Sunday, October 13, 2013

What does it mean?

Two men. Both famous. Both geniuses. One Jewish from New York. One Muslim from Bombay. Can you name who they are?

And how does one explain their similarity in appearance? Leave your comments.


UPDATE 10-14-13

After getting some great comments, and thinking about them, here is my guess as to the cause of the resemblance.

First of all the man on the left is novelist Salman Rushdie, as many said, and the man on the right is filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, now deceased.

Years ago I did a post on sanskaras and forms titled Mould of the Impressions. In it I quoted Meher Baba as saying that the sanskaras (the residue of impressions left by experiences in the previous life) form a kind of mould for the shape the body will take in the next life. Thus it might stand to reason that like-impressions produce like-forms, meaning literally the shape and look of our bodies. Your sanskaras also effect your personality and interests.

How do the lives and personalities of Rushdie and Kubrick compare? Both are artists (one a novelist and the other a filmmaker; storytellers) and both are keenly intellectual and famous for it. Their work is very independent. Both are famous of course. In 2008, the London paper The Times ranked Rushdie thirteenth on its list of the fifty greatest British writers since 1945, while AMCTV ranks Kubrick #2 among the 50 best filmmakers of all time. Both lived near London, though neither was born there. Both married several times.

They are not ethnically the same. Rushdie is of Kashmiri descent, while Kubrick was Jewish, so ethnicity does not seem to account for their similar appearance. The themes and genres of their work are also not similar. Rushdie wrote in the genre of magical realism, dealing with the theme of East and West. While Kubrick worked in many genres on many themes, magical realism and East and West not being among them.

I don't really know, just a guess. Thank you for the comments.


UPDATE 11-4-13

After writing the above, I realized I was grasping at straws. But where's the harm in that? Then a person commented below and gave an even more interesting suggestion, equally playful and imaginative.
I could also let my imagination run along the limits that Baba has shown and suggest that maybe in their previous lifetime they aspired so strongly and fixedly on a common teacher who looked like they ended up looking in this lifetime, though they were born so widely apart.
This got me imagining the many known traditional images of Zen masters of the past. Could they have shared a single Zen master in some long forgotten past, and having focussed on him and his teachings so strongly they came back looking just like him? (:

I conclude with some intriguingly similar images of ancient Zen masters.


But here's another possibility. It's simply an amazing coincidence.


UPDATE 8-7-14

This video I added is by my friend Frankie Paradiso. It's both funny and thought provoking.

13 comments:

  1. On the right is writer Salman Rushdie. Sometimes people resemble each other because we are all descended from Adam & Eve. The beards, balding, & glasses also increase the resemblance.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stanley Kubrick on the right and Salman Rushdie on the left. They look like identical twins.

    ReplyDelete
  3. They both are from the so-called Semetic Race? Jai Baba. Are they "dopplegangers"? One is dead, SK. Jai Baba from Rom.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Owing to the Muslim invasion of northern India the ethnic groups there are intermixed with Arabs, who are Semitic. South India was not invaded by Muslims (thanks to Shivaji) and the South Indians have a distinctive look (Dravidian?).

      Delete
    2. Also 'Jewish' is not an ethnic group; it would be Ashkenazi--his parents were of Polish, Austrian, Romanian and other European Jewish heritage. Ashkenazi Jews may have Semitic or non-Semitic genetic heritage. There is some debate but it seems reasonable that they would be partly Semitic.

      Delete
    3. Thanks for the points Kendra, I find this information very interesting and useful to keep in mind.

      Delete
  4. WOW...what an eerie resemblance. I thought they were both Salman Rushdie!! Seriously, looks like the same guy or identical twins! Separated at birth?!?!?! Didn't Baba say there are 7 other people that look exactly like each of us in this world?

    ReplyDelete
  5. As far as my curiosity for an answer goes, sanskaras may be a most defining mold for one's physical form, but then why did they have so much similar sanskaras. I think there is no answer to such a coincidence that doesn't raise the next question. I like Talat Halman's explanation, not so much because I take Adam and Eve literally, I think it is profoundly symbolic, but because it sounds like "it was God's will". I could also let my imagination run along the limits that Baba has shown and suggest that maybe in their previous lifetime they aspired so strongly and fixedly on a common teacher who looked like they ended up looking in this lifetime, though they were born so widely apart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like that idea, that they both had the same teacher, who looked like this, and such focus caused them to both reflect him in their next life. Neat idea. Each looks a bit like a Zen master.

      Delete
    2. I don't agree that there is look common to zen masters. Maybe what u mean is a rigorous type of teacher or a crazy wisdom teacher?

      Delete
    3. I half agree with Kendra in that I see no Zen-look in their faces. Zen tends to be tranquil and wise, not genious and sharp. I am not sure what a rigorous type means, but at least Kubrick is very good in what he does, systematic, thorough, with deep understanding of art and people, so far from "crazy". Given the content of his work I would say "dark" instead.

      Delete
    4. Well, actually his work does end up always in notes of positivity, but it includes dark issues, so I should have said "with a dark taint" instead. He by no means dark in the end message his films convey. Like Baba advised in Hollywood, his films bring a hope for good to prevail.

      Delete
    5. If a reincarnated soul takes on the appearance of a previous teacher, then at some point in the future there would be thousands and thousands of Baba lookalikes!

      Delete