DAILY PHOTO: Church in the Backwaters
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Category Archives: Religion
PROMPT: Traditions
All of them. As a traveler, I am more an anthropologist of traditions than a practitioner of them.
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DAILY PHOTO: Bronze Guardian Lion
DAILY PHOTO: Wong Tai Sin Temple
DAILY PHOTO: Tin Hua Temple, Hong Kong
BOOK: “The Pocket Rumi” ed. / trans. by Kabir Helminski
The Pocket Rumi by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-RumiMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – Shambhala
This is a selection of writings (mostly poetry) of Rumi (formal name: Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī.) Rumi was a mystic of Sufi Islam, and so the poems tend toward the devotional — though with more reference to the experience of intoxication than one might expect from a 13th century Islamic poet.
This selection consists of three sections organized by poetic form, each section progressively longer than the preceding one. The first section is ruba’i, the second is ghazals, and the last is from Rumi’s Mathnawi.
The “Pocket” of the book’s title and series is figurative as the paperback is too big of both format and thickness for any pocket I own, personally, but the point is that it’s a quick read at only about 200 pages of (mostly) poetry [meaning white space abounds.]
I enjoyed reading this selection. I can’t say how true to message the translations are as I have no knowledge of Persian. I can point out that the translators opted to abandon form in favor of free verse. Hopefully, this gave them the freedom of movement to approach the message and tone of the originals.
If you are interested in a short, readable English translation of Rumi’s poetry, this book offers a fine place to start.
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DAILY PHOTO: Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, Bratislava
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BOOKS: “Violence: A Very Short Introduction” by Philip Dwyer
Violence: A Very Short Introduction by Philip DwyerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – Oxford University Press
This is a brief overview of various types of violence, starting with the question of what counts as violence. The book explores violent acts carried out by individuals, mobs, movements, governments, and religions. It reflects upon how the nature of violence has changed over the centuries while hinting at potential reasons for said changes (along with counterarguments.)
This book raised some provocative questions, such as: Why would people go to watch executions? Does Steven Pinker’s hypothesis that humanity is becoming less violent hold water? [Pinker made this argument in his book The Better Angels of Our Nature, but it has been refuted on number of grounds — definitional, methodological, etc. Though Dwyer only briefly touches on Pinker’s book and its critics in this book and a detailed critique will require looking elsewhere.] How (and why) do violent tendencies vary across cultures. And, when and how did governments end up with a monopoly on legitimate use of force.
I found this book interesting and informative and would recommend it for those looking for answers as to why and how our species is so violent.
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PROMPT: Religion
Nope. Not even a little.
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Lanterns [Kyōka]
rows of lanterns —
a jack-o-lantern patch —
lights the temple
on a dark, rainy night;
rain splats on a tin roof.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 