2008/12/31 Varanasi
Mister Spiritual
Luxembourg
Last night our guide said: “This city is fantastic. Here you can experience real life. I’ve been to Luxembourg. Luxembourg is fantastic as well. Beautiful girls in Luxembourg.”
We rented a rower and a rowing boat, we crossed the Ganges and we watched the burning of dead bodies on the ghats.
“You don’t smell death because the Ganges is holy,” our guide said.
He added: “The Ganges is as pure as mineral water, perhaps even more pure. You don’t see it with your own eyes, but you will see it with your third eye. You have to train your third eye.”
Later he made us buy silk scarves and silk sheets.
The third eye sees money more than anything else.
And there is no contradiction here.
Money is the most spiritual thing in the world.
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19 comments 
Arnon
This entry is divine. Happy New Year!Arnon
If you , by any chance, would feel the urge to buy me a kashmir scarf, don't hesitate. It would be highly appreciated.Arnon
Yes for me too, but one color please, i don't want to wear a carpet around my neck.
Dear Arnon
at the risk of irritating Pefko...Serious request... can you find me a translation of the Little Prince in a local language of India? I collect them.
Thanks, I'll repay and hope to collect it some day.
Third eye has a different meaning too, but I wonder if the man knew this.
Joanne
Are you related to Herman and Amita Hartmann who during a short period used to comment on this blog?Happy new year, Mr. Arnon. I hope the Third Eye may bring you loads of money and spirituality. I started reading "A brief history of time", it's far less "difficult" than I'd imagined. It may be opening my third eye.
Hi Mieke
no, I am not...And by the way: I enjoy most of your comments.
I don't think you would have become a writer if you were truely convinced of those beautiful words. Did money guide you towards writership? Or was it something more spiritual?
Calisha
Could you tell me a little bit more about spirituality?One could better say, money is a powerful ritual thing in the world.
Arnon
I study the very exhausting T.S Eliot's "Waste Land" and I think of you. Not that I meant to say you are exhausting, au contraire.I think money is sacramental.
Spirituality
I thought spirituality was a term that refered to a certain inner state of self satisfaction and hapiness, mixed with passion and curiosity towards life. But the dictionary told me I was wrong. And I’m petty orthodox when it comes to my dictionary, so I took the less ideal definition for granted after beating my initial state of stubborness...Considering the new definition, spirituality did remind me of money. It even started to sound dirty and bitter, because human desire for believing in magic can easily be abused for economical and other purposes. I should have stopped to think about the correct definition before impulsively launching my comment. But I don’t regret doing it.
I once told my mother that ignorance should be declared a capital sin. She completely agreed. Now, I don’t agree with myself anymore. Ignorance on itself is human and certainly not a crime or sin, rigidly refusing to cure yourself from it is. And feeling ignorant is good, it means you have learned something ;) and are a little less naive.
Do you notice the existence of “kastes” as a tourist? Are all kastes allowed to associate with the tourists? Or only some of them, creating there particular trade monopoly?
Calisha
Don’t trust your dictionary when it comes of spiritual things.Did you know that one of the presidents of India was a member of the lowest caste, a so-called “untouchable”?
See also: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01EFDD173AF935A15754C0A961958260
No, I didn't know... And now it's a woman. Surprising facts that make me happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I guess it means a political progress of the country, and sad because probably their election is a result of the sad twists in Indias “bloody” interesting history. Thank you for the link. I think it's a huge challenge to try to unridle the tapestry of indian history, one with many knots and patterns.
I'd like to add that as I continue reading, the reading-speed slows down dramastically.
Dens
I can't blame you for it. Someone talking about oneself and spirituality is usually gezwam*.Gezwam: dutch for empty talk.
Calisha, I can't agree more, but there's this film "The mindscape of Alan Moore" (Alan Moore is the best comic writer in modern time and it's not just me who thinks this way). In this film Moore talks about his comics, obviously, but also about science and occultism/magic. He himself is a shaman. What he has to say shaped me in many ways. I like this man's thoughts.
What I was referring to, though, is what I said earlier about "A Brief history of Time". I made it believe that I was this genius who read Hawkin's book like it was Hello! magazine. This was only true for the first -what- 40 pages? At this stage I have to reread certain parts to comprehend.
What I was referring to, though, is what I said earlier about "A Brief history of Time". I made it believe that I was this genius who read Hawkin's book like it was Hello! magazine. This was only true for the first -what- 40 pages? At this stage I have to reread certain parts to comprehend.
Dens
Wikipedia says that book is an unread bestseller and that the number of readers is halved with every equation. Good luck, finiishing and understanding it would have it's merit.How did you end up working in a turkish hotel? How long have you worked there? Would you repeat the experience?
flesh and bone
if the flesh dies in one world, is it possible for the body to live on in another world? I mean, one can follow different paths, but if one dies in one world, does he die in all? (or different truths possible, even in this) the body, i mean, the flesh and bones. what do they say about that? you know? diid you ask?best ask a physisist (parallell worlds and whatnot ), instead of a writer, poet, or 'holy' man., no?
i
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