The Best of the Best

                                                           Please indulge an old man .   Below are some of the Kiddie Lit Books I LOVE .

THE ANNOTATED MOTHER GOOSE  Introduction and Notes by William S. Baring-Gould & Ceil Baring-Gould --  Illustrated by CALDECOTE, CRANE, GREENWAY, RACKHAM. PARRISH AND HISTORICAL WOODCUTS .

THE COMPLETE MOTHER GOOSE  Illustrated by Ethyl Franklin Betts BEAUTIFUL Pen and Ink Drawings and Exquisite color Prints .

ANDERSON'S FAIRY TALES  Illustrated by Arthur Szyk .

ANDERSON'S FAIRY TALES   Translated y Valdemar Paulsen and Illustrated by Milo Winter .

ANDERSON'S FAIRY TALES   Illustrated by E.H. Wehnert & W. Thomas   followed by

GRIMM'S FOLKS TALES         Illustrated by E.H. Wehnert

GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES           Illustrated in Color by Noel Pocock  

THE VIOLET FAIRY BOOK      Edited by Andrew Lang   Illustrations by H.J. Ford  (Compendium from Around The World)

                                 I have multiple copies of Alice in Wonderland, and several different versions of AESOP'S FABLES .   

                         One word :   NEVER ENOUGH !!!  The ARTWOK alone is "The price of admission."

Miss Handled

                                                           I have advised my fellow Planetarians that "IT" would behoove them to procure, a Bible, I CHING, TAO TE CHING, QURAN, and perhaps, Bulfinch's Mythology, and even Chuang Tsu's INNER CHAPTERS .   

                           I warn my Gentle Readers that I intend to begin using Kiddie Lit to neutralize trumpian propaganda; here it is where "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down."   I KNOW Readers in Foreign Lands and Far-Away Nations have their own Children's Literature and I am counting on them to avail themselves to their Study of such .   Kiddie Lit is something of a "First Transmission" of Morals, Mores, Ethics and even MORE IMPORTANTLY as a means to aid in identifying "GOOD" and "EVIL" and THE DIFFERENE BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG .   Elsewhere I have vehemently argued that trump is devoid of ANY sort of HUMANISM, that, because of his upbringing, ONLY misfortune could result, in other words, trump was somehow Dys-Socialized, meaning there was  no way for him to identify Good from Evil, that he was tutored by his father's ATROCITIES which he now inflicts upon US .

                          If we are to Transform the glob I insist "IT" must begin with CHILDREN .

"Out Of The Mouths Of Babes"

                                                           For  weeks I have been miserable .   Everyday there is some new and gross BULLSHIT that bombards our Senses.   Trump's propaganda has been relentless --- in order to neutralize some of if I have offered nothing but pure negativity, in an Effort to rivet the Attention of my Readers to TRUMP'S Reality .   I realize the Suffering I have impose---I justified my actions as what Buddhists refer to as "Merited Karma" --that which is both generated and received .   I don' like it, never have but the Truth is always gonna-be the Truth and, technically, there IS no escape .

                          I KNOW there are better, more acceptable delivery systems, one of which is to use the I CHING and then add to it, 'purport' .   The problem with the 'Ching' is that it is esoteric in both Form and Substance, and I doubt many Folks have a copy .  "IT" is the same for almost all quotes from Ancient Chinese Philosophy, precious few of them have reached the Streets and Gutters of common Academics, let alone those of us who make our 'homes' in "Tombstone" Territory,  the cliche ridden wasteland of Modern Day Superficiality .   

                         I wanted to somehow link Children's Literature, my BELOVED "Kiddie Lit", to Everyday Propaganda Neutralization but feared my Readers would be insulted at such "low brow" expression .   I FEARED, "That's IT ???  That's all you got ???????" .   I stayed away from that which I loved because I thought it Inappropriate .   

                         Then THIS arrived :   "It is not a matter of whether you can learn by silence, by speech, by effort, by submission .   It is a matter of HOW this is done not 'THAT' it is done ."  [ Khamosh ] .   In this, Sufis utilize EVERYTHING , including children's stories, jokes, and the above listed .  "IT" has given me a Voucher to advance a Neutralization that doubles as Teaching .   

no go

                                                           I'm disappointed that so few of you are interested in this morning's topic .  I will suspend my activity on this topic for a later time .

Sensory Deprivation

                                                          So----------what is the Nature of the 'Truth' for which we Search ?    Zen Master Seung Sahn teaches that Meditation results in finding one's "True Self", a True Self that "transcends 'likes' and 'dislikes' " ,   a Self that is "Enlightened" .   Sufis describe a 'state of Mind' that is ONE with the ONE, another word for God .   

                          Recently, we have been supplied definitions, explanations and description of Reality.   This is the Common Reality of day-to-day Existence .  Now we must look at the Reality of Meditation, and there is no Greater Description than the Heart Sutra, where we find this Diamond Description of the BEST State of Meditative Reality :   "No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no Mind, --- no color, no sound, no taste, no touch, no object of Mind,, no realm of eyes and so forth until no realm of Mind consciousness" .   To properly conceive this State, simply close your eyes and put yourself in a silent sound-free room with the lights off .   THIS is Meditative Reality .   NOW thoughts arrive and depart of their own accord ---Nothingness exists --- Mind is Free to roam or be still --- here it is where "Stillness IS Bliss" .   Now GETTING THERE and STAYING THERE are different things, and STAYING in the "ULTIMATE REALITY" is NOT ---->  Practical .   We must work to Live .   

                       

"ATONEMENT" [AT-ONE-MENT]

                                                           I was delighted and RELIEVED that there are parallels between Zen-ism and Sufism, the most important of which is the Necessity to "look inside" one's Being to locate Truth .   Zen phrases "IT" this way :  "Seeing into one's Self and the Attainment of Buddhahood", while Sufis describe, "...a form of direct perception of the Truth which has nothing to do with mechanical Intellection".   Compare these to Gnosticism's  "Direct and Immediate {Personal} Experiential Knowledge of the Divine" .    Gnosticism is Ancient, the 1st and 2nd Centuries A.D.,,,  and the question may be asked if what may be considered Modern Christianity, specifically the Synoptic Gospels, contains such an articulation of these Mystical -----> Alternatives can be found .   Not exactly, but I argue and have argued that the Parables found in said Synoptic Gospels are certainly close enough to qualify as SOMEWHAT Mystical, in that trying to Understanding the Parables is the same as trying to Understand Koans {Kong-ans in Korean} .   In All of the above MEDIATATION is Required to first Penetrate and then GRASP the Spiritual Significance of the Stories, Kong-ans, Messages and Parables .   ALL Require INTENSE Focus and Concentration, a Focus of One's ENTIRE Being .   Remember the Goal :  Truth .   The Truth of BEING "Nearer to God" where God is Code for The Infinite Divine {my tag} .   Being at ONE with the One, God, GUARANTEES "Inner Peace" which means "EVERYTHING IS EASIER TO DEAL WITH" .

                          

Silver BELLS

                                                           I will inject >Self Absorbed< into this narrative as in "The man was so self-absorbed he did not see, feel, or hear the thief approach nor cut his tether ."   Further, his concern was directed toward >material gain< and he literally thought of nothing else .   Is this man, then, a true Innocent ?   I say NO .   The thief saw him as an easy 'mark' and took advantage of it straight-away .

                       The man arrives at a well and sees someone who he thinks is in distress .   We now know the thief is not only practiced but has KEEN vision and so seeks to "play" this man once more .   First he tells the man he has "dropped" FIVE HUNDRED SILVER COINS into the well and then offers him 100 should he manage to retrieve them .    The thief is believed by the man, trusted even, but upon what is this trust based ????   The man asks NO Questions, like, HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DROP A SACK OF COINS INTO THIS WELL ????  Even better WHY DIDN'T YOU try YOURSELF ???????   

                      The man's justifies this perilous effort with a common cliche "One door shuts while many are opened" and with this he strips and "plunges" into the well .   He made Effort to AVOID THE OBVIOUS, that is, WHO THE FUCK IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD BE CARELSESS ENOUGH TO DROP A SACK OF SIVER COINS INTO A WELL ???????????????????  Innocent ???   Hardly .

                      Trump voters refused to believe that THEIR OWN MINDS accounted for the first theft, and THEIR OWN MINDS resulted in the second .   

                      I mean, one word :   TOOO Good .