La poesia è una scala tra un cerchio ed il profumo di stelle selvatiche.
Riccardo Nicoletti, 02/04/2014

... just a reminder

If you think you are beaten, you are; 
If you think you dare not, you don't. 
If you'd like to win, but think you can't 
It's almost a cinch you won't. 
If you think you'll lose, you've lost. 
For out in the world we find 
Success begins with a fellow's will: 
It's all in his state of mind. 

If you think you're outclassed, you are: 
You've got to think high to rise, 
You've got to be sure of yourself before 
You'll ever win that prize. 
Life's battles don't always go 
To the stronger or faster man, 
But sooner or later the man who wins 
Is the one who thinks he can.

(Walter D. Wintle? Bruce Lee?)

Do you also find some similarity between
milonga
(e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n2vkEbjcy8 ) and
semba
(e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syW2nhW0CTA ), from which many dances (including
kizomba
(e.g. http://youtu.be/fN7p1zi7DpA )) were derived?

Awakening

United in the embrace
breath over breath
we walked all night long.

We visited
People, Rhythms and Countries
climbing ladders of notes.

We set free
a simple movement
from his cage, still faltering.

We played
to skip the music
like rocks on the river of the orchestra.

I remember your scent,
the voice of your body,
our sacred dynamic harmony.

With these feelings
among many I'm looking for
a name and a face and I know that in the embrace

I'll recognise you.

Al Risveglio (by RN)

Uniti nell'abbraccio
Respiro su respiro
tutta la notte abbiamo camminato.

Abbiamo visitato
Genti, Ritmi e Paesi
arrampicando su scale di note.

Abbiamo liberato
un movimento semplice
dalla sua gabbia, incespicava ancora.

Abbiamo, sì, giocato
a saltare la musica
come rocce sul fiume dell'orchestra.

Ricordo il tuo profumo,
la voce del tuo corpo,
la nostra sacra armonia dinamica.

Tra tante sto cercando
con queste sensazioni
un nome e un viso e so che nell'abbraccio

ti riconoscerò.

RN, 21/04/2013

The fourteen precepts of the Order of Interbeing (Thich Nhat Hanh)

1. Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute thruth. 

2. Do not think that the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice non-attachment from views in order to be open to receive others' viewpoints. Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout your entire life and to observe reality in yourself and in the world at all times.

3. Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness.

4. Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering, by all means, including personal contact and visits, images, and sound. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world. 

5. Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need.

6. Do not maintain anger or hatred. Learn to penetrate and transform them while they are still seeds in your consciousness. As soon as anger or hatred arises, turn your attention to your breathing in order to see and understand the nature of the persons who have caused your anger or hatred. 

7. Do not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings. Practice mindful breathing in order to come back to what is happening in the present moment. Be in touch with what is wondrous, refreshing, and healing, both inside and around yourself. Plant the seeds of joy, peace, and undestanding in yourself in order to facilitate the work of transformation in the depths of your consciousnss. 

8. Do not utter words that can create discord and cause the community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small. 

9. Do not say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest or to impess people. Do not utter words that cause division and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things that you are not sure of. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety.

10. Do not use the religious community for personal gain or profit, or transform you community into a political party. A religious commuity should, however, take a clear stand against oppression and injustice, and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.

11. Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to live. Select a vocation that helps realize your ideal of compassion.

12. Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and prevent war. 

13. Possess nothing that should belong to others. Respect the property of others but prevent others from enriching themselves from human suffering or the suffering of other beings.

14. Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it with respect. Do not look on your body as only an instrument. Preserve vital energies for the realization of the Way. Sexual expression should not happen without love and commitment. In sexual relationsips, be aware of future suffering that may be caused. To preserve the happines of others, respect the rights and commitments of others. Be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world. Meditate on the world into which you are bringing new beings.

Utilità

"Tutti conoscono l'utilità dell'utile, ma nessuno sa l'utilità dell'inutile".

(Zhuang -zi, IV)

The Secret of Happiness

"The secret of happiness is happiness itself. Wherever we are, any time, we have the capacity to enjoy the sunshine, the presence of each other, the wonder of our breathing. We don't have to travel anywhere else to do so. We can be in touch with these things right now". 

From Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is every step

Bacon and eggs (Ajahn Brahm)

What is the difference between involvement and commitment?
It's the same as the difference between bacon and eggs: in bacon and eggs, the pig is committed, the chicken is only involved.

Our Life is a Work of Art - Thich Nhat Hanh

[...] When we smile to ourselves, that smile is not diplomacy; it is the proof that we are ourselves, that we have full sovereignty over ourselves. Can we write a poem on stopping, aimlessness, or just being? Can we paint something about it? Everything we do is an act of poetry or a painting if we do it with mindfulness. Growing lettuce is poetry. Walking to the supermarket can be a painting.
When we do not trouble ourselves about whether or not something is a work of art, if we just act in each moment with composure and mindfulness, each minute of our life is a work of art. Even when we are not painting or writing, we are still creating. We are pregnant with beauty, joy, and peace, and we are making life more beautiful for many people. Sometimes it is better not to talk about art by using the word "art". If we just act with awareness and integrity, our art will flower, and we don't have to talk about it at all. When we know how to be peace, we find that art is a wonderful way to share our peacefulness. Artistic expression will take place in one way or another, but the being is essential. So we must go back to ourselves, and when we have joy and peace in ourselves, our creations of art will be quite natural, and they will serve the world in a positive way.

From Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is every step

Pregiudizi (Liezi [8.32])

Un uomo che aveva perso un'ascia sospettò del figlio del suo vicino. Quando lo osservava camminare non aveva dubbi: l'ascia l'aveva rubata lui. Osservava il suo aspetto, osservava il suo modo di parlare e continuava a non aver dubbi: era lui che l'aveva rubata. Non c'era nulla nel suo modo di muoversi, nulla nel suo modo di comportarsi che non indicasse che il ladro dell'ascia era lui.
Poco dopo, mentre zappava nel suo terreno, l'uomo ritrovò l'ascia.Il giorno dopo gli capitò di osservare di nuovo il figlio del vicino. Non c'era nulla nel suo modo di muoversi, nulla nel suo modo di comportarsi che lo facesse apparire come uno capace di rubare un'ascia.
Liezi [8.32]

House of the Rising Sun

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun.
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one.

My mother was a tailor
She sewed my new bluejeans.
My father was a gamblin' man
Down in New Orleans.

Now the only thing a gambler man ever needs
Is a suitcase and trunk
And the only time he's satisfied
Is when he's on a drunk.

Oh mother tell your children
Not to do what I have done,
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the House of the Rising Sun.

Well, I got one foot on the platform
The other foot on the train
I'm goin' back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain.

Well, there is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one.

Bocca - Umberto Saba

La bocca
che prima mise
alle mie labbra il rosa dell'aurora,
ancora
in bei pensieri ne sconto il profumo.

O bocca fanciullesca, bocca cara,
che dicevi parole ardite ed eri
così dolce a baciare.

Blowin' in the wind

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

by Bob Dylan

Proverbs of Hell

• In seed time learn; in harvest teach; in winter enjoy.
• Drive your cart and your plough over the bones of the dead.
• The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.
• Prudence is a rich ugly old maid courted by Incapacity.
• He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence.
• The cut worm forgives the plough.
• Dip him in the river who loves water.
• A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
• He whose face gives no light shall never become a star.
• Eternity is in love with the productions of time.
• The busy bee has no time for sorrow.
• The hours of folly are measur'd by the clock; but of wisdom no clock can measure.
• All wholesome food is caught without a net or a trap.
• Bring out number, weight and measure in a year of dearth.
• No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.
• A dead body revenges not injuries.
• The most sublime act is to set another before you.
• If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.
• Folly is the cloak of knavery.
• Shame is Pride's cloak.
• Prisons are built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion.
• The pride of the peacock is the glory of God.
• The lust of the goat is the bounty of God.
• The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God.
• The nakedness of woman is the work of God.
• Excess of sorrow laughs. Excess of joy weeps.
• The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword are portions of eternity too great for the eye of man.
• The fox condemns the trap, not himself.
• Joys impregnate: Sorrows bring forth.
• Let man wear the fell of the lion, woman the fleece of the sheep.
• The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.
• The selfish smiling fool and the sullen frowning fool shall be both thought wise, that they may be a rod.
• What is now proved was once only imagin'd.
• The rat, the mouse, the fox, the rabbit watch the roots; the lion, the tiger, the horse, the elephant watch the fruits.
• The cistern contains, the fountain overflows.
• One thought fills immensity.
• Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you.
• Everything possible to be believ'd is an image of truth.
• The eagle never lost so much time as when he submitted to learn of the crow.
• The fox provides for himself, but God provides for the lion.
• Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the Night.
• He who has suffer'd you to impose on him knows you.
• As the plough follows words, so God rewards prayers.
• The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.
• Expect poison from the standing water.
• You never know what is enough, unless you know what is more than enough.
• Listen to the fool's reproach: it is a kingly title.
• The eyes of fire, the nostrils of air, the mouth of water, the beard of earth.
• The weak in courage is strong in cunning.
• The apple tree never asks the beech how he shall grow, nor the lion the horse how he shall take his prey.
• The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.
• If others had not been foolish, we should be so.
• The soul of sweet delight can never be defil'd.
• When thou seest an Eagle, thou seest a portion of Genius: lift up thy head!
• As a caterpillar chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys.
• To create a little flower is the labour of ages.
• Damn braces. Bless relaxes.
• The best wine is the oldest, the best water the newest.
• Prayers plough not! Praises reap not!
• Joys laugh not! Sorrows weep not!
• The head Sublime, the heart Pathos, the genitals Beauty, the hands and feet Proportion.
• As the air to a bird or the sea to a fish, so is contempt to the contemptible.
• The crow wish'd everything was black, the owl that everything was white.
• Exuberance is Beauty.
• If the lion was advised by the fox, he would be cunning.
• Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement are roads of Genius.
• Sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires.
• Where man is not, nature is barren.
• Truth can never be told as to be understood, and not be believ'd.

Enough or Too much.

by William Blake

The voice of the Devil

All Bibles or sacred codes have been the causes of the following Errors:

1. That Man has two real existing principles, viz. a Body and a Soul.
2. That Energy, call'd Evil, is alone from the Body; and that Reason, call'd Good, is alone from the Soul.
3. That God will torment Man in Eternity for following his Energies.

But the following Contraries to these are True:

1. Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that call'd Body is a portion of Soul discern'd by the five Senses, the chief inlets of Soul in this age.
2. Energy is the only life and is from the Body; and Reason is the bound outward circumference of Energy.
3. Energy is Eternal Delight.

Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained; and the restrainer, or reason, usurps its place and governs the unwilling. And being restrain'd, it by degrees becomes passive, till it is only the shadow of desire.

by William Blake

Fanciulle - Umberto Saba

Maria ti guarda con gli occhi un poco

come Venere loschi.

Cielo par che s'infoschi

quello sguardo, il suo accento è quasi roco.

 

Non è bella, né in donna ha quei gentili

atti, cari agli umani;

belle ha solo le mani,

mani da baci, mani signorili.

 

Dove veste, sue vesti son richiami

per il maschio, un'asprezza

strana di tinte. È mezza

bambina e mezza bestia. Eppure l'ami.

 

Sai ch'è ladra e bugiarda, una nemica

dei tuoi intimi pregi;

ma quanto più la spregi

più la vorresti alle tue voglie amica.

One's-Self I Sing - Walt Whitman

One's-self I sing, a simple separate person,
Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.

Of physiology from top to toe I sing,
Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say
the Form complete is worthier far,
The Female equally with the Male I sing.

Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power,
Cheerful, for freest action form'd under the laws divine,
The Modern Man I sing.

Mio padre è stato per me l'assassino - Umberto Saba

Mio padre è stato per me l'"assassino",
fino ai vent'anni che l'ho conosciuto.
Allora ho visto ch'egli era un bambino,
e che il dono ch'io ho da lui l'ho avuto.

Aveva in volto il mio sguardo azzurrino,
un sorriso, in miseria, dolce e astuto,
Andò sempre pel mondo pellegrino;
più d'una donna l'ha amato e pasciuto.

Egli era gaio e leggero; mia madre
tutti sentiva della vita i pesi.
Di mano ei gli sfuggì come un pallone.

"Non somigliare - ammoniva - a tuo padre".
Ed io più tardi in me stesso lo intesi:
eran due razze in antica tenzone.

Commiato - Umberto Saba

Voi lo sapete, amici, ed io lo so.
Anche i versi somigliano alle bolle
di sapone; una sale e un'altra no.