Let Me Go.
(To all the girls I’ve loved before, will have loved in the future, have been presently loving)
by Michael Ian Lomongo
Let me go.
Letlet…
Mimi…
Let me go.
Letty…
Amy…
Mi amiga…
Let me go.
Mei-li… Gong-li… Agogo…
Let me go.
Amigas, dejadme que me vaya.
Michelle… Mabel…
Let me go.
Son les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble,
Tres bien ensemble:
Let me go.
Yeah.
Let me be.
Words of wisdom:
Let it be.
January, 2005
I love Jeanette Winterson!
It’s true, and every lover knows this deep in his/her heart to be true: when one loves, one becomes a stalker of sorts…
With the regretful sigh and the little blush of a lover,
ian
—
The Lover’s Passion
by Rumi
A lover knows only humility
He has no choice
He steals into your alley at night
He has no choice
He longs to kiss every lock of your hair
Don’t fret
He has no choice
In his frenzied love for you
He longs to break the chains
Of his imprisonment
He has no choice
—
It was easy for me to get in, the door was unlocked. I felt like a thief with a bagful of stolen glances. It’s odd being in someone else’s room when they’re not there. Especially when you love them. Every object carries a different significance. Why did she buy that? What does she especially like? Why does she sit in this chair and not that one? The room becomes a code that you have only a few minutes to crack. When she returns, she will command your attention, and besides it’s rude to stare. And yet I want to pull out the drawers and run my fingers under the dusty rims of the pictures. In the waste basket perhaps, in the larder, I will find a clue to you, I will be able to unravel you, pull you between my fingers and stretch out each thread to know the measure of you.
- Jeanette Winterson, “Written on the Body”
Some people say that Christianity has been misunderstood. It looks to me more like it is Christianity which has misunderstood! The world, perhaps even Christ!
I’m not associating Christ with Christianity. When Nietzsche wrote “Der Anti-Christ” (usually translated as “The Anti-Christ”), his polemics was directed more to Paul and Christendom/Christianity, (a note in the translation says that it is probably more fitting to translate it as “The Anti-Christian.”) The same with Kierkegaard, his beef was with Christendom (the bureaucracy of Christianity). Christianity, as we know it today, is according to biblical scholarship, largely the work of Paul the Apostle.
reposting… november, 2003.
best regards,
ian
—
Nietzsche, Hume and the Buddha
When I first heard of Nietzsche, it was in association with Hitler and the Nazis. I simply dismissed him as a rabid, power-hungry maniac who probably had an unhappy childhood. A classmate in college wrote a paper on this Nietzsche guy and I was silently chuckling on the thought that a comic book idea (”superman”) can be the subject of a scholarly paper.
But when I did get to read him (years later), I was simply won over by this crazy guy! He says provocative things that, when thought about, actually make sense. He’s probably among the few philosophers who doesn’t come across as an insipid intellectual. He’s got style, lots of it. He doesn’t say things just for effect (although sometimes it feels like that). He’s an artist, an artist-philosopher. He’s very passionate and his sincerity comes across. He also has a weird sense of humor. Indeed, he writes with his blood. Indeed, he’s a dynamite.
Am trying to re-post old posts August of last year which were not backed up.
best regards,
ian
—
More Than Words (More Ramblings…)
One of my all-time favorite songs is “More Than Words.” It became a monster hit in 1991 or 1992, spawning a long list of other “unplugged” numbers. The song, written by Nuno Bettencourt and Gary Cherone (of the now disbanded “Extreme,” a funky-metal band similar in style to Red Hot Chili Peppers, with lyrics that usually tackled religious and philosophical issues), had a beautiful melody, wonderful vocal harmony, with only a bare guitar and a bongo drum for its accompaniment. At a time when most songs were overweighed by layers of instrumentation with technological gadgets, synthesizers, etc., it was a breath of fresh air to hear this song that was pure and naked in its beauty, honesty, and simplicity. No gimmicks, just the bare essentials.
It also expressed for me an important lesson that I learned from Karl Marx and the existentialists. Karl Marx says that “Life determines consciousness; not consciousness, life.” Thus, the emphasis on praxis (practice, not as “rehearsal,” but as “actualization”), over and above theory. Of course, the existentialists harp on the call for authenticity.
Para Mama, Para Nga!!!
(isang monologo para sa bagong taon)
alay sa mga bwakanang files ko na nabura noong bisperas ng bwakanang bagong taon…
ni Body Dancer
Sampung taon na ang nakararaan ng una akong mag-odisyon para maging scholar ng Tanghalang Pilipino Actors’ Company. Mula sa mahigit limampung ininterbyu bago mag-odisyon, naiwan kaming kulang-kulang 20. Tatlong araw yung odisyon. Bawa’t araw, nababawasan kami. Matira matibay. Survival of the fittest. Darwinian natural selection. Selecta. Choose your own adventure.
Umabot ako sa pangatlong araw.
But ultimately failed to make the grade.
Almost made it. But didn’t.
I read a book on “Soto Zen,” and I encountered the names of Huineng and Shen-hsiu in its presentation of the historical origins of Zen. They were both students of the so-called Fifth Ancestor (Zen Patriarch). Huineng became the successor, the 6th ancestor.
“Shen-hsiu believed that all beings possessed the Buddha nature. However, he regarded delusions (Skt. klesa) as something real, teaching that they must be removed gradually through strenuous efforts. His school of Zen is therefore termed ‘gradual enlightenment through real practice.’ The Zen of Hui-neng, on the other hand, holds that the Buddha Heart, which all beings naturally possesss, is an indivisible union of the wisdom of enlightenment and meditation found in religious observances. Illusion and affliction are originally non-existent. Therefore, religious observances cannot be regarded as merely a means to rid oneself of illusion, but must be thought of as a practice of enlightenment, or enlightenment in practice. In Zen we call this ’sudden enlightenment - wonderful practice’ (J. tongomyoshu).”
Anyway, to continue with my rambling:
My research into the meaning of love, of course, led me to the Greek (eros/philia), Christian (eros/agape), and romantic (chivalric/troubadourian) ideas on love. At its core, love (whatever its form/manifestation) involves affirmation or approval or the simple recognition of value/beauty/good.(There is this play “Metamorphoses” that is a collection of Greek myths - based on Ovid’s work of the same title - that we read at Phil. Playhouse. I loved it. It’s very poetic, and I’d say, if executed well, could be a very moving meditation on love, in its various forms. I’d even say that the whole play is a prayer of sorts.)
From an autografitti post… November 6, 2008.
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Hi peeps!
Hope you’re all doing fine!
In lieu of writing a clear presentation of what has been preoccupying my mind these days, I will be starting a series of rambling thoughts on certain topics (love, egoism, nietzsche, buddhism, christianity, power, passion, compassion, etc.) that have held me captive for sometime.
The stimulus, of course, is Buddhism and the Vipassana meditation course I just took.
My interest in Eastern religions and mysticism probably arose when, as a college seminarian, I took this course in Indian philosophy. I was simply fascinated by the stories, the immensity of it all, and the apparent contradictions contained within a philosophical system. I practically remembered almost without effort most of what we were taught in that particular subject. (Mostly basic concepts like “atman,” “brahman,” “maya,” etc.)
Of course, almost everyone is familiar with chain letters and forwarded emails. There would be the usual exhortation to pass it on to a certain number of people for good luck and the warning not to ignore the message for the bad luck that would be its consequence.
I used to forward a lot of political emails (mosly anti-GMA stuff) that I was dubbed a “spammer” in certain circles. But once, I received a forwarded email that I liked and forwarded to others as well. It was about being grateful for the inconveniences and small misfortunes that happen to us because of their (often) unperceived value to us in the greater scheme of things. But what really caught my attention in that e-mail was the last paragraph:
“Pass this on to someone else, if you’d like. There is NO LUCK attached. If you delete this, it’s okay: God’s Love Is Not Dependent On E-Mail.”
“Can men and women be friends?”
What made the film “When Harry Met Sally” memorable for me — aside from the “orgasm” of Sally (Meg Ryan) at the diner — was this intriguing question, provoked by Harry’s premise/presupposition that men and women cannot be simply friends because sex almost always enters the equation.
(In another movie, I think “All of Me,” Steve Martin gets confronted by his wife — “I faked all my orgasms!” — who proceeded to demonstrate this by having “one” right in front of him in his very office. Steve Martin, humiliated, replies, “Well, so did I!”)
Of course, as Harry (Billy Crystal) grows and matures in the course of the years, he revises and modifies his theory but basically retains the core of his presupposition.