,
just about possibly,
a living mind's not meant for us to harm it either.

When he had spoken all sorts of words,
when he was surrounded by the many,
when transmission seemed desirable,
he, who does not cause death, picked a flower,
and nobody took any notice.
Yet when he slowly turned the wilting flower by the stem,
suddenly one of them smiled.
•
One never really knows in advance which way it is going to happen,
nor how much will be needed
to welcome the banality of ordinary day light.

.
Rain, falling for days.
Drops show the roof is leaking.
Frogs watch from the pond.

Burst pomegranate.
Sparrows busy everywhere.
Red seeds in the soil.
•
Red seeds in the soil.
Sparrows busy everywhere.
Burst pomegranate.

Frogs watch from the pond.
Drops show the roof is leaking.
Rain, falling for days.
•
Burst pomegranate.
Sparrows busy everywhere.
Red seeds in the soil.

Rain, falling for days.
Drops show the roof is leaking.
Frogs watch from the pond.

A letter

To
Mrs Lilith, Esq.
Poste restante
Neanderthal

Dear Granny,

remember when you showed me the old Lagmite-Henge?
And me then trying to build a small one of my own, using sticks and twigs?
Nowadays, the structure is somewhat in disrepair; but it got them wondering about things...
https://news.cnrs.fr/videos/cave-struct ... anderthals
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2763.htm

Love,
your great-great-great-grandson Jean

Teachings

Once, a young cat of mine wasn't sufficiently autonomous yet to live outside.
In order for her not to get bored when she was alone in the house, I tied a wine-cork to a string hanging from the ceiling; and according to how much length I held, I could make the cork wheel faster or slower, and in wider or narrower circles or ellipses.

Pretty soon the cat had invented a game of her own: she would run with the cork, and, when it got too slow for her liking, give it a tap with her front paw to speed it up. At the same time, she'd carefully keep her head turned the other way, so as not to see what her paw was doing behind her back; and then she'd discover, surprised, that the cork was a lot faster now — and bolt after it.

And thus my little kitten was the one who taught me the purely human craft of elaborating myths.

Update — Letter to Granny Lilith

1) The second link in my letter to Granny Lilith has become inconclusive.

2) Until 13th August 2019, the following link leads to an update in replay on Arte, a Franco-German cultural TV channel (unfortunately not in English — only in German, in French, in French with French subtitles, and in French with Polish subtitles):
https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/078144-00 ... -bruniquel

What was discovered is, that the traces of fire, 175,000 years old, are due to grease lamps made of big mammal bones. They provide some 2 hours of light each.

What has not been investigated so far is, what was lit by those grease lamps. The construction site during the job itself, obviously — but then? The film shows amazingly little of the background in the cavern, nor of the way the light comes out of the lamps and illuminates this background.
The play of light and shadow in the cave is as yet mysterious.
For the "Grotte Chauvet", the hypothesis of a 35,000-year-old "proto-cinema" seems to be considered rather seriously; but about this Neanderthal artefact, 140,000 years older, the scientists are strangely silent.
Imagine a tourist guide in Paris, "Ville lumière", telling you this is a lamppost, and that is a lamppost, too, and that thing over there is a lamppost as well… A bit meagre, isn't it.

They say the structure is made of some 400 pieces, totalling a weight of some 2,300 kg. There are another 400 pieces "discarded", but the scientists don't tell how they know this, nor do they show how those "discarded" pieces are disposed.

They call the structure a "dam" ("barrage"), so it seems to be an artificial lake or water mirror, with lights about it. Very nice to look at with seven fires burning (on the video from 36:17 to 36:45) — but no idea where the observers used to be and what they did, or what they watched.
We see the Neanderthals at work from 48:15 to 48:49; and for the time being, simply building the structure seems to be considered an end in itself…

My Granny Lilith hasn't answered yet, so I don't know whether she got my letter.
Next time I might ask her if she can tell me more about the Neanderthal performances in that cave.

Jean Fournell wrote: ↑Wed Jun 01, 2016 11:34 pm Some by maturing, some by germination

welcome the banality of ordinary day light.

Welcome

Gassho

合掌