Discover Top Posts Tagged with #classical literature

» The value of poetry is determined not by its meaning, but by its form. «

#stefan george #classical literature #stefan george circle #quote #poets on poetry

Der Stern des Bundes

„Nirgends hat deutsche Dichtung sich dem Geiste der Sprache tiefer anvertraut als in Georges Spätwerk.“ (Theodor W. Adorno)

Es ist 1914, die Welt steht kurz vor dem Kollaps, und während alle nach Fortschritt, Maschinen und Geschwindigkeit schreien, zieht sich Stefan George in eine fast sakrale Dunkelheit zurück. Was er mitbringt, ist „Der Stern des Bundes“ – kein gewöhnliches Buch, sondern eine Art geheimer Kodex, ein Manifest für die Suchenden.

George schreibt darin nicht für die Masse. Er schreibt in einer eigenen, kompromisslosen Ästhetik (keine Großbuchstaben, eigene Punktuation) und formuliert eine kompromisslose Absage an die Moderne. Es geht um Geheimbünde, geistige Freundschaft, Schönheit als Zuflucht und die tiefe Sehnsucht nach einer Ordnung in einer Welt, die gerade in tausend Scherben zerfällt.

Einer seiner bekanntesten Sätze daraus bringt diese ganze Stimmung auf den Punkt:

„Ihr wollt das licht und wisst nicht dass es brennt.“

„Der Stern des Bundes“ liest sich wie das Tagebuch eines Ordensmeisters, der sieht, wie die Welt brennt, während er versucht, einen letzten Funken echter Poesie und Geistigkeit über die Zeit zu retten. Es ist düster, erhaben, aufgeladen und faszinierend starrköpfig – ein Denkmal für die Magie des Wortes in einer viel zu lauten Zeit.

Ich schätze dieses Werk zutiefst. Denn meinen eigenen „George“ – jene Gestalt, die Geist, Strenge und Blick fürs Wesentliche lehrt – habe ich in meiner Lehrerin gefunden.

#stefan george #stefan george circle #classical literature #dark academia aestehtic #der stern des bundes #art education #book review

It is an uneasy lot at best to be what we call highly taught and yet not to enjoy: to be present at this great spectacle of life and never to be liberated from a small hungry shivering self — never to be fully possessed by the glory we behold, never to have our consciousness rapturously transformed into the vividness of a thought, the ardour of a passion, the energy of an action, but always to be scholarly and uninspired, ambitious and timid, scrupulous and dim-sighted.

- George Eliot, Middlemarch

#quote #george eliot #middlemarch #literary fiction #classical literature #19th Century #guardian best 100 novels

Rainer Maria Rilke Gedicht

Aus dem »Stundenbuch«

Lösch mir die Augen aus: ich kann dich sehn, wirf mir die Ohren zu: ich kann dich hören, und ohne Füße kann ich zu dir gehn, und ohne Mund noch kann ich dich beschwören. Brich mir die Arme ab, ich fasse dich mit meinem Herzen wie mit einer Hand, halt mir das Herz zu, und mein Hirn wird schlagen, und wirfst du in mein Hirn den Brand, so werd ich dich auf meinem Blute tragen.

#rainer maria rilke #classical literature #german poem #quote

Interacting with older media is always a wild ride cause I always ask myself “is this gonna be incredibly gay or incredibly homophobic?” And most of the time the answer is yes

#ummmm what’s the last media I consumed #the picture of dorian gray #that one was mostly gay tho #ouran high school host club #classical literature #classic lit #every adaptation of #sherlock holmes #is a gamble #I can’t think of more examples rn #frog rambles #old media #lgbtq #queer

Society never made the preposterous demand that a man should think as much about his own qualifications for making a charming girl happy as he thinks of hers for making himself happy.

- George Eliot, Middlemarch

#quote #george eliot #middlemarch #literary fiction #classical literature #19th Century #guardian best 100 novels

Quick notes on how Chinese Legend has influenced Buddhism

Thank you to @preditablemess for the question!

Theravada vs Mahayana

As always, I need to specify if I’m talking about Theravada or Mahayana. This post will be largely about Mahayana Buddhism for two reasons. First, Theravada Buddhism was born in Northern India, and got most of its foundational teachings from Sri Lanka, while Mahayana Buddhism was originally born in central India, and had many of its foundational scriptures drafted in China. So. One of those has been Chinese for longer. Second, Theravada tries purposefully to not be influenced by anything, including culture. It’s the way of the elders, it’s very traditional. Mahayana Buddhism, on the other hand, believes that every culture has the groundwork already to create its own form of Buddhism, and encourages this in every country it does missionary work in. In fact, most forms of Buddhism that call themself by a country (Tibetan Buddhism, Korean Buddhism) are just very localized versions of Mahayana Buddhism.

Chinese Gods and Buddhist Bodhisattvas

The most common way Buddhists have been influenced by Chinese Legend is by absorbing their Gods and making them Bodhisattvas. My favorite example is Guanyin, who used to be the (male) Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, who vowed to stay on Earth until total compassion was achieved through every living being. Local Daoists, who recognized this was incredibly badass, turned him into Guanyin, Goddess of women, children, and sea travel, who refuses to enter Celestial Heaven until everyone can play nice. The Mahayana Buddhists, who love their women, abandoned Avalokitesvara in favor of Guanyin (sorry dude).

This has happened with several other Gods and Goddesses as well, including

Mazu (Daoist: Goddess of the sea, Buddhist: maybe a past life of Guanyin, maybe a different Bodhisattva),

Guan Yu (different guy I promise, Daoist: God of War, Buddhist: Protector of the Dharma),

The Queen Mother of the West (Daoist: Married to the Jade Emperor, Buddhists: just really like her. No changes, no notes.),

and Tu Di Gong (Daoist: God of Harvest and Land, Buddhist: protector of villages and households)

Most of the time, these gods get volleyed back and fourth for a while, like with Guan Yin, and honestly this has been happening for such a long time it’s hard to know who started where. In general though, Mahayana Buddhists are open to worshipping whoever is around them. Gods are people who wish to help, and mortals need plenty of it.

other practices

Aside from eating people’s gods, Buddhists also like to shape their temples, practices, and worship to fit the local traditions. Temples will almost always:

follow Fung Shui (the practice of designing/decorating buildings in a way that allows energy to flow evenly)

carry talismans/wards to protect against evil, both for the nuns/monks that live there and for the temple itself

give food offerings to their Buddhas/Bodhisattvas/Arhats, even if they technically don’t need to eat.

All three of these practices exist in Mahayana outside of China as well, and within China it’s common for Daoist Deities to be placed alongside Buddhas, as well as sections of temple dedicated to ancestral worship, which is almost entirely a Daoist practice.

Sources and extras below

#journey to the west #jttw #Quick notes #Buddhism #classical literature #Guan yin #jttw analysis