Who Will Save Your Soul, and Is It Worth Saving?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4melKlRyS40
What is soul? I'm sure Elvis could tell us about it, and James Brown too, and many, many more could tell us about soul. Their tunes sure hit MY soul button.
There's soul food, and it's good. Hot cornbread with a bit of butter, collared greens with some bacon fat or, better yet, ham hocks cooked inside the pot and then removed just before serving it up.
There's David Soul, a somewhat good actor whom I remember first from "Here Come The Brides" well before Starsky and Hutch. A somewhat decent singer who did a soulful rendition of "Black Bean Soup" as the B-side to his romantic ballad "Don't Give Up On Us, Baby", which was probably written for the ex he allegedly beat up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6u4KfwoOTwYeah, there's a lot of soul going on. Lots of souls worth saving, and lots of souls NOT worth saving.
But....who am I to judge which souls are worth saving? Who am I, little ole' I, to decide whether or not David Soul truly beat his wife, or Baretta truly murdered his, or Robert Wagner or even O.J. Simpson, even?
Was I there? Do I have proof? No. Neither do any of us, for the most part.
But we sit in judgment of others, all day, every day, making decisions based on our own base and usually uninformed beliefs. Guilty before proven innocent. String him up, make him suffer! Man should not love man, we say. Government should not intervene in our healthcare, we say. Money is the end all and be all, next to God In Whom We Trust, we say.
Got proof? Got soul? Ever hold a dying pet, or human, in your arms and hear their last breath and wish to ANYTHING, ANYTHING, that you could give them their next one, and their next one, and their next one after that? Sure, there's CPR, but if it doesn't work, what then?
You have to let it go. No choice in the matter. Case closed.
What can you give to them who die, not knowing where they go? What can you take with you when you go, not knowing what you'll need?
The mark made here on Earth, that you leave behind, is the only thing that will matter in the end. And in the end, even that won't matter, when all matter is gone.
But it's the closest thing I can think of to a legacy.
What we do here on this planet, while each of us lives, may not be witnessed or recalled by all, but some thing some time that we do might make a difference, and if that's all we've got, then we should maybe try to make a difference while we can.
I shouldn't turn art into a philosophical/anthropological issue. But I cannot help myself on this.
Since childhood I am told that somehow we have a heart and a soul and a mind.
I think this perspective comes from Egypt thousands of years ago. The Egyptians had a concept of the Ba and the Ka.
The Ba was like a shadow following us wherever we go. You lift your arm and the Ba lifts its arm. Something like a guardian angel but more a mirror figure.
The Ka dwelt above you at all times.
Now when you die, your Ba also dies. But the Ka goes up into the heavens.
Now if you think about it. We have the Trinity.
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The Father being the Ka and the Holy Ghost being the Ba. It would explain the origin of the Roman Catholic Myth. The Trinity is one entity. There are not three gods.
Jesus, the Son is flesh. When he dies, he is up in the heavens with the Father.
I just bring it up because the heart is not the pulsing muscle.
You gotta have heart.
Heart and soul.
The concepts never go away. This discussion can get into the differences between the Iliad and the Odyssey but who cares.
I am, for the moment, in the case closed kind of mentality.
...even that won't matter when matter is gone.
December 12, 2008 11:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
"You Gotta Have Heart". Damn Yankees.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPj0hoVpYSg&feature=related
December 12, 2008 11:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love the thought of my father looking down upon me, smiling.
Whether it's my true biological father or the Father of religion-speak, I love the thought.
However, I have a hard time with religion and the afterlife.
I just know that when I go, I'd like to be remembered as a good person, a "good soul" even, but that's really only for my surviving family and friends, and not for my own ego.
My own ego won't care one whit, once it's gone.
Will it?
December 12, 2008 11:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Your ego doesn't care now. In fact, your ego doesn't really exist. The only one who believes in your ego is your ego. And your ego goes to great lengths to make you believe that IT is you. But that's a lie. If you dig down deep enough--before thought, before perception, before knowledge--you'll see it clearly. It's like looking up in the sky and seeing a new constellation. Or seeing clearly that there are no constellations at all. And you will laugh your ass off, just for the sheer joy of it.
Great doubt, great faith, great effort.
December 13, 2008 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you dig down deep enough--before thought, before perception, before knowledge. It's too late you had to think/knowledge before you can dig down deep enough, you had to think,"before thought" and you had to perceive,"no or before perception" so it seems a trite to late for this type of depth. If a person,by thought, thinks back to a time of "before thought"then it becomes imagination and that borders "vanity". That embraces a person above him/herself? That seems to me a "god" factor or living in my own made up world and while that might be realitive to the person it would only seem to work in their perceived "world". I don't know it sounds complicated but everything seems that way in todays world.
December 13, 2008 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think so(ul) I believe you will remember all that you do/did but it depends on where you go I suppose. I've heard there are four types involved in our lives-the spirit (our breath),the soul (our destiny after death),the flesh (our bodies)and the mind (ability to choose).The way it works: when we die the "spirit" goes back to God, the flesh lays down to earth(until it is reunited with our soul)the soul goes to where or what we choose to believe in(the mind)and a fifth element in Christianity which is called the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit which is assigned to the soul forever. Seems most Christians I talk to now are stating that the whole point of the Tribulation Period which they believe in is to make those who do not want to make a decision to receive or reject Christ. The Jews that I have spoken to believe similiar with the exception they state Christ has not yet come and they await Elijah to guide them to know whom the Christ is and anoint him as King. The Christian on the other hand state that was the Christ and quote two places that I know of in Matthew 11:11-15 and Matthew 17:10-13. I don't know it's a lot of stuff. I have an email one of them sent me, if I can locate I'll post it, it's complicated.
December 13, 2008 7:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some thing some time that we do might make a difference.
That's what I was taught. Which gives hope for those of us who have messed up so often, and walked on past too many times.
There's time yet.
December 12, 2008 11:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
And time is still relevant, I suppose. Some guy with weird hair said so, once. I think.
December 12, 2008 11:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Erm, actually, I recall him saying it was irrelevant. My bad. His good.
December 13, 2008 12:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDorNilxPUY
One of these days, I will learn how to embed videos like the Mighty Quinn the Eskimo.
December 12, 2008 11:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm useless at it, but this seems to work.
1. Click from "Rich Text" to "None."
2. Go to your video. Find where it says "Embed" - usually to the right of the vid. Copy that address.
3. Paste it in your blog.
4. Then click back to "Rich Text."
That should do it. Drove myself nuts today trying to learn how to embed images. Aieeee.
December 13, 2008 12:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think I prefer My Way. This is all too mind-boggling otherwise, and my mind is boggled (and blogged) enough as is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEbgB6X6S5c
December 13, 2008 12:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's really easy. And it's fun. Just follow quinn's directions next time you post and it'll work (only works when you post, though--you can't do it when you comment).
December 13, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I prefer watching them in separate tabs, so embedding is not that important to me.
December 13, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jewel is pretty deep with this tune. Is is one of my faves to do at karaoke - where those of us too old for American Idol go to show off (or just drunk ones).
"...the cops want someone to bust down on Orleans Avenue. Another day another dollar another war another tower went up where the homeless had their homes."
"And we pray to as many different gods as there are flowers, but we call religion our friend. So worried about saving our souls, afraid that god would take his toll that we forget to begin but..who will save your soul?
Things that make you go hmmmmm....
December 13, 2008 12:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Lotsa things make me go hmmmmmm.....
Scary Okie being one of them.
Heh heh.
December 13, 2008 12:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Repeating myself: "Society gives us our souls"----Daniel Dennett.
And the meaning of life is life. All else follows.
December 13, 2008 12:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, but society is starting to lose its soul. And the meaning is no longer clear and I can't follow it anymore. I think I prefer my drummer.
December 13, 2008 12:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Heroes burning while the world fiddles
countries talking to each other in riddles
God this and Jesus that and Buddha ran circles
round the moon, once
I know, I was there, and I saw it
I have a piece of burnt cheese to prove it
I'd sell it to you for fifty cents
but I've the feeling you need your money
So save it in case the world don't end
If you're lucky it might just multiply
get fruitful and all that rot
I'm tired, and a little sad
So show me this in the morning
and we'll all have a good laugh
The morning will come, it has every other day
no matter what the hell is going on
So maybe heroes know what they're talking about
But I don't want to listen anymore
I just don't
December 13, 2008 1:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thats an odd twist, "Society giveth, society taketh - long live " ? ".
December 13, 2008 7:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Sitting here in limbo, got some time to search my soul..."
And I do - I have looked at this page for about a half hour now and don't think I have much of anything to add. At the same time, I don't want to step away.
Curious, that...
December 13, 2008 1:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Heh, you make it sound kinda like a car accident.
December 13, 2008 1:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs8y3kneqrs
December 13, 2008 1:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, oh
Listen what I say oh
The more I see the less I know....
And, so
On that tender little note, I will go to bed.
Love you all,
Lis
December 13, 2008 1:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Simple rule:" first, do no harm; second, leave the world better than you found it."
Why is something so simple so very hard to do? Living life with good intentions can still lead to a following wake of injured, or even dead bodies.
"First, do no harm." Much clearer in hind, rather than in foresight.
December 13, 2008 2:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hindsight is always 20/20. Foresight, blurry as hell.
December 13, 2008 2:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
And don't, just don't, get me started on fore SKINS.
Me, I always play shirtless. Except on the golf course.
FORE!
December 13, 2008 2:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
For me the wisest of spiritual teachers knows this 'The absolute and relative are two sides of one coin'... or spirit/soul and humanity are two parts of one whole. One such teacher Genpo Roshi.
December 13, 2008 3:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
I remember a case...the McMartin preschool abuse case, back in the mid-eighties. The press had already convicted them, and when I read the allegations, I wanted to string 'em up, and burn down the tree.
One problem...they were innocent. Too bad their lives were ruined. I learned a valuable lesson. It takes years, sometimes decades, for the truth to come out. It's best to restrain the impulse to jump to conclusions.
One other thing...LisB-I would like to request that you get started on foreskins IMMEDIATELY! Go ahead and let it all out--cut or uncut? Smegma or no smegma? I just gotta know!
December 13, 2008 6:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
The question isn't valid. It presupposes we have a soul and that cannot be known. A brief look around informs us we have difficulty enough with things that we can know. Life is hard enough without posing questions that have no answers. Believe if you want, but please don't try and figure it out.
December 13, 2008 9:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
I do not wish for someone to save my soul if I can not save it myself
December 13, 2008 10:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sometimes I think about what I call "pockets of goodness" in the universe. All the good deeds, all the kind people, no matter how unknown or unsung. I feel it's making a difference. We can't see it. We can't prove it. But we can't disprove it either.
I like to think that whatever you're doing, done with compassion or a sense of inner peace, that you are somehow adding to that store of goodness in the world. At one point I understood life as a kind of prayer. At another point I came to see that each and every action, no matter how menial, is (like) prayer.
Now, what is a prayer, you're asking?
I'll leave you with that question.
December 13, 2008 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you, Lisa. I don't have answers to any of the metaphysical questions, but none of us can help asking them. All we can really do is be with each other in our human, limited way and try our best.
December 13, 2008 11:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
If you have ever experienced a dark night of the soul, will you also experience the bright day of the soul?
In order to live peacefully, must there be war?
In order to dwell in the light, must there be the dark?
In order to claim good, must there be evil?
In order to recognize order, must there also be chaos?
Belief, doubt?
Truth, lies?
Worth, poverty?
No answers, just questions.
December 13, 2008 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
There's a Carmelite named Ruth Burrows. Must be very elderly now, if she's still alive. She has an interesting theory that some people/mystics are always and only "in the dark" and that others are or arrive to a "light on" state. I think she's right. She also believes that the purpose of the "light on" is "given" to "describe" the journey or the "something" for others who seek that. I think she's right about that too. If so, that may mean that some of these "light on" people are known to us as the Buddha or Jesus, Dhalai Lama. Mother Teresa was "in the dark" - all her life - yet she did great good.
Food for thought.
December 13, 2008 11:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
I don't believe in superstars,
Organic food and foreign cars.
I don't believe the price of gold;
The certainty of growing old.
That right is right and left is wrong,
That north and south can't get along.
That east is east and west is west.
And being first is always best.
But I believe in love.
I believe in babies.
I believe in Mom and Dad.
And I believe in you.
Well, I don't believe that heaven waits,
For only those who congregate.
I like to think of God as love:
He's down below, He's up above.
He's watching people everywhere.
He knows who does and doesn't care.
And I'm an ordinary man,
Sometimes I wonder who I am.
But I believe in love.
I believe in music.
I believe in magic.
And I believe in you.
Well, I know with all my certainty,
What's going on with you and me,
Is a good thing.
It's true, I believe in you.
I don't believe virginity,
Is as common as it used to be.
In working days and sleeping nights,
That black is black and white is white.
That Superman and Robin Hood,
Are still alive in Hollywood.
That gasoline's in short supply,
The rising cost of getting by.
But I believe in love.
I believe in old folks.
I believe in children.
I believe in you.
But I believe in love.
I believe in babies.
I believe in Mom and Dad.
And I believe in you.
December 13, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
♫ ♪ ♬
December 13, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
"If you have ever experienced a dark night of the soul, will you also experience the bright day of the soul?"
From the Qur'an:
Man's extremity is God's opportunity. Without the dark night of the soul, there is no awakening.
December 13, 2008 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please keep gracing us like this.
December 13, 2008 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice!
December 13, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seems to me, LisB, that if one does have a soul, then it is by definition saved already. If one possesses a soul, it's eternal, no?
December 13, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
More or less how I see it. It is indestructible. Nothing ever dies, truly dies.
Somehow, I had a feeling we would agree. :)
December 13, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Since the only future we'll ever know is the present, and the past doesn't exist, I'd say we have only now to deal with. Which means that our actions--right now, and only now--are the best and only thing we have to offer. So no legacy for us. Only keeping our heart and our actions clear right now.
December 13, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Between you and Lux, you'll save us all!
December 13, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
This made me think of a recording I had 35+ years ago of Ram Das... wish I still had it. In part of it he taught a prayer and a chant, which I spell here phonetically as best I can remember it: Aditya hridayam punyam, sarve shatru bena shanam. It translated as something akin to: 'For he who keeps the sun in his heart, all evil vanishes from the earth'. I always like that one. With your heart on fire who's got time for doing wrong?
December 13, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's from a hymn called the Aditya Hridayam, which was recited by Agastya to Rama before his great battle with Ravana.
http://www.wissenswertes-online.de/spirit/aditya-hridayam.mp3
I'm going to try a stupid little experiment here. Bear with me if this doesn't work...
आदित्यहृदयं पुण्यं सर्वशत्रुविनाशनम्।
ādityahṛdayaṁ puṇyaṁ sarvaśatruvināśanam
जयावहं जपेन्नित्यम् अक्षय्यं परमं शिवम्॥ ४॥
jayāvahaṁ japennityam akṣayyaṁ paramaṁ śivam
December 13, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, that actually worked. I've just checked it in three browsers and it works in all three. Amazing. In case I ever need to post on any Hindu sites... *:o)
December 13, 2008 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for that. It's been something I've carried around in my head for too long without knowing its origin.
December 13, 2008 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're most welcome. If you poke around, you might actually be able to find a copy of the Ram Das talk online somewhere. Could you have had a recording from a series of radio lectures he did back in the early '70s?
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/19070
Apparently, you're not the only one who was impressed.
http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/languages/english-sanskrit-translated-tattoo-203294.html
December 13, 2008 5:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
You is such a smart bunny kat.
December 13, 2008 6:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was probably the series. If my memory is correct I got the tape in 1971-72.
December 13, 2008 7:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can just imagine that being chanted. Lovely. Script and all.
December 13, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hreb.
Thanks for the hour and 11 min delay in posting what this hymn is. If you had pulled that off the top of your head I was going to have a serious inferiority complex developing.
Nice work on the translation, where'd that come from?
December 13, 2008 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Another great Jewel tune apropos to the topic at hand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXBkDJJ6zxw
"Look to everybody but me to answer my prayers till I saw an angel in a bathroom who said she saw no one worth saving anywhere."
"The blind man on the corner said its simple, like flipping a coin. No matter what side it lands on its someone else's dime."
"We've been down so long. Oh it can't be longer still. We've been down so long, that the end must be drawing near."
December 13, 2008 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
In order to save my soul, I hereby confess to having spammed the Rapture Blog!
December 13, 2008 10:17 PM | Reply | Permalink