blake and whites.

my grandmother was born at the end of the 19th century in a small country town . her mother had been a suffragette and was sure to provide her daughters with an education. my grandmother went on to become a literate woman and a schoolteacher in the town.

of the few poets she quoted, one was william blake. i was reminded of his poetry after watching the movie of jim jarmusch, dead man. i got it out because it stars jonny depp .

now its a well made movie for sure telling part of the story of race relations in the americas in the 19th century from the point of view of the aborigional people. like dances with wolves. the acting is as good as one might expect. (very). but what sticks in my mind is the quotation from william blake that is something of a centrepiece.

'Every night and every morn

Some to misery are born.

Every morn and every night

Some are born to Sweet Delight,

Some are born to Endless Night.'

a critic may say that the movie is an illustration of this point. its certainly one worth illustrating. blake isnt the only place it comes up. it reminds me of different text.

unlike in my grandmother's day, now in the 21st century, rather than william blake, people read the yoga sutra of patanjali. though it doesn't have a modern format, its a text that bears close study. (it is difficult to overestimate this text )

in the sadhana padaha. ch. 2 :33 and 34.

33 when the mind is disturbed by improper thoughts, constant pondering over the opposites is the remedy.

34 as improper thoughts, emotions and actions such as violence etc whether they are done, caused to be done or abetted whether cause by greed, anger or delusion, whether present in in mild, medium or intense degree, result in endless pain and ignorance: so there is the necessity of pondering over the opposites.

the difference between what blake is saying.. which seems to be a warning that some people are doomed to hell from the word go*, and patanjali is that patanjali offers a remedy. that is to do opposite to the wrong thing you maybe be prompted to do. which is of course the correct course of action... to correct one's self. (human birth being the opportunity to do so)

as above so below and as below so above.. what applies to the individual applies to the political entity as well... ie. the state. well.. after all this is a political economy blog..

* the same idea turns up in the holy quran .. baqarah (i forget the verse no. but in the first part) where some are described as deaf, blind and dumb to the truth and will so remain.

breath of fresh air.

its easy to become too narrowly focussed. and just as easy to lose sight of the last reality check made.

one skill that one can always lift is camping. the road always throws something unexpected at you .. bigger or smaller.

i guess its general but in australia's brief history there have been good times and not so good times. in the not so good, men would move about looking for work.. in the days before the welfare state. it still happens to some extent.. fruit pickers and shearers of sheep... but the days are over when one would or could hook a swag* over the bike handles and head off.

camping skills are many. and times change. once you could light a fire by the side of the road and stay the night.. not a chance much now.. conditions are too harsh. the watercourses are mostly too polluted and water too heavy to carry in any quantity, routes not cycle friendly, .. fire prohibited. camping prohibited.. too many inquisitive, suspicious people with very little to do and plenty of resources looking for a chance to do something. so the skills one needs these days are different.

a fire is important in a camp. even if you take biscuits (for carbs), it is important to have hot water. tea, soup.. fire is just part of a camp.. without it the camp is a bus stop. i recently ordered a multifuel pressure stove online. it came in 3 working days from the usa to sydney. its great and weighs little.

this morning i returned from a night out in the mountains just east of here. it was wonderful. a really stunning park in very wildly beautiful country..

i took the pressure stove of course as i stayed in a council van park in my dome tent... i caught the train up.. set up the tent and went for a hike in the park.. well worth the effort. in fact i havent had so good a couple of days in a long while. a chance to practice a swaggie's skills.

one skill is how to survive the train journey. suburban trains are sometimes policed, often not at all. they are a haven for delinquents sorry to say. one has to be careful on the trains. not to attract attention.. how to handle passive-agressive people .. usually groups of adolescent bastards and psychopaths. there are definite skills.

packing the right gear is another.. eventhough the walk with a backpack maybe not so far.. a couple of kilometers say, it is very important not to take weight. the exigencies of modernity render the human back weak .. i kid you not.. even if one works out regularly.. one is forced to sit in seats wherever designed to take the weight off the back and so weaken it. .. making the back vulnerable. one not only has to strengthen the back but be aware that it cannot carry the weight that was a normal thing just a couple of generations ago.

survival in a council camping ground demands another set of skills. one needs to protect oneself from people. such places can be and are dangerous. people are violent.. enjoying provocation and stress. they say that there are snakes of different hues in the bush but be warned... they have nothing like the poison you get in a council van park.

practice is not just a good thing.. it is essential to our development. practice and renunciation are the two wings of yoga.

* a swag is aussi slang for what today is a backpack.