Ten Principles

1. Radical Inclusion
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.

2. Gifting
Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.

3. Decommodification
In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.

4. Radical Self-reliance
Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.

5. Radical Self-expression
Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.

6. Communal Effort
Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.

7. Civic Responsibility
We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.

8. Leaving No Trace
Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.

9. Participation
Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.

10. Immediacy
Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.

Freedom (ama-gi) written in Sumerian cuneiform

We are all seekers, and our goal is the same: to achieve inner peace, light, and joy, to become inseparably one with our Source, and to lead lives full of true satisfaction.

To live in joy is to live the inner life. This is the life that leads to self-realisation. Self-realisation is God-realisation, for God is nothing other than the Divinity that is deep inside each one of us, waiting to be discovered and revealed. We may also refer to God as the Inner Pilot or the Supreme. But no matter which term we use, we mean the Highest within us, that which is the ultimate goal of our spiritual quest.

A spiritual person should be a normal person, a sound person. In order to reach God, a spiritual person has to be divinely practical in his day-to-day activities. In divine practicality, we share our inner wealth. We feel the divine motivation behind each action and share the result with others. Spirituality does not negate the outer life. The outer life should be the manifestation of the divine life within us.

~Sri Chinmoy, The Wings of Joy

I have started researching on my old friend J. William Lloyd. He died in 1940 at age 83.

From Wikipedia:

John William Lloyd (J. William Lloyd) (June 4, 1857 – 1940) was an American individualist anarchist.

He based his individualist anarchism upon natural law, rather than on egoism as Benjamin Tucker did; this was a source of conflict amidst otherwise friendly relations between Tucker and himself. Lloyd later modified his position to minarchism.

Lloyd moved to California in the early 1920s and built a house on Freedom Hill. He set up a small community called Freedom Hill somewhere in present day Sun Valley, CA.


Freedom Hill was founded by Leroy Henry in 1913, and it was Henry who gave it its name. Lloyd, who hadn't seen Henry since the 1880's, visited him there in 1915, and in 1922, upon moving to California, he purchased from Henry a small plot on the Hill, on which he built his house. There was a loose colony on Freedom Hill, but Lloyd lived apart from it.

Many of his works were published by the Freedom Hill Pressery. Lloyd listed his address as Swallow's Nest, Freedom Hill, Roscoe, California.

A press was run by Lloyd's friend, LeRoy "Freedom Hill" Henry M.D. Freedom Hill Henry published many obscure, low run editions on various spiritual topics. You can read one his tract titled: Freedom Hill: The Place of Evergreen Happiness by clicking here.

Does anyone know where Freedom Hill was? I am guessing that it was in La Tuna Canyon. If you think you know, please email me here. I know where it was now.

El Mono, time-traveling Bonobo

Photo Credits:

Above from University of Michigan Archives, J. William Lloyd.

Below right from Los Angeles Times, Freedom Hill Henry

Below left from Google Books

The Enduring Relevance of Hanuman

In Hindu symbolism, a monkey signifies the human mind, which is ever restless and never still. This monkey-mind happens to be the only thing over which man has absolute control. We cannot control the world around us but we can control and tame our mind by ardent discipline. We cannot choose our life but we can choose the way we respond to it. Hanuman, when he was a child, was tempted by the sun and he rushed towards it thinking it to be a delectable fruit. On his way however, he was distracted by the planet Rahu and changed his path. Thus Hanuman is the temperamental human intellect, which is unquiet and excitable. It is only by diverting it to the path of pure bhakti (devotion), that it can be made aware of its profound and silent essence.

According to the Hindu point of view, there is no objective world 'out there.' The whole manifested world is a subjective phenomenon created by our own selves. We - as humans - have the unique ability to condition our minds. In other words, we have the power to change the way we perceive life. And by changing our perceptions of life, we have the power of changing our world. When Hanuman enters Rama's life, he changes Rama's world. He transforms a crisis (the loss of Sita) into an opportunity (rid the world of Ravana). He transforms a victim into a hero.

Thus, Hanuman is no ordinary monkey. While embarking on the search for Sita, the monkeys were confronted by the vast ocean lying between them and Lanka. They wondered how they would make their way across this mighty obstacle. Someone suggested that Hanuman jump and cross over the sea. But Hanuman was doubtful, "I cannot do that," he said. At that moment, one of his companions reminded Hanuman of the awesome powers lying dormant within him. Instantly Hanuman regained memory of his divine strength and he successfully leaped across the ocean. Thus our mind too needs to be reminded of its divine potential and of the fact that it can achieve phenomenal heights provided it believes in its ability to perform the task in question. Truly Hanuman is symbolic of the perfect mind, and embodies the highest potential it can achieve.

The Spiritual Significance of Hanuman

The goal of all mystical yearning is union of the individual soul with the universal soul. In the Adhyatma ('spiritual') Ramayana, a Sanskrit text dating from the fourteenth or fifteenth century, Sita represents the individual (jiva-atma), which has separated from the universal (param-atma) symbolized by Rama. In a beautiful interpretation, Hanuman here is said to personify bhakti, which annihilates the 'ahankara' or ego (Ravana), and re-unites the two.

Honours

Shortly after he is crowned Emperor upon his return to Ayodhya, Rama decides to ceremoniously reward all his well-wishers. At a grand ceremony in his court, all his friends and allies take turns being honoured at the throne. Hanuman too goes up, but without desiring a reward. Seeing Hanuman come up to him, an emotionally overwhelmed Rama embraces him warmly, declaring that he could never adequately honour or repay Hanuman for the help and services he received from the noble Vanara. Sita, however, insists that Hanuman deserved honour more than anyone else, and asks him to seek a gift. Upon Hanuman's request, Sita gives him a necklace of precious stones adorning her neck. When he receives it, Hanuman immediately takes it apart, and peers into each stone. Taken aback, many of those present demand to know why he was destroying the precious gift. Hanuman answers that he was looking into the stones to make sure that Rama and Sita are in them, because if they are not, the necklace is of no value to him. At this, a few mock Hanuman, saying his reverence and love for Rama and Sita could not possibly be as deep as he was portraying. In response, Hanuman tears his chest open, and everyone is stunned to see Rama and Sita literally in his heart.

Click here to learn more about Hanuman.

This is what I believe:

That I am I.

That my soul is a dark forest.

That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest.

That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing of my known self, and then go back.

That I must have the courage to let them come and go.

That I will never let mankind put anything over me, but that I will try always to recognize and submit to the gods in me and the gods in other men and women.

There is my creed.

~D. H. Lawrence

Archeology makes the mind wonder and brings an appealing emotion as well as understanding, and an indelible mystery of presence. From its very process I find inspiration. From any discarded material that has gone through the process of history and humanization is the potential of presence, not only physical but also spiritual. I feel in them the mystery of history and seek to bring out the spiritual essence and presence inherent in such materials.

I use discarded wood, railroad ties, telephone poles, beams and other woods shaped by the element and living things in the environment, and strive to work these materials without losing their natural qualities and vitality. To create a form not by imposing a preconceived configuration but by interacting within the structure so that the mediums own life history becomes the determinant of the final form. To execute the sculptures hand tools are used. I feel that to develop these materials in this manner it is impossible to go at a machine pace. It is essential to feel nature’s vitality and endowments.

Being a humanist, my art is deeply rooted in that sense. It evolves from my spirituality. And the essence of the approach is freedom of spirit. Finalizing, I strive to keep each work as natural as the medium itself yet to exist in another realm, exuding emotion and spirituality. Such as in the “Thunder Silence” of Zen.

Kenzi Shiokava

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard Thurman

Listen to Howard speak about The Dream here. (it takes a moment before he starts speaking, so be patient).

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard Thurman

"Μην αναρωτηθείτε τι ο κόσμος χρειάζεται. Αναρωτηθείτε τι σας κάνει να έρθετε ζωντανός, και να πάτε κάνει αυτού, επειδή τι οι παγκόσμιες ανάγκες είναι άνθρωποι που έχουν έρθει ζωντανός." Howard Thurman

世界が必要とするものをあなた自身に尋ねてはいけない。世界が必要とする何を生き生きして来た人々であるので、生き生きして来させる尋ねするそれを行きなさい何があなた自身に。ハワード Thurman

"No se pregunte lo que necesita el mundo. Pregúntese qué hace que usted viene vivo, y vaya hacen el, porque qué el mundo necesita es la gente que tiene vivo venida." Howard Thurman

I was reminded-reminded by the blog by Olga Varlamova.

What is ZEGG?:

We are a community project and an international meeting point for a culture worth living. In living together, studying other cultures, and in cooperation with committed groups, communities and individuals we are exploring the foundations for a non-violent way of living.
Some questions that move us:

• How can we integrate personal development, new ways of living and political engagement to realize a humane world?
• What inner sources and know-how is needed to live ecologically, sustainably and non-violently?
• What social structures do we need in order to make truth among lovers possible?
• Which life forms support the development of our human beauty, compassion and ability to love?
• How is the level of peace in a culture related to its ideals of love?

We look forward to interested guests and mutual inspiration.


The ZEGG Community

Before they left the city, the Athenian generals sent off a message to Sparta. The messenger was an Athenian named Pheidippides, a professional long-distance runner.

According to the account he gave the Athenians on his return, Pheidippides met the god Pan on Mount Parthenium, above Tegea. Pan, he said, called him by name and told him to ask the Athenians why they paid him no attention, in spite of his friendliness towards them and the fact that he had often been useful to them in the past, and would be so again in the future.

The Athenians believed Pheidippides's story, and when their affairs were once more in a prosperous state, they built a shrine to Pan under the Acropolis, and from the time his message was received they held an annual ceremony, with a torch-race and sacrifices, to court his protection.

Narrator:

This movie is a collection of stories starring people obsessed by a dream.

With their strong will and shear endurance they strive to change their world by being inventive.

Creating an invention does not mean necessarily the development of a new device or mechanical contraption.

Many wish to reshape the human body, overcome the elements and push beyond ordinary physical limitations.

Man's muscles became part of his own highly efficient machine.

In each of the following stories, there is a individual willing to challenge new frontiers.

Through courage and creativity, they put dreams to the test.

Simply by being inventive, everyman has the chance to move the world.

Thank you Dr. Bronner...

Tourism is sin, and travel on foot virtue.

--Werner Herzog

Life: preserve and protect life...BIG life, all around you...the natural world, i.e., do no harm.

Liberty: preserve and protect freedom...freedom of choice, of ideas, of expression.

Happiness = freedom in the living world.

Amerika's religion needs a revival.

el mono

'"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others"'

from The Life and Work of Martha Graham ^[1]

EARTHLINGS is a feature length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called "non-human providers. The film is narrated by Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix (GLADIATOR) and features music by the critically acclaimed platinum artist Moby.

The Monkey Mind, what an apt expression! Anyone who has tried meditation has some idea of what it means. Thoughts pull attention here and there and may seem to take us out of meditation altogether; they become obsessive. Feeding the monkeys is buying into the show of proliferating thought, reifying it, being led off by it. It is taking thought too seriously. A related metaphor is the allegory of a monkey stretching as far as he can to grab the reflection of the moon in water. He cannot understand that he is looking in the wrong place. (cont.)

http://www.mikuriya.com/

Dr. Mikuriya is one of the world's foremost authorities on the uses of medical cannabis. He has few peers in his clinical knowledge of cannabis' therapeutic uses, efficacy, history, culture, policies, routes of administration and potential for abuse.

 

Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei


The greatest athletes in the world today are neither the Olympic champions nor the stars of professional sports, but the "Marathon Monks" ... all of Japan's sacred Mount Hiei. Over a seven year training period, these "running Buddha" figuratively circle the globe on foot. During one incredible 100-day stretch, they cover 52.5 miles daily - twice the length of an Olympic marathon. The prize they seek is not a pot of gold, but enlightenment in the here and now.This documentary program is about these amazing men - Tanno Kakudo and the magic mountain where he trains. It is the philosophy of Tendai Buddhism, which inspires him in his quest for the supreme. The viewer will learn about the monk's death-defying fast, his vegetarian training diet, his handmade straw running shoes, and other feats of endurance such as the mummifying fire ceremony. Illustrated with superb cinematography and music, this film contains the first full insight into Mount Hiei and Tendai Buddhism based on the book "Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei" by John Steven, published by Shambala Press.

Reflect.

El Mono

Combining Terence McKenna's mushroom mythology with John Cage's I Ching-rendered 'Radio Music', this spiraling display of ... all psilocybin-containing mushrooms is an attempt to create the abstracted experience of the mushroom personality through the the highly limited interface of the audio-visual art form.

Shot in 1976, but never released, this film is a rare visual document of the Tarahumara - one of the most remote and isolated tribes of the ... all North American continent. Filmed during a gathering at the mission village of Norogachic of northwest Mexico, the nomadic Tarahumara are observed celebrating their special interpretation of the Easter Festival. The week-long gathering uniquely explores both Christian and pre-Christian expressions of honoring the Easter Moon, the time when traditionally the Tarahumara dance, plant corn and drink Tesvino, the corn wine that blesses nearly every Tarahumara occasion from birth to death.

Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of balance is a 1983 documentary film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by minimalist composer Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke. The film consists mostly of slow motion and time-lapse photography. The documentary contains no narration and relies heavily on music to set the film's tone. Glass and his Philip Glass Ensemble have toured with the film, playing music live in front of the film screen.

This is a must see movie.

El Mono

Note: attend this lecture again.

El Mono

The Culture of Western Europe: The Nineteenth &... - Google Book Search

The Dr. Rath Health Foundation | Responsibility for a healthy world

Health for All by the Year 2020: A Sustainable World Must be a Healthy World

The Dr. Rath Health Foundation helps to coordinate natural health programs and clinical studies. As a non-profit-organization it is dedicated to promoting natural health information and to protecting the right to natural health against the global interests of the pharmaceutical industry.

Ideas - "An Overview of American Transcendentalism" - Martin Bickman

Although Transcendentalism as a historical movement was limited in time from the mid 1830s to the late 1840s and in space to eastern Massachusetts, its ripples continue to spread through American culture. Beginning as a quarrel within the Unitarian church, Transcendentalism's questioning of established cultural forms, its urge to reintegrate spirit and matter, its desire to turn ideas into concrete action developed a momentum of its own, spreading from the spheres of religion and education to literature, philosophy, and social reform. While Transcendentalism's ambivalence about any communal effort that would compromise individual integrity prevented it from creating lasting institutions, it helped set the terms for being an intellectual in America.

Chimps make great teachers and students - life - 28 August 2006 - New Scientist

Better than a whack on the head?, July 7, 2000
Reviewer: Gary Sprandel (Louisville, Kentucky) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
I am sure the Zen masters of this book, would give me a whack on the side of my head, for writing a review, but here goes. The book brings together 4 original Zen sources. The first, 101 Zen stories, presents koans and parables. These can be confusing and amusing, such as the Sound of One Hand Clapping, and One-finger Zen. The Gateless Gate, by Mumonkan, further adds to the syncopation, by offering seemingly random arguments about some of the koans, and then concludes with a Zen students criticism of the rascal Mumonkan. So, the first two sections may be a multiple layered koan ... and one is left mildly uneasy about the use of words for teaching Zen. The 10 Bulls section and the Woodblock illustrations are beautiful poetry, more accessible, and metaphors for the stages of enlightenment. Finally, Centering, is a transcript of a pre-Zen document, 4000 years old from Kashmir. It is surprising Zen like, for example a favorite: "When in worldly activity, keep attentive between the two breaths, and so practicing, in a few days be born anew" . A great source book, without interpretation.

...slay them and you are FREE...

This drawing of Jesus Christ as a Vampire by Daniel Rolla McDonald is on the road to being a masterpiece of religious art.

Monkey vs. Robot by James Superstar Kochalka




Monkey play in the jungle
Robot work in the factory
They will have a giant rumble
Monkey Versus Robot
Monkey Versus Robot

Monkey hate technology
Robot hate the monkey
They will fight eternally
Monkey Versus Robot
Monkey Versus Robot

Monkey mate in the jungle
Robot replicate in factory
They both love their mother
Why must they hate eachother?

Why cant we all get along?
Would that be oh so wrong?
Why cant we all love eachother?
Monkey and a robot brother

Monkey Versus Robot
Monkey Versus Robot
Monkey Versus Robot
Monkey Versus Robot

M-O-N-K-E-Y MONKEY
R-O-B-O-T ROBOT
M-O-N-K-E-Y MONKEY
R-O-B-O-T ROBOT
M-O-N-K-E-Y MONKEY
R-O-B-O-T ROBOT
M-O-N-K-E-Y MONKEY
R-O-B-O-T ROBOT

Video directed by Chris Cunningham with music by Aphex Twin

Werner, Werner, Werner...you have grown a bit weary, but oh how important it is for us to hear what you have to say.

Quotes:

"And what haunts me, is that in all the faces of all the bears that Treadwell ever filmed, I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of nature. To me, there is no such thing as a secret world of the bears. And this blank stare speaks only of a half-bored interest in food. But for Timothy Treadwell, this bear was a friend, a savior."

"Film is not analysis, it is the agitation of mind; cinema comes from the country fair and the circus, not from art and academicism."

"It is not only my dreams, my belief is that all these dreams are your's as well. The only distinction between me and you is that I can articulate them. And that is what poetry or painting or literature or film making is all about... it's as simple as that. I make films because I have not learned anything else and I know I can do it to a certain degree. And it is my duty because this might be the inner chronicle of what we are. We have to articulate ourselves, otherwise we would be cows in the field."

"There are deeper strata of truth in cinema, and there is such a thing as poetic, ecstatic truth. It is mysterious and elusive, and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylization."

The Ship of Death
by D. H. Lawrence

I

Now it is autumn and the falling fruit
and the long journey towards oblivion.

The apples falling like great drops of dew
to bruise themselves an exit from themselves.

5 And it is time to go, to bid farewell
to one's own self, and find an exit
from the fallen self.

II

Have you built your ship of death, O have you?
O build your ship of death, for you will need it.

10 The grim frost is at hand, when the apples will fall
thick, almost thundrous, on the hardened earth.

And death is on the air like a smell of ashes!
Ah! can't you smell it?

And in the bruised body, the frightened soul
15 finds itself shrinking, wincing from the cold
that blows upon it through the orifices.

III

And can a man his own quietus make
with a bare bodkin?

With daggers, bodkins, bullets, man can make
20 a bruise or break of exit for his life;
but is that a quietus, O tell me, is it quietus?

Surely not so! for how could murder, even self-murder
ever a quietus make?

IV

O let us talk of quiet that we know,
25 that we can know, the deep and lovely quiet
of a strong heart at peace!

How can we this, our own quietus, make?

V

Build then the ship of death, for you must take
the longest journey, to oblivion.

30 And die the death, the long and painful death
that lies between the old self and the new.

Already our bodies are fallen, bruised, badly bruised,
already our souls are oozing through the exit
of the cruel bruise.

35 Already the dark and endless ocean of the end
is washing in through the breaches of our wounds,
already the flood is upon us.

Oh build your ship of death, your little ark
and furnish it with food, with little cakes, and wine
40 for the dark flight down oblivion.

Read more here...

Hippie Roots & The Perennial Subculture

By Gordon Kennedy & Kody Ryan

(excerpts)

1930's Harlem there actually were long-haired bearded individuals during this same era who wore sandals or bare feet and usually tended to favor mild subtropical places like southern California and Florida where they could forage their meals from the fruit trees that were so plentiful then...

"Nature Boys" as they were later called were without exception either German immigrants or American youths whose lives were influenced by transplanted Germans that spread their Lebensreform (life-reform) message to anyone ready for a radical departure from the accepted boundaries of 20th century civilization...

Modern primitives, naturmensch, wandervogel, bohemians, reformers, wayfarers, and vagabonds are all expressions that evoke a tone of something wholly apart from the orthodox...

Germany had always made a virtue of their late submission to Latin civilization and had glorified the natural man and woman with all of their virtues and vices. Over 2000 years ago (about 51 B.C.) Julius Caesar noted of the Germans: "The only beings they recognize as gods are things that they can see, and by which they are obviously benefited, such as sun, moon and fire; the other gods they have never even heard of."...

Thus the religiosity of the Indo-Germanic people, whenever their nature can unfold itself freely, emerges only in that form which religious science has described as "nature religion" or "earth religions". To remove the German soul from the natural landscape is to kill it. The Romans knew this so once Christianity had become the state religion of the Roman Empire their missionaries were eager to chop down the German forests and set their temples on fire...

In 1796 Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland of Weimar published his landmark study of aging "The Art Of Prolonging Life" using the word "macrobiotic" in the preface of the book, while the second edition used the word in it's title. His emphasis on exercise and fresh air, sunbathing, cleanliness, regular scheduling, temperate diet, stimulating travel and meditation were all far ahead of their time...

In 1866 Ernst Haeckel of Jena University first employed the term "ecology", thereby establishing it as a permanent scientific discipline for all future generations. Ecology as a concept had more in common with Buddhism and its recognition of the oneness of all life...

In the 19th century hiking societies proliferated in Germany. One group "Friends Of Nature" were into social hiking and used the slogan:

"Free Mountains, Free World, Free People"...

Mostly the Wandervogel sought communion with nature, with the ancient folk-spirit as embodied in the traditional peasant culture, and with one another. They developed a harmonious mystic resonance with their environment...

The expression "Lebensreform" (life-reform) was first used in 1896, and comprised various German social trends of the 19th and first half of the 20th century...

Elizabeth Dorr with some of her daughters at Ascona, 1905 (Note the headbands!)

Particularly:
# 1. vegetarianism
# 2. nudism
# 3. natural medicine
# 4. abstinence from alcohol
# 5. clothing reform
# 6. settlement movements
# 7. garden towns
# 8. soil reform
# 9. sexual reform
# 10. health food and economic reform
# 11. social reform
# 12. liberation for women, children and animals
# 13. communitarianism
# 14. cultural and religious reform: i.e. a religion or view of the world that gives weight to the feminine, maternal and natural traits of existence

Click here to continue reading...

If you haven't already, now is the time to read The Brothers Karamazov

You will never be the same.

El Mono

PS. Learn even more about my good friend Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky with whom I was arrested together with in 1849. We both had belonged to an illegal literary/political group. I even helped him on his first novel titled in English Poor Folk.

Yep, that's me (or at least the artist's conception of me) in 1748. This image appeared in the famous French philosopher and writer Diderot's Encyclopedie

As you can see from the engraving, I was not exactly flattered by the rendition, yet for historical purposes, it serves this blog well. For one, it proves to the skeptical that I was indeed here on earth over 250 years ago. Of course, I claim to have been here much longer, but for now, this picture helps me prove my existence in the 18th century.

As time permits, I will search for portraits of me from bygone eras. These old drawings in history act as my own personal scrapbook. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

El Mono

Beatrice...I haven't seen in years. She was once the main focus of my life. It took a long time to heal the pain of her loss, but I am over it now.

She captivated Dante's heart and became his muse and inspired his Divine Comedy. Her ability to play human roles was that good.

It is said that she died in 1290, but as a traveler, I am not inclined to believe all stories, especially stories of death.

There's always a catch.

El Mono

What I saw the first time, for a split second.

As Walt says in the Leaves:

Has any one supposed it lucky to be born?
I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it.

I pass death with the dying and birth with the new-wash'd babe, and
am not contain'd between my hat and boots,
And peruse manifold objects, no two alike and every one good,
The earth good and the stars good, and their adjuncts all good.

I am not an earth nor an adjunct of an earth,
I am the mate and companion of people, all just as immortal and
fathomless as myself,
(They do not know how immortal, but I know.)

El Mono

One of my good friends is Kierk the Gorilla.

He's a big, gentle, "lyrical philosopher". At least that's what he calls himself.

His hobby is cultivating daisies. He claims they are edible, yet I am not planning on eating any, for after he eats them, he starts talking to himself in a strange voice. His eyes become wild, and then he dances in a circle, spinning until he can't spin any more. What's worse is that he forgets the whole thing and continues to claim they are good for your health and safe. I am NOT convinced.

He is working on a philosophy that is a synthesis of the Judeo-Christian God-Man with the Greek tradition of Mind/Body duality. It's a little too heavy for me, and he does not have much of an audience; however, when the timing is right, some of the things he says can be very interesting.

Hopefully, I will have time to write down some of his most interesting ideas in the near future. There are at least two people in the world who would benefit from them.

El Mono

I am known as Mondo Monkey. I travel through time... It is a bad habit I picked up on my journey, and it is something that I will never give up. I like it here in the early 21st century. I come back often. Words still seem useful, and humans are still around...

I've always liked humans, mostly because I see myself in them, and they know how to laugh, and laughter is very useful for travelers. Hell, they are a real fine bunch. I'll always support'em, even after they become obsolete. Someone's gotta, and I am that someone. I have a lot that I want to say about them and their condition, but that will come later.

This web page is where you will hear the stories that I have accumulated over the past several thousand years (I think it is close to six thousand, but as you will learn later, it is all relative). Luckily, I have only aged about 9 weeks since my 33 birthday, and that was over 5000 years ago! However, I do feel very old and at times take breaks from my happy-go-lucky tours through time. Experience can be a burden, the Buddhists got that right.

There are many things that are different for us time travelers. It's not for everyone, even if you are given a choice. Recently, I've heard rumors that a large number of the original travelers have grown so tired of traveling, they have stopped altogether and purposely lost their memories. I can understand.

My situation is a bit different: I took a vow. Yep, I promised to never stop traveling no matter what happens to me. I did one of those "I'll-keep-traveling-until-every-known-sentient-being-has-come-to-know-about-traveling" things. Hey, it was the only way I could get access. I used to believe that it was an achievable goal, but have come to learn that it is really not possible, and I am ok with that now. It took a while to get used to though.

I will write more as time permits. I have much to tell and way too much time to tell it.

Best Regards, Mondo Monkey, a.k.a. El Mono