Back to AtD...p960

[Kai Frederik Lorentzen]

On 25.12.2012 23:33, Ian Livingston wrote:
>
> I'm not so sure about P's singling out for dissing the contemplatives, 
> though. It seems to me he is equally ready to dis those too eager to 
> act without considering the repercussions of their actions. Benny and 
> the Crew, Slothrop, Lake, maybe even Zoyd and Mucho might be examples 
> of characters inclined to action and reaction as opposed to the 
> over-contemplative (Mason? Roger M?), though, in the end, I am 
> inclined to see all as aspects of the human psyche. You got your poles 
> and then there's all that's in between.

Makes me think of a verse from the Bhagavad Gita (IV.18):

*"One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is 
intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, 
although engaged in all sorts of activities."*

Doubtful whether Father Ponko's comparison of the Hesychasts with 
"Japanese Buddhists (...) literally gazing at their navels" can be 
attributed to Pynchon himself, but it reminds me of my philosophy 
teacher from high school. As the left Hegelian (Linkshegelianer) he was, 
he always became kinda furious when people asked about Eastern religion: 
"The Buddhist is an egoist sitting in his cabin all day long and the 
only thing he ever does is to meditate!" Those were the days before 
political correctness.

Goethe's /Faust/ (vgl. 1215-1237) seems to be relevant here too: Faust, 
in need of supernatural inspiration, is translating John 1.1. ("In the 
beginning was the Word ...") and, doubting the superiority of language 
("Ich kann das /Wort/ so hoch unmöglich schätzen"), replaces "word" by 
"deed".  In the beginning was the Deed ... This of course is echoing 
J.G. Fichte and foreshadowing thesis 11.

When it comes to characterize Pynchon's personages, it's imo important 
not to stay with action-oriented on the one and over-contemplative on 
the other side but to introduce a third aspect that refers to being 
manipulated by others ("Them"). Isn't Slothrop always already trapped by 
conspiracy?

And if "Cyprian and his monastery decision" are "a metaphor for the 
reclusive dedication of our writer", what exactly is this telling us 
about Pynchon? That he stopped taking part in societal conflicts?

>
> On Tue, Dec 25, 2012 at 8:56 AM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com 
> <mailto:markekohut at yahoo.com>> wrote:
>
>     If Cyprian and his decision(s) are some kind of upbeat authorial
>     value embodiment in
>     AtD, "the Heyschasts, who might as well have been Japanese
>     Buddhists---they sat in their cells,
>     gazing at their navels, waiting to be enfolded in a glorious light
>     they believed was the same light
>     Peter, James, and John had witnessed at theTransfiguration of
>     Christ on Mount Tabor.......
>     are not.
>
>     the place where human nature met God---wikipedia describing the
>     theological import of
>     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfiguration_of_Jesus"
>     "perhaps they asked themselves forms of your question as well, as
>     a sort of koan. What is it that
>     is born of /that /light? Oddly, if one reads the Gospel accounts,
>     the emphasis in all three is not on
>     an excess of light but a deficiency---the Transfiguration occurred
>     at best under a peculiar sort of half-light.
>     'There came a cloud and overshadowed them", as Luke puts it. Those
>     /omphalopsychoi /might have
>     seen a holy light, but its link with the Transfiguration is doubtful.
>     A little hermenuetical theology from our God-obsessed writer?
>     Knows the Gospel accounts yet,
>     gives us another metaphor for agnosticism? Clouds. Or another
>     dissing of religious belief altogether
>     even if Buddhist. As above, so below?
>     Certainly a dissing of navel-gazing whether Western or Eastern?
>     Action matters, even if it is Cyprian's
>     self-reclusive action? Is Cyprian and his monastery decision a
>     metaphor for the reclusive dedication of
>     our writer?
>
>

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