I find myself momentarily dumbstruck. I am rarely dumbstruck; people who know me will confirm that. They will tell you I'm dumb, but that I am almost never at a loss for words. But it does happen. It's got to be a pretty odd situation though. Sometimes someone will come along and say something to me so striking, that for a moment my eyes just dart back and forth and I can't reply -- no matter how witty I might otherwise think I am. And this usually produces laughter, especially in the one who has so caught me by surprise to shut me up. OK. You win. I'm finally dumbstruck.
Well one of these is currently nagging at me. I mean I'm completely stumped what to say. I see something that I don't know how to point out without displeasing Baba, by breaking some well-meaning person's heart. So I've decided not to say anything at all. Instead, I'm going to do something I never do. I'm going to ask this blog reader to see if he or she can connect any dots. Of course I'll put some yellow highlights around a few dots, but you connect them.
For a brief period anyone on the planet with an internet connection can comment on this site, anonymous or not. You needn't even login. You just click 'comment' (at the bottom) and write whatever comes to your mind. Cause I would prefer to hear if anyone sees what I see before I say it in a later post. Cause maybe I'm seeing cross-eyed.
So, this post is titled, Where's Waldo Now?
Let me know if anything strikes you as odd. Cause if it's odd, that's the "Waldo" I'm looking for.
Start here
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Also, be sure to check out Jerry Edwards, Jazz and Blues, at Entertainment Adventures.
Testing to see if this is really open to public. I see that when prompted with "Select profile" you should choose "Anonymous" if not logged in.
ReplyDeletejust wanting to prove this works...and promote my website, which goes without saying. And mention I ACTUALLY SAW THAT NEW WHERE'S WALDO BOOK IN THE LIBRARY! What do I get? Happy blogging and living, Chris!
ReplyDeleteYay, I'm published!
ReplyDeletelots of words for dumbstruck i.e. at a loss for words.. :)
ReplyDeleteSoooo yes, Waldo is in plain sight. Someone wanted Feram's role to be eliminated, and Fenster's role to be inserted in that hole. Who did the editing? Does anyone know? Does it matter? Yes of course it does.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand is the continual desire, in the Discourses, in Meher Prabhu, in other works I'm not aware of, for people behind the scenes in the publishing world to CHANGE (mess with, omit, embellish, rearrange, substitute words, alter meanings, etc) the original works sanctioned by Meher Baba.
It"s gotten so I've purged my library of anything not published during Baba's time. Infinite Intelligence, the later editions of Discourses, and now the new on-line (and soon to be published?) version of Meher Prabhu is, to me, a travesty of major proportions.
What in the world is wrong with the original works? Can people not see the arrogance (and damage) inherent in assuming their unsanctioned "corrections" are superior to the original works?
Baba gave us so many written words as it is to ponder, and always the caution that words are not where the meaning will be found. Now we have corrupted sources on top of corrupted sources...perhaps that is, finally, the leela. Perhaps it is Baba's will that we soon muddle everything so thoroughly we will have nothing reliable to go on for historical accuracy in these matters, so we will need to fall back on the one true resource we have for understanding all: the silence in our hearts.
David Fenster did the editing. There were many witnesses to the fact that Feram worked on translating the original Hindi text. He was not just a typist taking dictation.
DeleteBut what if *Infinite Intelligence* is the "Bible" Baba wrote, had carried around, and showed to Gandhi. He said one day his "Bible" would be published. I think he often said that *God Speaks* contained 90% of that Bible and that Bhau's *Nothing and Everything* contained 10% of that. I'm divided on the status of the posthumous works, but tend to accept them.
DeleteMy view on Infinite Intelligence (the original notes) is that it could not have been written by anyone who didn't have first hand experience of its subject matter. The Nothing And The Everything I take it as Bhau's work but guided by notes and by inner influence by Baba. In my opinion it should have Bhau's signature. For some reason, the German translation/edition has Meher Baba's name under the title, which I do not think is how Baba meant it to be. But Lord Meher is an entirely different issue. Here we have clearly Bhau's notes for writing the Hindi verse biography that Meher Baba asked him to write and the translation of these notes in English by Feram Workingboxwala and various editing rounds done to this translation. Bhau never claimed it was God-inspired nor did he mention anywhere Baba's inner guiding in writing these notes. He just made clear that Baba's wish for him was to write the Hindi verse biography.
Delete"I want you all to take particular note that I would feel happy if each one of you not only possessed but read and digested God Speaks from the first to the last page." (LM 4662 ca. 1986)
ReplyDelete"I have a personal desire which I wish you to bring into fulfillment - take a pen and paper and write down the following: I want you to each own a copy of my book and then read each page and then eat them, not the covers, but all the pages beginning to end." (LM 4662 ca. 2026)
Too funny ^ Yes! Thanks. Humor is appreciated.
DeleteI don't believe that the "Where's Waldo" books are good for young children. The books are too busy and cluttered and force children to focus on little details. Little children should be encourage to see the big, expansive picture. Thus says the ghost of Rudolf Steiner.
ReplyDeleteRoger Bird
My children are SPECTACULAR, happy, wholesome, sweet, kind, responsible, insightful, sexually responsible. I had to and am dealing with exactly ZERO teenage angst. No typical teen problems at all. I applied spiritual values and insights, including but not limited to Rudolf Steiner and Inayat Khan, to my child rearing practices. And I have to say that I can honestly believe that I was very successful.
DeleteRoger Bird
My children are sometimes sad, selfish, irresponsible at times, but mature beyond their years other times. They've been through drug problems, heartache, silliness, wrong turns. There was plenty of teenage angst, all the typical problems.
DeleteI had no insights, no clue about spirituality, made so many mistakes, and luckily because I received help from every direction, they are first rate humans, with all their flaws, as are all humans. They are children of God, as are all children. Unlike you, I was not very successful as a parent. I was imperfect as hell.
Good parents can have children who struggle, have challenges, physical, mental or emotional.
Remember, those who struggle in life are especially blessed; struggle helps people realize deeper empathy, develops richness of character, brings one closer to God.
I hope if any of your children ever do have problems or experience less than spectacular-ness, you remember this. I hope you let them be human.
ridiculous....IMO, revised LM has no validity whatsoever...
ReplyDeleteWhy do you say that? And how can Lord Meher revised be completely useless? That sweeping generalization all by itself makes me doubt you.
DeleteRoger Bird
Dear other anonymous
ReplyDeleteLet us not make the scholars mistake of assuming the earliest source is the most accurate.. Where you there when Lord Meher was translated edited etc? some of us find ridiculous and arrogant those claiming such 'purity' in their Baba reading! Got something to offer- or just like to tear down other lovers long years of service and work for their Lord?
"You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel." St. Mathew
pppppppppppppppptttttt...
Deletewell my friend, think of it as a photograph, first generation: clear and sharp. Then a photograph is taken of the photograph, fuzzier. Then a photo of the photo of the photo: fuzzier still till it's too blurry to tell what it is. I wasn't there, no, but the progressive generational distance from the source takes it out of focus.
DeleteThat's what I have to offer, that and a belief that words ultimately aren't where it's anyway, the silence of the heart: always the place to go to first and last.
Just how brief is this going to be? I need to know how long I have to ponder on this.
ReplyDeleteJeana
Yes, I also this this should not be brief. I would keep it open so that people can take their time. I see lots of Waldos and I also need time to ponder....
ReplyDeletetypo ... "I also think this..."
DeleteOK. I will reverse the order of the two most recent posts so that the Waldo one remains at the top a little longer. And I'll put a new link to it on Facebook. Also, I'm extending the openness to unregistered and anonymous posts. Simply choose "Anonymous" if you wish when you are prompted to "Select profile."
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that there is the potential for things to be improved and clarified or diminished and corrupted; and in fact, there is no reason to think that *both* things could occur in the process of editing. So why not identify and embrace that which constitutes an improvement, and also identify and quarantine that which constitutes a debasement or blurring?
ReplyDeleteI love _Infinite Intelligence_ but never forget that it is _God Speaks_ to which Baba gave his most authoritative stamp and endorsement. As for _Lord Meher_, it seems quite reasonable to me that corrections and clarifications drawn out of participants by the original account could very well yield improvements in accuracy and authenticity. Rewriting of history for reasons of personal aggrandizement could also occur, and simultaneously.
I am absolutely am *not* saying that is what has happened, because I have not in any way qualified myself to make that judgment. I'm just saying there's no reason to think it has to be either / or.
I hope it goes without saying that God Speaks, as approved and signed by Meher Baba, should remain without any further improvements. For the Discourses, it is good that we have the Revised Sixth Edition, where all changes done are shown. In the case of the Infinite Intelligence notebooks, it is clear that improvements can be made, but it is very important that the reader has access to the original pages. This is so because of the deeply mystic nature of the subject matter, where the degree of understanding or interpretation of the editor could seriously alter or distort the intended meaning. Although for myself I prefer the study version of the notebooks that Chris Ott has done, with the "original" diagrams, I do recognize that this version might be terribly difficult for other readers to go through. And although I do not have a copy of the published version, I have reasons to believe that Ward Parks has done his honest and scholarly best to keep the intended meaning intact and still accessible to the general public.
DeleteNow, although Lord Meher is not a book by Meher Baba, it still is a book by Bhau Kalchuri and his signature should be respected. Changes done to the original edition should be registered. Stories could have been given wrong in the original, but as people who were closer to the events depart, their accounts can become "blurred" or altered in very questionable ways. Whether something constitutes an improvement or a "blurring", or even an alteration based on personal considerations, dislikes or beliefs, should be left for the reader to judge. It may be very hard to keep a register of editorial alterations, but without it Lord Meher can become a completely unreliable source of information about Meher Baba's life.
Correction:
Delete"there is no reason to think that *both* things could occur in the process of editing"
above should have read
"there is no reason to think that *both* things could NOT occur in the process of editing.
Stelios, I like your suggestions. However, as it is so difficult to control what other people do , I have adopted a bit of a "stay loose" attitude toward Baba quotes and historical accounts. If it doesn't feel right, I reserve the right to remain skeptical. Even if it does feel right, I don't necessarily assume that the quote or account is entirely accurate.
DeleteIn the end, one is left with the voice of one's own heart; but with a mind educated by the incredibly abundant resources the Avatar left for us this time.
That's a pretty good combination.
Signing in as Anon but name is Fran Yule
ReplyDeleteI accept that a new edition will be edited and perhaps even abridged in parts, whether the subject of discourse is Baba or not - it's how things are done in the publishing world. I do, however, see that in the abridgement of certain paragraphs that the minimisation of Workingboxwala's contribution to Bhau's effort is an insult.
Answer Key:
ReplyDeleteHere are the main Waldos.
1. Fran Yule above just said one of them.
2. A fully rewritten editor's foreword with facts greatly changed, published 29 years later, but with the same place and date of writing given at the bottom.