I am off for the weekend, entertaining dear friends and family. I am feeling nostalgic, full of memories some of which I had forgotten. Today I remember the road to Rasht. After you pass Ghazvin's Koohin area, you enter the mountainous area which is the entry into Gilan. After a while, you reach Manjil. The wind blows hard and strong in Manjil all the time. Though the lake behind the dam in Manjil is gorgeous, and you could stand there looking at it for hours, the most thought provoking thing about Manjil is its windmills. Hundreds of them are planted in every direction to turn that vicious wind into something useful. It almost looks like a forest of windmills. I have so many memories of Manjil, the joy the little town would give me on the way to making new memories in Rasht and Gilan, or on the way back from having made them. I miss it. Here's a song, performed a long time ago by Jose Feliciano. This song is equally nostalgic, reminding me of my childhood. These memories are just two of millions filling my head these days. Have a good weekend everybody. This weekend, unburden yourselves from some of the emotions you are taking around. I have been doing it all week. It feels good. Namely, admit, proclaim, and confess your love this weekend. You'll be unburdened.
7/20/2007
Windmills of Your Mind
I am off for the weekend, entertaining dear friends and family. I am feeling nostalgic, full of memories some of which I had forgotten. Today I remember the road to Rasht. After you pass Ghazvin's Koohin area, you enter the mountainous area which is the entry into Gilan. After a while, you reach Manjil. The wind blows hard and strong in Manjil all the time. Though the lake behind the dam in Manjil is gorgeous, and you could stand there looking at it for hours, the most thought provoking thing about Manjil is its windmills. Hundreds of them are planted in every direction to turn that vicious wind into something useful. It almost looks like a forest of windmills. I have so many memories of Manjil, the joy the little town would give me on the way to making new memories in Rasht and Gilan, or on the way back from having made them. I miss it. Here's a song, performed a long time ago by Jose Feliciano. This song is equally nostalgic, reminding me of my childhood. These memories are just two of millions filling my head these days. Have a good weekend everybody. This weekend, unburden yourselves from some of the emotions you are taking around. I have been doing it all week. It feels good. Namely, admit, proclaim, and confess your love this weekend. You'll be unburdened.
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11 comments:
"Namely, admit, proclaim, and confess your love this weekend. You'll be unburdened."
Thank you for this simple, but wonderful advice! I wish you a calm, peaceful, and happy weekend!
از قزوین به سوی کوهین اوج می گیرید. کوهین مرتفع ترین نقطه است، جایی که می توانید قله های مجاور را که حالا هم سطح شما شده اند ببینید. سپس به سوی دریا ارتفاع کم می کنید و به لوشان می رسید؛ شهر حاشیه ای گیلان. و پس از لوشان، منجیل است، شهر به جای مانده از طبرستان کهن که رود "آمارد" باستانی (سفیدرود) از آن جا حرکت خود را برای پیوستن به دریا آغاز می کند، و چرخ پره های معروفش که حضور جهان نوین را در آن سوی تپه های باستانی مارلیک (در شرق شهرستان رودبار و در حاشیه ی سفیدرود با قدمت سه هزار ساله) به رخ می کشاند....ر
و اما نازی عزیز از سبکباری گفتید. مرا یاد این حرف کریشنا مورتی انداخت که می گوید پیمانه باید خالی باشد تا بتواند چیزی در خود جای دهد. تردیدی نیست که صحبت زیبا و ژرفیست! شاید گاهی حتی باید به فراتر از آن اندیشید و پیمانه را شکست و در نیست هست شد! چرخ پره های ذهن من پیمانه ها را می شکنند.
در آن خُمخانه چون رفتی فنا شو
ز بود خویش آنگه آشنا شو
چو مقصود تو اندر اصل ماییم
که بود خویش در کل می‌نماییم
عطار
Thank you sweet and thoughtful Assal. I miss you.
Alef Shin Jan: You know that road! Were you taken there with love, too? You described it accurately and exactly. You know, there were times in a past life when I could have gone anywhere, any part of the world I could choose, and I chose that road, that destination; and that journey with all those towns on the way became all that I wanted in the world. Thank you for sharing Attar so appropriately. Those journeys were when I "became familiar with my own being."
Wow, Mr. Shin's writings are so thought provoking and zen.
Yes, Serendip! I am so fortunate to have such fabulous and intelligent visitors (yourself included)! Alef Shin is a very gifted individual. I go to his blog (http://dialogos.blogfa.com/) and marvel at the complex discussions going on there, in which it is so obvious he is a teacher. I can't think of any smart things to say, so I just read and learn! He and his blog audience make me proud to know that such dialogues are taking place, even though for a change (!), I must keep quiet and only be an attentive spectator. Take care.
بزرگی از آن شماست. شما دوستان من هستید و برایم عزیز. این فضا را دوست دارم و می خواهم فقط هستی ام را با شما بخش کنم و بخش یعنی قسمت کردنی که نشان از مهر و بخشش و بخشندگی دارد. معادلی در زبان های دیگر برایش می شناسید؟!
(قبلا یک بار از "بخت" هم پرسیده بودم. یادتان می آید؟ بخت هم در همین حوزه ی معنایی است. بنابراین بدبختی واژه ایست که تناقض درونی دارد! "بودن" سراسر خوش بختی ست! موافقید؟)ر
Salam Alef Shin! I quite agree with you. Our lives are what they are; there is no "bad luck." All of life is beautiful and an enjoyable journey, if you remember that it is not for naught, and you also remember that we are here for a reason, a mission, which we must accomplish to the best of our individual abilities. I know of a family who have suffered some tragedies. This family likes to refer to themselves as a family with "bad luck." I told a member of that family a few years ago, that though I don't mean to discount the tragedies they had suffered, I would advise them to stop referring to themselves as "bad shans." I told him that thinking these negative thoughts would only perpetuate the state of misery they all seemed to have accepted as their lot in the world. To have hope when you are happy is not so hard--the art of life is to find reasons to have hope when you are unhappy. Hope can change our state of mind from feeling miserable to feeling "temporarily inconvenienced," while we actively work to look for happiness and satisfaction.
About your other question, in English, the verb used for what you described is "to share," and sharing is a positive concept, full of generosity and kindness. In Montessori school, I have observed that children are taught to "share" toys, using the verb to promote active social participation and awareness of others and their needs. When someone says: "I'd like to share something with you," the meaning conveyed is the other person's recognition of you as a trustworthy individual, deserving the privilege of receiving something special. Be good Alef Shin.
ممنون از این که پرانرژی و کنش‌ور مثل همیشه نوشته ای را بی پاسخ نمی گذارید. دریچه ی نگاه شما به موضوع بسیار درخور و شایسته است و من از خواندن آن لذت بردم و چیز آموختم. اما در مورد "بخت" باید بگویم که واژه ی منحصر به فردی است در فارسی. حوزه ی معنایی آن از سهم و قسمت گرفته تا عطیه و بخشش، و از تقدیر و سرنوشت گرفته تا گونه ای از شانس و تصادف، همه را شامل می شود. (واژه های مرتبط با معنی شانس و تصادف و ... خودش داستان مفصلی دارد که از آن فعلا می گذریم.)
واژه ی
Share
گرچه بار نیک و پسندیده ای دارد، ولی دامنه ی معنایی آن گسترده نیست (این دامنه را شما می توانید از میزان ایهام یا معنای ضمنی که یک کلمه می تواند در متن و زمینه های مختلف داشته باشد تشخیص دهید). جالب این که واژه ی
baksheesh
نیز از فارسی (به نظر در اوایل در قرن هفدهم) وارد زبان انگلیسی شده. از جمله واژه های جالب دیگر، کوینونیا
Koinonia
است که من در کلیدواژه های خودمان آن را آورده ام. این واژه ترجمه ی کلمه ای است از زبان آرامی (با اندکی تسامح می توان به عبری اش هم استناد کرد) که در ترجمه ی یونانی انجیل آمده و از همان طریق نیز به انجیل های متداول امروزی راه یافته. متاسفانه تاکنون نتوانسته ام به هیچ نسخه ی اصلی به زبان آرامی یا عبری از عهد جدید دسترسی یابم (واساساً نمی دانم چنین نسخه هایی اصلاً در دسترس عموم هستند یا نه). اگر میسر بود، به واژه ی کلیدی مهمی در زبان های باستانی که هم معنی دوستی و مهر دارد و هم سهیم شدن در آن، دست می یافتیم. ضمن آن که پی گیری صورت های هم ریشه با آن در قرآن نیز احتمالا میسر می شد، زیرا عربی و عبری و آرامی در یک خانواده ی زبانی قرار دارند.
زبان فارسی پر است از چنین واژه های نابی. از جمله ی دیگر آن ها به هم‌بودی و هم‌دوستی اشاره می کنم که معانی آن ها نیز در سایت ما آمده.
ببخشید از پرحرفی من .....ر
سلام مجدد به خانم نازی عزیز! در حالی که شما کمی بالاتر با سایر دوستان درگیرودار تشریح آن حسّ موسیقایی قوی و زیبای خودتان هستید، خواستم اشاره کنم که خوشبختانه اکنون تقریباً کل حوزه ی واج‌شبکه‌ی (یعنی شبکه ای از واژه ها در زبان های مختلف که یک ریشه ی کهن مشترک دارند) بخش را می شناسم. به عبارت دیگر ریشه ی هند و اروپایی آن برایم مشخص است (که البته در مورد این واژه کار پیچیده ای نبود) و ریشه ی هند و آریایی آن را نیز اخیراً از منابعی استخراج کردم. امیدوارم روزی درباره اش بنویسم، ولی عجالتاً این را اشاره کنم که این مورد هم از مواردی است که نشان می دهد چگونه جوهر اندیشه ی شرق با غرب (در نگاه معنایی که در عمق فحوا و آهنگ کلام و واژه ها مستتر است) تمایز بنیادی می یابد.
هفته ی کاری خوبی را برای شما آرزومندم
Dear Alef Shin: Though words are a subject of constant fascination for me, I don't know enough about them to be able to make a valuable contribution, which is why I keep quiet! I am, however, acutely aware of the similarities and differences of words in Farsi and in English.
Sometimes I keep the two languages quite separate in my head. Sometimes I have to translate something from one language to the other, and I have to look at the meaning of the words to find a good match. But occasionally, I think about similar words in each language beyond the immediate meaning they try to convey. At these times, it seems, that when I see and say a word in Farsi, I cannot look at it without the history and culture in which the word is used.
I often find English simpler and easier in which to communicate, and as a result I have a high level of comfort with the vocabulary and expressions of this language. English is also the language of technology in our times, so there are words in it for which either there is no Farsi equivalent, or the equivalent which is a newly defined word, feels strange and cumbersome.
However, there are other times when I am unable to find suitable equivalent words in English for some of the words we use in Farsi. For example, many words which are constructed on the word "del," are not easily translatable into English, because there is no "del" in English. One can argue that it means "the heart," but words that are built on "del" are complex words, each of which speak not just one word, but whole sentences, paragraphs, and sometimes books! The same is true of Farsi words that are constructed on the word "jan," which simplistically could be translated into "life" or "soul" in English, but those words cannot do justice to the depth "jan" has in Farsi. This is when I think if English is the language of technology, Farsi is quite possibly the language of spirituality, love, and wisdom (not practical wisdom, but wisdom developed through a very old history, passed down through generations).
So, I am quite aware of the differences in the outlooks which have constructed those words in each language. This is my non-academic thought in support of what you have painstakingly and academically compiled.
It's tough for me to have a conversation with you, Alef Shin. You are so well-versed with the subject of communication and Farsi literature, I could easily get intimidated in the conversation! I hope I don't disappoint you in my shallowness! Be good.
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