.../
Once upon a morning before Christmas
In the year 2010, when San Francisco's
Fisherman's Wharf shone with a glow
As did its nearby valleys north and south,
I envisioned or dreamed that
My new Amigo, Donnie, from
Monterey, rode. >>
Friday, January 8, 2016
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Once Upon A Time in the East, or Comin' over the Gap
Prelude-
Last Night in my genial Hometown of Boston I watched the Movie "X-Men ..." after walking down Boylston Street and inside the edge of the Boston Public Garden. Charles Sumner's statue was looking towards what is now the Four Seasons Hotel, so I stopped in front of the statue and ate some delicious chicken vegetable tortilla soup given to me quite unexpectedly by the kindest of folk at a restaurant down in Providence, Rhode Island, near the Amtrak. I had ordered only a coffee and some vegetable spring roll with my meager funds, but to my surprise they gave me two large containers full of vegies and chicken as I was rushing to catch a ride Back to the Beantown. Voila! Merci Beaucoup. I do think it was chicken tortilla Soupe. Thank you all and all the Alexanders, Als and Alejandros now... and forever. PEACE, Gutes Essen + Shalom!
Cumberland
@ 7:33 PM,
June 24, 2011
Once upon a time there was shining gold hot light and smoke BURNING INSIDE the Town of Boston. All was deep. All was intense, intense and hot burning - TRUE. And, there he was railing against or to God and against the Devil. He stood deep and tense, Cotton Mather - the Mathers. Pure white starched collars (see The Barnacle poem of Oct. 12, 2010), the Mathers against all and the World - Oh. Increase! Cotton! ------ Sunday the white clouds and blue ocean sky, and sailboats in The HARBOR. Who knows the depth of those days and Nights of Smallpox, of smoke, of heat. A Hell or No. Oh BOSTON! There they came. AND NOW THEY STAND IN THE DARK OF THE DAMP NIGHT, last Evening. SENATOR Charles Sumner, and Wendell Phillips, both behind the Reverend CHANNING'S STATUE, A SUMMIT OF GRANITE.
"WE NEVER SHALL EVER BUY AND SELL MEN AND WOMEN." THANK GOD AND and Nancy, my NANCY and her family and especially the late Abe and Lee. I guess the Slotnick/Linsey/Rosenfield men are rather slow.
Coming up and OVER THE CUMBERLAND GAP
BY TRAIN we headed down into the deep land under the Mountains of Pennsylvania of vast dark coal and oil propelling us to the West and to Texas.
ON my Left along with my heart was NATHAN. Nathan Appleton, Francis Cabot Lowell's cousin, PARTNER and companion before in Scotland and the Midlands of England visiting the Cotton Textile Mills. And even Russell Sturgis who went off sadly to England NEVER TO RETURN. AND, To my RIGHT THEY were all there Abbott, Amos, J.P., the other Sturgises, P. C. Brooks a vast array.
As we proceeded westward, the train had gone slowly up the gap.
I practiced my Transcendental Meditation and TM - Sidhi Program.
Monday, February 23, 2015
DON GASPAR DE PORTOLA & THE GRACE OF THE PRESIDIO DE MONTEREY
up toward Humboldt
And then across to Denver for silver.
Then he, Donnie/or by his more proper
(Sort-of) name Don Gaspar, Conquistador
Of Carlos Segundo, King of Spain, Espana
with Father Junipero Serra,
... later Fort Ord.
DON GASPAR, He, the acquirer & provider of land
and of wealth to his people.
Friday, February 20, 2015
.....IN 1492
In 1492, Columbus was a
Jew. He sat on the
British and made Them
Say Kiddush in 1492.
The Founding of Israel
Until today.
We also thank Mary Baker Eddy
Of Swampscott, Massachusetts
Whose mansion
Still sits atop
Chestnut Hill
Across from Boston College.
1-2-2012
A tale of buttons -
Of Italian tailors
And World War Two
"The Big one!"
Fo' my pal in the dinin' room today.
Dining, that is.
God Bless... Winsor Button Shop.
God Save.
page 2.
After the
War by
1947 - 48
The public
Had seemed
To have
Chosen Dewey
As the next
US Pres.
But, must be,
That at
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Many were
Afoot or drinking' 'n no
More "press"
"A" bomb button.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
ENORMITY
An Ode to Responsibility
God's Grace Given
To Help The Risen.
In Our Day
It's Given Away.
It's Still Held
For Hearts So Swelled.
In Life I See
Only You And Me.
And I
II
To Uplift Your Soul
And Make You Again Whole.
Soul To Sole, We Walk A Beach
A Beach Of Sand That We All Reach.
Do Not Touch What's Not From High
There Is Much More Than Blue Sky,
Above This Earth That God Did Give
A World Encompassed For Totality We Live.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
TEXT FROM VEDIC WISDOM OF INDIA: MARKANDEYA PURANA
Excerpt from Markandeya Purana
Canto 40
The Yogi's bliss
Dattatreya spoke:
I will succinctly declare to thee the ailments that prevail in the soul of a yogi when it is viewed: harken to me. He longs for rites performed with a view to future fruition, and the objects of human desire, for women, the fruits of alms-giving, for science, for supernatural power, for the baser metals and riches, for heaven, god-head, and supreme god-head, for actions that yield copious supplies of elixir vitae, for flying on the storm-winds, for sacrifice, and the power of inhabiting water and fire, for the fruits of sraddhas that contain every gift, and religious mortifications. Thus he longs when mentally ailing by reason of fasting, meritorious acts and worship of the gods, and by reason of those several actions.
A yogi should strenuously restrain his mind when beset with such thoughts. By making his mind cling to Brahman he is liberated from ailments. When these ailments are overcome other ailments still beset a yogi, arising out of goodness, passion and ignorance.
Ailments arising from illusive vision, from hearing, and from the deity, and mental aberration, and enthusiasm -- these five are roots of bitterness which tend to embarass the religious meditations of yogis. The ailment arising from illusive vision is such for a yogi because in it appear Vedic matters, poetic matters, science, and the mechanical arts without end. The ailment connected with hearing is so called because he perceives the meaning of sounds in all their completeness, and he receives sound from thousands of yojanas. The wise call this ailment one from the deity, as in the case of a madman, when like a god he sees all around and in the eight directions. When the yogi's mind wanders without support through his own fault by reason of his fall from all rules of good custom -- that is well known as mental aberration. When the seething whirlpool of knowledge like a whirlpool of water engulfs the mind -- that ailment is called enthusiasm. All beings of divine origin, when their religious meditation is destroyed by these great and terrible ailments, revolve again and again.
Therefore the yogi, having clad himself with a mental white blanket, should cast his mind prone on supreme Brahman, and meditate on him. A yogi should always be intent on religious meditation, he should eat sparingly, he should subdue his sense. The yogi should contemplate in his head the subtle conditions of the seven objects, viz., earth etc.; he should contemplate the subtle earth to be his soul, until he comprehends its subtlety. He deems the earth to be his soul, and he quits its bonds. Moreover he quits the subtle in water, and also the form in the fire; and he likewise quits touch in the wind, as he bears the subtle form in mind; and he quits the subtle activity of the sky, and likewise its sound. When he enters with his mind into into the mind of all created things, his mind bearing a mental subtle condition of them becomes subtle also. Likewise a man, conversant with religious devotion, on attaining to the intellect of all creatures, gains and relinquishes the most perfect subtlety of intellect. For the man conversant with religious devotion, who relinquishes these seven subtle things after having thoroughly comprehended them, there is no retrogression, O Alarka! The soul-cognizant man, after fully seeing the subtlety of these subtle condition of the seven objetcs, then utterly abandoning it may proceed to supreme bliss. And toward whatever thing he evinces feeling, O king! to that very thing becomes attached, and he perishes. Therefore the corporeal being, who after perceiving the mutually-associated subtle things abandons them, may gain supreme bliss. Having conjoined these very seven subtle things, O king! passionlessness towards created and other things tends to the final emancipation from existence of the man cognizant of the entities.
Canto 40
The Yogi's bliss
Dattatreya spoke:
I will succinctly declare to thee the ailments that prevail in the soul of a yogi when it is viewed: harken to me. He longs for rites performed with a view to future fruition, and the objects of human desire, for women, the fruits of alms-giving, for science, for supernatural power, for the baser metals and riches, for heaven, god-head, and supreme god-head, for actions that yield copious supplies of elixir vitae, for flying on the storm-winds, for sacrifice, and the power of inhabiting water and fire, for the fruits of sraddhas that contain every gift, and religious mortifications. Thus he longs when mentally ailing by reason of fasting, meritorious acts and worship of the gods, and by reason of those several actions.
A yogi should strenuously restrain his mind when beset with such thoughts. By making his mind cling to Brahman he is liberated from ailments. When these ailments are overcome other ailments still beset a yogi, arising out of goodness, passion and ignorance.
Ailments arising from illusive vision, from hearing, and from the deity, and mental aberration, and enthusiasm -- these five are roots of bitterness which tend to embarass the religious meditations of yogis. The ailment arising from illusive vision is such for a yogi because in it appear Vedic matters, poetic matters, science, and the mechanical arts without end. The ailment connected with hearing is so called because he perceives the meaning of sounds in all their completeness, and he receives sound from thousands of yojanas. The wise call this ailment one from the deity, as in the case of a madman, when like a god he sees all around and in the eight directions. When the yogi's mind wanders without support through his own fault by reason of his fall from all rules of good custom -- that is well known as mental aberration. When the seething whirlpool of knowledge like a whirlpool of water engulfs the mind -- that ailment is called enthusiasm. All beings of divine origin, when their religious meditation is destroyed by these great and terrible ailments, revolve again and again.
Therefore the yogi, having clad himself with a mental white blanket, should cast his mind prone on supreme Brahman, and meditate on him. A yogi should always be intent on religious meditation, he should eat sparingly, he should subdue his sense. The yogi should contemplate in his head the subtle conditions of the seven objects, viz., earth etc.; he should contemplate the subtle earth to be his soul, until he comprehends its subtlety. He deems the earth to be his soul, and he quits its bonds. Moreover he quits the subtle in water, and also the form in the fire; and he likewise quits touch in the wind, as he bears the subtle form in mind; and he quits the subtle activity of the sky, and likewise its sound. When he enters with his mind into into the mind of all created things, his mind bearing a mental subtle condition of them becomes subtle also. Likewise a man, conversant with religious devotion, on attaining to the intellect of all creatures, gains and relinquishes the most perfect subtlety of intellect. For the man conversant with religious devotion, who relinquishes these seven subtle things after having thoroughly comprehended them, there is no retrogression, O Alarka! The soul-cognizant man, after fully seeing the subtlety of these subtle condition of the seven objetcs, then utterly abandoning it may proceed to supreme bliss. And toward whatever thing he evinces feeling, O king! to that very thing becomes attached, and he perishes. Therefore the corporeal being, who after perceiving the mutually-associated subtle things abandons them, may gain supreme bliss. Having conjoined these very seven subtle things, O king! passionlessness towards created and other things tends to the final emancipation from existence of the man cognizant of the entities.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
General George Patton's Prayer to God
General George Patton, United States Army
World War II, at time of Battle of the Bulge
December 23, 1944, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
The Cathedral Fondation Pescatore
A prayer to God.
"Sir, this is Patton talking. The past fouteen days have been straight hell. Rain, snow, more rain more snow - and I am beginning to wonder what's going on in Your headquarters. Whose side are You on anyways? For three years my chaplains have been telling me that this is a religious war. This, they tell me, is the Crusades all over again, except that we're riding tanks instead of chargers. They insist that we are here to annihilate the Germans and the godless Hitler so that religious freedom may return to Europe. Up until now I have gone along with them, for You have given Your unreserved cooperation. Clear skies and a calm sea in Africa made the landings highly successful and helped us to eliminate Rommel. Sicily was comparitively easy and You supplied excellent weather for the armored dash across France, the greatest military victory that You have thus far allowed me. You have often given me excellent guidance in difficult command situations and You have led German units into traps that made their eliminatiion fairly simple.
"But now You've changed horses midstream. You've given von Rundstedt every break in the book., and frankly, he's beating the hell out of us. My army is neither trained nor equipped for winter warfare. And as You know, this weather is more suitable for Eskimos than for southern cavalrymen.
" But now, Sir, I can't help but feel that I have offended You in some way. That suddenly You have lost all sympathy for our cause. THat You are throwing in with von Rundstedt and his paper-hanging god [Hitler]. You know that without me telling that ourn situation is desperate. Sure, I can tell my staff that evrything is going according to plan, but there's no use telling You that my 101st Airborne is holding out against tremendous odds in Bastogne, and that the continual storm is making it impossible to suppply them even from the air. I've sent Hugh Gaffey, one of my ablest generals, with his 4th Armored Division, north toward that all-important road center to relieve the encircled garrison and he's finding Your weather more difficult then he is the Krauts.
"I don't like to complain unreasonably, but my soldiers from Meuse to Echternach are suffering tortures of the damned. Today I visited several hospitals, all full of frostbite cases, and the wounded are dying in the fieldss because they cannot be brought back for medical care.
The last words of Patton's prayer:
Damn it, Sir, I can't fight a shadow. Without Your cooperation from a weather standpoint, I am deprived of accurate disposition of the German armies and how the hell can I be intelligent in my attacks? All this probably sounds unreasonable to You, but I have lost all patience with Your chaplains who insist that this is typical Ardennes winter, and that I must have faith.
"Faith and patience be damned! You have just got to make up Your mind whose said You are on. You must come to my assistance, so that I may dispatch the entire German Army as a birthday present to your Prince of Peace.
"Sir, I have never been an unreasonable man; I am not going to ask You to do the impossible. I do not even insist upon a miracle, for all I request is four days of clear weather.
""Give me four days so that my planes can fly, so that my fighter bombers can bomb and strafe, so that my reconnaissance may pick out targets for my magnificent artillery. Give me four days of sunshine to dry this blasted mud, so that my tanks roll, so that ammunition and rations may be taken to my hungry, ill-equipped infantry. I need these four days to send von Rundstedt and his godless army to their Valhalla. I am sick of this unnecessary butchering of American yout, and in excahnge for four days of fighting weather, I will deliver you enough Krauts to keep Your bookkeepers months behind in their work.
"Amen."
World War II, at time of Battle of the Bulge
December 23, 1944, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
The Cathedral Fondation Pescatore
A prayer to God.
"Sir, this is Patton talking. The past fouteen days have been straight hell. Rain, snow, more rain more snow - and I am beginning to wonder what's going on in Your headquarters. Whose side are You on anyways? For three years my chaplains have been telling me that this is a religious war. This, they tell me, is the Crusades all over again, except that we're riding tanks instead of chargers. They insist that we are here to annihilate the Germans and the godless Hitler so that religious freedom may return to Europe. Up until now I have gone along with them, for You have given Your unreserved cooperation. Clear skies and a calm sea in Africa made the landings highly successful and helped us to eliminate Rommel. Sicily was comparitively easy and You supplied excellent weather for the armored dash across France, the greatest military victory that You have thus far allowed me. You have often given me excellent guidance in difficult command situations and You have led German units into traps that made their eliminatiion fairly simple.
"But now You've changed horses midstream. You've given von Rundstedt every break in the book., and frankly, he's beating the hell out of us. My army is neither trained nor equipped for winter warfare. And as You know, this weather is more suitable for Eskimos than for southern cavalrymen.
" But now, Sir, I can't help but feel that I have offended You in some way. That suddenly You have lost all sympathy for our cause. THat You are throwing in with von Rundstedt and his paper-hanging god [Hitler]. You know that without me telling that ourn situation is desperate. Sure, I can tell my staff that evrything is going according to plan, but there's no use telling You that my 101st Airborne is holding out against tremendous odds in Bastogne, and that the continual storm is making it impossible to suppply them even from the air. I've sent Hugh Gaffey, one of my ablest generals, with his 4th Armored Division, north toward that all-important road center to relieve the encircled garrison and he's finding Your weather more difficult then he is the Krauts.
"I don't like to complain unreasonably, but my soldiers from Meuse to Echternach are suffering tortures of the damned. Today I visited several hospitals, all full of frostbite cases, and the wounded are dying in the fieldss because they cannot be brought back for medical care.
The last words of Patton's prayer:
Damn it, Sir, I can't fight a shadow. Without Your cooperation from a weather standpoint, I am deprived of accurate disposition of the German armies and how the hell can I be intelligent in my attacks? All this probably sounds unreasonable to You, but I have lost all patience with Your chaplains who insist that this is typical Ardennes winter, and that I must have faith.
"Faith and patience be damned! You have just got to make up Your mind whose said You are on. You must come to my assistance, so that I may dispatch the entire German Army as a birthday present to your Prince of Peace.
"Sir, I have never been an unreasonable man; I am not going to ask You to do the impossible. I do not even insist upon a miracle, for all I request is four days of clear weather.
""Give me four days so that my planes can fly, so that my fighter bombers can bomb and strafe, so that my reconnaissance may pick out targets for my magnificent artillery. Give me four days of sunshine to dry this blasted mud, so that my tanks roll, so that ammunition and rations may be taken to my hungry, ill-equipped infantry. I need these four days to send von Rundstedt and his godless army to their Valhalla. I am sick of this unnecessary butchering of American yout, and in excahnge for four days of fighting weather, I will deliver you enough Krauts to keep Your bookkeepers months behind in their work.
"Amen."
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