Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas Martial Arts and Karate

  

Karate for Kids Testimonial and Review

 

When my eight-year-old son first asked me if I would let him take Karate for Kids, I was a little worried. Karate seems so dangerous and I was concerned that my boy would end up injured. After talking with my husband, we agreed to give the program a chance and now we are so glad that we did.

 

First of all, I would like to state that Master Babin is wonderful with the children. While I was apprehensive that the Karate class would be all about fighting, I was relieved to learn that the focus was more on self-defense and moral values. Now my son is healthier than ever, doing an activity that he truly loves.

 

I would encourage every parent out there looking for a fun exercise-based activity for his or her child to participate in their Karate for Kids program a chance. My son is constantly talking about what he learned in his past karate lessons and practicing his blocks and punches in the living room. He is even playing his video games less.

 

After my initial reservations, I now cannot imagine my son participating in any other karate program. Consider this my highest recommendation.

David S

 

Reviews on Karate for Kids

 

When my son started karate instruction with Karate for Kids, he was timid, had few friends and had trouble paying attention in school. I didn't agree with the doctor who tried to tell me he had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and that I should put him on medication to control it. To me, my son just needed some loving guidance, not to be medicated.

 

That is when I asked my good friend about her children's experiences with the local martial arts Instructor. Like my son, her children did not have a father figure in their lives and suffered greatly as the result. When they were approaching their teenage years, she decided to enroll them in karate at Karate For Kids Within a matter of weeks, I saw her pre-teen son and daughter become more confident, focused and goal-oriented and knew I wanted the same for my child.

 

After his very first lesson, my son, then aged nine, was already a changed child. He overflowed with enthusiasm as he explained how the karate for kids program pushed him to reach goals, but was "really nice" about it. To this mom, that means that my son finally got the caring, personal instruction that he deserves.

Thank you for such a fantastic Karate For Kids Program

Samantha W

  

Testimonial and Review on Martial Arts For Men

 

I am a forty-eight year old man and, until about four months ago, I had really let myself go. Between work-related stress and the other pressures of my day-to-day existence, I made little time for exercise and gave almost no thought to a healthy diet. In short, I was a mess.

 

One day, a colleague at my office took me aside and recommended that I sign up for the martial arts program offered locally. He had recently signed up for a class and loved it. After some convincing, I agreed to accompany him to his next class.

 

Fast-forward to today and I now love my martial arts training. Martial Arts for men workouts feels less like training and more like fun. I have been losing weight and now have a new energy when facing the daily grind. I have gone from one class a week to two, and am thinking of adding a third.

 

If you are looking for a fun way to get in shape, I would advise you to come on down our Martial Arts for Men Academy. You will not regret it.

Getting younger…

Lisa F

  

Testimonial and Review on Martial Arts For Women

 

I never would have thought that taking up martial arts, would change me so much as a person and in so many ways. I still use every occasion to thank my friends, for recommending me the Martial Art courses for women taught by a martial arts school that teaches quality skill sets for women

 

I used to be a very shy person, and had become quite fearful after having my purse stolen one evening. Now, that is no longer the case. Since participating in the martial arts courses, I have felt more empowered than ever. I enjoyed the friendly and encouraging atmosphere right from the start, and did not feel ashamed of my initial clumsiness.

 

Now, I can actually impress my friends with some of the moves I learned. Also, I am fully aware that martial arts represent a life style just as much as anything else. My Instructor simply amazed all of us throughout the entire program, with his dedication and willingness to teach us. In fact, we could hardly wait for the next session.

 

I truly recommend anyone to make the same change I made in my life. Looking back, I really cannot see my weekly schedule without my martial arts training sessions.

C McCrae

 

Martial Arts For Women in Las Vegas, Nevada

 

Taking a martial arts class was not something I had given much consideration prior to turning 30. Wanting to preserve my strength and flexibility for years to come finally enticed me to take the plunge. The immediate results were stunning and I found myself feeling more energetic and confident in just a few sessions.

 

Not only are his martial arts skills top-notch, but I find his enthusiasm and enjoyment of the sport to be infectious. Considering that this entire venture was foreign to me, I felt right at home during my very first class. In addition to training in martial arts my instructor has a great deal of patience and warmth, the other karate students in the session were just as receptive to me. They really know how to make new members feel welcome.

 

Learning the forms and methods involved in martial arts is a great experience, but what makes these classes truly exceptional is that we learn how to incorporate the philosophy and principals behind this art form into our everyday lives. I look forward to my sessions with my instructor, and find his classes to be a great way to invest in myself, while having some fun at the same time. It is more than just kicking and punching it’s a well rounded martial arts program.

With Great Thanks,

Jackie W

 

So me and Dodger had this idea, make a custom figure of him in civilian type clothes.

The wrist bands around his wrists still need to be painted yet. But he's pretty much almost finished.

Ganesha, also spelled Ganesh, and also known as Ganapati and Vinayaka, is a widely worshipped deity in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India.

 

Although he is known by many attributes, Ganesha's elephant head makes him easy to identify. Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rituals and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as patron of letters and learning during writing sessions. Several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits and explain his distinct iconography.

 

Ganesha emerged as a distinct deity in the 4th and 5th centuries CE, during the Gupta Period, although he inherited traits from Vedic and pre-Vedic precursors. He was formally included among the five primary deities of Smartism (a Hindu denomination) in the 9th century. A sect of devotees called the Ganapatya arose, who identified Ganesha as the supreme deity. The principal scriptures dedicated to Ganesha are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa.

 

ETYMOLOGY AND OTHER NAMES

Ganesha has been ascribed many other titles and epithets, including Ganapati and Vighneshvara. The Hindu title of respect Shri is often added before his name. One popular way Ganesha is worshipped is by chanting a Ganesha Sahasranama, a litany of "a thousand names of Ganesha". Each name in the sahasranama conveys a different meaning and symbolises a different aspect of Ganesha. At least two different versions of the Ganesha Sahasranama exist; one version is drawn from the Ganesha Purana, a Hindu scripture venerating Ganesha.

 

The name Ganesha is a Sanskrit compound, joining the words gana, meaning a group, multitude, or categorical system and isha, meaning lord or master. The word gaņa when associated with Ganesha is often taken to refer to the gaņas, a troop of semi-divine beings that form part of the retinue of Shiva. The term more generally means a category, class, community, association, or corporation. Some commentators interpret the name "Lord of the Gaņas" to mean "Lord of Hosts" or "Lord of created categories", such as the elements. Ganapati, a synonym for Ganesha, is a compound composed of gaṇa, meaning "group", and pati, meaning "ruler" or "lord". The Amarakosha, an early Sanskrit lexicon, lists eight synonyms of Ganesha : Vinayaka, Vighnarāja (equivalent to Vighnesha), Dvaimātura (one who has two mothers), Gaṇādhipa (equivalent to Ganapati and Ganesha), Ekadanta (one who has one tusk), Heramba, Lambodara (one who has a pot belly, or, literally, one who has a hanging belly), and Gajanana; having the face of an elephant).

 

Vinayaka is a common name for Ganesha that appears in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. This name is reflected in the naming of the eight famous Ganesha temples in Maharashtra known as the Ashtavinayak (aṣṭavināyaka). The names Vighnesha and Vighneshvara (Lord of Obstacles) refers to his primary function in Hindu theology as the master and remover of obstacles (vighna).

 

A prominent name for Ganesha in the Tamil language is Pillai. A. K. Narain differentiates these terms by saying that pillai means a "child" while pillaiyar means a "noble child". He adds that the words pallu, pella, and pell in the Dravidian family of languages signify "tooth or tusk", also "elephant tooth or tusk". Anita Raina Thapan notes that the root word pille in the name Pillaiyar might have originally meant "the young of the elephant", because the Pali word pillaka means "a young elephant".

 

In the Burmese language, Ganesha is known as Maha Peinne, derived from Pali Mahā Wināyaka. The widespread name of Ganesha in Thailand is Phra Phikhanet or Phra Phikhanesuan, both of which are derived from Vara Vighnesha and Vara Vighneshvara respectively, whereas the name Khanet (from Ganesha) is rather rare.

 

In Sri Lanka, in the North-Central and North Western areas with predominantly Buddhist population, Ganesha is known as Aiyanayaka Deviyo, while in other Singhala Buddhist areas he is known as Gana deviyo.

 

ICONOGRAPHY

Ganesha is a popular figure in Indian art. Unlike those of some deities, representations of Ganesha show wide variations and distinct patterns changing over time. He may be portrayed standing, dancing, heroically taking action against demons, playing with his family as a boy, sitting down or on an elevated seat, or engaging in a range of contemporary situations.

 

Ganesha images were prevalent in many parts of India by the 6th century. The 13th century statue pictured is typical of Ganesha statuary from 900–1200, after Ganesha had been well-established as an independent deity with his own sect. This example features some of Ganesha's common iconographic elements. A virtually identical statue has been dated between 973–1200 by Paul Martin-Dubost, and another similar statue is dated c. 12th century by Pratapaditya Pal. Ganesha has the head of an elephant and a big belly. This statue has four arms, which is common in depictions of Ganesha. He holds his own broken tusk in his lower-right hand and holds a delicacy, which he samples with his trunk, in his lower-left hand. The motif of Ganesha turning his trunk sharply to his left to taste a sweet in his lower-left hand is a particularly archaic feature. A more primitive statue in one of the Ellora Caves with this general form has been dated to the 7th century. Details of the other hands are difficult to make out on the statue shown. In the standard configuration, Ganesha typically holds an axe or a goad in one upper arm and a pasha (noose) in the other upper arm.

 

The influence of this old constellation of iconographic elements can still be seen in contemporary representations of Ganesha. In one modern form, the only variation from these old elements is that the lower-right hand does not hold the broken tusk but is turned towards the viewer in a gesture of protection or fearlessness (abhaya mudra). The same combination of four arms and attributes occurs in statues of Ganesha dancing, which is a very popular theme.

 

COMMON ATTRIBUTES

Ganesha has been represented with the head of an elephant since the early stages of his appearance in Indian art. Puranic myths provide many explanations for how he got his elephant head. One of his popular forms, Heramba-Ganapati, has five elephant heads, and other less-common variations in the number of heads are known. While some texts say that Ganesha was born with an elephant head, he acquires the head later in most stories. The most recurrent motif in these stories is that Ganesha was created by Parvati using clay to protect her and Shiva beheaded him when Ganesha came between Shiva and Parvati. Shiva then replaced Ganesha's original head with that of an elephant. Details of the battle and where the replacement head came from vary from source to source. Another story says that Ganesha was created directly by Shiva's laughter. Because Shiva considered Ganesha too alluring, he gave him the head of an elephant and a protruding belly.

 

Ganesha's earliest name was Ekadanta (One Tusked), referring to his single whole tusk, the other being broken. Some of the earliest images of Ganesha show him holding his broken tusk. The importance of this distinctive feature is reflected in the Mudgala Purana, which states that the name of Ganesha's second incarnation is Ekadanta. Ganesha's protruding belly appears as a distinctive attribute in his earliest statuary, which dates to the Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries). This feature is so important that, according to the Mudgala Purana, two different incarnations of Ganesha use names based on it: Lambodara (Pot Belly, or, literally, Hanging Belly) and Mahodara (Great Belly). Both names are Sanskrit compounds describing his belly. The Brahmanda Purana says that Ganesha has the name Lambodara because all the universes (i.e., cosmic eggs) of the past, present, and future are present in him. The number of Ganesha's arms varies; his best-known forms have between two and sixteen arms. Many depictions of Ganesha feature four arms, which is mentioned in Puranic sources and codified as a standard form in some iconographic texts. His earliest images had two arms. Forms with 14 and 20 arms appeared in Central India during the 9th and the 10th centuries. The serpent is a common feature in Ganesha iconography and appears in many forms. According to the Ganesha Purana, Ganesha wrapped the serpent Vasuki around his neck. Other depictions of snakes include use as a sacred thread wrapped around the stomach as a belt, held in a hand, coiled at the ankles, or as a throne. Upon Ganesha's forehead may be a third eye or the Shaivite sectarian mark , which consists of three horizontal lines. The Ganesha Purana prescribes a tilaka mark as well as a crescent moon on the forehead. A distinct form of Ganesha called Bhalachandra includes that iconographic element. Ganesha is often described as red in color. Specific colors are associated with certain forms. Many examples of color associations with specific meditation forms are prescribed in the Sritattvanidhi, a treatise on Hindu iconography. For example, white is associated with his representations as Heramba-Ganapati and Rina-Mochana-Ganapati (Ganapati Who Releases from Bondage). Ekadanta-Ganapati is visualized as blue during meditation in that form.

 

VAHANAS

The earliest Ganesha images are without a vahana (mount/vehicle). Of the eight incarnations of Ganesha described in the Mudgala Purana, Ganesha uses a mouse (shrew) in five of them, a lion in his incarnation as Vakratunda, a peacock in his incarnation as Vikata, and Shesha, the divine serpent, in his incarnation as Vighnaraja. Mohotkata uses a lion, Mayūreśvara uses a peacock, Dhumraketu uses a horse, and Gajanana uses a mouse, in the four incarnations of Ganesha listed in the Ganesha Purana. Jain depictions of Ganesha show his vahana variously as a mouse, elephant, tortoise, ram, or peacock.

 

Ganesha is often shown riding on or attended by a mouse, shrew or rat. Martin-Dubost says that the rat began to appear as the principal vehicle in sculptures of Ganesha in central and western India during the 7th century; the rat was always placed close to his feet. The mouse as a mount first appears in written sources in the Matsya Purana and later in the Brahmananda Purana and Ganesha Purana, where Ganesha uses it as his vehicle in his last incarnation. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa includes a meditation verse on Ganesha that describes the mouse appearing on his flag. The names Mūṣakavāhana (mouse-mount) and Ākhuketana (rat-banner) appear in the Ganesha Sahasranama.

 

The mouse is interpreted in several ways. According to Grimes, "Many, if not most of those who interpret Gaṇapati's mouse, do so negatively; it symbolizes tamoguṇa as well as desire". Along these lines, Michael Wilcockson says it symbolizes those who wish to overcome desires and be less selfish. Krishan notes that the rat is destructive and a menace to crops. The Sanskrit word mūṣaka (mouse) is derived from the root mūṣ (stealing, robbing). It was essential to subdue the rat as a destructive pest, a type of vighna (impediment) that needed to be overcome. According to this theory, showing Ganesha as master of the rat demonstrates his function as Vigneshvara (Lord of Obstacles) and gives evidence of his possible role as a folk grāma-devatā (village deity) who later rose to greater prominence. Martin-Dubost notes a view that the rat is a symbol suggesting that Ganesha, like the rat, penetrates even the most secret places.

 

ASSOCIATIONS

 

OBSTACLES

Ganesha is Vighneshvara or Vighnaraja or Vighnaharta (Marathi), the Lord of Obstacles, both of a material and spiritual order. He is popularly worshipped as a remover of obstacles, though traditionally he also places obstacles in the path of those who need to be checked. Paul Courtright says that "his task in the divine scheme of things, his dharma, is to place and remove obstacles. It is his particular territory, the reason for his creation."

 

Krishan notes that some of Ganesha's names reflect shadings of multiple roles that have evolved over time. Dhavalikar ascribes the quick ascension of Ganesha in the Hindu pantheon, and the emergence of the Ganapatyas, to this shift in emphasis from vighnakartā (obstacle-creator) to vighnahartā (obstacle-averter). However, both functions continue to be vital to his character.

 

BUDDHI (KNOWLEDGE)

Ganesha is considered to be the Lord of letters and learning. In Sanskrit, the word buddhi is a feminine noun that is variously translated as intelligence, wisdom, or intellect. The concept of buddhi is closely associated with the personality of Ganesha, especially in the Puranic period, when many stories stress his cleverness and love of intelligence. One of Ganesha's names in the Ganesha Purana and the Ganesha Sahasranama is Buddhipriya. This name also appears in a list of 21 names at the end of the Ganesha Sahasranama that Ganesha says are especially important. The word priya can mean "fond of", and in a marital context it can mean "lover" or "husband", so the name may mean either "Fond of Intelligence" or "Buddhi's Husband".

 

AUM

Ganesha is identified with the Hindu mantra Aum, also spelled Om. The term oṃkārasvarūpa (Aum is his form), when identified with Ganesha, refers to the notion that he personifies the primal sound. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa attests to this association. Chinmayananda translates the relevant passage as follows:

 

(O Lord Ganapati!) You are (the Trinity) Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa. You are Indra. You are fire [Agni] and air [Vāyu]. You are the sun [Sūrya] and the moon [Chandrama]. You are Brahman. You are (the three worlds) Bhuloka [earth], Antariksha-loka [space], and Swargaloka [heaven]. You are Om. (That is to say, You are all this).

 

Some devotees see similarities between the shape of Ganesha's body in iconography and the shape of Aum in the Devanāgarī and Tamil scripts.

 

FIRST CHAKRA

According to Kundalini yoga, Ganesha resides in the first chakra, called Muladhara (mūlādhāra). Mula means "original, main"; adhara means "base, foundation". The muladhara chakra is the principle on which the manifestation or outward expansion of primordial Divine Force rests. This association is also attested to in the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. Courtright translates this passage as follows: "[O Ganesha,] You continually dwell in the sacral plexus at the base of the spine [mūlādhāra cakra]." Thus, Ganesha has a permanent abode in every being at the Muladhara. Ganesha holds, supports and guides all other chakras, thereby "governing the forces that propel the wheel of life".

 

FAMILY AND CONSORTS

Though Ganesha is popularly held to be the son of Shiva and Parvati, the Puranic myths give different versions about his birth. In some he was created by Parvati, in another he was created by Shiva and Parvati, in another he appeared mysteriously and was discovered by Shiva and Parvati or he was born from the elephant headed goddess Malini after she drank Parvati's bath water that had been thrown in the river.

 

The family includes his brother the war god Kartikeya, who is also called Subramanya, Skanda, Murugan and other names. Regional differences dictate the order of their births. In northern India, Skanda is generally said to be the elder, while in the south, Ganesha is considered the first born. In northern India, Skanda was an important martial deity from about 500 BCE to about 600 CE, when worship of him declined significantly in northern India. As Skanda fell, Ganesha rose. Several stories tell of sibling rivalry between the brothers and may reflect sectarian tensions.

 

Ganesha's marital status, the subject of considerable scholarly review, varies widely in mythological stories. One pattern of myths identifies Ganesha as an unmarried brahmacari. This view is common in southern India and parts of northern India. Another pattern associates him with the concepts of Buddhi (intellect), Siddhi (spiritual power), and Riddhi (prosperity); these qualities are sometimes personified as goddesses, said to be Ganesha's wives. He also may be shown with a single consort or a nameless servant (Sanskrit: daşi). Another pattern connects Ganesha with the goddess of culture and the arts, Sarasvati or Śarda (particularly in Maharashtra). He is also associated with the goddess of luck and prosperity, Lakshmi. Another pattern, mainly prevalent in the Bengal region, links Ganesha with the banana tree, Kala Bo.

 

The Shiva Purana says that Ganesha had begotten two sons: Kşema (prosperity) and Lābha (profit). In northern Indian variants of this story, the sons are often said to be Śubha (auspiciouness) and Lābha. The 1975 Hindi film Jai Santoshi Maa shows Ganesha married to Riddhi and Siddhi and having a daughter named Santoshi Ma, the goddess of satisfaction. This story has no Puranic basis, but Anita Raina Thapan and Lawrence Cohen cite Santoshi Ma's cult as evidence of Ganesha's continuing evolution as a popular deity.

 

WOSHIP AND FESTIVALS

Ganesha is worshipped on many religious and secular occasions; especially at the beginning of ventures such as buying a vehicle or starting a business. K.N. Somayaji says, "there can hardly be a [Hindu] home [in India] which does not house an idol of Ganapati. [..] Ganapati, being the most popular deity in India, is worshipped by almost all castes and in all parts of the country". Devotees believe that if Ganesha is propitiated, he grants success, prosperity and protection against adversity.

 

Ganesha is a non-sectarian deity, and Hindus of all denominations invoke him at the beginning of prayers, important undertakings, and religious ceremonies. Dancers and musicians, particularly in southern India, begin performances of arts such as the Bharatnatyam dance with a prayer to Ganesha. Mantras such as Om Shri Gaṇeshāya Namah (Om, salutation to the Illustrious Ganesha) are often used. One of the most famous mantras associated with Ganesha is Om Gaṃ Ganapataye Namah (Om, Gaṃ, Salutation to the Lord of Hosts).

 

Devotees offer Ganesha sweets such as modaka and small sweet balls (laddus). He is often shown carrying a bowl of sweets, called a modakapātra. Because of his identification with the color red, he is often worshipped with red sandalwood paste (raktacandana) or red flowers. Dūrvā grass (Cynodon dactylon) and other materials are also used in his worship.

 

Festivals associated with Ganesh are Ganesh Chaturthi or Vināyaka chaturthī in the śuklapakṣa (the fourth day of the waxing moon) in the month of bhādrapada (August/September) and the Gaṇeśa jayanti (Gaṇeśa's birthday) celebrated on the cathurthī of the śuklapakṣa (fourth day of the waxing moon) in the month of māgha (January/February)."

 

GANESH CHATURTI

An annual festival honours Ganesha for ten days, starting on Ganesha Chaturthi, which typically falls in late August or early September. The festival begins with people bringing in clay idols of Ganesha, symbolising Ganesha's visit. The festival culminates on the day of Ananta Chaturdashi, when idols (murtis) of Ganesha are immersed in the most convenient body of water. Some families have a tradition of immersion on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, or 7th day. In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak transformed this annual Ganesha festival from private family celebrations into a grand public event. He did so "to bridge the gap between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins and find an appropriate context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them" in his nationalistic strivings against the British in Maharashtra. Because of Ganesha's wide appeal as "the god for Everyman", Tilak chose him as a rallying point for Indian protest against British rule. Tilak was the first to install large public images of Ganesha in pavilions, and he established the practice of submerging all the public images on the tenth day. Today, Hindus across India celebrate the Ganapati festival with great fervour, though it is most popular in the state of Maharashtra. The festival also assumes huge proportions in Mumbai, Pune, and in the surrounding belt of Ashtavinayaka temples.

 

TEMPLES

In Hindu temples, Ganesha is depicted in various ways: as an acolyte or subordinate deity (pãrśva-devatã); as a deity related to the principal deity (parivāra-devatã); or as the principal deity of the temple (pradhāna), treated similarly as the highest gods of the Hindu pantheon. As the god of transitions, he is placed at the doorway of many Hindu temples to keep out the unworthy, which is analogous to his role as Parvati’s doorkeeper. In addition, several shrines are dedicated to Ganesha himself, of which the Ashtavinayak (lit. "eight Ganesha (shrines)") in Maharashtra are particularly well known. Located within a 100-kilometer radius of the city of Pune, each of these eight shrines celebrates a particular form of Ganapati, complete with its own lore and legend. The eight shrines are: Morgaon, Siddhatek, Pali, Mahad, Theur, Lenyadri, Ozar and Ranjangaon.

 

There are many other important Ganesha temples at the following locations: Wai in Maharashtra; Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh; Jodhpur, Nagaur and Raipur (Pali) in Rajasthan; Baidyanath in Bihar; Baroda, Dholaka, and Valsad in Gujarat and Dhundiraj Temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Prominent Ganesha temples in southern India include the following: Kanipakam in Chittoor; the Jambukeśvara Temple at Tiruchirapalli; at Rameshvaram and Suchindram in Tamil Nadu; at Malliyur, Kottarakara, Pazhavangadi, Kasargod in Kerala, Hampi, and Idagunji in Karnataka; and Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh.

 

T. A. Gopinatha notes, "Every village however small has its own image of Vighneśvara (Vigneshvara) with or without a temple to house it in. At entrances of villages and forts, below pīpaḹa (Sacred fig) trees [...], in a niche [...] in temples of Viṣṇu (Vishnu) as well as Śiva (Shiva) and also in separate shrines specially constructed in Śiva temples [...]; the figure of Vighneśvara is invariably seen." Ganesha temples have also been built outside of India, including southeast Asia, Nepal (including the four Vinayaka shrines in the Kathmandu valley), and in several western countries.

 

RISE TO PROMINENCE

 

FIRST APEARANCE

Ganesha appeared in his classic form as a clearly recognizable deity with well-defined iconographic attributes in the early 4th to 5th centuries. Shanti Lal Nagar says that the earliest known iconic image of Ganesha is in the niche of the Shiva temple at Bhumra, which has been dated to the Gupta period. His independent cult appeared by about the 10th century. Narain summarizes the controversy between devotees and academics regarding the development of Ganesha as follows:

 

What is inscrutable is the somewhat dramatic appearance of Gaņeśa on the historical scene. His antecedents are not clear. His wide acceptance and popularity, which transcend sectarian and territorial limits, are indeed amazing. On the one hand there is the pious belief of the orthodox devotees in Gaņeśa's Vedic origins and in the Purāṇic explanations contained in the confusing, but nonetheless interesting, mythology. On the other hand there are doubts about the existence of the idea and the icon of this deity" before the fourth to fifth century A.D. ... [I]n my opinion, indeed there is no convincing evidence of the existence of this divinity prior to the fifth century.

 

POSSIBLE INFLUENCES

Courtright reviews various speculative theories about the early history of Ganesha, including supposed tribal traditions and animal cults, and dismisses all of them in this way:

 

In the post 600 BC period there is evidence of people and places named after the animal. The motif appears on coins and sculptures.

 

Thapan's book on the development of Ganesha devotes a chapter to speculations about the role elephants had in early India but concludes that, "although by the second century CE the elephant-headed yakṣa form exists it cannot be presumed to represent Gaṇapati-Vināyaka. There is no evidence of a deity by this name having an elephant or elephant-headed form at this early stage. Gaṇapati-Vināyaka had yet to make his debut."

 

One theory of the origin of Ganesha is that he gradually came to prominence in connection with the four Vinayakas (Vināyakas). In Hindu mythology, the Vināyakas were a group of four troublesome demons who created obstacles and difficulties but who were easily propitiated. The name Vināyaka is a common name for Ganesha both in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. Krishan is one of the academics who accepts this view, stating flatly of Ganesha, "He is a non-vedic god. His origin is to be traced to the four Vināyakas, evil spirits, of the Mānavagŗhyasūtra (7th–4th century BCE) who cause various types of evil and suffering". Depictions of elephant-headed human figures, which some identify with Ganesha, appear in Indian art and coinage as early as the 2nd century. According to Ellawala, the elephant-headed Ganesha as lord of the Ganas was known to the people of Sri Lanka in the early pre-Christian era.

 

A metal plate depiction of Ganesha had been discovered in 1993, in Iran, it dated back to 1,200 BCE. Another one was discovered much before, in Lorestan Province of Iran.

 

First Ganesha's terracotta images are from 1st century CE found in Ter, Pal, Verrapuram and Chandraketugarh. These figures are small, with elephant head, two arms, and chubby physique. The earliest Ganesha icons in stone were carved in Mathura during Kushan times (2nd-3rd centuries CE).

 

VEDIC AND EPIC LITERATURE

The title "Leader of the group" (Sanskrit: gaṇapati) occurs twice in the Rig Veda, but in neither case does it refer to the modern Ganesha. The term appears in RV 2.23.1 as a title for Brahmanaspati, according to commentators. While this verse doubtless refers to Brahmanaspati, it was later adopted for worship of Ganesha and is still used today. In rejecting any claim that this passage is evidence of Ganesha in the Rig Veda, Ludo Rocher says that it "clearly refers to Bṛhaspati—who is the deity of the hymn—and Bṛhaspati only". Equally clearly, the second passage (RV 10.112.9) refers to Indra, who is given the epithet 'gaṇapati', translated "Lord of the companies (of the Maruts)." However, Rocher notes that the more recent Ganapatya literature often quotes the Rigvedic verses to give Vedic respectability to Ganesha .

 

Two verses in texts belonging to Black Yajurveda, Maitrāyaṇīya Saṃhitā (2.9.1) and Taittirīya Āraṇyaka (10.1), appeal to a deity as "the tusked one" (Dantiḥ), "elephant-faced" (Hastimukha), and "with a curved trunk" (Vakratuņḍa). These names are suggestive of Ganesha, and the 14th century commentator Sayana explicitly establishes this identification. The description of Dantin, possessing a twisted trunk (vakratuṇḍa) and holding a corn-sheaf, a sugar cane, and a club, is so characteristic of the Puranic Ganapati that Heras says "we cannot resist to accept his full identification with this Vedic Dantin". However, Krishan considers these hymns to be post-Vedic additions. Thapan reports that these passages are "generally considered to have been interpolated". Dhavalikar says, "the references to the elephant-headed deity in the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā have been proven to be very late interpolations, and thus are not very helpful for determining the early formation of the deity".

 

Ganesha does not appear in Indian epic literature that is dated to the Vedic period. A late interpolation to the epic poem Mahabharata says that the sage Vyasa (Vyāsa) asked Ganesha to serve as his scribe to transcribe the poem as he dictated it to him. Ganesha agreed but only on condition that Vyasa recite the poem uninterrupted, that is, without pausing. The sage agreed, but found that to get any rest he needed to recite very complex passages so Ganesha would have to ask for clarifications. The story is not accepted as part of the original text by the editors of the critical edition of the Mahabharata, in which the twenty-line story is relegated to a footnote in an appendix. The story of Ganesha acting as the scribe occurs in 37 of the 59 manuscripts consulted during preparation of the critical edition. Ganesha's association with mental agility and learning is one reason he is shown as scribe for Vyāsa's dictation of the Mahabharata in this interpolation. Richard L. Brown dates the story to the 8th century, and Moriz Winternitz concludes that it was known as early as c. 900, but it was not added to the Mahabharata some 150 years later. Winternitz also notes that a distinctive feature in South Indian manuscripts of the Mahabharata is their omission of this Ganesha legend. The term vināyaka is found in some recensions of the Śāntiparva and Anuśāsanaparva that are regarded as interpolations. A reference to Vighnakartṛīṇām ("Creator of Obstacles") in Vanaparva is also believed to be an interpolation and does not appear in the critical edition.

 

PURANIC PERIOD

Stories about Ganesha often occur in the Puranic corpus. Brown notes while the Puranas "defy precise chronological ordering", the more detailed narratives of Ganesha's life are in the late texts, c. 600–1300. Yuvraj Krishan says that the Puranic myths about the birth of Ganesha and how he acquired an elephant's head are in the later Puranas, which were composed from c. 600 onwards. He elaborates on the matter to say that references to Ganesha in the earlier Puranas, such as the Vayu and Brahmanda Puranas, are later interpolations made during the 7th to 10th centuries.

 

In his survey of Ganesha's rise to prominence in Sanskrit literature, Ludo Rocher notes that:

 

Above all, one cannot help being struck by the fact that the numerous stories surrounding Gaṇeśa concentrate on an unexpectedly limited number of incidents. These incidents are mainly three: his birth and parenthood, his elephant head, and his single tusk. Other incidents are touched on in the texts, but to a far lesser extent.

 

Ganesha's rise to prominence was codified in the 9th century, when he was formally included as one of the five primary deities of Smartism. The 9th-century philosopher Adi Shankara popularized the "worship of the five forms" (Panchayatana puja) system among orthodox Brahmins of the Smarta tradition. This worship practice invokes the five deities Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, and Surya. Adi Shankara instituted the tradition primarily to unite the principal deities of these five major sects on an equal status. This formalized the role of Ganesha as a complementary deity.

 

SCRIPTURES

Once Ganesha was accepted as one of the five principal deities of Brahmanism, some Brahmins (brāhmaṇas) chose to worship Ganesha as their principal deity. They developed the Ganapatya tradition, as seen in the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana.

 

The date of composition for the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana - and their dating relative to one another - has sparked academic debate. Both works were developed over time and contain age-layered strata. Anita Thapan reviews comments about dating and provides her own judgement. "It seems likely that the core of the Ganesha Purana appeared around the twelfth and thirteenth centuries", she says, "but was later interpolated." Lawrence W. Preston considers the most reasonable date for the Ganesha Purana to be between 1100 and 1400, which coincides with the apparent age of the sacred sites mentioned by the text.

 

R.C. Hazra suggests that the Mudgala Purana is older than the Ganesha Purana, which he dates between 1100 and 1400. However, Phyllis Granoff finds problems with this relative dating and concludes that the Mudgala Purana was the last of the philosophical texts concerned with Ganesha. She bases her reasoning on the fact that, among other internal evidence, the Mudgala Purana specifically mentions the Ganesha Purana as one of the four Puranas (the Brahma, the Brahmanda, the Ganesha, and the Mudgala Puranas) which deal at length with Ganesha. While the kernel of the text must be old, it was interpolated until the 17th and 18th centuries as the worship of Ganapati became more important in certain regions. Another highly regarded scripture, the Ganapati Atharvashirsa, was probably composed during the 16th or 17th centuries.

 

BEYOND INDIA AND HINDUISM

Commercial and cultural contacts extended India's influence in western and southeast Asia. Ganesha is one of a number of Hindu deities who reached foreign lands as a result.

 

Ganesha was particularly worshipped by traders and merchants, who went out of India for commercial ventures. From approximately the 10th century onwards, new networks of exchange developed including the formation of trade guilds and a resurgence of money circulation. During this time, Ganesha became the principal deity associated with traders. The earliest inscription invoking Ganesha before any other deity is associated with the merchant community.

 

Hindus migrated to Maritime Southeast Asia and took their culture, including Ganesha, with them. Statues of Ganesha are found throughout the region, often beside Shiva sanctuaries. The forms of Ganesha found in Hindu art of Java, Bali, and Borneo show specific regional influences. The spread of Hindu culture to southeast Asia established Ganesha in modified forms in Burma, Cambodia, and Thailand. In Indochina, Hinduism and Buddhism were practiced side by side, and mutual influences can be seen in the iconography of Ganesha in the region. In Thailand, Cambodia, and among the Hindu classes of the Chams in Vietnam, Ganesha was mainly thought of as a remover of obstacles. Today in Buddhist Thailand, Ganesha is regarded as a remover of obstacles, the god of success.

 

Before the arrival of Islam, Afghanistan had close cultural ties with India, and the adoration of both Hindu and Buddhist deities was practiced. Examples of sculptures from the 5th to the 7th centuries have survived, suggesting that the worship of Ganesha was then in vogue in the region.

 

Ganesha appears in Mahayana Buddhism, not only in the form of the Buddhist god Vināyaka, but also as a Hindu demon form with the same name. His image appears in Buddhist sculptures during the late Gupta period. As the Buddhist god Vināyaka, he is often shown dancing. This form, called Nṛtta Ganapati, was popular in northern India, later adopted in Nepal, and then in Tibet. In Nepal, the Hindu form of Ganesha, known as Heramba, is popular; he has five heads and rides a lion. Tibetan representations of Ganesha show ambivalent views of him. A Tibetan rendering of Ganapati is tshogs bdag. In one Tibetan form, he is shown being trodden under foot by Mahākāla, (Shiva) a popular Tibetan deity. Other depictions show him as the Destroyer of Obstacles, and sometimes dancing. Ganesha appears in China and Japan in forms that show distinct regional character. In northern China, the earliest known stone statue of Ganesha carries an inscription dated to 531. In Japan, where Ganesha is known as Kangiten, the Ganesha cult was first mentioned in 806.

 

The canonical literature of Jainism does not mention the worship of Ganesha. However, Ganesha is worshipped by most Jains, for whom he appears to have taken over certain functions of Kubera. Jain connections with the trading community support the idea that Jainism took up Ganesha worship as a result of commercial connections. The earliest known Jain Ganesha statue dates to about the 9th century. A 15th-century Jain text lists procedures for the installation of Ganapati images. Images of Ganesha appear in the Jain temples of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Note: John faced some cancer in 2015. Sondra is his wife...

 

How tardy and bizarrely uncharacteristic of me to "come up short" Carol, on the genealogical history of the deceased equine entity called Tony.

 

Actually the initial send had more text....in my whimpering inadequacies.... I encountered a road block that was insurmountable for my chemo-laced brain.....I cried until Sondra came to my mewling puddle of shameful "masculine-tech" whining on the floor.....she tried to solve the dilemma .....and had "lift-off" for only a portion of the rocket.....basically it was a cluster fuck, a message that was intended for one planet.....but the message splintered,........you received some of the text, and some of it will arrive on Saturn's second inner ring, around 2525. The video that I tried to include with the text....imploded, folding in-ward unto itself.....consuming its life and frames until it resembled a tiny black jube-jube lying on the sidewalk.........not even the slugs were interested.

 

Tony was 22 when he died.....born in Saskatchewan......had papers.....not the kind of papers that illegal refugees have....but papers that proved he was pure Percheron. Tony was and is the only papered horse we have ever owned. Both his parents....sire and brood mare were registered Percheron. Percheron is a French heavy horse breed.....that basically opened the west, plowed the soil and pulled the goods.

In my world, being papered and registered means nothing....what does matter .......do I like what I see. And with Tony ....it was all good.

 

I'n John R's world of horses, registered and papered has meaning.

 

Sondra and I bought Tony along with another horse named Spider.....they were a team.....had worked as a team, pulling wagons and sleighs and also as a logging team for a teamster/logger/farmer/truck-driver from the 100 Mile House area of BC's Caribou region. Spider was a giant of a horse, also Percheron, not registered and not papered. Spider weighted about a ton, Tony was around 1800 lbs......

Spider was tall, quite a bit taller than Tony, so they looked a bit mis-matched....both horses were black as coal..........Tony had one white sock, rear right, if you are looking up the dirt chute........and both had their tails docked.... I'm not a fan of docked tails, but that's the way they came.

The year was 2004, when we heard about these boys being available.....we already had a team.....two wonderful Belgian/Percheron crosses, both unpapered and un-registered, that were named Pat and Mike, that we bought in 1999.

We were thinking of easing up on using Pat and Mike, as we were logging quite a bit. We wanted a younger team.....and Tony and Spider were around 10 ......a little side bar to horse trading.....a horse trader if he's trying to sell a horse , when confronted with the question .....

"so, how old is this horse"......will almost always tell you, he's 9. (old enough to know better but young enough to be strong and eager)(keep that in mind Carol, when it comes time to trade the old boy in)

To really know how old a horse is.....you look at his teeth, and if you know how to read the markings on their teeth, you can come to within a year or two. Many a 9 year old has turned out to be 17 or even older.

 

Sondra and I heard about the big blacks being for sale.....made some time to come up from the farm to have a look.

Always an adventure....searching out horses.

So up to the 100 Mile House area.....it was early summer....this area, high in elevation, excels in showing its beauty during the summer. It's sparsely populated.....a few small towns dot the region, to offer commerce and alcohol......the area is home to ranches, lots of large acreages, raising and growing beef..... As well as the ubiquitous logging industry.......give us some trees to exploit.

It's a gorgeous part of the province Carol, a high plateau, spotted with numerous lakes, expansive lodge pole pine forests, and these old, well worn ranch settlements.

It was one of these ranches that Tony and Spider were residing ......log house, log out-buildings, log fences, log barn.........right on the edge of a good sized lake.

Tom the owner was ready for us when we arrived....horses were at the hitching rail....harnessed and ready to perform.

But you never jump right into the task at hand .....you have to have the BC chats first.....sort of like kicking the tires when you are looking to buy a "new to you" truck......so the three of us are walking around the horses, hands running over their bodies, asking questions that don't always pertain to horses, "do you know such and such, he has a logging team near Princeton"......." where did these boys come from"...."when did you last use them"....."any problems"....."how are their feet"........"do these boys come with the harness"..... "how long have you lived up here"......."no kidding, I know Ted Guisbrech, we logged together over near Rock Creek".........and so on.

Then .....you ask if it would be ok to see them walk around.........he may say sure, take the lines, or he may say....sure, let me walk them first and then you can have a go.

All this seemingly unimportant prater......registers...it is all telling us about his relationship with his horses.....does he want to make sure the horses are calmed down when it comes time for us to drive them, .......does he think they might be a bit spooky if we take the lines.....is he setting the standard by showing us how he handles them.....all part of the game.

I want him to walk the horses around, to see what kind of relationship he has with them.....how he holds the lines ......where he stands.....how he gets them to move, does he "kiss them up", or "click" them up .....(two very distinct sounds in the horse world)....or does he remain silent, and communicate through the lines.....do they move on their own, when he grabs the lines......does he say their names to get them to move.......does he hold the lines....firm.......loosely.....does he slap the horses rears with the lines to get them to walk.....all of this shows me how this guy gets along with his horses.....gentle, coarsely, frantic, lazy, attentive, casual, ....and this gives me some incite into what we might be buying.

It's such a dance.....you want it to fall into place....you've invested 6 hours of travel one way......you like the initial viewing.....you need a team .....you want it to work. The foot work, the rhythm, the music, the touch, all these "things" need to be right for the dance to feel good...the flow....and eventually the coupling.

Where was I. .....oh yea.... Tom is walking the boys around, they have their harness on, the harness is well worn, with some minor binder-twine fix-it's......binder-twine....the non-natural material they use to tie bales of hay with.....it is ubiquitous with the horse world.....binder-twine is the rural duct-tape....you use it everywhere to tie down, to tie up, to keep apart, to shorten and to lengthen, you use it for clothes lines, and dog leashes, you use it to mark the planting lines for lettuce and carrots.....It almost always comes in the colour orange.....but now they have introduced the colour blue. It the very old days they used wire to wrap bales.

Tom walks the boys around the corral.....whoa-ing them up then asking them to step up(move ahead).....making them "gee" and "haw".....right and left......I watch how his hands work the lines.....lightly.....aggressively.....does he verbally communicate or is it all done with touch (pressure with the lines)......so the lines are long strips of leather or polypropylene that are attached to the bridle, a sort of head set that has the bit, the metal bar that is inserted to the horses mouth, attached to......so every time you pull on the lines it activates the bit......in a good or bad way.....gentle with the lines equates to gentle with the bit......aggressive with the lines, equates to harsh rough bit movement..........I'm certain Carol you've experienced this with the Hun. To get his attention (his noodle buried in a Conan movie) you sometimes have to jerk his bit.

 

So what you want to see as a perspective buyer, is the owner driving the horses around in a calm atmosphere.....no rodeos.....using "soft" hands........you want the horses displaying a zen.......a zone where they are willing to do what you ask of them.

Think Pointer Sisters......."I want a man with a slow hand....I Want a lover with an easy touch. I want a lover who will take some time. Not come and go in a heated rush"

 

Now that's what makes a perfect teamster.......Sondra points out that in the equine world, every teamster thinks he has soft hands. Phew, was that air leaving my body!

 

Then we attach the horses to the double-tree......sometimes made from hard wood and now usually made from metal.....this is the devise that is attached to two big leather straps that are attached to the horses harness.....these straps are called tugs....and then the double tree is attached to the device you want the horses to pull....ie. a wagon, a sleigh, a rake, a mower, or for our purposes a log. The double tree drags on the ground, so sometimes does not drag smoothly, as it gets caught up on debris , small babies, stumps, empty beer cases, that sort of thing......logging horses get acclimatized to this irregular pull and constant clanging, and are not spooked by the sound or pull.....uninitiated horses go ballistic....as they can never run away from the ragged feel, and the scary sound.

Tony and Spider were great.....and after numerous manoeuvres and requests.....lots of backing up, going forward.....asking them to take one step forward and whoa......asking them to stand while putting the lines on the ground......some horses will creep forward....

hooking them up to a big log and pulling it around.....doing the same tasks that we asked of them without the log..... we put them back to the hitching rail......removed their harness.

I ask Tom how "they load"......how easily do they go in a trailer.....a very important feature.....especially for people who move their horses around....like horse loggers.....always going to different sites.......some horses react to trailers like a 9 year old boy going to the dentist.....it can be hell.....and I've participated in many "rodeos" trying to get unwilling horses in a trailer. Both hard on the horse and the handler. Feet stepped on, smashed around by hyper animals, and that's before you get them in the trailer..... Securing them in the trailer is even more ramped up in terms of activity. So having calm, easy going horses to load...can be the deal sealer or breaker.Tom assures me that they "load easy"

 

We let the horses cool down......and then I picked up every foot......you want a cooperative horse when trimming hooves.....looked in their mouths to check teeth......hands feeling all over their bodies.....feeling and looking for bumps, irregularities, sores.....seeing how the harness fits them, any rubs, buckle wear, .......you try and do a full inspection..........just like the 50 point checkup that your Audi receives every 6 months.

 

For me it's all fun.....a chance to visit with another teamster.....to check out his stock....see new country.... hear some new lies and stories.

All the while the test drive and chit-chat is happening, Sondra and I are communicating about what we think about the team.....likes and dislikes....this is all done without talking....it's done with eyes, eye brows, facial wrinkles, nostril flares, smiles, hands, and head nods.....we don't want to diss the owner about the abilities of his team, or challenge anything he says about them.....we just register silently the good and bad......we didn't drive 6 hours to tell someone they have a badly mannered team of horses. It's a sort of rural respect and politeness that seems to prevail in rural Canada.

More generalized talk takes place....we find out more about his place.....some of the jobs he did with the team.....his daughter comes out of the house and jumps up on a saddle horse and rides around.....learn that he's bought a truck and car wash in 100 Mile House.....very entrepreneurial ...... He wanders off to feed some animals.... And Sondra and I kick a few horse buns around and decide yes, we want the team......

The negotiations are straight forward....we pay $4000....

In most horse transactions you buy the horse and the seller provides you with a halter and a lead rope......usually the most worn out and manure stained ones he can find in the tack shed.....often repaired with binder-twine, that use to be orange.

We manage, through friendly haggling, to get the harness, a double tree, and some pieces of harness "thrown in" with the 4 grand. We are happy with the deal, he's happy with the deal.

He agrees to feed the horses for a week, and Sondra and I will return the following weekend with our horse trailer, pick them up and bring them to Trinity Valley.

 

This adventure was wonderful.....a great way to start a new relationship with a new team......we were anxious to play with them, learn more about them.......and see what they could do.

The boys turned out to be all we wished for.....great addition to our already mature and well behaved team of Pat and Mike.....

Spider as he got older developed a rear hip malfunction.....that eventually made it very difficult for him to get up, after he would lie down for a rest and or a roll. At the end I was having to lift him up with the tractor....too complicated to describe, believe me it was as hard on me as it was on Spider.....Spider learned not to lie down too much .....and when he did, he'd try to position himself strategically on a slope so when it was time for lift-off, gravity would help. One time Spider lay down in his corral....winter time....in a hollow and couldn't rise up......thrashed around for awhile, making his bed a skating rink....total ice, caused by his body heat, ..... and even more difficult for him......finally as darkness was settling in I managed to get him up......this was becoming a problem.

In spring time I had a chat with the big boy......I was tiring of the effort it took to get him back up on all "four"...... Eventually the time came and he had his final lie-down.......

 

After Spider died, Tony was confused and then sad.....no more mate.....these horses when they are teamed up.....often act as one......they eat side by side, they rest side by side......when one heads off in a direction, the other one will follow......when one decides to let it all out and race around the field, full throttle, the other one copies. They are often joined at the hip. So Tony was bummed when Spider passed on, ........and he got little sympathy from the other team......at this point on the calendar, our original team of Pat and Mike, had both died, and we had bought another team, Jackie and Star, younger than both Spider and Tony, and this new team became our "go to team".

Jackie and Star, also Percheron's, also black, but with un-cropped tails, dragging on the ground, beautiful, true warriors......Don Monjoy was so proud of us for staying black, and staying Perch......this team was young, bold, frisky, and dominating. So Tony went to the bottom of the pecking order, and just wasn't too sure where he fit in. Sondra and I continued to show love and attention his way.....and Sondra would harness him and drive him around, but we always felt he was somewhat confused.......and missing his mate. But through that wondering, he was always a treat to be around.....he was extremely handsome.....very curious.....enormously smart.........and we always said he had a great ass.... And we will miss him.

 

Well now he can rejoin Spider......they can be a team again.

Assassins Creed odyssey managed to kit him out as the well known Assassin

We visited Mereworth at some point last year. It was locked, and the notice suggested it might not reopen. Of course, things seemed very black at times in the last two years. So, I had low expectations that St Lawrence would be open. I didn't even take my cameras, instead walked to the door under the portico to see if it was open.

 

Not only was it open, there was a sign confirming it was open. And inside, a gentleman was sitting and reading in peace and quiet, a flask of coffee beside him.

 

I apologised for breaking the silence, and said I was going to get my camera. I also could not miss the fact, the steps to the gallery were leading to doors above that were open.

 

A rare treat.

 

Upon returning, the strong sunlight had returned from a cloud, and the glass in the east windows were not just bright with colour, but dazzling.

 

It is over a decade since we first saw the Italianate spire of St Lawrence, looking very out of place in the Weald. We stop that day, but it was locked, but I made sure we visited at the next Heritage weekend a few months later.

 

My shots were poor: overuse of the ultra-wide angle, so I have wanted to return for some time, but the two visits since I have found it locked.

 

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One of the few eighteenth-century churches in Kent, built in 1746 by the 7th Earl of Westmoreland. Surprisingly for so late a date the name of the architect is not known although it is in the style of Colen Campbell who designed the nearby castle, but as he died in 1722 it is probably by someone in his office. The main feature of the church is a tall stone steeple with four urns at the top of the tower, whilst the body of the church is a plain rectangular box consisting of an aisled nave and chancel. Inside is an excellent display of eighteenth-century interior decoration - especially fine being the curved ceiling which is painted with trompe l'oeil panels. At the west end is the galleried pew belonging to the owners of Mereworth Castle - it has organ pipes painted on its rear wall. The south-west chapel contains memorials brought here from the old church which stood near the castle, including one to a fifteenth-century Lord Bergavenny, and Sir Thomas Fane (d. 1589). The latter monument has a superb top-knot! The church contains much heraldic stained glass of sixteenth-century date, best seen with binoculars early in the morning. Of Victorian date is the excellent Raising of Lazarus window, installed in 1889 by the firm of Heaton, Butler and Bayne. In the churchyard is the grave of Charles Lucas, the first man to be awarded the Victoria Cross, while serving on the Hecla during the Crimean War.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Mereworth

 

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MEREWORTH.

EASTWARD from West, or Little Peckham, lies Mereworth, usually called Merrud. In Domesday it is written Marourde, and in the Textus Roffensis, MÆRUURTHA, and MERANWYRTHE.

 

THE PARISH of Mereworth is within the district of the Weald, being situated southward of the quarry hills. It is exceedingly pleasant, as well from its naturalsituation, as from the buildings, avenues, and other ornamental improvements made throughout it by the late earl of Westmoreland, nor do those made at Yokes by the late Mr. Master contribute a little to the continued beauty of this scene. The turnpike road crosses this parish through the vale from Maidstone, towards Hadlow and Tunbridge, on each side of which is a fine avenue of oaks, with a low neatly cut quick hedge along the whole of it, which leaves an uninterrupted view over the house, park, and grounds of lord le Despencer, the church with its fine built spire, and the seat of Yokes, and beyond it an extensive country, along the valley to Tunbridge, making altogether a most beautiful and luxuriant prospect.

 

Mereworth house is situated in the park, which rises finely wooded behind it, at a small distance from the high road, having a fine sheet of water in the front of it, being formed from a part of a stream which rises at a small distance above Yokes, and dividing itself into two branches, one of them runs in front of Mereworth house as above mentioned, and from thence through Watringbury, towards the Medway at Bow-bridge; the other branch runs more southward to East Peckham, and thence into the Medway at a small distance above Twiford bridge.

 

Mereworth-house was built after a plan of Palladio, designed for a noble Vicentine gentleman, Paolo Almerico, an ecclesiastic and referendary to two popes, who built it in his own country about a quarter of a mile distance from the city of Venice, in a situation pleasant and delightful, and nearly like this; being watered in front with a river, and in the back encompassed with the most pleasant risings, which form a kind of theatre, and abound with large and stately groves of oak and other trees; from the top of these risings there are most beautiful views, some of which are limited, and others extend so as to be terminated only by the horizon. Mereworth house is built in a moat, and has four fronts, having each a portico, but the two side ones are filled up; under the floor of the hall and best apartments, are rooms and conveniences for the servants. The hall, which is in the middle, forms a cupola, and receives its light from above, and is formed with a double case, between which the smoke is conveyed through the chimnies to the center of it at top. The wings are at a small distance from the house, and are elegantly designed. In the front of the house is an avenue, cut through the woods, three miles in length towards Wrotham-heath, and finished with incredible expence and labour by lord Westmoreland, for a communication with the London road there: throughout the whole, art and nature are so happily blended together, as to render it a most delightful situation.

 

In the western part of this parish, on the high road is the village, where at Mereworth cross it turns short off to the southward towards Hadlow and Tunbridge, at a small distance further westward is the church and parsonage, the former is a conspicuous ornament to all the neighbouring country throughout the valley; hence the ground rises to Yokes, which is most pleasantly situated on the side of a hill, commanding a most delightful and extensive prospect over the Weald, and into Surry and Sussex.

 

Towards the north this parish rises up to the ridge of hills, called the Quarry-hills, (and there are now in them, though few in number, several of the Martin Cats, the same as those at Hudson's Bay) over which is the extensive tract of wood-land, called the Herst woods, in which so late as queen Elizabeth's reign, there were many wild swine, with which the whole Weald formerly abounded, by reason of the plenty of pannage from the acorns throughout it. (fn. 1)

 

The soil of this parish is very fertile, being the quarry stone thinly covered with a loam, throughout the northern part of it; but in the southern or lower parts, as well as in East Peckham adjoining, it is a fertile clay, being mostly pasture and exceeding rich grazing land, and the largest oxen perhaps at any place in this part of England are bred and fatted on them, the weight of some of them having been, as I have been informed, near three hundred stone.

 

The manors of Mereworth and Swanton, with others in this neighbourhood, were antiently bound to contribute towards the repair of the fifth pier of Rochester bridge. (fn. 2)

 

THIS PLACE, at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, was part of the possessions of Hamo Vicecomes, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in that book.

 

In Littlefield hundred. Hamo holds Marourde. Norman held it of king Edward, and then, and now, it was and is taxed at two sulings. The arable land is ninecarucates. In demesne there are two, and twenty-eight villeins, with fifteen borderers, having ten carucates. There is a church and ten servants, and two mills of ten shillings, and two fisheries of two shillings. There are twenty acres of meadow, and as much wood as is sufficient for the pannage of sixty hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, it was worth twelve pounds, and afterwards ten pounds, now nineteen pounds.

 

This Hamo Vicecomes before-mentioned was Hamo de Crevequer, who was appointed Vicecomes, or sheriff of Kent, soon after his coming over hither with the Conqueror, which office he held till his death in the reign of king Henry I.

 

In the reign of king Henry II. Mereworth was in the possession of a family, which took their surname from it, and held it as two knights fees, of the earls of Clare, as of their honour of Clare.

 

Roger, son of Eustace de Mereworth, possessed it in the above reign, and then brought a quare impedit against the prior of. Leeds, for the advowson of the church of Mereworth. (fn. 3)

 

William de Mereworth is recorded among those Kentish knights, who assisted king Richard at the siege of Acon, in Palestine, upon which account it is probable the cross-croslets were added to the paternal arms of this family.

 

Roger de Mereworth, in the 18th year of king Edward I. obtained the grant of a fair at his manor of Mereworth, to be held there on the feast day of St. Laurence, and likewise for free-warren in the same, and in Eldehaye, &c.

 

John de Mereworth held this manor in the beginning of the reign of king Edward II. and in the 15th and 16th years of the next reign of king Edward III. he was sheriff, and resided at Mereworth-castle. His son, of the same name, died in the 44th year of it, without issue, on which John de Malmains, of Malmains, in Pluckley, was found to be his heir; and he, in the 46th year of the same reign, alienated his interest in it to Nicholas, son of Sir John de Brembre, who bore for his arms, Argent, three annulets sable, on a canton of the second, a mullet of the first.

 

Nicholas de Brembre was a citizen and grocer of London, and was lord mayor in the 1st year of king Richard II. in the 5th year of which reign he was knighted for his good services against that rebel Wat Tyler, in the 6th parliament of it, he represented the city of London in it; but at length becoming obnoxious to the prevailing party of that time, he was attainted of high treason in the 10th year of that reign, and was afterwards beheaded, (fn. 4) and his body buried in the Grey Friars church, now Christ church, in London. His estate being thus forfeited to the crown, king Richard, in his 13th year, granted this manor to John Hermenstorpe, who shortly afterwards passed it away to Richard Fitz Alan, earl of Arundel, lord treasurer and admiral of England, whose son, Thomas Fitz Alan, earl of Arundel, dying without issue in the 4th year of king Henry V. anno 1415, his four sisters became his coheirs, and on the division of their inheritance, the manor of Mereworth became the property of Joane, lady Abergavenny, the second sister, who had married William Beauchamp, lord Abergavenny, and she died possessed of it in the 13th year of king Henry VI. (fn. 5) After which it appears to have been vested in Elizabeth, daughter and sole heir of her son, Richard Beauchamp, earl of Worcester, and lord Abergavenny, who afterwards married Edward Nevill, fourth son of Ralph, earl of Westmoreland, who had possession granted of the lands of his wife's inheritance, and was afterwards, in the 29th year of Henry VI. summoned to parliament by the title of lord Bergavenny. He survived her, and died in the 16th year of king Edward IV. being then possessed, as tenant by the curtesy of England, of the inheritance of Elizabeth his first wife before-mentioned, of the manor of Mereworth.

 

From him it descended to his great grandson, Henry Nevill, lord Abergavenny, who died in the 29th year of queen Elizabeth, (fn. 6) when by inquisition he was found to die possessed, among other premises, of this manor with the advowson of the church of Mereworth, and the manor and farm of Oldhaie, alias Holehaie, in this parish, and that Mary, his daughter, was his sole heir, who had been married in the 17th year of that reign, to Sir Thomas Fane.

 

The family of Fane, (fn. 7) alias Vane, are of antient Welsh extraction, and for many generations wrote themselves solely Vane. They were first seated in this county in the reign of king Henry VI. when Henry Vane became possessed of Hilden, in Tunbridge, and resided there. He left three sons, the eldest of whom, John, was of Tunbridge; Thomas left a son Humphry; and Henry, the third son, was father of Sir Ralph Vane, who was attainted in the 4th year of king Edward VI.

 

John Vane, alias Fane, esq. of Tunbridge, the eldest son, had four sons; the eldest of whom Henry, was of Hadlow, but died s. p. Richard was ancestor of the Fanes, of Badsell, in Tudeley, the earls of Westmoreland, the viscounts Fane of Ireland, and the Fanes of Mereworth and Burston. Thomas, was of London, and John, the fourth son, was of Had low, and was ancestor of the two Sir Henry Vanes, whose descendant is the present earl of Darlington, as were the late viscounts Vane, and the Fanes, late of Winchelsea, in Sussex.

 

John Fane, esq. the father, dying in 1488, anno 4 king Henry VII. was buried in Tunbridge church. whose son Richard, heir to his elder brother Henry, married Agnes, daughter and heir of Thomas Stidolfe, esq. of Badsell, where he afterwards resided, as did his son George Fane, and grandson of the same name, the latter of whom was sheriff, anno 4 and 5 of Philip and Mary, and died in 1571, leaving two sons of the name of Thomas, the eldest of whom will be mentioned hereafter, and the youngest was seated at Burston, in Hunton, where a further account may be seen of him.

 

Thomas Fane, the eldest son and heir, having engaged in the rebellion raised by Sir Thomas Wyatt, in the first year of queen Mary, was attainted, and a warrant issued for his execution, but the queen having compassion on his youth, pardoned him, and he was soon afterwards restored to his liberty and estate. He was twice married, first to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Colepeper, of Bedgbury, by whom he had no issue; and secondly, to lady Mary, sole daughter and heir of Henry Nevill, lord Abergavenny, by his wife Frances, daughter to Thomas Manners, earl of Rutland, and in her right possessed this manor of Mereworth, &c. as has been already mentioned.

 

Sir Thomas Fane, for he had been knighted the year before his last marriage, in the queen's presence, by the earl of Leicester, after this resided at times, both at Mereworth castle and at Badsell, of which latter place he wrote himself. He died in the 31st year of queen Elizabeth, and was buried at Tudely, whence his body was afterwards removed to Mereworth church. He left by the lady Mary, his wife, who survived him, Francis, his heir, and George, who succeeded to this manor and estate at Mereworth, after his mother's death, and who was made heir to his uncle, Sir Thomas Fane, of Burston.

 

Lady Mary Fane, on the death of her father, Henry, lord Abergavenny, had challenged the title of baroness of Bergavenny, against Edward Nevill, son of Sir Edward Nevill, a younger brother of George, lord Bergavenny, father of Henry, lord Bergavenny, before-mentioned, on which Sir Edward Nevill, the castle of Bergavenny had been settled both by testament and act of parliament.

 

This claim was not determined until after Sir Thomas Fane's death, in the first year of king James I. when after great argument used on both sides, the title of baron of Bergavenny, was both by judgment of the house of peers, and order of the lords commissioners for the office of earl marshal, decreed for the heir male, and to give some satisfaction to the heir female, the king, by his letters patent dated as before-mentioned, granted and restored to her and her heirs, the dignity of baroness le Despencer, (fn. 8) with the antient seat, place, and precedency of her ancestors.

 

The lady Mary, baroness le Despencer, survived her husband many years, and died at Mereworthcastle, in 1626, and was buried in Mereworth church, leaving her two sons, Francis and George, surviving. The eldest of whom Francis, in 1623, was created baron Burghersh, and earl of Westmoreland. He died in 1628, having had by Mary his wife, daughter and sole heir of Sir Anthony Mildmay, of Apethorp, in Northamptonshire, several sons and daughters, of the former, Mildmay was the eldest, who succeeded him in titles; Francis was afterwards knighted; and Henry was ancestor to the viscounts Fane.

 

Mildmay, the eldest son, earl of Westmoreland, dying in 1665, was buried at Apethorp. He left by his first wife Grace, daughter of Sir William Thorn hurst, one son Charles, who succeeded him in honors and estate, and by his second wife Mary, second daughter and coheir of Horace, lord Vere, of Tilbury, widow of Sir Roger Townsend, bart. of Rainham, in Norfolk, one son, Vere Fane.

 

Charles, earl of Westmoreland, was twice married, but dying without issue in 1691, was succeeded by his half-brother Sir Vere Fane, K.B. above-mentioned, who was M. P. for this county in 1678, and in 1692 joint lord-lieutenant with Henry, lord viscount Sidney. He died next year, leaving by Rachael his wife, only daughter and heir of John Bunce, esq. alderman of London, several sons and daughters, of the former, Vere, succeeded him in titles and estate, and died unmarried in 1699. Thomas, the second son, succeeded his brother as earl of Westmoreland, and died without issue; and John, the third son, succeeded his brother as earl of Westmoreland, and Mildmay, was the fourth son, both of whom will be further mentioned.

 

Of the daughters, Mary married Sir Francis Dashwood, bart. of London, father of the late lord le Despencer; Catherine married William Paul, esq. of Berkshire, whose only daughter and heir, Catherine, married Sir William Stapleton, bart. father of Sir Thomas Stapleton, bart. lately deceased, and Susan died unmarried.

 

But to return to George Fane, the second son of the lady Mary, baroness le Despencer, by her husband, Sir Thomas Fane. He was knighted at the coronation of king James I. in the 18th year of which reign he was chosen M. P. for this county, and on his mother's death in 1626, he succeeded to the manor of Mereworth, with the castle, advowson, and other estates in this parish; and on the death of Sir Thomas Fane, of Burston, his uncle, in 1606, succeeded by his will to his seat at Burston, and the rest of his estates.

 

Sir George Fane resided afterwards at Burston, where he died in 1640, being succeeded in this manor and estate by his eldest son, Thomas Fane, esq. of Burston, who was a colonel in the army. He died unmarried at Burston in 1692, and was buried near his father in Hunton church, leaving the manor and castle of Mereworth, with the advowson of this church, his seat at Burston, and all other his estates in this county, to Mildmay Fane, the youngest son of Vere, earl of Westmoreland, by Rachael, his wife, daughter of John Bunce, esq.

 

Mildmay Fane, esq. resided at Mereworth-castle, and in 1715 was chosen M. P. for this county. He died unmarried that year, and was succeeded in this manor and castle, as well as in his other estates, by Thomas, earl of Westmoreland, his eldest surviving brother, who was chief justice in eyre, south of Trent, and of the privy council to king George I. This earl intending to reside at Apethorp, in Northamptonshire, procured an act in the 5th year of that reign, to sell this manor, as well as all the rest of his Kentish estates, but changing his mind, no sale was made of any of them, and he afterwards resided at Mereworth castle, where he died s. p. in 1736, and was buried at Apethorp, so that his honours and estates descended to John, his younger and only surviving brother, who became the 7th earl of Westmoreland, and following a military life in his early youth, at length arrived at the rank of lieutenant general. On the death of his younger brother, Mildmay Fane, he was in 1715 chosen in his room M. P. for this county; and in 1733 was created a peer of Ireland, by the title of baron of Catherlough, and in 1737 he was appointed lordlieutenant of Northamptonshire. He retired to Mereworth castle soon after the death of earl Thomas, which seat he rebuilt, as well as the church of Mereworth, in an elegant manner, and continued adding to the improvements and grandeur of this place till the time of his death, insomuch, that it may now be justly esteemed one of the greatest ornaments of this county.

 

The earl was high steward, and afterwards chancellor of the university of Oxford, in which last high and honorable office he was installed there, on July 3, 1759, with the greatest solemnity, and with a magnificence and splendor unknown at any former installation. He married Mary, only daughter and heir of the lord Henry Cavendish, but dying in 1762, s. p. he by his will devised this manor and seat, with the rest of his estates in this county, to his nephew Sir Francis Dashwood, bart. son of Sir Francis Dashwood, bart. of West Peckham, by his sister the lady Mary, eldest daughter of Vere, earl of Westmoreland, and to the heirs of his body, with remainder to Sir Thomas Stapleton, bart. his great nephew, viz. son of Sir William Stapleton, bart. by Catherine, daughter and heir of William Paul, of Bromwich, in Oxfordshire, by his sister Catherine, younger daughter of the said Vere, earl of Westmoreland.

 

On the death of John, earl of Westmoreland, without issue, his Irish peerage became extinct, but the barony of le Despencer being a barony in fee to heirs general, was confirmed to Sir Francis Dashwood, bart his sister's son; and the titles of baron Burghersh and earl of Westmoreland went to Thomas Fane, of Bristol, merchant, the next heir male descendant of Sir Francis Fane, second surviving son of Francis, first earl of Westmoreland. The earls of Westmoreland bore for their arms, Azure, three right hand gauntlets with their backs affrontee, or. And for their crest, Out of a ducal coronet or, a bull's head argent, pyed sable, armed or, and charged on the neck with a rose gules, barbed and seeded proper; being the antient crest of Nevill.

 

Sir Francis Dashwood, bart. was descended from Samuel Dashwood, esq. of Rowney, near Taunton, who by his first wife had John, ancestor of the Dashwoods, of Essex and Suffolk; Francis, of whom hereafter; Richard and William, of Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, who fined for alderman of London. By his second wife he had George, ancestor to the Dashwoods, of Oxford, baronets.

 

Francis Dashwood, the second son, was a Turkey merchant, and an alderman of London, who bore for his arms, Argent, on a fess double cotized gules, three griffins heads erased, or, granted to him in 1662, by Byshe, clarencieux. He died in 1683, leaving several children, the eldest of whom Samuel was knighted, and was lord-mayor of London in 1702, and was ancestor of the Dashwoods, of Well, in Lincolnshire; Francis the youngest was knighted and created a baronet in 1707, whose second wife was the lady Mary, eldest sister of John, earl of Westmoreland, who died in 1710, and lies buried in West Wycomb church, in Bucking hamshire, where an elegant monument is erected to her memory; by whom he had an only son, Francis, and a daughter, Rachael, married in 1738 to Sir Robert Austen, bart. of Bexley, in this county. Sir Francis Dashwood, bart. the son, was of West Wycomb, and on the decease of John, earl of Westmoreland, succeeded by his will to this manor and house of Mereworth, as well as the rest of his estates in this county, to whom the king on April 19, 1763, confirmed to him, in right of the lady Mary, his mother, the premier barony of Le Despencer, the same being a barony in fee descendible to the heirs general.

 

He married the daughter of Henry Gould, esq. of Iver, in Buckinghamshire, by whom he had no issue, and died in 1760, being a privy-counsellor and lord-lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, upon which this manor and seat, with the rest of his estates in this county, went, by the will of John, earl of Westmoreland, as mentioned before, to Sir Thomas Stapleton, bart. of Grays, in Oxfordshire, (son of Sir Thomas Stapleton, the earl's great nephew who had deceased in 1781) who on the death of Rachael, sister of the late lord le Despencer, widow of Sir Robert Austen, bart. before mentioned, in 1788, s. p. succeeded to the title likewise of lord le Despencer, and he is the present proprietor of this elegant seat, now called Mereworth, or more commonly Merrud house, the manor and the advowson of this church.

 

He married Elizabeth, second daughter of S. Eliot, esq. of Antigua, by whom he has a son and daughter, He bears for his arms, Argent, a lion rampant gules, for Stapleton, quartered with the arms of Fane; and for his supporters, those of the earls of Westmoreland, the dexter a griffin, the sinister a bull, both collared and chained; crest, a Saracen's head.

 

YOKES-PLACE, formerly called Fotes-place, is a seat in this parish, the scite of which, in the reign of king Henry III. was in the possession of Fulco de Sharstede, who then held it as the third part of a knight's fee, of the earl of Gloucester, (fn. 9) and his descendant, Simon de Sharsted died possessed of it in the 25th year of king Edward I. After which it became the property of the family of Leyborne; and in the reign of king Edward III. it was come into the possession of William de Clinton, earl of Huntingdon, in right of his wife, Juliana de Leyborne, the heiress of that family, and he, in the 20th year of that reign paid aid for it. His wife survived him, and again possessed this estate in her own right, and died possessed of it in the 41st year of that reign, without issue.

 

On her death, this estate, among the rest of her possessions, escheated to the crown for want of heirs. Soon after which, it seems to have come into the possession of a family, who implanted their name on it, and were written in several old dateless deeds, Feotes, and by contraction were called Fotes. But this name was extinct here before the end of the reign of king Richard II. when it appears to have been in the possession of Richard Fitzalan, earl of Arundel, from whom it descended in like manner, as Mereworth manor, to Joane his daughter, coheir to Thomas, earl of Arundel, her brother, who married William Beauchamp, lord Abergavenny, and their son, Richard, earl of Worcester, and lord Abergavenny, leaving an only daughter and heir, Elizabeth, she carried Jotes-place in marriage to Edward Nevill, fourth son of Ralph, earl of Westmoreland, who was summoned to parliament as lord Bergavenny, and died in the 16th year of king Edward IV. being then possessed, as tenant by the curtesy of England, in right of Elizabeth his wife, of this estate, as well as of Mereworth manor. His son Sir George Nevill, lord Bergavenny, died possessed of it in the 7th year of king Henry VII. anno 1491, leaving several sons and daughters, of whom George, the eldest son, succeeded him as lord Abergavenny, in this estate, and in the manor of Mereworth; William was the second son; Edward was the third, whose descendants succeeded in process of time to the barony of Abergavenny, and Sir Thomas Nevill was the fourth son, to whom his father bequeathed Jotes-place, with the estate belonging to it. (fn. 10) He was of the privycouncil to king Henry VIII. and secretary of state, and dying in 1542, was buried in Mereworth church. His only daughter and heir, Margaret, married Sir Robert Southwell, master of the rolls, &c. who in her right became possessed of Jotes place, where he resided. (fn. 11) But in the 35th year of king Henry VIII. anno 1543, he alienated it, with other estates in this parish and West Peckham, to Sir Edward Walsingham, of Scadbury, in this county, in whose descendants it continued till the latter end of the reign of king Charles I. when Sir Thomas Walsingham, of Scadbury, conveyed Yokes-place, as it came now to be called, with the other estates before-mentioned, to his son-in-law, Mr. James Master, son of Mr. Nathaniel Master, merchant, of London, whose widow he had married, being the second son of James Master, esq. of East Langdon. Mr. James Master resided here, where he died in 1689, and was buried in Mereworth church. He left three sons and two daughters, James his heir; Streynsham, of Holton, in Oxfordshire, and Richard. The daughters were, Frances, who died without issue, and Martha, who married Lionel Daniel, esq. of Surry, by whom she had William, his heir, and a daughter Elizabeth, married to George, late lord viscount Torrington.

 

James Master, esq. the eldest son, resided at Yokesplace, and was sheriff in 1725. He died in 1728 unmarried, and gave by his will this seat, with the rest of his estates, to his youngest brother, Richard Master, who likewise resided at Yokes, where he died unmarried in 1767, and by his will devised it, with all his other possessions, to his nephew, William Daniel, esq. of Surry, son of his sister Martha, enjoining him to take the arms and surname of Master; accordingly he bore for his arms, Quarterly, first and fourth, Master; azure, a fess crenelle between three griffins heads erased or; second and third, Daniel, argent, a pale fuslly sable.

 

William Daniel Master, esq. resided at Yokesplace, where he kept his shrievalty in the year 1771, having almost rebuilt this seat, and laid out the adjoining grounds in a modern and elegant taste. He married Frances-Isabella, daughter of Thomas Dalyson, esq. of West Peckham. He died. s. p. in 1792, and left Mrs. Master still surviving him.

 

SWANTON-COURT is a manor in this parish, the mansion of which, situated about half a mile westward from Yokes, place, is now only a mean cottage. In the reign of king Henry III. Richard de Swanton held it, as half a knight's fee, of John de Belleacre, as he did of the earl of Gloucester. (fn. 12) In the 10th year of king Edward III. it was become the property of Elizabeth, sole daughter and heir of Wm. de Burgh, earl of Ulster, who by her husband Lionel, duke of Clarence, left an only daughter, Philippa, whose husband, Edward Mortimer, earl of March, had possession granted to him of this manor, among other lands of her inheritance.

 

Soon after which, this manor came into the possession of that branch of the family of Colepeper, seated at Oxenhoath, in the adjoining parish of West Peckham; in which it remained till Sir John Colepeper, one of the justices of the common pleas, gave it, with other lands in this neighbourhood, in the 10th year of king Henry IV. anno 1408, to the knights hospitallers of St. John, of Jerusalem, who founded a preceptory on that part of these lands, which lay in West Peckham.

 

This manor continued part of their possessions till the general dissolution of their order in the 32d year of king Henry VIII. when it was suppressed by an act then especially passed for that purpose; and all the lands and revenues of it were given by it to the king and his heirs for ever. The next year the king granted the manor of Swanton to Sir Robert Southwell, who in the 35th year of that reign, alienated it to Sir Edmund Walsingham, in whose descendants it continued till the latter end of king Charles I.'s reign, when Sir Thomas Walsingham alienated it, with Yokes-place and other estates in this neighbourhood, to his son-in-law, Mr. James Master; since which it has descended, in like manner as Yokes, to William Daniel Master, esq. who died possessed of it s. p. in 1792, and by his will de vised it to George Bing, lord viscount Torrington, the present possessor of it.

 

FOWKES is a manor in this parish, formerly esteemed as an appendage to the manor of Watringbury, under which a further account of it may be seen. It belonged to the abbey of St. Mary Grace, near the Tower, London, and after the dissolution in the reign of king Henry VIII. passed through several owners till the reign of king James I. when it was alienated to Oliver Style, esq. in whose descendants it has continued till this time, the present inheritance of it being vested in Sir Charles Style, bart. of Watringbury.

 

BARONS-PLACE is a capital messuage in Mereworth, which, with the estate belonging to it, was part of the possessions of Sir Nicholas Pelham, of Cattsfieldplace, in Sussex, who alienated it to Christopher Vane, lord Barnard; after which it descended in like manner as Shipborne and Fairlawne, to William, viscount Vane, who dying in 1789, s. p. devised it by his will to David Papillon, esq. of Acrise, the present owner of it.

 

THE FAMILY OF BREWER resided in this parish for many generations, before they removed in the reign of king Henry VI. to Smith's hall, in West Farleigh; their seat here, being called from them, Brewer'splace.

 

Charities.

THE BARONESS, wife of Francis, lord Despencer, gave by will certain land, the yearly produce of it to be applied towards the purchasing of twenty gowns for twenty poor families yearly, vested in the present lord le Despencer, and now of the annual produce of 20l.

 

A PERSON UNKNOWN gave the sum of 10s. per annum for the use of the poor, vested in Sir William Twysden, bart. and now of that annual produce.

 

A PERSON UNKNOWN gave the like yearly sum for the same purpose, vested in Mr. Richard Sex.

 

A person unknown gave certain wood land for the same use, vested in the present lord le Despencer, and now of the annual produce of 15s.

 

A PERSON UNKNOWN gave certain land for the like use, vested in the churchwardens and overseers, and of the annual produce of 3l. 10s.

 

MEREWORTH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester and deanry of Malling.

 

The church was dedicated to St. Laurence. It was an antient building, and formerly stood where the west wing of Mereworth-house, made use of for the stables, now stands. It was pulled down by John, late earl of Westmoreland, when he rebuilt that house, and in lieu of it he erected, about half a mile westward from the old one, in the center of the village, the present church, a most elegant building, with a beautiful spire steeple, and a handsome portico in the front of it, with pillars of the Corinthian order. The whole of it is composed of different sorts of stone; and the east window is handsomely glazed with painted glass, collected by him for this purpose.

 

In the reign of king Henry II. the advowson of this church was the property of Roger de Mereworth, between whom and the prior and convent of Ledes, in this county, there had been much dispute, concerning the patronage of it: at length both parties submitted their interest to Gilbert, bishop of Rochester, who decreed, that the advowson of it should remain to Roger de Mereworth; and he further granted, with his consent, and that of Martin then parson of it, to the prior and convent, the sum of forty shillings, in the name of a perpetual benefice, and not in the name of a pension, in perpetual alms, to be received yearly for ever, from the parson of it. (fn. 13)

 

The prior and the convent of Ledes afterwards, anno 12 Henry VII. released to Hugh Walker, rector of this church, their right and claim to this pension, and all their right and claim in the rectory, by reason of it, or by any other means whatsoever.

 

In the reign of king Henry VI. the rector and parishioners of this church petitioned the bishop of Ro chester, to change the day of the feast of the dedication of it, which being solemnized yearly on the 4th day of June, and the moveable seasts of Pentecost, viz. of the sacred Trinity, or Corpus Christi, very often happening on it; the divine service used on the feasts of dedications could not in some years be celebrated, but was of necessity deferred to another day, that these solemnities of religion and of the fair might not happen together. Upon which the bishop, in 1439, transferred the feast to the Monday next after the exaltation of the Holy Cross, enjoining all and singular the rectors, and their curates, as well as the parishioners from time to time to observe it accordingly as such. And to encourage the parishioners and others to resort to it on that day, he granted to such as did, forty days remission of their sins.

 

Soon after the above-mentioned dispute between Roger de Mereworth and the prior and convent of Ledes, the church of Mereworth appears to have been given to the priory of Black Canons, at Tunbridge. (fn. 14) And it remained with the above-mentioned priory till its dissolution in the 16th year of king Henry VIII. a bull having been obtained from the pope, with the king's leave, for that purpose. After which the king, in his 17th year, granted that priory, with others then suppressed for the like purpose, together with all their manors, lands, and possessions, to cardinal Wolsey, for the better endowment of his college, called Cardinal college, in Oxford. But four years afterwards, the cardinal being cast in a præmunire; all the estates of that college, which for want of time had not been firmly settled on it, became forfeited to the crown. (fn. 15) After which, the king granted the patronage of the church of Mereworth, to Sir George Nevill, lord Abergavenny, whose descendant Henry, lord Abergavenny, died possessed of it in the 29th year of queen Elizabeth, leaving an only daughter and heir Mary, married to Sir Thomas Fane, who in her right possessed it. Since which it has continued in the same owners, that the manor of Mereworth has, and is as such now in the patronage of the right hon. Thomas, lord le Despencer.

 

It is valued in the king's books at 14l. 2s. 6d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 8s. 3d.

 

¶It appears by a valuation of this church, and a terrier of the lands belonging to it, subscribed by the rector, churchwardens, and inhabitants, in 1634, that there belonged to it, a parsonage-house, with a barn, &c. a field called Parsonage field, a close, and a garden, two orchards, four fields called Summerfourds, Ashfield, the Coney-yearth, and Millfield, and the herbage of the church-yard, containing in the whole about thirty acres, that the house and some of the land where James Gostlinge then dwelt, paid to the rector for lord's rent twelve-pence per annum; that the houses and land where Thomas Stone and Henry Filtness then dwelt, paid two-pence per annum; that there was paid to the rector the tithe of all corn, and all other grain, as woud, would, &c. and all hay, tithe of all coppice woods and hops, and all other predial tithes usually paid, as wool, and lambs, and all predials, &c. in the memory of man; that all tithes of a parcel of land called Old-hay, some four or five miles from the church, but yet within the parish, containing three hundred acres, more or less; and the tithe of a meadow plot lying towards the lower side of Hadlow, yet in Mereworth, containing by estimation twelve acres, more or less, commonly called the Wish, belonged to this church.

 

The parsonage-house lately stood at a small distance north-eastward from Mereworth-house; but obstructing the view from the front of it, the late lord le Despencer obtained a faculty to pull the whole of it down, and to build a new one of equal dimensions, and add to it a glebe of equal quantity to that of the scite and appurtenances of the old parsonage, in exchange. Accordingly the old parsonage was pulled down in 1779, and a new one erected on a piece of land allotted for the purpose about a quarter of a mile westward from the church, for the residence of the rector of Mereworth and his successors.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol5/pp70-90

" "In him we live and move and have our being", St Paul said at the Areopagus of Athens (Acts 17: 28). The strongest proof that we are made in the image of the Trinity is this: love alone makes us happy because we live in a relationship, and we live to love and to be loved. Borrowing an analogy from biology, we could say that imprinted upon his "genome", the human being bears a profound mark of the Trinity, of God as Love" – Pope Benedict XVI.

 

My sermon for today can be read here.

 

This medieval depiction of the Holy Trinity is called the 'Mercy Seat', and it is in the National Gallery, London.

Now at the mainstore,

 

Classy Dual colors MESH shirts. XS, S, M, L, XL sizes.

 

You can get separatly or all in one HUD!

 

TP to SAKIDE

or on SL Marketplace

I watched a free Shakespeare in the Park play in Central Park, Louisville. Fun!

 

One of my favorite quotes is Brutus opining on the rise of Rome's dictator, Julius Caesar:

 

"He would be crowned:

How that might change his nature,

there's the question.

 

It is the bright day that brings forth the adder, [...]

And therefore think him as a serpent's egg

Which, hatched, would, as his kind, grow mischievous"

—from William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar

 

Ah, I see. It is also Shakespeare, not just the Roman Senate, who struggled with the nature of power. The powers of a dictator make a good man a snake, poisonous to Rome. Power and the structures of power changes a man. It corrupts. So how can checks and balances be designed to curtail the natural desire of the chief executive to dictate all things?

 

Shakespeare's Britain was painfully, slooowly evolving an answer to that question. There were Britain's civil wars. Almost two centuries later, it was the young upstart Americans who would provide a good answer, thanks to the abuses and inadequacies of their colonial rulers, Britain's government.

troybooks.co.uk/a-witch's-natural-history.html

 

CHAPTER 12:

THE WITCH BY MOOR AND WOOD AND SHORE

 

The “secret, black and midnight hags” are waiting. He alights from his horse, his heel squelching into boggy ground. Behind him, a mosaic of moss and peaty pools stretches away to the horizon, buffeted by wind. There is not a tree in sight; the acid soil and exposure forbid the growth of anything above knee-height. Beside the pool at his feet, the moss draws water, a thirsty sponge plastered over the stone, inches thick, the air above it slick with moisture. Further out into the water, flowers hang above the surface like heads of nodding puppets, the stems blushing as if freshly bruised. Beneath the water, the plant bears little bladders, like shed reptiles’ scales adhering to the leaves. Crustaceans swim between the submerged stems, and the bladders gape like mouths, toothed with bristles. One touch of a branched antenna, and the valve trap springs and expands. Sucked inside, the crustacean struggles in vain as the sealed door slams, its prison walls exuding the juice of death. It may share its death-cell with an assortment of other partially digested insects and crustaceans, some of them still alive and threshing their appendages ever more slowly. The man knows nothing of these struggles between microscopic titans; he turns up the hill towards drier ground, where the first clumps of heather struggle to retain a foothold. His eyes are set on a triple cairn at the top of the hill, so he does not notice the plant underfoot, with its pale, curling leaves, sticky with their own exudations. Midges convulse in their death throes, their wings hopelessly glued to the surface of the leaves. There are other diminutive plants here too, with spatulate leaves bristling with appendages, all oozing a substance as sticky and seductive as toffee. A fly struggles on one of them, adhering haphazardly by one of its bulging compound eyes, doomed to buzz itself into its own minor oblivion. As it does so, the other tentacles on the leaf bend inwards to further ensnare the victim. The man pays them no heed, for he is heading up to the higher, drier heath, his mind reeling with the import of his meeting with the minions of Hecate. A wildcat yowls and bares its teeth at him, arching its back and twitching its grey bushy tail, before disappearing amongst the ling; no domestic cat – perhaps it is Graymalkin. He is Macbeth, King of Scotland, bent on his own struggle for survival, anticipating his assignation with three witches, who have already divined that they will meet him on this “blasted heath”.

 

Had Macbeth not been so oblivious to these struggles on a smaller scale, he might have knelt, and learnt much from the wortlore of bogland plants. The spasmodic death throes of their insect victims might have led him more quickly to his nihilistic conclusion that life “is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” The crustacean-devouring water plant was Bladderwort (Utricularia), and its terrestrial cousin with the scroll-like leaves was Butterwort (Pinguicula), so named because the digestive juices exuded by the leaves are a sort of herbal rennet. Indeed, the leaves may be added to cream in order to form butter, provided, of course, one picks the dying flies off them first. Beside this was the Sundew (Drosera), perhaps the most easily recognisable of the bogland carnivorous plants. Moorland folklore insists that the Sundew and Butterwort, together with the liliaceous, yellow flowered Bog Asphodel, are injurious to sheep and cattle, causing weakness in the bones. Although the latter is indeed poisonous to cattle, it is probably the moorland environment itself which causes the problem, since the soil, and everything that grows upon it, is calcium deficient. Paradoxically, it is also said on Colonsay that cows that have eaten Butterwort are safe from supernatural maladies and elvish arrows, and they have at times been used in conjunction with whin and juniper as a charm against maleficient witchcraft. On the Isle of Man, Sundew is traditionally used as a love-charm by hiding the sticky rosettes in the clothing of one’s intended lover, but the token might just as easily be used as a signal for a clandestine assignation. Another plant of the upland bogs, the Bog Myrtle is used as an insect-repellant, emetic and vermifuge, and in the 1860s it will figure as the main ingredient of a regenerative beer made by the landlady of the ‘Black Horse’ in Ampleforth, Yorkshire. The glands in its leaves secrete a wax which can be made into fragrant candles.

 

Macbeth will not pause on his way up the hill to chew on the stalk of the Heath Rush, for he is reliably informed that it causes hare-lips. Nor will he stoop to rip up the “tormenting root” of Tormentil, which jilted lovers burn at midnight on Friday to compel their lovers to return. He is soon knee-deep in heather, whose pink or purple flowers are said to be stained with Pictish blood shed in battle. It has long been used for tanning leather, it makes a refreshing dry ale, and its bell-shaped flowers are tempting to bees. Robert Graves makes an obscure and tantalising reference to an Irish tale of the goddess Garbh Ogh, collected by Dean Swift at Lough Crew. She haunted the heather moors, riding in a cart drawn by elks, accompanied by ten giant hounds, all with birds’ names, and she subsisted on venison milk and eagles’ breasts. Perhaps she was a winter goddess, for with the flowering of the heather, she built herself a triple cairn of stones and settled amongst the blooms to die, like a spent queen bee. Other parts of the moor may be covered with Bilberries, also known as Blueberries or Whortleberries, a delicacy picked in Ireland in anticipation of the feast of Lughnasadh.

 

The calcium deficiency in these acid soils limits the range of fauna Macbeth is likely to encounter. A stag may cross his path, the whites of his eyes visible as he hurls himself away from the likely hunter. A hen harrier may wheel overhead. There are other moorland birds too: the “treacherous” lapwing, as Chaucer called her, roused from her nest into flop-winged flight. She lets out a succession of pies and weeps the further she flies, the wan sky catching her silhouette. Now she wings a lap around the lone man, leaving her little ones behind and tempting him to follow her. Should he tread amongst them, they will scatter, spindle-shanked and peeping, with eggshells on their heads. In the distance, there may be the cackle of a grouse, prey to the hen harrier. At another time, Macbeth might have come upon the “lek”, a communal display ground used by the polygamous male grouse to attract mates. For now, the grouse pecks at the heather, scuds over sodden sphagnum bogs, bubbling and crooning to himself, and eluding the shadow of man. Since the reign of the gun-hung gamekeeper has not yet begun, he must also elude the tooth and claw of the native wildcat if he is to dance in his lek next year.

 

When Macbeth reaches the cairn on the flattened summit, the witches will ply him with a hallucinogenic brew. The ingredients sound disgusting, but most of them are code-words for herbs gathered somewhere in the lowlands. Shakespearean tragic heroes are fond of such places in a crisis: King Lear and his Fool came to such a place when he was insane, and learned wisdom. On his way back down the hill, a less preoccupied man might stop at a solitary rowan tree by a stone wall – the only standing tree for miles. He has need of it, for its white flowers and red berries make it a goddess tree, a tree of inspiration. He might need to pick his way through the gorse, for here it has not been piled and burnt, and were he of more tender disposition, he might repeat the old adage, “Kissing’s out of fashion when the gorse is out of bloom.” Little does he know that the witches themselves will retire to this thorny bower if ever they are pursued. But his thoughts are on matters of state: trivial, irrelevant questions to bring to this ageless place. Of course, in the end, the witches tell Macbeth nothing that the bladderwort in the bog, the wildcat in his path, the harrier in the welkin, or the bleak and pitiless moor itself could not have told him: the truth about himself.

 

*

 

Of course, she is quite as beautiful as all of the other young Russian girls throughout history who have one day become wives to a Tsar: a simple, uncomplicated beauty which is scorned in her own house, but would be sufficient to light up the throne room in her future palace. But today, her brow is knitted in furrows and her body trembles as she runs. In her hand she clutches a little wooden doll, her magical saviour in times of crises, and her knuckles whiten for fear of losing it. In the distance, dimly visible between the moonlit boles of the birches, there glows a great arc of paired lights: a dull, greenish glow that sets her teeth on edge. Everything within her is telling her to seek the safety of darkness in the woods rather than hurry towards the ring of light, for she knows why the lights glow from paired orbs: they are human skulls, glowing in the sockets with a magical luminescence. Beyond the skulls, which are mounted on stakes around the perimeter of a fence knitted from human bones, there stands a wretched little hut – or rather, it doesn’t stand exactly – it prances and scratches about in the dust, for it is mounted on a pair of grotesquely oversized hen’s legs. A thin plume of smoke rises from the chimney of this hovel, and momentarily obscures the moon, for its occupant is at home. She is the Baba Yaga, a hideous hag who always puts her guests to the test, and eats them if she finds them wanting. No doubt she is also the lingering folk memory of a dark goddess, for when she is not flaying the skin from warriors’ backs, she teaches her initiates the hard way, and they return to their own land filled with arcane wisdom. The young girl catches at the stitch in her side with her spare hand, and looks ahead in fear. She is Wassilissa the Beautiful, and whether she likes it or not, she is the Baba Yaga’s next initiate into the mysteries of the forest – or, if she is unworthy, into the mysteries of the cauldron, as viewed from the inside.

 

When Wassilissa overcomes her fear and presents herself to the Baba Yaga, she is taken into the squalid hut and imprisoned there. On successive days, she is given a series of increasingly absurd and impossible tasks which need not concern us here, and whilst her magically animated wooden doll is wiping away Wassilissa’s tears and solving all her problems, the Baba Yaga has locked the door behind her, climbed into her giant iron mortar, and is now flying out across the woods, rowing along through the air with her pestle, and sweeping away her trail with her kitchen broom. Some say she is off to fight magical battles in the chthonic underworld, but more likely she is off to seek her own wisdom from the woodlands that surround her home – or, given her novel mode of transvection, those farther afield.

 

Any normal mortal who explores a wood is likely to begin by searching for helleborines, twayblades or wood anemones in the spring and summer, or fungi in the autumn. However, for the Baba Yaga, like many other denizens of the forest, the odyssey starts not on the woodland floor, but in the treetops. Many of the birch trees in her own woodland carry “witches’ brooms” – bunched and twiggy growths which hang from the branches. To the uninitiated, these look like clumps of mistletoe; in fact, they are galls caused by a fungus which persists from year to year, sometimes producing brooms a metre in diameter, and comprising three or four hundred twigs. A single birch tree may carry nearly a hundred such excrescences at the end of its comparatively short life span of a century. Amongst the plethora of galls which afflict the neighbouring, longer-lived oak trees, one of the commonest is the “oak apple”: a rose-pink or yellow spongy ball of abnormal plant tissue which is the tree’s defensive response to the insertion of parthenogenetic eggs into the developing bud by a wingless female cynipid wasp. Every oak apple is pleurilocular, containing around thirty chambers, each a cradle for a developing grub which gorges its bloated body on juices from the tree. In late summer, the imagoes gouge their way out, leaving the oak apples riddled with tiny holes. In Britain after the Restoration of Charles II, these curious plant-tumours were worn by Royalists on May 29th, Oak Apple Day, to commemorate his birthday and return from exile. In school, children who failed to wear the regulation oak-sprig were whipped with nettles. The oak was the ideal tree to symbolise the Royalist cause, given the popular rumour that the king hid himself from his Puritan pursuers inside a hollow oak tree at Boscopel. Although the fashionably sceptical Professor Ronald Hutton has persistently denied that the celebrations might pre-date the Civil War, many have concluded that Oak Apple Day is the remnant of a pagan fertility rite. Certainly, it has gained its own neo-Pagan associations in recent centuries. When Roger Deakin attended Oak Apple Day in the Royal Forest of Grovely in Wiltshire, he found a whole range of contradictions in the involvement of conservative country people in obviously pagan rituals, apparently supported by the church, and despite the Royalist history of the rites, deeply influenced by socialist responses to the Enclosure Acts. Oak Apple Day was an “annual reassertion of rights to collect wood” on common land. In the midst of this controversy, however, no one appears to have asked the obvious question, which is why oak apples specifically should be worn. It seems a strange – or, for those with republican sympathies, oddly appropriate – symbol of monarchy: a sham fruit, a spongy cancer writhing inside with parasitic grubs. As a symbol of fertility, however, it is potent: it reminds me of nothing so much as the ontological eccentricities of the sixteenth century miller Menocchio, resurrected for posterity by that admirable historian Carlo Ginzburg, who maintained that the origin of the universe lay in putrefaction: the world was a piece of cheese from which worms spontaneously arose. In any case, it is doubtful whether the Royalists realised that the wasps responsible for this ambiguous symbol have a curious and cryptic double life-cycle. In July, the winged imagoes mate, and the females penetrate the soil, for the next generation will be infants suckling on subsided sap, parasites not of growing buds, but of hidden roots in the humus. A descent into the underworld indeed.

 

In late July, the oak leaves are heavily mined by tiny caterpillars which live beneath the epidermis, most of them larvae of micro-moths. The Baba Yaga’s flight through the canopy is the more pleasurable because of the Purple Emperor butterflies, largest of the Lepidoptera in northern climes. The male will choose the tallest oak for his throne, and will only be tempted to the forest floor by things white and glittering, or by rotting carcasses which he can probe with his hungry tongue. Perhaps the Baba Yaga will follow him: he is unlikely to find the carcase of a badger, for they like to intern their dead within their own setts, until their skulls, forever interlocked with their jawbones, are carelessly unearthed when the dwellings require extension. It is too late, too, for the flowers of the early purple orchid, whose tubers were once the source of the invigorating, semen-thick, starchy drink known as salop, a favourite refreshment of Victorian labourers, and a renowned aphrodisiac. It was once said that there were enough purple orchids growing in Cobham Park to pleasure every seaman’s wife in Rochester. Perhaps this was another form of sympathetic magic: the twin tubers of orchids look like bollocks. The Purple Emperor flits on, over those withered stems, and alights instead on the corpse of a roebuck, already rotting. Its juices are rank and leaching into the soil, attended by burying beetles and maggots; the eye sockets are sunken. As the butterfly’s tongue begins to probe, the Baba Yaga surely pays her respects to this horned one of the woods. Modern humans think of deer as the enemies of the forest, for they chew the shoots of newly coppiced trees. Whilst this is certainly true, there ought to be room for gratitude: a deer-filled wood is a bluebell wood, for the deer clear enough foliage for these plants to gain their requisite sunlight. More importantly, in the Middle Ages, when forests were royal preserves, the trees were maintained as cover for the deer; without the deer, the woods would have been felled for pasture, and there would have been nowhere for Robin Hood to hide.

 

At the edges of the clearings in our wood of oak and birch, the smaller trees flourish. A hazel bends over a stream, waiting to drop its wisdom-filled nuts into the water, where, perhaps, the salmon of knowledge may swallow them. The spindle tree grows here too, and when all is gaunt in winter, her rose-pink, poisonous berries will shrink to reveal orange seeds: joyful punctuations of the prevailing gloom. No doubt the Baba Yaga has cut the spindle to make wands, for its white and lightweight timber is admirably suited. Indeed, it is said that a despairing seamstress who thrusts her spindle (derived from this tree) into the ground, will soon be delighted to perceive it taking root, producing greenish-white flowers and fruit as red as roses. No wonder the archetypal witch is often depicted with distaff and spindle.

 

These woods are the haunt of mustelids: not just the badger, but also the stoat and weasel. In winter, the stoat becomes the ermine, whose snow-white coat is a long and undulating sentence ending in a black full-stop: the tip of the tail. These tail tips, sewn with alarming profusion into trimmings of royal gowns, are the black wisps in the fluffy whitenesses which adorn the necks of mediaeval kings and queens, but in its natural state, the stoat is a wily creature with whom any witch should identify. Gamekeepers hate them, and cleave their skulls whenever they can find them, for they are crafty of mind and supple of body, and can take down creatures many times their size. The weasel is even smaller: a beady-eyed, ripple-bodied killing machine with teeth like needles. The late twelfth century Breton poet, Marie de France, who was a champion of misunderstood lovers and werewolves alike, has been one of the few authors (even the enlightened Kenneth Grahame fails in this regard) to ascribe noble qualities to the weasel. In her extraordinary lay known as Eliduc, the hero’s lover lies dead, and his longsuffering wife feels for him in his despondency. She sits weeping beside the bier of the woman who has been bedding her husband, when all at once, a weasel runs past, only to be struck dead by a stick-throwing servant standing nearby. Moments later, a second weasel, the first one’s mate, comes and finds her dead. He runs outside and picks a flower with his teeth, and uses it to revive her. In what must qualify as one of the most selfless acts in all romantic literature, Eliduc’s wife retrieves the flower, resurrects her husband’s adulterous lover, and graciously retires to a convent, and the weasels, one hopes, live on to perpetuate their species.

 

The mixed woodlands of oak, birch and ash lie in the lowlands. The beechwoods of the chalky uplands are quite different, and the Baba Yaga would fly far to find them. Mature beeches allow little sunlight to filter down to the forest floor, and as a result, the vegetation is sparse. One flower, however, has found a niche, and its perspicacity must arouse the admiration of any witch. The bird’s nest orchid contains no chlorophyll, and as a consequence, it is not green, but yellow and fleshy, with a purplish tinge. The flowers are not gaudy, but brown, designed to attract flies, and the plant does not photosynthesise, for it is saprophytic, deriving its nutrients not from the sun but from an underground fungus with which it shares a symbiotic relationship – and the fungus, in turn, is dependent on the humus provided by the rotting foliage of the beeches. Every year, the orchid flowers by the bole of the beech, unless perchance its underground rhizomes encounter a stone. Should they do so, the plant will flower underground. A model of perverse and persevering persistence, it is surprising that the bird’s nest orchid does not play a bigger role in folklore; indeed, the only explanation for this is the fact that it is hardly ever noticed, for without green colouration, plants are nearly always presumed to be dead.

 

It would be impossible for the Baba Yaga to frequent these woodlands without encountering a fox, and it would be unlikely indeed that she should fail to identify with him. Since the Middle Ages, the French have understood the fox most intimately, immortalising him as Reynard, the trickster who always has the last laugh. Sometimes he disguises himself as a monk, tonsuring the unsuspecting wolf with a cauldron of boiling water. On other occasions, he shams his own death, enticing birds within reach of his snapping jaws. Chaucer lets him sink his teeth into the neck of the narcissistic cockerel Chantecler, and in the mediaeval French romances, he even creates a martyr, Coupée the chicken, whose earthly life was so cruelly cut short. He presides laughingly over the castration of his rival Tybert the cat by a fornicating priest, and personally engineers the trapping of Bruin the Bear inside a cleft oak. Ever victorious, Reynard is the archetypal guiser. If you don’t believe it, seek him out yourself in a summer glade where the rabbits are chewing cowslips: he sidles along, respectfully distant, and all at once he is turning somersaults as though he has gone mad, biting the dirt and threshing at his own tail with his hindlegs. The rabbits are mesmerised by this vision of a predator turned insane; slowly they creep closer. Reynard’s game is an eloquent essay in predatory hypnosis. One rabbit strays too near, and the muscles ripple on the fox’s muzzle, the canines bared. The pupils in the yellow irises congeal into sharp lozenges of dark. Suddenly, the fox-fool is a lethal machine, and the rabbit curls, screaming in agony in the fox’s jaws. The Baba Yaga is not dissimilar in her dealings with her own victims.

 

When winter comes, the broadleaved woods are bare, and only hollies and the occasional yew can relieve the monotony. At this time, no doubt, the Baba Yaga steers for the coniferous woodlands, eschewing only those of larch, which alone among the cone-bearing trees are deciduous. She seeks a creature every witch should revere. Of course, if we have had any contact whatever with modern environmental movements, we in Britain are immediately sure what creature she is after. It must be the red squirrel – that totemic creature whose imprint ensures fundraising success for every wildlife charity. Ousted from the woodlands of the south of our islands by the American grey – so this myth insists – the red squirrel persists in the Scotch Pines of the Highlands, staunch to the end like some latter-day Dad’s Army. We conveniently forget that it is we who introduced the grey squirrel, so that we can demonise it, and that it is we in our unprecedented population explosions of the twenty-first century who turn our woodlands into minute islands in the sea of homogeneity, dooming the less resilient species to extinction. But the Baba Yaga does not seek the red squirrel. She is after something far more elusive: a lissom-limbed creature whose every movement is sinuous, smearing pungent scents on the bark of the pine bough. His pelt is the warmest brown: dark chocolate laced with white, and had he not been persecuted to near extinction in our country, the grey squirrel would never have extended its range. Should the fresh meat run out, he is resilient enough to resort to caterpillars, or even bilberries. These days, it takes a witch to find him, led onward by the pricking of her thumbs, and even then she must crane her neck, or mount once more to the treetops in her mortar, for this creature scampers where most men scorn to look. Furtive, trembling with the pulse of a hungry metabolism, the pine marten claws the bough. Like the eyes of Wassilissa’s doll, its pupils are aglow.

 

*

 

The path beneath my feet is an ancient wickerwork of the roots of elms, and the ivied trunks beside me are columns in a cathedral of green, for Dutch Elm Disease has never ravaged the trees on the Isles of Scilly. Chiff-chaffs and wrens, roof-boss creatures come to life, peer between the leaves with beady eyes, and beside the raised path the little fenland supports a hundred tiny chapels of hemlock water dropwort, twinkling woodbines, and green and fleshy liverworts on gleaming walls of soil. A choir of hoverflies is singing, a tracery of elm twigs arching above them. I am on my way through the shrine to nature known as Holy Vale, heading towards Porth Hellick, a bay gouged into the granite on the eastern side of the island of St. Mary’s. As I emerge from the fenland, where herons and egrets curl their harpoon-headed necks like question-marks, the dromedary-shaped geological feature known as Camel Rock looms in front of me. Shallow sea-water laps over the bladder-wrack as I make my way past it, and out in the deeper water, I glimpse the arched Roman-nose of a grey seal, his nostrils flared to drink in the air. Suddenly, he submerges, and I time the interval before his re-emergence, not daring to hold my own breath. He has exhaled before diving, every pocket of air expelled from shrunken alveoli, his bloodstream constricted, for this reduces his buoyancy. His blood is almost black in colour, for it is packed with haemoglobin in order to carry additional reserves of oxygen during the dive. Three, four, five minutes, and his head is bobbing up ahead, like a stub-nosed buoy with whiskers. Gulls skim the sea’s dark undulations. A cormorant dives, and turnstones cry. The sun turns the sea mercurial, and the shoreline is a mirror with a glazed meniscus. As the old seal breasts the surge, I almost hear the slop of mercury, and then the sun shifts, the sea a green glaze crusted with foam. The boulders beside the path are mounded with unsalvaged disjecta: a winkle, a pebble, a cormorant’s skull.

 

Beyond Camel Rock, an ancient stairway has been cut into the stone. Ahead of me, the cliff forms a great overhang, known locally as Clapper Rock. One can imagine it rapping like a gargantuan castanet on a windy night, and in the past I have taken children here on bivouacs, and they have scared each other sleepless with tales of the ghosts of suicides. As I mount the stairs, the light intensifies; the stones seem to be vibrating. Spectral figures climb the stairs ahead of me, shawled and murmuring, disappearing behind a curve in the rocky cleft. I know who they are. In 1750, Robert Heath wrote the first ever book about the Isles of Scilly, and in it he described a collective of Healing Aunts whose traditions had been handed down from time immemorial. “They are all good Botanists,” he tells us, “and have added a great many Herbs to their Catalogue… Their Systems and Hypotheses are to help those in Distress for Pity’s sake rather than for Profit.” In 1750, the most senior amongst them was Sarah Jenkins, a wise-woman and midwife of considerable local standing. That she was also a witch seems very likely: in her youth she certainly knew of the fairies which inhabited the chambered cairn of Buzza Hill near Hugh Town, whose “nightly Pranks, aerial Gambols, and Cockel-shell Abodes are now quite unknown.” Supposedly, they were “charm’d” or “conjur’d out of the islands” by cunning-men from Cornwall, but surely I have seen them myself, belted with leather of Laminaria, their menfolk in britches of kelp, their women skirted with Porphyra, with purses of bladder-wrack, stitched with strands of Chorda. I am sure that to this day they dance to tunes of fiddles fashioned out of the skulls of guillemots, and beat on urchin drums.

 

I think I know where the ghosts of the Healing Aunts are going. They are heading across the heath towards the beach of Pelistry, beyond which lies Toll’s Island, a grassy clump of rock connected to the beach by a sand-bank at low tide. In the eighteenth century, Toll’s Island would have hung under a pall of noisome smoke, for it was covered with kelp-pits tended by wizened old ladies puffing perversely on blackened clay pipes. The kelp was burned to a fine ash and then exported for use in glass-making, a meagre source of revenue for the poverty-stricken island folk. Beyond the kelp-pits stands Pellew’s Redoubt, a relic of the Civil War, from which not even these islands, twenty-eight miles into the Atlantic, were entirely free. At the far end, the sea slops and gurgles against the rocks, and it is here, I am sure, that the Healing Aunts are heading. The rockpools here are a candy-shop of colours: Coralina plants, articulated like puppets and pink as musk, kelps, oar shaped, made of chocolate leather, and edible sea lettuces, pistachio green. I bend down and dip my hands in the water. There is the sideways scuttle of a retreating crab, a frightened goby’s blinkless eye, the urchin’s serried army bristling. There are limpets and pixie cups and slowly moving snails clearing trails in sand. Despite the turmoil and pounding of the sea, delicate anemones spread their tentacles, or lie above the waterline like globules of blind red jelly.

 

Here the Healing Aunts will find Dillisk, a membrane-thin ribbon of red seaweed known to the Scots as Dulse, Rhodymenia palmata. Shawled in ragged wool, Sarah Jenkins bends hunchbacked over the rocks, plucks with scrabbling fingers the limp Dillisk from the stone, or rolls up her grubby sleeve, and picks it where it swells in swirling ribbons underwater. It clings to her skin as though it has been smeared with bacon grease. Rich in iodine, Dillisk has long been an essential component of the diet of coastal peoples, and during the Irish potato blight, it doubtless saved lives. Hanging in the kitchen, it withers at the edges, grows a powdery crust of salt, and stiffens like red parchment, until wet weather leaves it hanging flaccid: it is, in fact, the world’s first barometer. Combined with sea lettuce and mixed with oatmeal, it is fried to make nutritious cakes. The seaweed known as “Irish moss” grows here too, its fronds rainbowed with bioluminescence under water. Medicinally, it is an anticoagulant, and a treatment for bronchitis, bladder infections and kidney irritation; it is also an effective gelling agent. The seaweeds are used here for fertilisers too, and wrack-cutters were equipped with special scythes for the purpose of harvesting the larger plants. Other seaweeds had folkloric significance: Viking descendents on Iceland were afraid of a hideous child-eating troll-woman named Grýla, whose coat was made of seaweed, and whose fifteen tails were made of the knotted wrack, Ascophyllum nodosum. In addition to her child-devouring cat, she had a string of husbands, none of whom could bear her carnivorous habits for very long, until at last she found a sort of happiness with Leppalúði, who was able to quell his nausea for long enough to father a multitude of offspring upon her, all of whom preyed upon human children. Similarly, Norse burial grounds on the Orkneys were later identified as homes of the Trows, semi-aquatic monsters who preyed on human souls. According to Jo Ben, writing in the early seventeenth century, the Stronsay Trows “very often go with the women there”, and they are clad in red seaweed, with horse-like bodies. A Trow’s penis, too, “is like that of a horse”, and the testicles are particularly large. At the opposite extreme of Britain, Scilly too is covered with cairns and tombs, and it seems reasonable to suppose that in former ages, these also had their fair complement of seaweed-clad monsters. On a windy night on Scilly, it is difficult to believe that they do not exist.

 

No doubt the Healing Aunts did not confine their ministry to St Mary’s. There are five inhabited islands in Scilly today, but in their day, Samson too was inhabited by two wind-worn families, the Woodcocks and the Webbers, who eked out an existence by fishing and kelp-burning before they were evicted in the nineteenth century by the lord of Tresco, Augustus Smith, who built a deer-park on the island, only to find that the deer scorned the place and swam back to Tresco. It is certain that there were magical traditions – not all of them entirely benevolent – on the other islands too, for the well of St. Warna on St. Agnes was once filled with bent pins, each designed to cause a shipwreck, and St. Agnes herself is represented in paintings with a stang, luring tall ships onto the rocks. However, today I will follow the Healing Aunts back to Hugh Town, and take their spectral boat to Samson. On the way, a sandwich tern is above me, slouch-winged and still in the air as a strained lever. All about the boat now, they hover, their necks cocked like flintlocks, their stretched wings bracketing the wind, the watchspring wound, near to breaking. The flintlock springs, and one bird makes a soundless plunge, harpoon-billed and hollow boned. For a moment, it is a stab of white cleaving the water. A sand-eel writhes, and the tern bursts shimmer-feathered back into the air. Riding this swell in winter, I might meet the Immer Loon, or Great Northern Diver, a bird whose ancestors once swum with ichthyosaurs.

 

There is no jetty on Samson: the spectral boat beaches on the sand of Bar Point at low tide. The beach is a white hump, with a single line of weed. At the top, there is dune grass bleached by brine, and in the spring, pyramidal orchids bloom in profusion. On Dune Hill, the first of Samson’s two granite humps, there is a string of cairns from the days when Scilly was known as Ennor. There is yellow furze, gnarled ling, and a petering path, lined with thrushes’ anvils, each with its own snail-shell cairn. Always, there are the wind-flayed sternums of gulls, rock-pipits, and once fearless wrens, the bleached wings still attached. I will follow the Aunts down the hill, towards the spume-worn Neck, and enter this empty, roofless home to my right, stooping beneath the rafter that would have been. There is an uncanny, unfathomable silence. I can almost hear the wheeze of a Woodcock, his clay pipe clenched in stained incisors. The air here is thick, and it is hard to breathe, for there is an emptiness, like the orbs of a gull’s skull. Up the slope towards South Hill, another house beckons me, armpit deep in foxgloves and red-campions, and fringed with nettles - nitrogen-loving plants which frequent the past abodes of human beings. The hard-hewn lintel is perched precarious as a bird, and inside, the low hearth is lichen-bearded. There is the same silence, the same thickness, the same constriction of the throat; I know I am breathing ghosts, not air. I half-hear the sigh of a Webber, worn from kelp-burning, aching to rest her legs beside the fire that would have been. And now I am back out into the vacancies of brown bracken, walking by bluebells, grown wild from some garden long-gone.

 

The silences of Samson, here at the Atlantic end of the British Isles, hold within them the profoundest lesson a witch can learn. We humans are transitory: we are walking ghosts. Our hearths encrust; our lintels fall. Our clay pipes lie crushed in the strand. Our remnants are chipped flints, stone bottle stoppers, plastic flotsam. Our broken boats encrust with goose-barnacles. The Healing Aunts knew this: they have brought me here so I may know it too. The wounds we inflict on nature are skin deep; it will master us in the end. If you don’t believe me, take the tourist-boat to Samson – the modern Scillonians will gladly take your money. Sit up there on South Hill and listen. Hear their yawls and cries. Glance down at their mottled eggs on the peaty pathways. Samson does not belong to human beings. It is owned by gulls, and the ghosts of all that would have been.

 

Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or simply the Buddha, was a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in northeastern India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.

 

The word Buddha means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one". "Buddha" is also used as a title for the first awakened being in a Yuga era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (Pali sammāsambuddha, Sanskrit samyaksaṃbuddha) of the present age. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala.

 

Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

 

CONTENTS

HISTORICAL SIDDHARTA GAUTAMA

Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most accept that he lived, taught and founded a monastic order during the Mahajanapada era during the reign of Bimbisara, the ruler of the Magadha empire, and died during the early years of the reign of Ajasattu, who was the successor of Bimbisara, thus making him a younger contemporary of Mahavira, the Jain tirthankara. Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddha's lifetime coincided with the flourishing of other influential śramaṇa schools of thoughts like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism, and Ajñana. It was also the age of influential thinkers like Mahavira, Pūraṇa Kassapa , Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambalī, Pakudha Kaccāyana, and Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, whose viewpoints the Buddha most certainly must have been acquainted with and influenced by. Indeed, Sariputta and Moggallāna, two of the foremost disciples of the Buddha, were formerly the foremost disciples of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, the skeptic. There is also evidence to suggest that the two masters, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, were indeed historical figures and they most probably taught Buddha two different forms of meditative techniques. While the general sequence of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" is widely accepted, there is less consensus on the veracity of many details contained in traditional biographies.

 

The times of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE. More recently his death is dated later, between 411 and 400 BCE, while at a symposium on this question held in 1988, the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet been accepted by all historians.

 

The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhārtha Gautama was born into the Shakya clan, a community that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the northeastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE. It was either a small republic, in which case his father was an elected chieftain, or an oligarchy, in which case his father was an oligarch. According to the Buddhist tradition, Gautama was born in Lumbini, nowadays in modern-day Nepal, and raised in the Shakya capital of Kapilavastu, which may have been in either present day Tilaurakot, Nepal or Piprahwa, India. He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, and died in Kushinagar.

 

No written records about Gautama have been found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to the Buddha's birthplace in Lumbini. Another one of his edicts mentions several Dhamma texts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era and which may be the precursors of the Pāli Canon. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, reported to have been found in or around Haḍḍa near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan and now preserved in the British Library. They are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE.

 

TRADITIONAL BIOGRAPHIES

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies. These include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa, and dating around the beginning of the 2nd century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE. The Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE. The Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra, and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE. The Nidānakathā is from the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka and was composed in the 5th century by Buddhaghoṣa.

 

From canonical sources, the Jataka tales, the Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14), and the Achariyabhuta Sutta (MN 123) which include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies. The Jātakas retell previous lives of Gautama as a bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts. The Mahāpadāna Sutta and Achariyabhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from the Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.

 

NATURE OF TRADITIONAL DEPICTIONS

In the earliest Buddhists texts, the nikāyas and āgamas, the Buddha is not depicted as possessing omniscience (sabbaññu) nor is he depicted as being an eternal transcendent (lokottara) being. According to Bhikkhu Analayo, ideas of the Buddha's omniscience (along with an increasing tendency to deify him and his biography) are found only later, in the Mahayana sutras and later Pali commentaries or texts such as the Mahāvastu. In the Sandaka Sutta, the Buddha's disciple Ananda outlines an argument against the claims of teachers who say they are all knowing while in the Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta the Buddha himself states that he has never made a claim to being omniscient, instead he claimed to have the "higher knowledges" (abhijñā). The earliest biographical material from the Pali Nikayas focuses on the Buddha's life as a śramaṇa, his search for enlightenment under various teachers such as Alara Kalama and his forty five year career as a teacher.

 

Traditional biographies of Gautama generally include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt. lokottara) and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world. In the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supra-mundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma". Nevertheless, some of the more ordinary details of his life have been gathered from these traditional sources. In modern times there has been an attempt to form a secular understanding of Siddhārtha Gautama's life by omitting the traditional supernatural elements of his early biographies.

 

Andrew Skilton writes that the Buddha was never historically regarded by Buddhist traditions as being merely human:

It is important to stress that, despite modern Theravada teachings to the contrary (often a sop to skeptical Western pupils), he was never seen as being merely human. For instance, he is often described as having the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks or signs of a mahāpuruṣa, "superman"; the Buddha himself denied that he was either a man or a god; and in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta he states that he could live for an aeon were he asked to do so.The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which significant accounts exist. British author Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure. Michael Carrithers goes a bit further by stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.

 

BIOGRAPHY

CONCEPTION AND BIRTH

The Buddhist tradition regards Lumbini, in present-day Nepal to be the birthplace of the Buddha. He grew up in Kapilavastu. The exact site of ancient Kapilavastu is unknown. It may have been either Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, present-day India, or Tilaurakot, present-day Nepal. Both places belonged to the Sakya territory, and are located only 15 miles apart from each other.

 

Gautama was born as a Kshatriya, the son of Śuddhodana, "an elected chief of the Shakya clan", whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime. Gautama was the family name. His mother, Maya (Māyādevī), Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess. Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.

 

The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak. Buddha's Birthday is called Buddha Purnima in Nepal and India as he is believed to have been born on a full moon day. Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great sadhu. By traditional account, this occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight Brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man. Kondañña, the youngest, and later to be the first arhat other than the Buddha, was reputed to be the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.

 

While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Suryavansha (Solar dynasty) of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars think that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.

 

Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition. The state of the Shakya clan was not a monarchy, and seems to have been structured either as an oligarchy, or as a form of republic. The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the śramanic Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.

 

EARLY LIFE AND MARRIAGE

Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati. By tradition, he is said to have been destined by birth to the life of a prince, and had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) built for him. Although more recent scholarship doubts this status, his father, said to be King Śuddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great king, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering.

 

When he reached the age of 16, his father reputedly arranged his marriage to a cousin of the same age named Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā). According to the traditional account, she gave birth to a son, named Rāhula. Siddhartha is said to have spent 29 years as a prince in Kapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Buddhist scriptures say that the future Buddha felt that material wealth was not life's ultimate goal.

 

RENUNCIATION AND ASCETIC LIFE

At the age of 29, the popular biography continues, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father's efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he initially strove to overcome aging, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.

 

Accompanied by Channa and riding his horse Kanthaka, Gautama quit his palace for the life of a mendicant. It's said that, "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods" to prevent guards from knowing of his departure.

 

Gautama initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. After King Bimbisara's men recognised Siddhartha and the king learned of his quest, Bimbisara offered Siddhartha the throne. Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.

 

He left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers of yogic meditation. After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama (Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), he was asked by Kalama to succeed him. However, Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practice, and moved on to become a student of yoga with Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra). With him he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness, and was again asked to succeed his teacher. But, once more, he was not satisfied, and again moved on.

 

Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya are then said to have set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practising self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha was rescued by a village girl named Sujata and she gave him some payasam (a pudding made from milk and jaggery) after which Siddhartha got back some energy. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's ploughing. He attained a concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the jhāna.

 

AWAKENING

According to the early Buddhist texts, after realizing that meditative dhyana was the right path to awakening, but that extreme asceticism didn't work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way - a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path, as was identified and described by the Buddha in his first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to have accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata. Such was his emaciated appearance that she wrongly believed him to be a spirit that had granted her a wish.

 

Following this incident, Gautama was famously seated under a pipal tree - now known as the Bodhi tree - in Bodh Gaya, India, when he vowed never to arise until he had found the truth. Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained Enlightenment. According to some traditions, this occurred in approximately the fifth lunar month, while, according to others, it was in the twelfth month. From that time, Gautama was known to his followers as the Buddha or "Awakened One" ("Buddha" is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One").

 

According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary to eliminate it. These discoveries became known as the "Four Noble Truths", which are at the heart of Buddhist teaching. Through mastery of these truths, a state of supreme liberation, or Nirvana, is believed to be possible for any being. The Buddha described Nirvāna as the perfect peace of a mind that's free from ignorance, greed, hatred and other afflictive states, or "defilements" (kilesas). Nirvana is also regarded as the "end of the world", in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain. In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.

 

According to a story in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1) - a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons - immediately after his awakening, the Buddha debated whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp. However, in the story, Brahmā Sahampati convinced him, arguing that at least some will understand it. The Buddha relented, and agreed to teach.

 

FORMATION OF THE SANGHA

After his awakening, the Buddha met Taphussa and Bhallika — two merchant brothers from the city of Balkh in what is currently Afghanistan - who became his first lay disciples. It is said that each was given hairs from his head, which are now claimed to be enshrined as relics in the Shwe Dagon Temple in Rangoon, Burma. The Buddha intended to visit Asita, and his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, to explain his findings, but they had already died.

 

He then travelled to the Deer Park near Varanasi (Benares) in northern India, where he set in motion what Buddhists call the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the five companions with whom he had sought enlightenment. Together with him, they formed the first saṅgha: the company of Buddhist monks.

 

All five become arahants, and within the first two months, with the conversion of Yasa and fifty four of his friends, the number of such arahants is said to have grown to 60. The conversion of three brothers named Kassapa followed, with their reputed 200, 300 and 500 disciples, respectively. This swelled the sangha to more than 1,000.

 

TRAVELS AND TEACHING

For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka. Although the Buddha's language remains unknown, it's likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardization.

 

The sangha traveled through the subcontinent, expounding the dharma. This continued throughout the year, except during the four months of the Vāsanā rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely traveled. One reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to animal life. At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.

 

The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was formed. After this, the Buddha kept a promise to travel to Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, to visit King Bimbisara. During this visit, Sariputta and Maudgalyayana were converted by Assaji, one of the first five disciples, after which they were to become the Buddha's two foremost followers. The Buddha spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, capital of Magadha.

 

Upon hearing of his son's awakening, Suddhodana sent, over a period, ten delegations to ask him to return to Kapilavastu. On the first nine occasions, the delegates failed to deliver the message, and instead joined the sangha to become arahants. The tenth delegation, led by Kaludayi, a childhood friend of Gautama's (who also became an arahant), however, delivered the message.

 

Now two years after his awakening, the Buddha agreed to return, and made a two-month journey by foot to Kapilavastu, teaching the dharma as he went. At his return, the royal palace prepared a midday meal, but the sangha was making an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana approached his son, the Buddha, saying:

 

"Ours is the warrior lineage of Mahamassata, and not a single warrior has gone seeking alms."

 

The Buddha is said to have replied:

 

"That is not the custom of your royal lineage. But it is the custom of my Buddha lineage. Several thousands of Buddhas have gone by seeking alms."

 

Buddhist texts say that Suddhodana invited the sangha into the palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk. After this he is said to have become a sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the sangha. The Buddha's cousins Ananda and Anuruddha became two of his five chief disciples. At the age of seven, his son Rahula also joined, and became one of his ten chief disciples. His half-brother Nanda also joined and became an arahant.

 

Of the Buddha's disciples, Sariputta, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa, Ananda and Anuruddha are believed to have been the five closest to him. His ten foremost disciples were reputedly completed by the quintet of Upali, Subhoti, Rahula, Mahakaccana and Punna.

 

In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali when he heard news of the impending death of his father. He is said to have gone to Suddhodana and taught the dharma, after which his father became an arahant.The king's death and cremation was to inspire the creation of an order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that the Buddha was reluctant to ordain women. His foster mother Maha Pajapati, for example, approached him, asking to join the sangha, but he refused. Maha Pajapati, however, was so intent on the path of awakening that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, which followed the sangha on a long journey to Rajagaha. In time, after Ananda championed their cause, the Buddha is said to have reconsidered and, five years after the formation of the sangha, agreed to the ordination of women as nuns. He reasoned that males and females had an equal capacity for awakening. But he gave women additional rules (Vinaya) to follow.

 

MAHAPARINIRVANA

According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha. Mettanando and Von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning. The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns.

 

Waley suggests that Theravadin's would take suukaramaddava (the contents of the Buddha's last meal), which can translate as pig-soft, to mean soft flesh of a pig. However, he also states that pig-soft could mean "pig's soft-food", that is, after Neumann, a soft food favoured by pigs, assumed to be a truffle. He argues (also after Neumann) that as Pali Buddhism was developed in an area remote to the Buddha's death, the existence of other plants with suukara- (pig) as part of their names and that "(p)lant names tend to be local and dialectical" could easily indicate that suukaramaddava was a type of plant whose local name was unknown to those in the Pali regions. Specifically, local writers knew more about their flora than Theravadin commentator Buddhaghosa who lived hundreds of years and kilometres remote in time and space from the events described. Unaware of an alternate meaning and with no Theravadin prohibition against eating animal flesh, Theravadins would not have questioned the Buddha eating meat and interpreted the term accordingly.

 

Ananda protested the Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India) of the Malla kingdom. The Buddha, however, is said to have reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king that resounded with joy:

 

44. Kusavati, Ananda, resounded unceasingly day and night with ten sounds - the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, the rattling of chariots, the beating of drums and tabours, music and song, cheers, the clapping of hands, and cries of "Eat, drink, and be merry!"

 

The Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikkhus to clarify any doubts or questions they had. They had none. According to Buddhist scriptures, he then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All composite things (Saṅkhāra) are perishable. Strive for your own liberation with diligence" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā'). His body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where what some believe to be the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.

 

According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Emperor Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of the Buddha. According to two textual records in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Emperor Aśoka is 116 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 545 BCE, because the reign of Emperor Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates. In Burmese Buddhist tradition, the date of the Buddha's death is 13 May 544 BCE. whereas in Thai tradition it is 11 March 545 BCE.

 

At his death, the Buddha is famously believed to have told his disciples to follow no leader. Mahakasyapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the First Buddhist Council, with the two chief disciples Maudgalyayana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha.

 

While in the Buddha's days he was addressed by the very respected titles Buddha, Shākyamuni, Shākyasimha, Bhante and Bho, he was known after his parinirvana as Arihant, Bhagavā/Bhagavat/Bhagwān, Mahāvira, Jina/Jinendra, Sāstr, Sugata, and most popularly in scriptures as Tathāgata.

 

BUDDHA AND VEDAS

Buddha's teachings deny the authority of the Vedas and consequently [at least atheistic] Buddhism is generally viewed as a nāstika school (heterodox, literally "It is not so") from the perspective of orthodox Hinduism.

 

RELICS

After his death, Buddha's cremation relics were divided amongst 8 royal families and his disciples; centuries later they would be enshrined by King Ashoka into 84,000 stupas. Many supernatural legends surround the history of alleged relics as they accompanied the spread of Buddhism and gave legitimacy to rulers.

 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

An extensive and colorful physical description of the Buddha has been laid down in scriptures. A kshatriya by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry. He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by Buddhists to have "the 32 Signs of the Great Man".

 

The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive." (D, I:115)

 

"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A, I:181)

 

A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an arahant, was so obsessed by the Buddha's physical presence that the Buddha is said to have felt impelled to tell him to desist, and to have reminded him that he should know the Buddha through the Dhamma and not through physical appearances.

 

Although there are no extant representations of the Buddha in human form until around the 1st century CE (see Buddhist art), descriptions of the physical characteristics of fully enlightened buddhas are attributed to the Buddha in the Digha Nikaya's Lakkhaṇa Sutta (D, I:142). In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by Yasodhara to their son Rahula upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn, Narasīha Gāthā ("The Lion of Men").

 

Among the 32 main characteristics it is mentioned that Buddha has blue eyes.

 

NINE VIRTUES

Recollection of nine virtues attributed to the Buddha is a common Buddhist meditation and devotional practice called Buddhānusmṛti. The nine virtues are also among the 40 Buddhist meditation subjects. The nine virtues of the Buddha appear throughout the Tipitaka, and include:

 

- Buddho – Awakened

- Sammasambuddho – Perfectly self-awakened

- Vijja-carana-sampano – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct.

- Sugato – Well-gone or Well-spoken.

- Lokavidu – Wise in the knowledge of the many worlds.

- Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people.

- Satthadeva-Manussanam – Teacher of gods and humans.

- Bhagavathi – The Blessed one

- Araham – Worthy of homage. An Arahant is "one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge."

 

TEACHINGS

TRACING THE OLDEST TEACHINGS

Information of the oldest teachings may be obtained by analysis of the oldest texts. One method to obtain information on the oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest extant versions of the Theravadin Pali Canon and other texts. The reliability of these sources, and the possibility to draw out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute. According to Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies.

 

According to Schmithausen, three positions held by scholars of Buddhism can be distinguished:

 

"Stress on the fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a considerable part of the Nikayic materials;"

"Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism;"

"Cautious optimism in this respect."

 

DHYANA AND INSIGHT

A core problem in the study of early Buddhism is the relation between dhyana and insight. Schmithausen, in his often-cited article On some Aspects of Descriptions or Theories of 'Liberating Insight' and 'Enlightenment' in Early Buddhism notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the Rupa Jhanas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36

 

CORE TEACHINGS

According to Tilmann Vetter, the core of earliest Buddhism is the practice of dhyāna. Bronkhorst agrees that dhyana was a Buddhist invention, whereas Norman notes that "the Buddha's way to release [...] was by means of meditative practices." Discriminating insight into transiency as a separate path to liberation was a later development.

 

According to the Mahāsaccakasutta, from the fourth jhana the Buddha gained bodhi. Yet, it is not clear what he was awakened to. "Liberating insight" is a later addition to this text, and reflects a later development and understanding in early Buddhism. The mentioning of the four truths as constituting "liberating insight" introduces a logical problem, since the four truths depict a linear path of practice, the knowledge of which is in itself not depicted as being liberating:

 

[T]hey do not teach that one is released by knowing the four noble truths, but by practicing the fourth noble truth, the eightfold path, which culminates in right samadhi.

 

Although "Nibbāna" (Sanskrit: Nirvāna) is the common term for the desired goal of this practice, many other terms can be found throughout the Nikayas, which are not specified.

 

According to Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term "the middle way". In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path.

 

According to both Bronkhorst and Anderson, the four truths became a substitution for prajna, or "liberating insight", in the suttas in those texts where "liberating insight" was preceded by the four jhanas. According to Bronkhorst, the four truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of "liberating insight". Gotama's teachings may have been personal, "adjusted to the need of each person."

 

The three marks of existence may reflect Upanishadic or other influences. K.R. Norman supposes that these terms were already in use at the Buddha's time, and were familiar to his listeners.

 

The Brahma-vihara was in origin probably a brahmanic term; but its usage may have been common to the Sramana traditions.

  

LATER DEVELOPMENTS

In time, "liberating insight" became an essential feature of the Buddhist tradition. The following teachings, which are commonly seen as essential to Buddhism, are later formulations which form part of the explanatory framework of this "liberating insight":

 

- The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an ingrained part of existence; that the origin of suffering is craving for sensuality, acquisition of identity, and fear of annihilation; that suffering can be ended; and that following the Noble Eightfold Path is the means to accomplish this;

- The Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration;

- Dependent origination: the mind creates suffering as a natural product of a complex process.

 

OTHER RELIGIONS

Some Hindus regard Gautama as the 9th avatar of Vishnu. The Buddha is also regarded as a prophet by the Ahmadiyya Muslims and a Manifestation of God in the Bahá'í Faith. Some early Chinese Taoist-Buddhists thought the Buddha to be a reincarnation of Lao Tzu.

 

The Christian Saint Josaphat is based on the Buddha. The name comes from the Sanskrit Bodhisattva via Arabic Būdhasaf and Georgian Iodasaph. The only story in which St. Josaphat appears, Barlaam and Josaphat, is based on the life of the Buddha. Josaphat was included in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology (feast day 27 November) — though not in the Roman Missal — and in the Eastern Orthodox Church liturgical calendar (26 August).

 

Disciples of the Cao Đài religion worship the Buddha as a major religious teacher. His image can be found in both their Holy See and on the home altar. He is revealed during communication with Divine Beings as son of their Supreme Being (God the Father) together with other major religious teachers and founders like Jesus, Laozi, and Confucius.

 

In the ancient Gnostic sect of Manichaeism the Buddha is listed among the prophets who preached the word of God before Mani.

 

WIKIPEDIA

  

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Johnny played to the crowds for laughs. It was a totally spontaneous characteristic, never rehearsed or forced, he had a natural talent for gaining a person's confidence and reeling them in, a devine gift for making observations and spitting them back out like a spent force. Everyone loved Johnny, they couldn't help but fall for his cheeky face and smiling eyes, the bold bravado and sense of assurance and self confidence that won over hearts and minds with consummate ease. I don't think I ever really hated him. Fear is separate from hatred, don't you think? I guess I always looked up to him being my older brother and all. Seven years the difference between us, he the strong one, me the ghost. Everybody loved Johnny.

 

In the summer of sixty four I entered the world, a tiny bundle of unplanned flesh and bones, pissing and screaming as the midwife handed me to my tired and emotional mother, laying me across her chest, beneath her sweaty facial features and red eyes, exhausted from all of the pushing and cursing that accompanied my less than text book birth. I don't think my mother ever truly forgave me for the scalpel blade that ripped at her flesh, the stitches that scarred her delicate abdomen or the invasive hands and suction cup that pulled for all it's worth to spin me around and retrieve me from her womb. It was raining when I was born. Five twenty five in the afternoon on January fourteenth, a violent storm lashing the pretty little village and it's cowering inhabitants as my father stayed away, preferring instead the comfort of the four walls of his workplace. Men were different back then, times were too. Childbirth was women's work, and husbands didn't need to be holding their wives hands and sobbing like a baby down at the business end of things, in touch with heir feminine sides as perhaps they need to be these days. At least hat's what my father would have me believe back then. Naturally I don't recall the events of my birth, I mean who would, these are the details that were subsequently given to me as I progressed through my happy childhood in the countryside that was to shape and protect me through my formative years.

 

My parents only wanted the one child, and in Johnny they had found the perfect son to mould into a mini-me of my proud and studious father. An heir to the family business, a gold painted addition to the 'J.S Lane & son' sign writing above my fathers humble little watch and clock repair empire, he was doted on, loved and adored. Then I guess I had to come along and throw a spanner in the proverbial works. A vacation to Paris, family unity, love in the air and a little caution thrown to the wind. or else some rogue birth control pills that were ineffectual. My childhood was normal enough, and my parents never once uttered a single word of disappointment in me, it was more in their actions and glances exchanged, my father never a man for any form of bodily contact being old school, army type, stiff upper lip and arms tucked behind his back as he faced the wall, his stern words rebounding off the garish wallpaper when he admonished me. And that seemed to happen a lot as I recall. You know, I can honestly say that I don't recall a single occasion that my father kissed me as a child, nor held me in a chance embrace, or called me 'son'. A second child just was not on the agenda, plans altered, the harmony unbalanced, the sibling rivalry to the fore.

 

Johnny hated me with a passion, though I always looked up to him and hoped that one day we would become good friends and myself something more than a punch bag both physically and emotionally. I was the butt of his jokes and a source for constant humiliation at school when he'd be sent to collect me each afternoon. I was his little puppet, and try as I might, I never quite managed to alter his, or my parents feelings towards me. I never wanted any part of the family business. If the truth be told I couldn't stand the musty smell of the old shop front, all those antique cuckoo clocks and Seiko watches that lined the cabinets like an army of soldiers and my father sitting at his desk beneath the light, looking old before his time as he sucked on a pipe filled with Old Holborn tobacco that rose into the air in plumes of chocking smoke. I'd be taken there after school and made to wait until closing time before we could al head home for tea, my brother full of life and cracking jokes, the bond between he and my father so evident and unbreakable. Was I jealous? I don't know that I'd describe my feelings as such. I felt left out, an outsider to the family, as though it was my fault that I had been born, a threat to the macho understanding of a father and his first born son. I was almost a rival to their love and Johnny always made sure that I was kept at arms length.

 

My only comfort was living life by the seafront that captivated my eyes and soul, seduced me with it's beauty and magnificence and offered me a safe haven in the form of a giant cave that only I knew existed. Accessible at high tide with my little wooden rowing boat, the soft sand welcomed me inside to a further stretch of dark seawater into which one day I dived headlong in the name of curiosity, taken to an underwater world of spider crabs and seaweed and up into a recessed cavern that became the focal point of my childhood pleasure. Away from Jonny I was king to rule, my own secret hideaway that even he could not contaminate nor destroy. The seventies were fun for me, safer days, less red tape and warning signs, protocol and health and safety doctrines to prevent me from having some fun. Gawdy tank tops that were worse than something your own grandmother would knit, seventeen and twenty one inch flared jeans and platform shoes. I didn't ask for much from life. I was truly happy there in my cave capturing seashells, writing my name on the walls, being free of the stigma and shackles of my family life. Seventy three and David Bowie was in the charts with 'Life on Mars' reissued on orange labelled RCA vinyl from 'Hunky Dory' a couple of years earlier. I can recall the excitement of each new single he released and the aroma of the freshly cut vinyl. I used to grab the Hoover and sing into the handle, miming badly, just a stupid nine year old doing dumb assed things. Johnny, aged sixteen, now spent most of his time at he shop, attending to the jobs that my father gave to him whilst Mother worked part time at the local Infant school to break the tedium of her monotonous existence, taking crafty G&T's each afternoon from the Gordon's bottle hidden oh so neatly behind the front room book cabinet in the little darkened recess, and flirting for attention with the PE teacher at the school.

 

The beatings continued along with the humiliation and name calling and Johnny always came out of any shit he landed in, smelling sweetly of roses, whilst I could do no right, it seemed at the time. But I had my cave and my little boat, and trinkets that I had moved there in sealed plastic bags that made my cave feel personal and home. But things can change in the blink of an eye I guess. What once seemed rock solid and so exquisitely personal can be laid bare, ruined, broken up in front of you in the blink of an eye, and I should have know that my big brother would seek to dominate and destroy all that I held secret and dear even though he had everything in life that he could possibly desire, including a stupid sibling as his fall guy.

 

Standing here now, almost forty years after the events of that fateful day, eyes surveying the confines of the outer section of my little cave with the same wonderment and wide eyes excitement as back then when I was no more than a snotty kid, I feel a certain numbness to the whole sequence of events, a detachment from reality almost as deep and abiding as the attachment I felt with my own family as I grew to dislike and despise them for how they treated me. Resigned acceptance, belligerent disregard, blatant indifference and the turning of the cheek to my requests to be heard, to be loved, to be wanted. I'm transported back to August 25th nineteen seventy three, me in my polkadot swimming trunks, standing here with Johnny ahead of me laughing and teasing me, aggressive stance and hands that slapped my face so hard I think I can still feel the sting, even now. He'd followed me and discovered my secret and now sought to destroy everything that was precious to me. I screamed in pain, tears streaming down my face, yelling that he'd never get to my comfort spot as I dived into the water and began to navigate the precarious channel through the rocks that lead to my personal Utopia of sand and memories.

 

Precarious, yes. But not to the sinuous flesh of a nine year old who had made that perilous journey through the seaweed that grappled and grabbed at my ankles each and every time, and the sharp bend in the jagged rocks where I almost turned back on myself and down through a gulley to the light of the cave end. The as larger framed and older boy with a lack of navigational skills, such distractions might snag and obscure, a t-shirt might perhaps snag on a jutting rock, and air and water mingle and mix in lungs that were ill prepared for being immersed so long as limbs flailed and tried desperately to free themselves.

 

I never really meant to cause Johnny any real harm. Nor did I actually kill him. The water did that as his lungs filled and he swallowed more than he could expel, nostrils drowning as his eyes bulged and his body became lifeless as it was impaled upon the gulley, a host of spider crabs witness to his final demise, the final crowd of crustaceans that he played out to. A terrible accident, a fluke as two brothers played in a cave, a distraught father who's entire world came crashing down around him that glorious August day and a mother too drunk and scented in sex as she lay in the arms of her lover to comprehend the death of her beloved eldest son until she'd sobered up well enough to grieve and realise just how little she liked this mess of a life.

 

Forty seven and lined with life's journey on these feature both physically and emotionally. This homecoming is of pleasure and pain as I retrace the footsteps of my childhood to this little cave that saved me from the madness and delivered me from the pain of life itself. The little shop has long since gone, changed hands, façade repainted, wood replaced with double glazing and plastic and now a boutique selling hand mad flower power bags that hark back to the era of my birth. My parents are marked by respectful headstones though I only visited once, maybe twice. Flowers for the dead seems such a waste of beauty and life to me, and it's not as though they get the benefit of the damn things, is it. The water still sits in the rear of the cave, and I have half a mind to dive in and swim through that gulley to remember my past, but I know that these old limbs would struggle somewhat these days. Times change, memories soften and the bitterness and acrimonious feelings are eroded like the sea to jagged rock faces, all smoothed and appealing.

 

I smile wryly as I recount the events that fateful day. Yeah, sure, fate played her part all right, and I'm grateful to her for my salvation. You know, Johnny played to the crowds, and then some. He could have had it all if not for his greed and insecurities, his hatred of the runt created in the heat of a passion that was a lie, so shallow and unworthy of his cruellest intentions. And me? I'm all grown up and doing just fine now with the money salvaged from the sale of the family business, a wife and kids who love me and I love back in oceans of touch and words. Just look at that little runt now.........

 

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Written April 11th 2011

 

Photograph taken on April 10th 2011 in Botany Bay, Broadstairs, Kent, England

 

Nikon D700 14mm 1/100s f/16.0 iso200

 

Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF, UV filter

 

In monotheism, God is conceived of as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith.[3] The concept of God as described by most theologians includes the attributes of omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), divine simplicity, and as having an eternal and necessary existence. Many theologians also describe God as being omnibenevolent (perfectly good), and all loving.

 

God is most often held to be non-corporeal,[3] and to be without any human biological sex,[4][5] yet the concept of God actively creating the universe (as opposed to passively)[6] has caused many religions to describe God using masculine terminology, using such terms as "Him" or "Father". Furthermore, some religions (such as Judaism) attribute only a purely grammatical "gender" to God.[7]

 

In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, but not the sustainer, of the universe. In pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism, God is not believed to exist, while God is deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of agnosticism. God has also been conceived as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[3] Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and against the existence of God.[8]

 

There are many names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about God's identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten,[9] premised on being the one "true" Supreme Being and Creator of the Universe.[10] In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, "He Who Is", "I Am that I Am", and the tetragrammaton YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה‎‎, which means: "I am who I am"; "He Who Exists") are used as names of God, while Yahweh and Jehovah are sometimes used in Christianity as vocalizations of YHWH. In the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai, the latter of which is believed by some scholars to descend from the Egyptian Aten.[11][12][13][14][15] In Islam, the name Allah, "Al-El", or "Al-Elah" ("the God") is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a monistic deity.[16] Other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Bahá'í Faith,[17] Waheguru in Sikhism,[18] and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism.[19]

 

The many different conceptions of God, and competing claims as to God's characteristics, aims, and actions, have led to the development of ideas of omnitheism, pandeism,[20][21] or a perennial philosophy, which postulates that there is one underlying theological truth, of which all religions express a partial understanding, and as to which "the devout in the various great world religions are in fact worshipping that one God, but through different, overlapping concepts or mental images of Him."[22]

 

Contents [hide]

1Etymology and usage

2General conceptions

2.1Oneness

2.2Theism, deism and pantheism

2.3Other concepts

3Non-theistic views

3.1Agnosticism and atheism

3.2Anthropomorphism

4Existence

5Specific attributes

5.1Names

5.2Gender

5.3Relationship with creation

6Depiction

6.1Zoroastrianism

6.2Islam

6.3Judaism

6.4Christianity

7Theological approaches

8Distribution of belief

9See also

9.1In specific religions

10References

11Further reading

12External links

Etymology and usage

 

The Mesha Stele bears the earliest known reference (840 BCE) to the Israelite God Yahweh.

Main article: God (word)

The earliest written form of the Germanic word God (always, in this usage, capitalized[23]) comes from the 6th-century Christian Codex Argenteus. The English word itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form * ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root * ǵhau(ə)-, which meant either "to call" or "to invoke".[24] The Germanic words for God were originally neuter—applying to both genders—but during the process of the Christianization of the Germanic peoples from their indigenous Germanic paganism, the words became a masculine syntactic form.[25]

  

The word 'Allah' in Arabic calligraphy

In the English language, the capitalized form of God continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic "God" and "gods" in polytheism.[26][27] The English word God and its counterparts in other languages are normally used for any and all conceptions and, in spite of significant differences between religions, the term remains an English translation common to all. The same holds for Hebrew El, but in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, the tetragrammaton YHWH, in origin possibly the name of an Edomite or Midianite deity, Yahweh. In many translations of the Bible, when the word LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the tetragrammaton.[28]

 

Allāh (Arabic: الله‎‎) is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning "The God" (with a capital G), while "ʾilāh" (Arabic: إله‎‎) is the term used for a deity or a god in general.[29][30][31] God may also be given a proper name in monotheistic currents of Hinduism which emphasize the personal nature of God, with early references to his name as Krishna-Vasudeva in Bhagavata or later Vishnu and Hari.[32]

 

Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. "Mazda", or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå, reflects Proto-Iranian *Mazdāh (female). It is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhā, means "intelligence" or "wisdom". Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning "placing (dʰeh1) one's mind (*mn̩-s)", hence "wise".[33]

 

Waheguru (Punjabi: vāhigurū) is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God. It means "Wonderful Teacher" in the Punjabi language. Vāhi (a Middle Persian borrowing) means "wonderful" and guru (Sanskrit: guru) is a term denoting "teacher". Waheguru is also described by some as an experience of ecstasy which is beyond all descriptions. The most common usage of the word "Waheguru" is in the greeting Sikhs use with each other:

 

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Wonderful Lord's Khalsa, Victory is to the Wonderful Lord.

Baha, the "greatest" name for God in the Baha'i faith, is Arabic for "All-Glorious".

 

General conceptions

Main article: Conceptions of God

There is no clear consensus on the nature or even the existence of God.[34] The Abrahamic conceptions of God include the monotheistic definition of God in Judaism, the trinitarian view of Christians, and the Islamic concept of God. The dharmic religions differ in their view of the divine: views of God in Hinduism vary by region, sect, and caste, ranging from monotheistic to polytheistic. Divinity was recognized by the historical Buddha, particularly Śakra and Brahma. However, other sentient beings, including gods, can at best only play a supportive role in one's personal path to salvation. Conceptions of God in the latter developments of the Mahayana tradition give a more prominent place to notions of the divine.[citation needed]

 

Oneness

Main articles: Monotheism and Henotheism

 

The Trinity is the belief that God is composed of The Father, The Son (embodied metaphysically in the physical realm by Jesus), and The Holy Spirit.

Monotheists hold that there is only one god, and may claim that the one true god is worshiped in different religions under different names. The view that all theists actually worship the same god, whether they know it or not, is especially emphasized in Hinduism[35] and Sikhism.[36] In Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity describes God as one God in three persons. The Trinity comprises The Father, The Son (embodied metaphysically by Jesus), and The Holy Spirit.[37] Islam's most fundamental concept is tawhid (meaning "oneness" or "uniqueness"). God is described in the Quran as: "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."[38][39] Muslims repudiate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, comparing it to polytheism. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of his creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules, and are not expected to visualize God.[40]

 

Henotheism is the belief and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities.[41]

 

Theism, deism and pantheism

Main articles: Theism, Deism, and Pantheism

Theism generally holds that God exists realistically, objectively, and independently of human thought; that God created and sustains everything; that God is omnipotent and eternal; and that God is personal and interacting with the universe through, for example, religious experience and the prayers of humans.[42] Theism holds that God is both transcendent and immanent; thus, God is simultaneously infinite and in some way present in the affairs of the world.[43] Not all theists subscribe to all of these propositions, but each usually subscribes to some of them (see, by way of comparison, family resemblance).[42] Catholic theology holds that God is infinitely simple and is not involuntarily subject to time. Most theists hold that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent, although this belief raises questions about God's responsibility for evil and suffering in the world. Some theists ascribe to God a self-conscious or purposeful limiting of omnipotence, omniscience, or benevolence. Open Theism, by contrast, asserts that, due to the nature of time, God's omniscience does not mean the deity can predict the future. Theism is sometimes used to refer in general to any belief in a god or gods, i.e., monotheism or polytheism.[44][45]

  

"God blessing the seventh day", a watercolor painting depicting God, by William Blake (1757 – 1827)

Deism holds that God is wholly transcendent: God exists, but does not intervene in the world beyond what was necessary to create it.[43] In this view, God is not anthropomorphic, and neither answers prayers nor produces miracles. Common in Deism is a belief that God has no interest in humanity and may not even be aware of humanity. Pandeism and Panendeism, respectively, combine Deism with the Pantheistic or Panentheistic beliefs.[21][46][47] Pandeism is proposed to explain as to Deism why God would create a universe and then abandon it,[48] and as to Pantheism, the origin and purpose of the universe.[48][49]

 

Pantheism holds that God is the universe and the universe is God, whereas Panentheism holds that God contains, but is not identical to, the Universe.[50] It is also the view of the Liberal Catholic Church; Theosophy; some views of Hinduism except Vaishnavism, which believes in panentheism; Sikhism; some divisions of Neopaganism and Taoism, along with many varying denominations and individuals within denominations. Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, paints a pantheistic/panentheistic view of God—which has wide acceptance in Hasidic Judaism, particularly from their founder The Baal Shem Tov—but only as an addition to the Jewish view of a personal god, not in the original pantheistic sense that denies or limits persona to God.[citation needed]

 

Other concepts

Dystheism, which is related to theodicy, is a form of theism which holds that God is either not wholly good or is fully malevolent as a consequence of the problem of evil. One such example comes from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, in which Ivan Karamazov rejects God on the grounds that he allows children to suffer.[51]

 

In modern times, some more abstract concepts have been developed, such as process theology and open theism. The contemporaneous French philosopher Michel Henry has however proposed a phenomenological approach and definition of God as phenomenological essence of Life.[52]

 

God has also been conceived as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[3] These attributes were all supported to varying degrees by the early Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologian philosophers, including Maimonides,[53] Augustine of Hippo,[53] and Al-Ghazali,[8] respectively.

 

Non-theistic views

See also: Evolutionary origin of religions and Evolutionary psychology of religion

Non-theist views about God also vary. Some non-theists avoid the concept of God, whilst accepting that it is significant to many; other non-theists understand God as a symbol of human values and aspirations. The nineteenth-century English atheist Charles Bradlaugh declared that he refused to say "There is no God", because "the word 'God' is to me a sound conveying no clear or distinct affirmation";[54] he said more specifically that he disbelieved in the Christian god. Stephen Jay Gould proposed an approach dividing the world of philosophy into what he called "non-overlapping magisteria" (NOMA). In this view, questions of the supernatural, such as those relating to the existence and nature of God, are non-empirical and are the proper domain of theology. The methods of science should then be used to answer any empirical question about the natural world, and theology should be used to answer questions about ultimate meaning and moral value. In this view, the perceived lack of any empirical footprint from the magisterium of the supernatural onto natural events makes science the sole player in the natural world.[55]

 

Another view, advanced by Richard Dawkins, is that the existence of God is an empirical question, on the grounds that "a universe with a god would be a completely different kind of universe from one without, and it would be a scientific difference."[56] Carl Sagan argued that the doctrine of a Creator of the Universe was difficult to prove or disprove and that the only conceivable scientific discovery that could disprove the existence of a Creator (not necessarily a God) would be the discovery that the universe is infinitely old.[57]

 

Stephen Hawking and co-author Leonard Mlodinow state in their book, The Grand Design, that it is reasonable to ask who or what created the universe, but if the answer is God, then the question has merely been deflected to that of who created God. Both authors claim however, that it is possible to answer these questions purely within the realm of science, and without invoking any divine beings.[58] Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.[59]

 

Agnosticism and atheism

Agnosticism is the view that, the truth values of certain claims – especially metaphysical and religious claims such as whether God, the divine or the supernatural exist – are unknown and perhaps unknowable.[60][61][62]

 

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities, or a God.[63][64] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[65]

 

Anthropomorphism

Main article: Anthropomorphism

Pascal Boyer argues that while there is a wide array of supernatural concepts found around the world, in general, supernatural beings tend to behave much like people. The construction of gods and spirits like persons is one of the best known traits of religion. He cites examples from Greek mythology, which is, in his opinion, more like a modern soap opera than other religious systems.[66] Bertrand du Castel and Timothy Jurgensen demonstrate through formalization that Boyer's explanatory model matches physics' epistemology in positing not directly observable entities as intermediaries.[67] Anthropologist Stewart Guthrie contends that people project human features onto non-human aspects of the world because it makes those aspects more familiar. Sigmund Freud also suggested that god concepts are projections of one's father.[68]

 

Likewise, Émile Durkheim was one of the earliest to suggest that gods represent an extension of human social life to include supernatural beings. In line with this reasoning, psychologist Matt Rossano contends that when humans began living in larger groups, they may have created gods as a means of enforcing morality. In small groups, morality can be enforced by social forces such as gossip or reputation. However, it is much harder to enforce morality using social forces in much larger groups. Rossano indicates that by including ever-watchful gods and spirits, humans discovered an effective strategy for restraining selfishness and building more cooperative groups.[69]

 

Existence

Main article: Existence of God

 

St. Thomas Aquinas summed up five main arguments as proofs for God's existence.

 

Isaac Newton saw the existence of a Creator necessary in the movement of astronomical objects.

Arguments about the existence of God typically include empirical, deductive, and inductive types. Different views include that: "God does not exist" (strong atheism); "God almost certainly does not exist" (de facto atheism); "no one knows whether God exists" (agnosticism[70]);"God exists, but this cannot be proven or disproven" (de facto theism); and that "God exists and this can be proven" (strong theism).[55]

 

Countless arguments have been proposed to prove the existence of God.[71] Some of the most notable arguments are the Five Ways of Aquinas, the Argument from Desire proposed by C.S. Lewis, and the Ontological Argument formulated both by St. Anselm and René Descartes.[72]

 

St. Anselm's approach was to define God as, "that than which nothing greater can be conceived". Famed pantheist philosopher Baruch Spinoza would later carry this idea to its extreme: "By God I understand a being absolutely infinite, i.e., a substance consisting of infinite attributes, of which each one expresses an eternal and infinite essence." For Spinoza, the whole of the natural universe is made of one substance, God, or its equivalent, Nature.[73] His proof for the existence of God was a variation of the Ontological argument.[74]

 

Scientist Isaac Newton saw God as the masterful creator whose existence could not be denied in the face of the grandeur of all creation.[75] Nevertheless, he rejected polymath Leibniz' thesis that God would necessarily make a perfect world which requires no intervention from the creator. In Query 31 of the Opticks, Newton simultaneously made an argument from design and for the necessity of intervention:

 

For while comets move in very eccentric orbs in all manner of positions, blind fate could never make all the planets move one and the same way in orbs concentric, some inconsiderable irregularities excepted which may have arisen from the mutual actions of comets and planets on one another, and which will be apt to increase, till this system wants a reformation.[76]

 

St. Thomas believed that the existence of God is self-evident in itself, but not to us. "Therefore I say that this proposition, "God exists", of itself is self-evident, for the predicate is the same as the subject.... Now because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not self-evident to us; but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more known to us, though less known in their nature—namely, by effects."[77] St. Thomas believed that the existence of God can be demonstrated. Briefly in the Summa theologiae and more extensively in the Summa contra Gentiles, he considered in great detail five arguments for the existence of God, widely known as the quinque viae (Five Ways).

 

For the original text of the five proofs, see quinque viae

Motion: Some things undoubtedly move, though cannot cause their own motion. Since there can be no infinite chain of causes of motion, there must be a First Mover not moved by anything else, and this is what everyone understands by God.

Causation: As in the case of motion, nothing can cause itself, and an infinite chain of causation is impossible, so there must be a First Cause, called God.

Existence of necessary and the unnecessary: Our experience includes things certainly existing but apparently unnecessary. Not everything can be unnecessary, for then once there was nothing and there would still be nothing. Therefore, we are compelled to suppose something that exists necessarily, having this necessity only from itself; in fact itself the cause for other things to exist.

Gradation: If we can notice a gradation in things in the sense that some things are more hot, good, etc., there must be a superlative that is the truest and noblest thing, and so most fully existing. This then, we call God (Note: Thomas does not ascribe actual qualities to God Himself).

Ordered tendencies of nature: A direction of actions to an end is noticed in all bodies following natural laws. Anything without awareness tends to a goal under the guidance of one who is aware. This we call God (Note that even when we guide objects, in Thomas's view, the source of all our knowledge comes from God as well).[78]

 

Alister McGrath, a formerly atheistic scientist and theologian who has been highly critical of Richard Dawkins' version of atheism

Some theologians, such as the scientist and theologian A.E. McGrath, argue that the existence of God is not a question that can be answered using the scientific method.[79][80] Agnostic Stephen Jay Gould argues that science and religion are not in conflict and do not overlap.[81]

 

Some findings in the fields of cosmology, evolutionary biology and neuroscience are interpreted by some atheists (including Lawrence M. Krauss and Sam Harris) as evidence that God is an imaginary entity only, with no basis in reality.[82][83][84] These atheists claim that a single, omniscient God who is imagined to have created the universe and is particularly attentive to the lives of humans has been imagined, embellished and promulgated in a trans-generational manner.[85] Richard Dawkins interprets such findings not only as a lack of evidence for the material existence of such a God, but as extensive evidence to the contrary.[55] However, his views are opposed by some theologians and scientists including Alister McGrath, who argues that existence of God is compatible with science.[86]

 

Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.[59]

 

Specific attributes

Different religious traditions assign differing (though often similar) attributes and characteristics to God, including expansive powers and abilities, psychological characteristics, gender characteristics, and preferred nomenclature. The assignment of these attributes often differs according to the conceptions of God in the culture from which they arise. For example, attributes of God in Christianity, attributes of God in Islam, and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Judaism share certain similarities arising from their common roots.

 

Names

Main article: Names of God

 

99 names of Allah, in Chinese Sini (script)

The word God is "one of the most complex and difficult in the English language." In the Judeo-Christian tradition, "the Bible has been the principal source of the conceptions of God". That the Bible "includes many different images, concepts, and ways of thinking about" God has resulted in perpetual "disagreements about how God is to be conceived and understood".[87]

 

Throughout the Hebrew and Christian Bibles there are many names for God. One of them is Elohim. Another one is El Shaddai, meaning "God Almighty".[88] A third notable name is El Elyon, which means "The Most High God".[89]

 

God is described and referred in the Quran and hadith by certain names or attributes, the most common being Al-Rahman, meaning "Most Compassionate" and Al-Rahim, meaning "Most Merciful" (See Names of God in Islam).[90]

  

Supreme soul

The Brahma Kumaris use the term "Supreme Soul" to refer to God. They see God as incorporeal and eternal, and regard him as a point of living light like human souls, but without a physical body, as he does not enter the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. God is seen as the perfect and constant embodiment of all virtues, powers and values and that He is the unconditionally loving Father of all souls, irrespective of their religion, gender, or culture.[91]

 

Vaishnavism, a tradition in Hinduism, has list of titles and names of Krishna.

 

Gender

Main article: Gender of God

The gender of God may be viewed as either a literal or an allegorical aspect of a deity who, in classical western philosophy, transcends bodily form.[92][93] Polytheistic religions commonly attribute to each of the gods a gender, allowing each to interact with any of the others, and perhaps with humans, sexually. In most monotheistic religions, God has no counterpart with which to relate sexually. Thus, in classical western philosophy the gender of this one-and-only deity is most likely to be an analogical statement of how humans and God address, and relate to, each other. Namely, God is seen as begetter of the world and revelation which corresponds to the active (as opposed to the receptive) role in sexual intercourse.[6]

 

Biblical sources usually refer to God using male words, except Genesis 1:26-27,[94][95] Psalm 123:2-3, and Luke 15:8-10 (female); Hosea 11:3-4, Deuteronomy 32:18, Isaiah 66:13, Isaiah 49:15, Isaiah 42:14, Psalm 131:2 (a mother); Deuteronomy 32:11-12 (a mother eagle); and Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 (a mother hen).

 

Relationship with creation

See also: Creator deity, Prayer, and Worship

 

And Elohim Created Adam by William Blake, c.1795

Prayer plays a significant role among many believers. Muslims believe that the purpose of existence is to worship God.[96][97] He is viewed as a personal God and there are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God. Prayer often also includes supplication and asking forgiveness. God is often believed to be forgiving. For example, a hadith states God would replace a sinless people with one who sinned but still asked repentance.[98] Christian theologian Alister McGrath writes that there are good reasons to suggest that a "personal god" is integral to the Christian outlook, but that one has to understand it is an analogy. "To say that God is like a person is to affirm the divine ability and willingness to relate to others. This does not imply that God is human, or located at a specific point in the universe."[99]

 

Adherents of different religions generally disagree as to how to best worship God and what is God's plan for mankind, if there is one. There are different approaches to reconciling the contradictory claims of monotheistic religions. One view is taken by exclusivists, who believe they are the chosen people or have exclusive access to absolute truth, generally through revelation or encounter with the Divine, which adherents of other religions do not. Another view is religious pluralism. A pluralist typically believes that his religion is the right one, but does not deny the partial truth of other religions. An example of a pluralist view in Christianity is supersessionism, i.e., the belief that one's religion is the fulfillment of previous religions. A third approach is relativistic inclusivism, where everybody is seen as equally right; an example being universalism: the doctrine that salvation is eventually available for everyone. A fourth approach is syncretism, mixing different elements from different religions. An example of syncretism is the New Age movement.

 

Jews and Christians believe that humans are created in the likeness of God, and are the center, crown and key to God's creation, stewards for God, supreme over everything else God had made (Gen 1:26); for this reason, humans are in Christianity called the "Children of God".[100]

 

Depiction

God is defined as incorporeal,[3] and invisible from direct sight, and thus cannot be portrayed in a literal visual image.

 

The respective principles of religions may or may not permit them to use images (which are entirely symbolic) to represent God in art or in worship .

 

Zoroastrianism

 

Ahura Mazda (depiction is on the right, with high crown) presents Ardashir I (left) with the ring of kingship. (Relief at Naqsh-e Rustam, 3rd century CE)

During the early Parthian Empire, Ahura Mazda was visually represented for worship. This practice ended during the beginning of the Sassanid empire. Zoroastrian iconoclasm, which can be traced to the end of the Parthian period and the beginning of the Sassanid, eventually put an end to the use of all images of Ahura Mazda in worship. However, Ahura Mazda continued to be symbolized by a dignified male figure, standing or on horseback which is found in Sassanian investiture.[101]

 

Islam

Further information: God in Islam

Muslims believe that God (Allah) is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of His creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules, are not expected to visualize God.[40]

 

Judaism

At least some Jews do not use any image for God, since God is the unimageable Being who cannot be represented in material forms.[102] In some samples of Jewish Art, however, sometimes God, or at least His Intervention, is indicated by a Hand Of God symbol, which represents the bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or Voice of God;[103] this use of the Hand Of God is carried over to Christian Art.

 

Christianity

 

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Early Christians believed that the words of the Gospel of John 1:18: "No man has seen God at any time" and numerous other statements were meant to apply not only to God, but to all attempts at the depiction of God.[104]

  

Use of the symbolic Hand of God in the Ascension from the Drogo Sacramentary, c. 850

However, later on the Hand of God symbol is found several times in the only ancient synagogue with a large surviving decorative scheme, the Dura Europos Synagogue of the mid-3rd century, and was probably adopted into Early Christian art from Jewish art. It was common in Late Antique art in both East and West, and remained the main way of symbolizing the actions or approval of God the Father in the West until about the end of the Romanesque period. It also represents the bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or voice of God,[103] just like in Jewish Art.

 

In situations, such as the Baptism of Christ, where a specific representation of God the Father was indicated, the Hand of God was used, with increasing freedom from the Carolingian period until the end of the Romanesque. This motif now, since the discovery of the 3rd century Dura Europos synagogue, seems to have been borrowed from Jewish art, and is found in Christian art almost from its beginnings.

 

The use of religious images in general continued to increase up to the end of the 7th century, to the point that in 695, upon assuming the throne, Byzantine emperor Justinian II put an image of Christ on the obverse side of his gold coins, resulting in a rift which ended the use of Byzantine coin types in the Islamic world.[105] However, the increase in religious imagery did not include depictions of God the Father. For instance, while the eighty second canon of the Council of Trullo in 692 did not specifically condemn images of The Father, it suggested that icons of Christ were preferred over Old Testament shadows and figures.[106]

 

The beginning of the 8th century witnessed the suppression and destruction of religious icons as the period of Byzantine iconoclasm (literally image-breaking) started. Emperor Leo III (717–741), suppressed the use of icons by imperial edict of the Byzantine Empire, presumably due to a military loss which he attributed to the undue veneration of icons.[107] The edict (which was issued without consulting the Church) forbade the veneration of religious images but did not apply to other forms of art, including the image of the emperor, or religious symbols such as the cross.[108] Theological arguments against icons then began to appear with iconoclasts arguing that icons could not represent both the divine and the human natures of Jesus at the same time. In this atmosphere, no public depictions of God the Father were even attempted and such depictions only began to appear two centuries later.

 

The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 effectively ended the first period of Byzantine iconoclasm and restored the honouring of icons and holy images in general.[109] However, this did not immediately translate into large scale depictions of God the Father. Even supporters of the use of icons in the 8th century, such as Saint John of Damascus, drew a distinction between images of God the Father and those of Christ.

 

In his treatise On the Divine Images John of Damascus wrote: "In former times, God who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see".[110] The implication here is that insofar as God the Father or the Spirit did not become man, visible and tangible, images and portrait icons can not be depicted. So what was true for the whole Trinity before Christ remains true for the Father and the Spirit but not for the Word. John of Damascus wrote:[111]

 

"If we attempt to make an image of the invisible God, this would be sinful indeed. It is impossible to portray one who is without body:invisible, uncircumscribed and without form."

 

Around 790 Charlemagne ordered a set of four books that became known as the Libri Carolini (i.e. "Charles' books") to refute what his court mistakenly understood to be the iconoclast decrees of the Byzantine Second Council of Nicaea regarding sacred images. Although not well known during the Middle Ages, these books describe the key elements of the Catholic theological position on sacred images. To the Western Church, images were just objects made by craftsmen, to be utilized for stimulating the senses of the faithful, and to be respected for the sake of the subject represented, not in themselves. The Council of Constantinople (869) (considered ecumenical by the Western Church, but not the Eastern Church) reaffirmed the decisions of the Second Council of Nicaea and helped stamp out any remaining coals of iconoclasm. Specifically, its third canon required the image of Christ to have veneration equal with that of a Gospel book:[112]

 

We decree that the sacred image of our Lord Jesus Christ, the liberator and Savior of all people, must be venerated with the same honor as is given the book of the holy Gospels. For as through the language of the words contained in this book all can reach salvation, so, due to the action which these images exercise by their colors, all wise and simple alike, can derive profit from them.

 

But images of God the Father were not directly addressed in Constantinople in 869. A list of permitted icons was enumerated at this Council, but symbols of God the Father were not among them.[113] However, the general acceptance of icons and holy images began to create an atmosphere in which God the Father could be symbolized.

 

Prior to the 10th century no attempt was made to use a human to symbolize God the Father in Western art.[104] Yet, Western art eventually required some way to illustrate the presence of the Father, so through successive representations a set of artistic styles for symbolizing the Father using a man gradually emerged around the 10th century AD. A rationale for the use of a human is the belief that God created the soul of Man in the image of His own (thus allowing Human to transcend the other animals).

 

It appears that when early artists designed to represent God the Father, fear and awe restrained them from a usage of the whole human figure. Typically only a small part would be used as the image, usually the hand, or sometimes the face, but rarely a whole human. In many images, the figure of the Son supplants the Father, so a smaller portion of the person of the Father is depicted.[114]

 

By the 12th century depictions of God the Father had started to appear in French illuminated manuscripts, which as a less public form could often be more adventurous in their iconography, and in stained glass church windows in England. Initially the head or bust was usually shown in some form of frame of clouds in the top of the picture space, where the Hand of God had formerly appeared; the Baptism of Christ on the famous baptismal font in Liège of Rainer of Huy is an example from 1118 (a Hand of God is used in another scene). Gradually the amount of the human symbol shown can increase to a half-length figure, then a full-length, usually enthroned, as in Giotto's fresco of c. 1305 in Padua.[115] In the 14th century the Naples Bible carried a depiction of God the Father in the Burning bush. By the early 15th century, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry has a considerable number of symbols, including an elderly but tall and elegant full-length figure walking in the Garden of Eden, which show a considerable diversity of apparent ages and dress. The "Gates of Paradise" of the Florence Baptistry by Lorenzo Ghiberti, begun in 1425 use a similar tall full-length symbol for the Father. The Rohan Book of Hours of about 1430 also included depictions of God the Father in half-length human form, which were now becoming standard, and the Hand of God becoming rarer. At the same period other works, like the large Genesis altarpiece by the Hamburg painter Meister Bertram, continued to use the old depiction of Christ as Logos in Genesis scenes. In the 15th century there was a brief fashion for depicting all three persons of the Trinity as similar or identical figures with the usual appearance of Christ.

 

In an early Venetian school Coronation of the Virgin by Giovanni d'Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini, (c. 1443) The Father is depicted using the symbol consistently used by other artists later, namely a patriarch, with benign, yet powerful countenance and with long white hair and a beard, a depiction largely derived from, and justified by, the near-physical, but still figurative, description of the Ancient of Days.[116]

 

. ...the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. (Daniel 7:9)

  

Usage of two Hands of God"(relatively unusual) and the Holy Spirit as a dove in Baptism of Christ, by Verrocchio, 1472

In the Annunciation by Benvenuto di Giovanni in 1470, God the Father is portrayed in the red robe and a hat that resembles that of a Cardinal. However, even in the later part of the 15th century, the symbolic representation of the Father and the Holy Spirit as "hands and dove" continued, e.g. in Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ in 1472.[117]

  

God the Father with His Right Hand Raised in Blessing, with a triangular halo representing the Trinity, Girolamo dai Libri c. 1555

In Renaissance paintings of the adoration of the Trinity, God may be depicted in two ways, either with emphasis on The Father, or the three elements of the Trinity. The most usual depiction of the Trinity in Renaissance art depicts God the Father using an old man, usually with a long beard and patriarchal in appearance, sometimes with a triangular halo (as a reference to the Trinity), or with a papal crown, specially in Northern Renaissance painting. In these depictions The Father may hold a globe or book (to symbolize God's knowledge and as a reference to how knowledge is deemed divine). He is behind and above Christ on the Cross in the Throne of Mercy iconography. A dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit may hover above. Various people from different classes of society, e.g. kings, popes or martyrs may be present in the picture. In a Trinitarian Pietà, God the Father is often symbolized using a man wearing a papal dress and a papal crown, supporting the dead Christ in his arms. They are depicted as floating in heaven with angels who carry the instruments of the Passion.[118]

 

Representations of God the Father and the Trinity were attacked both by Protestants and within Catholicism, by the Jansenist and Baianist movements as well as more orthodox theologians. As with other attacks on Catholic imagery, this had the effect both of reducing Church support for the less central depictions, and strengthening it for the core ones. In the Western Church, the pressure to restrain religious imagery resulted in the highly influential decrees of the final session of the Council of Trent in 1563. The Council of Trent decrees confirmed the traditional Catholic doctrine that images only represented the person depicted, and that veneration to them was paid to the person, not the image.[119]

 

Artistic depictions of God the Father were uncontroversial in Catholic art thereafter, but less common depictions of the Trinity were condemned. In 1745 Pope Benedict XIV explicitly supported the Throne of Mercy depiction, referring to the "Ancient of Days", but in 1786 it was still necessary for Pope Pius VI to issue a papal bull condemning the decision of an Italian church council to remove all images of the Trinity from churches.[120]

  

The famous The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, c.1512

God the Father is symbolized in several Genesis scenes in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, most famously The Creation of Adam (whose image of near touching hands of God and Adam is iconic of humanity, being a reminder that Man is created in the Image and Likeness of God (Gen 1:26)).God the Father is depicted as a powerful figure, floating in the clouds in Titian's Assumption of the Virgin in the Frari of Venice, long admired as a masterpiece of High Renaissance art.[121] The Church of the Gesù in Rome includes a number of 16th century depictions of God the Father. In some of these paintings the Trinity is still alluded to in terms of three angels, but Giovanni Battista Fiammeri also depicted God the Father as a man riding on a cloud, above the scenes.[122]

 

In both the Last Judgment and the Coronation of the Virgin paintings by Rubens he depicted God the Father using the image that by then had become widely accepted, a bearded patriarchal figure above the fray. In the 17th century, the two Spanish artists Velázquez (whose father-in-law Francisco Pacheco was in charge of the approval of new images for the Inquisition) and Murillo both depicted God the Father using a patriarchal figure with a white beard in a purple robe.

  

The Ancient of Days (1794) Watercolor etching by William Blake

While representations of God the Father were growing in Italy, Spain, Germany and the Low Countries, there was resistance elsewhere in Europe, even during the 17th century. In 1632 most members of the Star Chamber court in England (except the Archbishop of York) condemned the use of the images of the Trinity in church windows, and some considered them illegal.[123] Later in the 17th century Sir Thomas Browne wrote that he considered the representation of God the Father using an old man "a dangerous act" that might lead to Egyptian symbolism.[124] In 1847, Charles Winston was still critical of such images as a "Romish trend" (a term used to refer to Roman Catholics) that he considered best avoided in England.[125]

 

In 1667 the 43rd chapter of the Great Moscow Council specifically included a ban on a number of symbolic depictions of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, which then also resulted in a whole range of other icons being placed on the forbidden list,[126][127] mostly affecting Western-style depictions which had been gaining ground in Orthodox icons. The Council also declared that the person of the Trinity who was the "Ancient of Days" was Christ, as Logos, not God the Father. However some icons continued to be produced in Russia, as well as Greece, Romania, and other Orthodox countries.

 

Theological approaches

Theologians and philosophers have attributed to God such characteristics as omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, perfect goodness, divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. God has been described as incorporeal, a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable being existent.[3] These attributes were all claimed to varying degrees by the early Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars, including Maimonides,[53] St Augustine,[53] and Al-Ghazali.[128]

 

Many philosophers developed arguments for the existence of God,[8] while attempting to comprehend the precise implications of God's attributes. Reconciling some of those attributes generated important philosophical problems and debates. For example, God's omniscience may seem to imply that God knows how free agents will choose to act. If God does know this, their ostensible free will might be illusory, or foreknowledge does not imply predestination, and if God does not know it, God may not be omniscient.[129]

 

However, if by its essential nature, free will is not predetermined, then the effect of its will can never be perfectly predicted by anyone, regardless of intelligence and knowledge. Although knowledge of the options presented to that will, combined with perfectly infinite intelligence, could be said to provide God with omniscience if omniscience is defined as knowledge or understanding of all that is.

 

The last centuries of philosophy have seen vigorous questions regarding the arguments for God's existence raised by such philosophers as Immanuel Kant, David Hume and Antony Flew, although Kant held that the argument from morality was valid. The theist response has been either to contend, as does Alvin Plantinga, that faith is "properly basic", or to take, as does Richard Swinburne, the evidentialist position.[130] Some theists agree that only some of the arguments for God's existence are compelling, but argue that faith is not a product of reason, but requires risk. There would be no risk, they say, if the arguments for God's existence were as solid as the laws of logic, a position summed up by Pascal as "the heart has reasons of which reason does not know."[131] A recent theory using concepts from physics and neurophysiology proposes that God can be conceptualized within the theory of integrative level.[132]

 

Many religious believers allow for the existence of other, less powerful spiritual beings such as angels, saints, jinn, demons, and devas.[133][134][135][136][137]

Let's time him! | Street Moment | KL Street Photowalk.03 - When I see this couple with their daughter, I wonder what's the subject her father whispered to her mother. Is it "Let's time him!"

Goethe's Secret Revelation PART TWO THE RIDDLE IN FAUST Esoteric Two Addresses given 11nth and 12th March, 1909, at Berlin . It was in August, 1831, that Goethe sealed up a packet and handed it to his faithful secretary Eckermann and prepared his testamentary directions for the editing of this sealed-up treasure. This packet contained in a comprehensive way the whole striving of Goethe's life. It contained the second part of Goethe's Faust; which was not to be published until after Goethe's death. Goethe was aware that in this work he had given the contents of his rich, many-sided, far-reaching and deeply-penetrating life to human existence, and the importance of this moment for him may be gathered from the words he uttered at the time, ‘I am now finished my life's true work, anything I do further and whether I do it or not, is all the same!’ If we permit a fact such as this to work on the soul we can say: It would not be easy for a human life to become fruitful for the rest of humanity in a more beautiful, harmonious way, or indeed to become fruitful in a more conscious manner. There is something deeply affecting in the thought of Goethe's life at this point of time — for he lived barely one year longer — in that he should have visited Ilmenau once more and there re-read the beautiful verse he had written on the 7th of September, 1783, when he was still a comparatively young man.‘Above all heights Is rest, In the tree tops Thou feelest Scarce a breath,The birds are silent in the woods, Only wait, soon Thou too shalt rest.’One may well ask whether these lines may not have signified at that time a frame of mind regulating Goethe's ideas in a new way as he re-read them in the evening of his life with affecting tears.Goethe's Faust is truly a testament of the very first order when considered with reference to its literary and intellectual standpoint.In 1831 Goethe finished the work which had occupied him from his earliest youth, having worked energetically from the year 1824 at the second part of Faust. We find that Goethe knew from the beginning of 1770 that he had what may be called the Faust disposition and that he began in 1774 to write down the first part of Faust, returning again and again to this poem in the most important moments of his life.Notably he took the first part of Faust with him when he went to Weimar and owing to his position there entered the great world. Certainly it was not produced there. But because one of the Weimar Court ladies, Fräulein von Göchhausen, preserved a copy of the Faust which Goethe took with him to Weimar, we to-day possess the form in which it was when he took it there. We therefore know the form in which Faust was printed for the first time and published in 1790, and further we know the setting in which the whole of Goethe's works appeared in 1808 in the first edition. All that we have of Faust, including that very important document which Goethe left as his testament, shows us the different stages of Goethe's growth. It is endlessly interesting to observe how these four stages of Goethe's Faust-creation appear to us in different ways, according to its inner nature, and how they represent a crescendo in the whole of Goethe's life-endeavour. What Goethe took with him to Weimar is a literary work of a quite personal character into which he had poured the feelings, the degrees of knowledge and also the despair of knowledge, as they went with him through the Frankfort time into the Strassburg time and also into the first Weimar period. It is the work of a man hotly striving after knowledge, striving to feel himself into life, experiencing every despair that an upright honourable man can go through, and all this he had poured into this work. All this is in the first part of Faust. But when Faust appeared in 1790 as a fragment, it was recognized that Goethe had worked at it and transformed it out of a longing lying deep in his soul and inner life which had become enlightened through his contemplation of Italian nature and of Italian works of Art. Out of this personal work of one who had been tossed to and fro in life's storms there emerged the work of one, who to a certain degree, had become unshackled and who had a very clear view of life before his soul.Then came the time of Goethe's friendship with Schiller. The time when in his inner being he learned to know and experience a world which had long become rooted within him. A world of which one can say that he who experiences it has had his spiritual eyes opened, so that he can see into the surrounding spiritual world. And now Faust's personality becomes a being placed between two worlds, between the spiritual world to which man can raise himself through purification, through the ennobling of himself and that world which drags him down. Faust becomes a being placed between the world of good and the world of evil. And while previously we saw in Faust the life of the single striving personality, now we see before us a great conflict carried on between the good and evil powers around man. Man is thus placed in the centre as the worthiest object for which the good and evil beings fight in the world. Though in the very beginning Faust is seen as a man doubting all knowledge, he now comes before us as one placed between heaven and hell. Thus the poem reaches an essentially higher stage and a higher existence.In the form in which Faust appears in 1808 it seems as if thousands of years of human development resound. We are reminded of the great dramatic representation of man's life produced in ancient times in the Book of Job, where the evil spirit went among men and stood up before God, and God said to him: ‘Thou hast been to and fro on the earth, hast thou considered my servant Job?’ What is here said we find in the poem, ‘The Prologue in Heaven’ where God speaks with Mephistopheles, the messenger of the evil spirituality: ‘The self in them expands to a spiritual universe.’ At that time at Frankfort he had the feeling, ‘Away from the mere striving after ideas! Away from the merely perceptive sense observation! There must be a path to the sources of existence!’ and he came into touch with what one can call alchemistic, mystical and theosophical literature. He himself attempted the practice of alchemy. He relates how he came to know of a work through which many sought for similar knowledge at that time, Welling's ‘Opus Mago-Cabalisticum et Theosophicum.’ This book was much thought of then as giving a knowledge of the sources of existence. Goethe studied by degrees Paracelsus, Valentinus and above all a work which from its whole method must have produced a deep impression on all those who strove after such knowledge, ‘Aurea Catena Homeri.’ This was a representation of nature the Mystics in the Middle Ages believed to see. The study of these mystical, alchemistic, theosophical books must have had a similar effect on Goethe to that which a man striving to-day after the same things would experience if he took up the books of Eliphas Levy or any other thinker on the same lines. Indeed at that time these things must have had an even more bewildering effect upon Goethe because these different writers no longer really understood the magic, theosophy, etc., of which they wrote. It was impossible to speak in direct way of the real grandeur and meaning of these things, proceeding from an ancient wisdom which had lived in human souls, for the meaning was hidden under an outer garb which included all kinds of physical and chemical forms. For those who merely saw what appeared outwardly in these books it was the greatest nonsense, and at that time it was most difficult to penetrate behind these secrets and arrive at the real meaning. But we must not forget that Goethe from his deep striving for knowledge had developed an intuitive mind. He must have been greatly pleased when on opening the ‘Aurea Catena Homeri’ he saw on the first page a symbol which had a deep effect on his soul; two triangles interlaced; in the corners the signs of the planets, drawn in a wonderful way, a flying dragon wound round in a circle, beneath which another dragon had fixed stiffening itself, and when he read the words on the first page, saying that the flying dragon symbolizes the stream which sends those forces which stream down from out of the Cosmos to the stiffened dragon, showing how heaven and earth hang together, or as it is expressed there: ‘How the spiritual forces of heaven pour into the earth's centre.’These mysterious signs and words must have made a great impression upon Goethe. For instance, those which depict the whole growth of the earth: ‘From chaos to that which is called the universal quintessence’ — a remarkable sentence, curiously mixed up with signs of a chaotic nature, still undifferentiated right through the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms, right up to man and to that perspective to which man is developing in ever greater refinement. But it was not easy to find a way of penetrating to the deeper meaning. So Goethe left Frankfort in a frame of mind which can be described in the following words: I have found nothing. These seekers into nature can only give me dry, empty ideas; anything that can be squeezed out of them is but life's water. I have busied myself with much that has come down to us from the past from those who declare that they saw into the secrets of life. But the way, the way drives one to despair!This was sometimes the mood in Goethe's soul. He was not to be bewitched by easy speculations or philosophizing, or by confused symbols and explanations from those old books, which worked so wonderfully and forebodingly on him. They looked at him with their mysteries as something to which he could find no way. But anyone who knew Goethe's soul, knew the seed was already sown in his soul which was to germinate later. But he felt himself as one who was rejected and unworthy to unravel the secrets of life. Then he went to Strassburg.There he met people who must have interested him in one way or the other. He got to know Jung-Stilling with his deeply mystical soul, who owing to the development of peculiar forces generally found sleeping in men, had looked deeply into the hidden side of existence. He met Herder at Strassburg, who had gone through similar moods and who in times of desperation had often been at the point of a denial of future life. In Herder he learnt to know a man who suffered from a surfeit of life and who said, I have studied much, discerning sundry things connected with men's works and men's strivings on the earth. But he was unable to say to himself, I have had one moment when my longing after the sources of life has been satisfied. This was when he was ill and inclined to deny everything with bitter irony. Yet it was Herder who pointed out many depths in the riddles of life, and Goethe found in him a truly human Faust. But that side of negation which is not the outcome of mockery and scorn Goethe learnt to know later through his friend Merck. Goethe's mother who disliked criticism of people and all moralizing said of Merck, he can never leave Mephistopheles at home, in him we are quite used to it. In Merck Goethe found a disclaimer of much that is worth striving for in life. Over against all these impressions which Goethe received from the Strassburg people, it was through Nature and his observation of Nature that many of life's puzzles were cleared up for him.At the same time we must think of Goethe as a man possessed of a sharp, penetrating mind; he was not an unpractical man. He was an advocate, but only practised for a short time. Those who knew Goethe's work as an advocate and later as a Minister, were acquainted with his eminently practical mind. As advocate he knew little more than what he had learnt by heart from law books. But he was a man able to decide very quickly on any point laid before him; such a man can also map out clearly life's course.Let us consider Goethe when during his Italian journey, he gradually arrived at the discovery of the primeval plant, he collected stones, prepared himself diligently to take up the work of research, and did not seek to know immediately ‘how one thing strives to enter another’ but said to himself: ‘If you would gain a premonition’ of ‘how one thing works and lives in another’ as heavenly powers rise and fall, offering each the ‘golden urn,’ examine the vertebras of the spinal column and the way in which one bone is connected with the next; and how one faculty helps another. Seek in the smallest thing the picture of the greatest.Goethe became a very diligent student during his travels in Italy, examining everything. He formed the opinion that if an artist acted ‘according to the laws which are followed by nature herself’ and understood by the Greeks, the divine will be present in his works even as it is in the works of creation. For Goethe, art is a ‘manifestation of the secret laws of nature.’ The creations of the artists are works of nature on a higher stage of perfection. Art is man's continuation and conclusion of nature. ‘For since man is the head of nature so he regards himself as a complete nature, but also as one which can call forth a further rise. He strives for this through the acquisition of all accomplishments and virtues which call for choice, order, harmony, and meaning, and at last rises to the production of the work of art.’

We can say that during the Italian journey everything that came before Goethe took on definite forms and through inner soul experiences appeared clearly before him. So once again he took up ‘Faust,’ and we perceive how he endeavoured to bring the separate parts into union. But we also perceive how he interested himself in an objective manner in what Faust could become for the people of the North. In Italy he became particularly conscious of the great difference between people who had been brought up amid classical surroundings and those who had not. He found it strange that so little should be heard in Rome of ghost stories such as were common in the North. In the Villa Borghese he wrote at this time the ‘Witches Kitchen’ scene, as one who had lost touch with all such things, but also as one who recalled to memory the spirit of the earth. When he had previously written about the earth spirit, he represented it in such a way that Faust turned away from it, as from a ‘hideous worm.’ But the fact of turning away from it, even without understanding why, remains in the soul and works on further, as it did in Goethe. But those who become impatient and refuse to wait until after long years the seed grows, are unable to see the way clearly. And when in Italy Goethe knew that a turning away from the terrible countenance would have its effect upon his soul, and now these words arise:‘Sublime Spirit, thou gavest me, gavest me all For which I begged. It was not without reason That thou didst turn thy face in fire to me And for a kingdom gavest me the glorious nature With strength to feel it and to enjoy it. Not A coldly astonished gaze didst thou grant to me But didst permit me to look into her profound bosom As into that of a friend. Past me didst thou lead the ranks of the living And didst teach me to know, in the quiet bushes, In air, and in water, my brother. And when the storm roared and rattled in the woods And there fell the neighbouring branches of the giant fir Squashing the undergrowth and in their fall Sounding like thunder in the hollow of the hills, Thou didst lead me to a safe Grotto, where Thou didst show me myself and opened my heart To deep and secret wonders.’Before Goethe, there stands the possibility of the human soul, through its own development expanding to a spiritual universe. Through a patient sacrificial resigned search, the fruits stand before his soul which as germs were planted when he came into touch with the earth spirit. We can see through this monologue in ‘Wald und Höhle’ (wood and grotto) what a forward jerk this was towards the ripening of the fruits in his soul, for it shows us that the seed already sown was not sown in vain. And as a warning to have patience, to wait until such seeds had ripened in his soul, that fragment of ‘Faust’ meets us which appeared with this setting in 1790. And now we see how Goethe finds the way step by step after being led to his ‘safe grotto where the secret deep wonders of his own heart were opened to him,’ he obtains that comprehensive survey which bids him no longer abide with his own sorrow, but teaches him to rise above his sorrow, to send his foreseeing spirit out into the Macrocosmos, watch the fighting of the good and evil spirits and see men on their battle ground. And in ‘Faust’ in 1808 he sent out beforehand the ‘Prologue in Heaven:’Raphael: ‘The sun-orb sings, in emulation, 'Mid brother-spheres, his ancient round: His path predestined through Creation He ends with step of thunder-sound.’We next see how the macrocosmic Mights oppose the forces of the great world. We see too from out the experiences of Goethe's soul, what a remarkable light falls on the two dragons with which at one time in his youth he came in touch.‘Faust’ is such a universal poem because it contains so many warnings. It also gives us that golden saying: ‘Wait in confidence for the development of thy inner forces, even if that means waiting a very long time!’ These words also sound as a warning which stand as an attribute before Faust, when Goethe looks back to those ‘fluctuating figures which in early days had once shown a troubled countenance’ but which now are flooded with light. Now he had waited so long that the friends who had taken such a vivid interest in Faust as he had appeared to them in the first form, had died, and those who had not died were very far away. Goethe had been obliged to wait for the development of the seed already sown in him.Now these striking words meet us:‘My sorrow speaks to an unknown crowd, Their applause e'en makes my heart feel heavy, And those who once delighted in my song If they still live, in other lands are scattered.’No longer did it matter to those who in youth had felt with him. He had had to wait, as the last lines of this dedication so beautifully express it — ‘What was once a reality to me, has gone into the unreal: but what has remained for me and appears to outer vision as unreal, that to me is now true, and it is only now that I can give it as truth.’ So we see how this poem, even if only looked at in such an external manner as we have to-day, leads us into the depths of the human soul.‘Faust’ was begun in a desultory manner, some parts being pushed in between others, and therefore Goethe was unable to show in a continuous way what he had experienced in his soul. But something else led to the fact that Goethe expressed his deepest experiences in ‘Faust.’The ‘Helena scene’ also belongs to the first part of ‘Faust’ written by Goethe. But we find it was not included even in the ‘Faust’ of 1808. Why not? Because the manner in which Goethe had finished ‘Faust’ at that time would not allow it. What Goethe wished to say through the Helena scene was the expression of such a deep premonition of the deepest riddle of existence, that the first part was not sufficiently prepared to allow of this. Only when Goethe had reached an advanced age, was he able to give a true form to what really was the inner work of his life.We see how his mind had expanded so that he was able to grasp the worlds of the macrocosm, as expressed in the ‘Prologue in Heaven.’ We shall also see the way in which Goethe represents the stages of the soul's experience, leading men from the first stage up to that of imaginative vision, where the soul penetrating ever deeper and deeper, bursts at last the doors of the spiritual world, which Mephistopheles would close. Goethe also represents these inner experiences. For he places in the second part of ‘Faust’ the experiences of a soul through secret scientific study, and we see here one of the deepest riddles of existence, which if recognized, would be found to be an announcement of Western spiritual science given in imposing language. One is tempted to place such a poem as the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ and the second part of ‘Faust’ side by side. For great and powerful wisdom speaks out of such Eastern writings. It seems as if the gods themselves desired in them to speak with men to express the wisdom out of which the world was formed. Indeed it is so.Now let us look at the second part of ‘Faust.’ Here we see a striving human soul which has raised itself to spiritual vision from outer physical perception; we see how it has worked its way up to true clairvoyance when Faust enters the spiritual world and finds the spiritual choir around him ...‘Hearken! Hark! — The Hours careering Sounding loud to spirit-hearing. See the new-born day appearing! Rocky portals jarring shatter, Phœbus' wheels in rolling clatter, With a crash the Light draws near! Pealing rays and trumpet-blazes — Eye is blinded, ear amazes: The Unheard can no one hear!’Faust II, Act I.to that passage where Faust is outwardly dazzled, so that the outer world is lost to his perception and he says to himself: ‘Only within shines clear light! ...’ up to that passage in which the soul works itself up to the spheres of world existence, where the spiritual worlds are to be seen in all their purity, and the riddle of the world discloses itself to the soul. This is a way which we must designate as an esoteric one.The way in which we can penetrate from the outer to the inner life of Goethe's world enigma, we shall see to-morrow, and we shall also see from out of what depths Goethe spoke the word which at last gave him the certainty he needed with reference to all the longings, all the sorrows, pains and strivings for knowledge in his life.‘Whoever zealously strives We can redeem him; And if love from above Feels an interest in him, The blest choir will be there With a friendly greeting.’We shall consider to-morrow how Goethe solved this riddle of existence, and how that which lives in the soul can rise up to its true home. It will give us the answer to what Goethe placed as the riddle of his existence and about which he gives us such a hopeful answer at the end of the second part of ‘Faust:’‘For the spiritual world, That noble member, Is saved from evil. Whoever strives zealously We can redeem him! ...’This tells us Faust can be saved and those spirits will not conquer who by bringing men into the material bring them also to destruction.

 

my very own christian bale.

 

El mejor resultado de mi iStalker series.

 

gracias a ñañi por la stalkeada inicial. gracias por spot him for me, y darme el dato de su existencia... n__n"

Hadleigh, Suffolk

 

Dr. Rowland Taylor, vicar of Hadley, in Suffolk, was a man of eminent learning, and had been admitted to the degree of doctor of the civil and canon law.

 

His attachment to the pure and uncorrupted principles of Christianity recommended him to the favor and friendship of Dr. Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, with whom he lived a considerable time, until through his interest he obtained the living at Hadley.

 

Not only was his word a preaching unto them, but all his life and conversation was an example of unfeigned Christian life and true holiness. He was void of all pride, humble and meek as any child; so that none were so poor but they might boldly, as unto their father, resort unto him; neither was his lowliness childish or fearful, but, as occasion, time, and place required, he would be stout in rebuking the sinful and evildoers; so that none was so rich but he would tell them plainly his fault, with such earnest and grave rebukes as became a good curate and pastor. He was a man very mild, void of all rancour, grudge or evil will; ready to do good to all men; readily forgiving his enemies; and never sought to do evil to any.

 

To the poor that were blind, lame, sick, bedrid, or that had many children, he was a very father, a careful patron, and diligent provider, insomuch that he caused the parishioners to make a general provision for them; and he himself (beside the continual relief that they always found at his house) gave an honest portion yearly to the common almsbox. His wife also was an honest, discreet, and sober matron, and his children well nurtured, brought up in the fear of God and good learning.

 

He was a good salt of the earth, savorly biting the corrupt manners of evil men; a light in God's house, set upon a candlestick for all good men to imitate and follow.

 

Thus continued this good shepherd among his flock, governing and leading them through the wilderness of this wicked world, all the days of the most innocent and holy king of blessed memory, Edward VI. But on his demise, and the succession of Queen Mary to the throne, he escaped not the cloud that burst on so many beside; for two of his parishioners, Foster, an attorney, and Clark, a tradesman, out of blind zeal, resolved that Mass should be celebrated, in all its superstitious forms, in the parish church of Hadley, on Monday before Easter. This Dr. Taylor, entering the church, strictly forbade; but Clark forced the Doctor out of the church, celebrated Mass, and immediately informed the lord-chancellor, bishop of Winchester of his behavior, who summoned him to appear, and answer the complaints that were alleged against him.

 

The doctor upon the receipt of the summons, cheerfully prepared to obey the same; and rejected the advice of his friends to fly beyond sea. When Gardiner saw Dr. Taylor, he, according to his common custom, reviled him. Dr. Taylor heard his abuse patiently, and when the bishop said, "How darest thou look me in the face! Knowest thou not who I am?" Dr. Taylor replied, "You are Dr. Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, and lord-chancellor, and yet but a mortal man. But if I should be afraid of your lordly looks, why fear ye not God, the Lord of us all? With what countenance will you appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and answer to your oath made first unto King Henry VIII, and afterward unto King Edward VI, his son?"

 

A long conversation ensued, in which Dr. Taylor was so piously collected and severe upon his antagonist, that he exclaimed: "Thou art a blasphemous heretic! Thou indeed blasphemist the blessed Sacrament, (here he put off his cap) and speakest against the holy Mass, which is made a sacrifice for the quick and the dead." The bishop afterward committed him into the king's bench.

 

When Dr. Taylor came there, he found the virtuous and vigilant preacher of God's Word, Mr. Bradford; who equally thanked God that He had provided him with such a comfortable fellow-prisoner; and they both together praised God, and continued in prayer, reading and exhorting one another.

 

After Dr. Taylor had lain some time in prison, he was cited to appear in the arches of Bow-church.

Dr. Taylor being condemned, was committed to the Clink, and the keepers were charged to treat him roughly; at night he was removed to the Poultry Compter.

 

When Dr. Taylor had lain in the Compter about a week on the fourth of February, Bonner came to degrade him, bringing with him such ornaments as appertained to the massing mummery; but the Doctor refused these trappings until they were forced upon him.

 

The night after he was degraded his wife came with John Hull, his servant, and his son Thomas, and were by the gentleness of the keepers permitted to sup with him.

 

After supper, walking up and down, he gave God thanks for His grace, that had given him strength to abide by His holy Word. With tears they prayed together, and kissed one another. Unto his son Thomas he gave a Latin book, containing the notable sayings of the old martyrs, and in the end of that he wrote his testament:

 

"I say to my wife, and to my children, The Lord gave you unto me, and the Lord hath taken me from you, and you from me: blessed be the name of the Lord! I believe that they are blessed which die in the Lord. God careth for sparrows, and for the hairs of our heads. I have ever found Him more faithful and favorable, than is any father or husband. Trust ye therefore in Him by the means of our dear Savior Christ's merits: believe, love, fear, and obey Him: pray to Him, for He hath promised to help. Count me not dead, for I shall certainly live, and never die. I go before, and you shall follow after, to our long home."

 

On the morrow the sheriff of London with his officers came to the Compter by two o'clock in the morning, and brought forth Dr. Taylor; and without any light led him to the Woolsack, an inn without Aldgate. Dr. Taylor's wife, suspecting that her husband should that night be carried away, watched all night in St. Botolph's church-porch beside Aldgate, having her two children, the one named Elizabeth, of thirteen years of age (whom, being left without father or mother, Dr. Taylor had brought up of alms from three years old), the other named Mary, Dr. Taylor's own daughter.

 

Now, when the sheriff and his company came against St. Botolph's church, Elizabeth cried, saying, "O my dear father! mother, mother, here is my father led away." Then his wife cried, "Rowland, Rowland, where art thou?"--for it was a very dark morning, that the one could not well see the other. Dr. Taylor answered, "Dear wife, I am here"; and stayed. The sheriff's men would have led him forth, but the sheriff said, "Stay a little, masters, I pray you; and let him speak to his wife"; and so they stayed.

 

Then came she to him, and he took his daughter Mary in his arms; and he, his wife, and Elizabeth kneeled down and said the Lord's Prayer, at which sight the sheriff wept apace, and so did divers others of the company. After they had prayed, he rose up and kissed his wife, and shook her by the hand, and said, "Farewell, my dear wife; be of good comfort, for I am quiet in my conscience. God shall stir up a father for my children."

 

All the way Dr. Taylor was joyful and merry, as one that ccounted himself going to a most pleasant banquet or bridal. He spake many notable things to the sheriff and yeomen of the guard that conducted him, and often moved them to weep, through his much earnest calling upon them to repent, and to amend their evil and wicked living. Oftentimes also he caused them to wonder and rejoice, to see him so constant and steadfast, void of all fear, joyful in heart, and glad to die.

When Dr. Taylor had arrived at Aldham Common, the place where he should suffer, seeing a great multitude of people, he asked, "What place is this, and what meaneth it that so much people are gathered hither?" It was answered, "It is Aldham Common, the place where you must suffer; and the people have come to look upon you." Then he said, "Thanked be God, I am even at home"; and he alighted from his horse and with both hands rent the hood from his head.

 

His head had been notched and clipped like as a man would clip a fool's; which cost the good bishop Bonner had bestowed upon him. But when the people saw his reverend and ancient face, with a long white beard, they burst out with weeping tears, and cried, saying: "God save thee, good Dr. Taylor! Jesus Christ strengthen thee, and help thee! the Holy Ghost comfort thee!" with such other like good wishes.

 

When he had prayed, he went to the stake and kissed it, and set himself into a pitch barrel, which they had put for him to stand in, and stood with his back upright against the stake, with his hands folded together, and his eyes towards heaven, and continually prayed.

 

They then bound him with the chains, and having set up the fagots, one Warwick cruelly cast a fagot at him, which struck him on his head, and cut his face, sot hat the blood ran down. Then said Dr. Taylor, "O friend, I have harm enough; what needed that?"

 

Sir John Shelton standing by, as Dr. Taylor was speaking, and saying the Psalm Miserere in English, struck him on the lips: "You knave," he said, "speak Latin: I will make thee." At last they kindled the fire; and Dr. Taylor holding up both his hands, calling upon God, and said, "Merciful Father of heaven! for Jesus Christ, my Savior's sake, receive my soul into Thy hands!" So he stood still without either crying or moving, with his hands folded together, until Soyce, with a halberd struck him on the head until his brains fell out, and the corpse fell down into the fire.

 

Thus rendered up this man of God his blessed soul into the hands of his merciful Father, and to his most dear Savior Jesus Christ, whom he most entirely loved, faithfully and earnestly preached, obediently followed in living, and constantly glorified in death.

VILLE VALO from HIM

Custom Taeyang by Sheryl Designs

 

MODIFICATIONS:

Remake Lips

Replaced acrylic eyes

©2007-2010 Sheryl Designs Eyemech Modification

 

Real Ville Valo

Hilo en el Foro de Pullips: Pullip. es

So you're on your lunch break and find yourself walking behind a guy with a long bird-dropping off his left shoulder. Do you:

 

a) Tap him on his clean shoulder and say "excuse me, I don't mean to intrude, but it appears you have bird shit on your shirt"

 

b) Ask him how much he paid for his shirt

 

c) Say "Hey, are those bowling shoes you're wearing?"

 

d) Pull out your camera and take a pic & post on Flickr

 

© All Rights Reserved

===================

You are welcome to pin, re-post, embed and share this image, but please do not reproduce for your personal gain or profit without my permission.

  

The Kurdish empire / 'Aryan Gods' of the Mitanni (medes) Treaties

   

"This kingdom was simultaneously known under three names: Hittite,Mitanni, Hurri and Hanigalbat. All three names were equivalent and interchangeable," asserted Michael C. Astour.

   

Hittite annals mention a people called Hurri, located in north-eastern Syria (Western Kurdistan). A Hittite fragment, probably from the time of Mursili I, mentions a "King of the Hurri," or "Hurrians." The Assyro-Akkadian version of the text renders "Hurri" as Hanigalbat. Tushratta, who styles himself "king of Mitanni" in his Akkadian Amarna letters, refers to his kingdom as Hanigalbat.

   

Although Kurds have inhabited their highlands for several millennia BC, their prehistory is not very well known.[1] The earliest known evidence of a unified and distinct culture in the Kurdish mountains dates back to the Halaf culture of 8,000-7,400 years ago. This was followed by the Hurrian period (in Mesopotamia and Zagros-Taurus mountains) which lasted from 6,300 to about 2,600 years ago. The Hurrians spoke a language which was possibly part of the Northeast Caucasian (Alarodian)

 

The Hurrians spread out and eventually dominated significant territories outside their Zagros-Taurus mountainous base. However, like the Kurds, they did not expand very far from the mountains. As they settled, the Hurrians divided into a number of clans and subgroups, founding city-states, kingdoms and empires with eponymous clan names. These included the Gutis, Kurti, Khaldi, Nairi, Mushku, Mannaeans (Mannai), Mitanni, Urartu, Lullubi and the Kassites among others.

 

appears in2rock inscriptions, 1east,1west of Kordion, &"Mita of Mushki"is mentioned in Assyrian texts dating to 717,709,&the 670s B.C.Greek historical,legendary&mythical stories about Midas preserved in both texts &art—relate that he had the ears of an ass & as a gift from the gods,everything he touched turned to gold.One legend claims that a man named Midas or his father Kurdios began the royal Phrygian dynasty,thus fulfilling an oracle;both names continued to alternate as royal names

   

-oldest aryan texts in Kurdistan ( northern Syria)

   

-oldest wheels & carts found in near east in Kurdistan (northernSyria)

   

-the similarities of the halaf iculture with the indic culture

   

-the huge stuff written in Gamkrelidze&Ivanov's book about proto iranonessic/indo-european homeland being in Anatolia north Kurdistan, Migration of Indo-Aryans from their hoemland in Kurdistan (Northeastern Anatolia Northwestern Iran/Elam) to Central Asia/India

   

-oldest swastika( 6000-5000 B.C)in hurrian city

   

The earliest written evidence for an Indo-Aryan language is found not in India,but in Kurdistan (northern Syria) in Hittite records regarding one of their neighbors, the Hurrian-speaking Mitanni. In a treaty with the Hittites,the king of Mitanni, after swearing by a series of Hurrian gods, swears by the gods Mitrašil, Uruvanaššil, Indara,& Našatianna, who correspond to the Vedic gods Mitra,Varuṇa, Indra,& Nāsatya (Aśvin)Contemporary equestrian terminology, as recorded in a horse-training manual

 

a native Hurrian-speaking population about the 15th-16th centuries BC, Indo-Aryan charioteers were absorbed into the local population and adopted the Hurrian language.[59]

   

However, Brentjes (as cited in Bryant 2001:137) argues that there is not a single cultural element of central Asian, eastern European, or Caucasian origin in the Mitannian area and associates with an Indo-Aryan presence the peacock motif found in the Middle East from before 1600 BC and quite likely from before 2100 BC

 

In a treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanni (between Suppiluliuma and Matiwaza, ca. 1380 BC), the deities Mitra, Varuna, Indra, & Nasatya (Ashvins) are invoked. Kikkuli's horse training text (circa 1400 BC) includes technical terms such as aika (eka, one), tera (tri, three), panza (pancha, five), satta (sapta, seven),na (nava, nine), vartana The numeral aika "one" is of particular importance because it places the superstrate in the vicinity of Indo-Aryan proper as opposed to Indo-Iranian

   

The Mitanni were an Indo-European (Hurrian) people whose kingdom in northern Mesopotamia flourished from about 1600 (Second Intermediate Period) until it was conquered by the Hittite King Suppiluliumas during the reign of Akhenaten. At its peak, the empire stretched from Kirkuk (ancient Arrapkha) and the Zagros mountains in western Iran in the east, through Assyria to the Mediterranean sea in the west. Its center was in the region of the Khabur River, where its capital, Wassukkani

 

Kurdias (Kurdius was the name of at least two members of the royal house of Phrygia.The best-known Kurdias was reputedly the founder of the Phrygian capital cityKurdium,the maker of the legendary Kurdian Knot ( Griy Kurdi ) , & the father of the legendary King Midas who turned whatever he touched to gold. The various legends about this Kurdias& Midia imply that they lived sometime in the 2nd millennium BC.kurdia & his son media both names continued to alternate as royal names

 

Kurdian knot at one time the Phrygians were without a king. An oracle at Telmissus (Makri) (the ancient capital of Phrygia) decreed that the next man to enter the city driving an ox-cart should become their king.A peasant farmer named Kurdias drove into town on an ox-cart. His position had also been predicted earlier by an eagle landing on his cart, a sign to him from the gods, and on entering the city Kurdias was declared king by the priests. Out of gratitude,his son Midas dedicated the ox-cart

 

The cuneiform group hu-u-ur researchers of the ancient inscriptions (H. Winkler, E. Meyer, E. Waydner, Forer, Waysbakh) read har, others – hur (B. Hrozni, A. Ungnad). Researcher connects the form har with the name Arians, and language of Hurries consider as an the old Arian language. Later in the text found in the capital of the Hittites Hattusas the form hurlili was read as hurri. Thus was rejected the viewpoint which accepted the form harri and considered Hurrians as Arians. In scientific

 

Between the 12th & 9th centuries Phrygia formed the western part of a loose confederation of peoples (identified as“Mushki”in Assyrian records) that dominated the entire Anatolian peninsula.This early civilization borrowed heavily from the Hittites,whom they had replaced, and established a system of roads later utilized by the Persians.About730 the Assyrians detached the eastern part of the confederation,& the locus of power shifted to Phrygiaproper under the rule of the legendary king Mida

 

The most famous of the Phrygian kings is a man called Midia by the Greeks and Mita by the Assyrians. He ruled in the last decades of the eighth century B.C. One of the large royal buildings uncovered at Kordian was probably his palace. Today Midia is known primarily from Greek historical records, but the name also appears in two rock inscriptions, one east, one west of Kurdian, &"Mita of Mushki"is mentioned in Assyrian texts dating to 717, 709,& the 670s B.C. Greek historical,

           

Kurdistan Workers' Party Abdullah Öcalan (Kurdish: APO / LO APO/ APOLO) European Union Kurdish Garden eden in Kurdistan / Zagros Mountains adam and eve Kurdish History- Kurdish Luwian-Hittite language Freedom Fighters PKK HPG anatolia kurdistan PJAK YJA STAR Guerrilla Peshmerge of the PKK (Kurdish Freedom Fighters) Kurdistan Workers' Party Kurdish freedom fighters aryan race he Kurgan Culture and the Indo-Europeanization of Europe The history of the ancient Kurdish Aryans ancient zagros touros History of the Kurdish Aryan Race Proto indo European Aryan Race Kurdish Kurden Kurde Koerd Kurdische Aryen Ari Kurgan, Mediterranean and Nordic Core of the Kurds median the origins of the Indo-European languages and genes awastika in Kurdistan the undead Aryan nation

 

Zagros anatolia the Kurds GutiansSarmatians Alans Scythians Medes Mitanni Hurrians Hittits 8000 years older than pyramids Gobekli Tepe, Human's First yet Known Temple in Northern Kurdistan Girê Navokê Garden (Kurds) of eden, Anahita Temple ancient temple of goddess Anahita in Kangawar Median/Medes Mada medo Mazdanimsm avesta Ahura Mazda tausi melek Kingdom of Commagene Nemrut (KomaGeli Nemrud), Kingdoms of Mesopotamia Hurrian Empire of Mitanni hurrian empire Mitanni (Hittite cuneiform KURMi-ta-an-ni, also Mittani Mi-it-ta-ni) Anatolia kurd Hittites History of the Hittite aryan ari arier Caucasian zagros zagrosian race Indo-European languages List of Indo-European Taurus Mountains zagros Euphrates and Tigris Mesopotamia languages The swastika sun Aryanization Aryan paragraph yazidi yeziden tausi melek ezidi ezda azda mithras sun fire kurmanc kirmanshan kermanshah Anatolians ( kurdish Hatti Hittites, Luwians) Indo-Iranians (Iranians Indo-Aryans kurdish Tocharians Koordistan Homeland Society Religion Corduene, Gorduene, Cordyene, Cardyene, Gordyaia, Korduene, Girdiyan, Korchayk ,russian russia Archaeological kurdish Slavic peoples kurden Kurds Kurgan culture Yamna culture Abashevo Afanasevo baden Andronovo bearke Terramare Lusatian lorestan lor gord kord kurd Elam Khuzestan Gutian people kurdish Hurrian Hurro Urartian ararat empire mitanni Hittite Elamite Zagros Mountains tauros language avesta Russians Ukrainians Belarusians Rusyns Kurdistan Ukraine ukranian kurdish Kura-Araxes culture early trans-Caucasian culture Maykop Catacomb garden gondiyo,kardokh, Gordyene, Kardukh, Gordukh,Garden Uratian, Hethits, Karduk, Cyrtii, Gordyene, kardokhio Huravat - Sarasvat - Aruvat - Harahvaiti - Harvat - Aurvat - Harauvatiš- Harauvatija - Harauvatim - Harauvat - Harahvat - Horohvat - Arivates - Horvathos - Hrovatoi - Crvat - Harvat - Horvat - Hrvat Poles Czechs Slovaks Silesians Moravians Kashubians Sorbs Serbs Bulgarians Croats Bosniaks Slovenes Macedonians Montenegrins Ahnenpass Aryan Games Neolithic Anatolia mesopotamia Amesha Spentas Yazatas Ahuras Daevas Angra Mainyu Zerdüştlük /Mazdaism Avesta Gathas Vendidad Ahuna Vairya cross Kurgan hypothesis Proto-Indo-European Urheimat Nordic race Zoroastrianism Ahura Mazda ahle haq yaresan yarsan Zarathustra Proto-Indo-Europeans Amesha Spentas · Yazatas Ahuras · Daevas Avesta Gathas · Yasna Vendidad · Visperad Yashts · Khordeh Avesta Ab-Zohr The Ahuna Vairya Fire Temples Dēnkard · Bundahišn God the Son Book of Arda Viraf Book of Jamasp Story of Sanjan Angra Mainyu Archaeology Architecture Anthropology Humanities Zurvanism Tawûsê Melek Yazidi peacock angel Yazdânism Yârisânism, Yazidism, and Chinarism/Ishikism (Ishik Alevism Ahl-e Haqq Kakkai yaresan yarsan yarsanim Sultan Sahak sorani gorani lori laki baxtiyari lorestan kurdsitan Calendar · Festivals Marriage Eschatology human evolution to cultural evolution Indo-Iranians Avesta Avestan Zoroastrianism Old Avestan hypotheses Zoroastrians in Iran Parsis Zoroaster Iranis Persecution of Zoroastrians Indo-Aryan migration Mitanni Aryavarta Ariana Hittite cuneiform Hittite language Sanskrit Indo-European Hattians Hittites sumerian gutian History of the Hittites Syro--Hittite states Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Kermanshah kirmanshah kirmanshan krmanshan kirmanjan kirmanc kurmanc kormanj kordmanj kurdmanj kirmancki kurmancki ziwan ziman ahura mazda tausi melek dirok cirok dengbej danbej dengbej, dengbij mey ûdûk bilur blur lavjebêj dengbêjî dovend gond dilan halarpke daf def davol dohol u zurna zurne ararat zap sipan oramar koye dersim taurus shingal Achaemenid,sassanid,Hurrian,Uraratu,Mitanni,Luwian,Hatti Hittites hattusa, Parthian kharezmia sumerian someri gutian Corduene Gorduene, Cordyene, Cardyene, Carduene, Gordyene, Gordyaea, Korduene, Korchayk, Gordian Kird Gird Kirdi kirdki Kur kurdi kordi kordestan Kardokh zeugma commagene Mezrabotan mesopotamia anatolia aryan race urmiye Kermanshah Kirmanshan Zagros Toros Euphrates tigris munzur van ararat sipan cudi zap ezidi azidi yezidi yarsan yaresan alevi ahle haq kirmanj kurmanj kormanj kirmanc kirmanjan kurdmanj kirmanciye zazaki dilimki kirdiki kelhuri kalhori sorani gorani hawrami hawramy lori luri laki badini lo lo le le Göreme Gorame Kurti, Karda, Karduk, Gord, Kord, Cardakes, Cyrtii Kardukh Gordukh, Kortukh Gortai-kh..kingdom of Gutians: inkişuş Zarlagab Şulme Silulumeş Inimabakeş Igeşauş Yarl-agab ibate Yarl-angab Kurum Apil-kin La-erabum irarum ibranum Hablum Puzur-Suen Yarlaganda Tirigan.. kingdom of comagene (komageli) nemrud: Sames I , Arsames I , Xerxes , ptolemaeu, Ptolemaeus, Sames II Theosebes Dikaios , Mithridates

 

So in this photo, it appears as though I am restoring the UP (CNW) route for autopilot. When a train was to arrive here, the operator was called from home and would then show up. You would then call the EJ&E chief on the phone and let him know you're there and they would call back shortly and let you know of the trains arrival. This night I would be running #21 (Joliet to Waukegan turn).

#21 would make stops at Munger, Spaulding, Leithton, Rondout and Waukegan. Most of his train was for Rondout.

West Chicago would also let you know when the train went west, and vice-versa. The date was July 3rd, 2001. Jason Tykac or my dads photo I believe.

 

The colored levers marked "East" & "West" were out of service train order levers. They sat in positions 19 & 20 in the interlocking bed.

He got HIM and I got HIM :D

Macro Mondays > "What's that smell?"

 

Kraut Juice ingredients; Cabbage juice and salt.

 

Smell; NAAASSSTY!!! HOR-RI-BLE! Potent smell.

 

Its used as a broth in cooking say ... cabbage rolls & etc.

   

.... to visit Mezzojuso gives a little bit the feeling of being abroad (while being in Sicily ...) a lively particular feeling; here we are inside a Church with Orthodox rite: I thank this very kind man for giving me the possibility to portray him .....

   

.... visitare Mezzojuso dona la sensazione stranissima e vivacissima di trovarsi un po' all'estero, pur stando in Sicilia; qui siamo all'interno di una Chiesa di Rito Ortodosso: ringrazio questo gentilissimo signore per avermi concesso la possibilità di ritrarlo ....

   

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the slideshow

  

Qi Bo's photos on Fluidr

  

Qi Bo's photos on Flickriver

  

Qi Bo's photos on FlickeFlu

   

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Mezzojuso was built by the Albanians, Arbëreshëc, mostly military people established near an uninhabited house, during the migration of Albanians in Italy; on1501 they came from Albania and they had brought with them their language, customs and the Orthodox rite. From 2 to 4 August 1862 Mezzojuso welcomes Garibaldi: this is to reconnect this long and short at the same time my report, to some passages of this feast: the characteristic carnival of Mezzojuso. The "Master of Field" is the name of this carnival representation and it take the name from the principal character: this is a love story, albeit in key easygoing, which contains the re-enactment of the assault the Count of Modica made to the Castle to capture the White Queen of Navarra. The representation begins with the arrival of the royal procession, made up of the King, the Queen, by the dignitaries of the Court, from the Dame, the Secretary, by guards and by the Moors, and the "Master of Home" soul procession . Performed a dance in the square, the group go up on a stage (which is the castle); after inside the "castle" begins a dance party; therefore appear masks tied to tradition, u Rimitu, the Wizards, the gardener; comes the Master of Field, wearing a red wax mask with a hooked nose and prominent lower lip, a white shirt full of colored ribbons, pants and red coat, he squirms and shake, with his left arm to the side and in the right arm he brings a short wooden sword. Appear numerous characters, the Drummer, the Ambassador, Garibaldi and his Boys, the Captain of Artillery, the Baron and Baroness on two donkeys, followed by their men on horses and mules loaded with firewood, trunks, various paraphernalia for manufacturing cheese, so the gardener, with laurel wreaths, then the Cavalry, formed by a dozen knights who throw sweets over the spectators.The "Foforio" kidnap the wealthy and releases them after paying a small ransom (in return will be able to eat and drink at will). There are Magicians who go in search of "Treasure" and they finally found it: a bedpan full of macaroni and sausage, shouting "forio forio maccarrunario" eat them with their hands. The war rages, with Garibaldi and his Boys clashes against the Saracens (with imaginative alienation of historical periods); The Master of Field goes up on the scale that leads to the castle, meets with the King that hurts him on the head, and he falls backward (from a good height ...) to be taken from the boys that in the meantime they were prepared under the stairs; But the Master of Field is not dead and he healed his wounds, he with army of Garibaldi climb stealthily for "fake scale" and, taking advantage of the moment of confusion, they surrounding the Court and bind the King: the Field of Master removes the mask, finally embracing the Queen, managing to crown their secret dream of love, and so ends the great feast of Mezzojuso, with the procession that will march in the streets the country and ... the king in chains....

 

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Mezzojuso fu costruito dagli albanesi, gli arbëreshë, principalmente militari stabilitisi nelle vicinanze di un casale disabitato, durante la migrazione degli albanesi in Italia; essi provenivano dall'Albania e avevano portato con se lingua, usi e il rito ortodosso, nel 1501 stabilizzarono la loro posizione nella zona. Dal 2 al 4 agosto 1862 Mezzojuso accoglie Garibaldi: questo per ricollegare questo breve incipt su alcuni passaggi di questo report, lungo e breve al tempo stesso, sul caratteristico carnevale di Mezzojuso, unico nel suo genere. Il "Mastro di Campo", questo il nome della rappresentazione carnascialesca, è il personaggio dal quale prende il nome questa storia d'amore, seppur in chiave scanzonata, che racchiude in sè la rievocazione dell'assalto che il Conte di Modica fece al Castello per conquistare la regina Bianca di Navarra. La rappresentazione inizia con l'arrivo del corteo reale, composto dal Re, dalla Regina, dai Dignitari di Corte, dalle Dame, dal Segretario, dall’Artificiere, da alcune guardie e dai Mori, mentre Il "Mastru ri Casa" anima il corteo. Eseguita una danza nella piazza, il gruppo sale su un palco che ne rappresenta il castello, e subito dopo sul "castello" ha inizio una festa danzante; appaiono quindi le maschere legate alla tradizione, u Rimitu, i Maghi, le Giardiniere; arriva il Mastro di Campo a cavallo, che indossa una maschera di cera rossa con il naso adunco ed il labbro inferiore prominente, una camicia bianca piena di nastri colorati, pantaloni e mantello rosso: egli si dimena, si agita, con la testa ben alta, il braccio sinistro al fianco e nel destro una piccola spada di legno. Compaiono numerosi personaggi, il Tammurinaru, l’Ambasciatore, Garibaldi con i Garibaldini, il Capitano d’Artiglieria, il Barone e la Baronessa su due asini, seguiti dai loro uomini sopra cavalli e muli carichi di legna, bauli, armamentari vari per la produzione del formaggio, quindi le Giardiniere, con le corone di alloro, infine la Cavalleria, formata da una decina di cavalieri che lanciano sopra gli spettatori confetti a più non posso, mentre nella piazza l'artiglieria spara "colpi di cannone". Il Foforio sequestra i più abbienti e li rilascia dietro il pagamento di un piccolo riscatto (in cambio potranno mangiare e bere a volontà). Ci sono i Maghi che vanno in cerca della "truvatura", scavano ed ecco finalmente la trovano: un cantaru pieno di maccheroni e salsiccia che, al grido di “forio forio maccarrunario”, mangiano con le mani. La guerra impazza, Garibaldi coi Garibaldini si scontra contro i Saraceni (con fantasiosa alienazione dei periodi storici); il Mastro di Campo sale sulla scala che conduce al castello, si scontra con il Re e rimane ferito in fronte, ed ecco che braccia allargate cade all'indietro (da una buona altezza...) per essere preso dai figuranti che nel frattempo si erano preparati sotto la scala; però Il Mastro di Campo non è morto e, guarito dalle ferite, si riporta in piazza con il suo esercito di Garibaldini, quindi salgono furtivamente per la "scala fausa"(un'ingrsso posteriore e nascosto)e, approfittando dell’attimo di confusione, circondano la Corte e incatenano il Re: il Mastro di Campo, tolta la maschera, finalmente abbraccia la Regina, riuscendo a coronare il loro segreto sogno d'amore, e termina così la grande festa di Mezzojuso, col corteo che sfilerà per le strade del paese ed...il re in catene.

 

he monastery of Radu Vodă has the consecrations of the Holy Trinity and the Saint Hierarch Nectarios of Aegina.

 

It was founded by Voivod Alexander II Mircea (1568-1577) and his lady, Ecaterina, to thank God that He gave him the victory in the battle he carried on these lands, against Vintilă-Vornicul and Dumbravă-Vornicul.

“The architectural plan and forms of the Radu Vodă church are inspired by the Episcopal church at Curtea de Argeş, the difference being that the building material is not stone, but brick.

The plan is a triconch, with a tower on the nave, and with an enlarged narthex, with three towers above it.

The main of the three towers rests on twelve columns, symbolizing the twelve apostles, similar to the model from Curtea of Argeş”

as we learn from the presentation page of the Monastery.

  

The personality of the place is emphasized as well by the fact that it is located on a hill, so that it looks like a Christian fortress, and the high communist blocks of flats around it do nothing but protect it from the inclement weather.

Located only ten-minute walk away from Unirii Square, the settlement is easily accessible to those who want to cross its threshold.

The construction date is controversial and it fluctuates between 1568 and 1574.

Later, in 1595, during the reign of Michael the Brave, the Holy Trinity Monastery was badly damaged by Sinan Pasa's army, during its withdrawal from Bucharest.

All the buildings on the hill were set on fire then and the church was transformed into a mosque.

 

The same documentary source informs us that in 1615, Radu Mihnea began the restoration of the entire ensemble of the Holy Trinity Monastery, a work which, “together with the painting” was completed ten years later.

Thus, from the monastery of 1625, bearing the name of its founder, Radu Vodă, the church and the bell tower have been preserved to this day.

It was painted again in 1714 and the porch was added to it.

After the earthquakes of 1790, 1793, 1794 and 1802 other repairs followed. It was restored in 1804 by the Hegumen Ignație Iviritorul from the Ivir Monastery, located on Mount Athos.

Another earthquake, in 1838, caused great damage. Important repairs were carried out between 1859 and 1864.

The wooden towers were then rebuilt, and they were covered with sheet metal, the porch (which still exists today) was restored, but some cells and the chapel were torn down.

 

During 1969 - 1974, extensive restoration work was carried out, at the initiative of Patriarch Justinian Marina.

The painting was completely redone by painters Sofian Boghiu, Vasile Caraman and Gheorghe Ciobanu.

An interesting aspect is that on the same hill we find the Church of Bucur the Shepherd (dedicated to St. Athanasius and Chiril Church) which functioned as a funeral chapel for the monks of the Radu Vodă monastery.

Around 1870, it was separated from its courtyard, by cutting the Radu Vodă street - now there are two distinct hills.

 

At Radu Vodă Monastery we also find the relics of Saint Nectarios (Nectarie), and because of this the place is one of the most sought after by pilgrims.

The climb to the church itself, similar to the one on the Hill of the Patriarchate, but shorter, gives a special feeling to the believer, who can imagine that he climbs a small Golgotha.

About Saint Nectarios it is said: “living like an angel in the body, and loving the incessant prayer, silence, humility, fasting and mercy, the Holy Nectarios drew many to Christ, spilling out around him peace, joy and uncreated light of the Holy Spirit, with which he comforted and rested all who came to his cell. “(doxologia.ro)

 

Another interesting record is that of Paul of Aleppo, preserved in “The Travels of Patriarch Macarie”. It describes the Radu Vodă Monastery as being situated on the outskirts of the city, on a higher place, surrounded by a river and standing water.

He also mentions that during the growth of the water the place could only be reached by using a wooden bridge.

The traveler also says that: “it is a great building, with a very pleasant view.

Its church is large and spacious, with harmonious lines, highly ornamented and entirely covered with paintings.”

 

We learn from the same documentary source made public by the monastery that Saint Nectarios is “one of the newest saints canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the last century.

He was born in 1846, in the Thracian Silivria, near Constantinople, from poor but very godly parents.

At the baptism he receives the name of Anastasie, and from a young age he was given a good quality Christian education.

After the first years of school, Anastasie is sent to learn further in Constantinople, where he studies Theology and writings of the Holy Fathers.

Here, his soul begins to discover Christ in his heart, through prayer, through reading the holy books and thinking about the divine.”

A second visit to Lynsted, and the same result; locked.

 

On one of the hottest days of the year, we stop at the pub next door for lunch, and whilst we wait for it to be served, I go down to see if I can snap inside.

 

I am still trying to work out the logic that someone comes every day to open the metal door to the porch, but the inner wooden door is kept locked.

 

I tried and tried the door, pulling, pushing both while trying the handle of the door. Jools did the same, and neither of us could get in.

 

Same as last time.

 

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The church stands close to the road in a dark and sombre churchyard. Inside, the chancel arch is unusual in that the capitals have been cut off to facilitate the construction of the rood loft. The interesting east window of five lights has a very closely set grouping of openings under the canopy. There are two chapels - the north belonging to the Hugessons and the south to the Teynhams. They both contain excellent monuments. The most important commemorates Lord Teynham (d. 1622) and is signed by Epiphanius Evesham. It shows Lord Teynham lying on his back with his widow kneeling under an arch behind him. At the base are relief carvings of their children. The sons have just returned from hunting and the daughters are crying - two of them have little dogs. Opposite this monument is another to his father who died in 1618, altogether it forms a more ordinary composition.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Lynsted

 

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LINSTED.

THE next parish southward from Tenham is Linsted, which lies adjoining the high London road, at the 43d mile-stone at Green-street, the south side of which is within the bounds of it, hence the ground rises towards the south to the village, which, with the church, is situated near the centre of it. It is a situation more pleasant than it is healthy, especially in the lower part of it. The lands below the village are very fertile, much like those of Tenham described before, having several hop-grounds of a kindly growth, interspersed throughout them; but southward of the village, the land lying still higher, approaches the chalk and becomes stony and much less fertile, till it joins Doddington, its southern boundary, not far from which is Linsted-lodge, a fine old mansion of the time of king James I. situated not very pleasantly, in a low part of the park, which however has been for some years disparked, and most of it let out in farms. On the west side of it is a feat called Dadmans, formerly Dodmannys, so called from a family of that name. It was, in the reign of Henry VII. in the possession of William Apulderfield, of Faversham. The fee of it has for many years belonged to the Ropers, lords Teynham; it is occupied by the hon. Philip Roper, uncle to the present lord Teynham. A little below Dadmans is an estate, called Bumpit, belonging likewife to lord Teynham. On the opposite or north west part of the parish, close to the south side of the high London road, near Radfield, is an estate called Claxfield, which was the residence of the family of Greenstreet, who were possessed of many good estates in this part of the county, for several generations. After which it became the property of Mr. George Smith, whose daughter Jane sold it to John Sawbridge, esq. of Ollantigh, and his son Samuel-Elias Sawbridge, esq. is the present owner of it.

 

About half a mile from the London road, beyond Green-street, at the north-east corner of the parish, is a house called Nowdes, which was part of the possessions of the family of Greenstreet likewise, in which it continued till Peter Greenstreet, in 1703, alienated it to Mr. John Smith, gent. whose daughter having married Mr. T. Barling, gent. he resided here, and died in 1770, leaving two sons, John Smith, (to whom his grandfather, Mr. John Smith, bequeathed this seat) and Philip, of London, surgeon, and one daughter Dorothy, married to Mr. Edward Dering, of Doddington. John Smith Barling, gent. of Faversham, the son, on his father's death, took possession of this seat, in which he at times resided. He died in 1795, leaving one son and two daughters, (one of whom lately married Mr. Lushington Taylor, of Rodmersham,) and they are now jointly intitled to it.

 

At Greenstreet, on May 12, there is a fair annually for horses and cattle.

 

Bartholomew Fowle, alias Linsted, a native of this place, was the last prior of St. Mary Overie, London, being elected to that office anno 1513. He was a learned man, and wrote a book, De Ponte Londini.

 

About thirty years ago a large chesnut tree was felled in Lodge park, which was sawed off close to the ground: in the centre of it, where the saw crossed, was a cavity, of about two inches diameter, in which was a live toad, which filled the space entirely. The wood of the tree was, to all appearance, perfectly found all round it, without any the smallest aperture whatever. The tree itself was six feet in circumserence.

 

THE MANOR of the hundred of Tenham claims over this parish, subordinate to which is THE MANOR OF BADMANGORE, with THE MANORS OF LODGE and NEWNHAM united, the former of which, though it IS but little known at present, either as to its name or situation, yet in early times was eminent, by having for its proprietors successively, the Cheneys and Apulderfields, families of no small repute in this county.

 

Sir Alexander de Cheney, of Patrixborne, the seat of this family, where they had been settled for some generations, was one of those Kentish gentlemen, who attended king Edward I. in his victorious expedition into Scotland, in the 28th year of his reign, and being present at the siege of Carlaverock, in that Kingdom, was knighted by him there, with many other of the gentry of this county. His son William de Cheney died possessed of the manor of Badmangore, in the 8th year of Edward III. having married Margaret, daughter and heir of Sir Robert de Shurland, in whose right he became entitled to the seat of Shurland, with many other estates in this county. His son Sir Robert Cheney, sold it before the 27th year of that reign, to William de Apulderfield, who made it his chief residence, and kept his shrievalty here in the year above-mentioned, and in several years afterwards. He was descended from Henry de Apulderfeld, of Apulderfeld, in Cowdham, (fn. 1) who, with his son Henry, were, with other Kentish gentlemen, with Richard I. at the siege of Acon, in Palestine, where, on account of their bravery, they had granted to them an augmentation to their arms, which they and their descendants continued afterwards to bear, viz. Sable, a cross, or, voided of the field, their original arms being, Ermine, a fess vaire, or, and gules. His great-grandson Sir William de Apulderfield was a man of much note in the reigns of Henry VI. and Edward IV. He left an only daughter Elizabeth, who became his heir to this manor, among the rest of his estates, which she carried in marriage to Sir John Fineux, chief justice of the king's bench in the reigns of king Henry VII. and VIII. He died in the 17th year of the latter reign, anno 1525, (fn. 2) leaving two daughters his coheirs, Jane, married to John Roper, esq. of Eltham, and Mildred, to James Diggs, esq. of Barham.

 

The origin of the family of Roper has been very fully treated of in the first volume of this history, p. 472, under the description of Eltham, where the eldest branch of it remained till within memory, and the descent of it is there brought down to the abovementioned John Roper, esq.

 

On the division of their inheritance, this manor, among others, was allotted to John Roper, in right of his wife. He was prothonotary of the king's bench, and attorney-general to Henry VIII. and died in 1524, at his manor of Welhall, in Eltham, to which he had removed from St. Dunstan's, the antient seat of the family. He left two sons, William Roper, esq. clerk of the king's bench, who succeeded him at Eltham, and Christopher, ancestor of the lords Teynham, and six daughters.

 

Christopher Roper, esq. the second son, succeeded his father in the manor of Badmangore, and its appendages, at the manor-house of which he resided; it stood on the east side of the park, but on the family's removing their residence from it, it was suffered to decay and run to ruin. By Elizabeth his wife, daughter and coheir of Christopher Blore, esq. of Rainham, he had several children, of whom John Roper, esq. the eldest son, succeeded him in this manor. He was Knighted in 1616, anno 14 James I. and on the same day created lord Teynham, baron of Teynham in this county, as a reward for his forward attachment to the king's interest, having been the first man of note who proclaimed the king in this county. He built the present seat of Linsted lodge, and inclosed a park round it, and afterwards made it his residence. He died in 1618, and was buried in the vault which he had made in the south chancel of this church.

 

His descendants, lords Teynham, continued to reside at Linsted lodge, all of whom lie buried in this church, down to Christopher, lord Teynham, the fifth in succession, who in 1687 was constituted lord-lieutenant and custos rotulorum of this county. He died at Brussels next year, having married Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Brown, viscount Montague, by whom he had several sons and daughters, of the former, John, Christopher and Henry, became all three successively lords Teynham, the latter succeeding to the title and estate on the deaths of his two elder brothers unmarried, and became the eighth lord Teynham. He died in 1716, leaving by his first wife two sons, Philip and Henry, successively lords Teynham, and by his third wife the lady Anne, second daughter and coheir of Thomas Lennard, earl of Suffex, and widow of Richard Barret Lennard, lord Dacre, remarried thirdly to the hon. Robert Moore, he likewise left issue, whose descendant became afterwards, in her right, intitled to the fee barony of Dacre. He was succeeded by his eldest son Philip, lord Teynham, who died unmarried in 1727, upon which the title and estate devolved to his next and only whole brother Henry, lord Teynham, who left by his first wife Catherine, daughter and coheir of Edward Powell, esq. of Sandford, in Oxfordshire, five sons and two daughters, of whom Henry the eldest son, on his death in 1781, succeeded him as lord Teynham, and married first Mary-Wilhelmina, eldest daughter of Sir Francis Head, bart. (whose second daughter and coheir married John his next brother) who died s.p. and secondly Betsy, widow of John Mills, esq. of the island of St. Christopher, and daughter of Mr. Webber, of Somersetshire, by whom he had two sons Henry and John, and two daughters. He died in 1786, and was succeeded by his eldest son Henry, being the present right hon. lord Teynham, and the twelfth lord, in succession from the first grant of the title. He has never resided at the Lodge, which has been for some years occupied by different tenants, and the greatest part of the park converted into farms of arable land. He is at present unmarried, and still continues the proprietor of these estates, with Colyers and Newnham farm, and others in this parish. He bears for his arms, Party per fess, azure, and or, a pale and three roebucks heads erased, counterchanged; for his crest, On a wreath, a lion rampant, sable, holding a ducal coronet between his paws, or; and for his supporters, on the dexter side, a buck, or; on the finister, a tiger reguardant, argent. And he has likewise a right to quarter with those of Roper, the several coats of Apledore, St. Laurence, Tattersal, Apulderfield, the same for service, Twite, Parke, and Hugdon, as appeared by a pedigree in the possession of Edward Roper, esq. of Welhall, in Eltham, attested and collected by John Philipott, Somerset herald in 1629.

 

SEWARDS, is a manor which had an antient seat in this parish, and in very early times was the residence of a family of that name, in which it continued till about the reign of Henry V. when Richard Seward leaving an only daughter and heir Elizabeth, she carried it in marriage to John Finch, esq. second son of Vincent Herbert, alias Finch, of Netherfield, in Sussex, whose eldest son William Herbert, alias Finch, was ancestor of the Finch's, earls of Winchelsea and Nottingham, and others of that name at different times enabled, all of whom bore the same coat of arms.

 

John Finch, esq. died possessed of Sewards in 1442, anno 21 Henry VI. and was buried at Sevington. His grandson John Finch, esq. was of Sewards, and left two sons, Herbert, who was of Linsted, from whom descended the Finch's, of Linsted, Norton, Faversham, and Wye, and other younger branches of that name; and Thomas Finch, the second son, who was of Kingsdown, from whom descended those of that parish and of Stalisfield. (fn. 3)

 

Herbert Finch. the eldest son, became possessed of Sewards on his father's death, and from him it descended to William Finch, esq. who dying without issue male in the reign of queen Elizabeth, his only daughter and heir Catherine carried it in marriage to Sir Drue Drury, gentleman usher of the privy chamber, the fifth son of Sir Robert Drury, of Edgerly, in Buckinghamshire, who bore for his arms, Argent, on a chief vert, a Roman T between two mullets, or, and was descended lineally from John Drury, esq. of that place, son and heir of Drury, one of the Norman nobles, who came in with king William the Conqueror. (fn. 4) He built a large and handsome seat in this parish, opposite to the church, and resided in it. His son Sir Drue Drury, in the beginning of the reign of king Charles I. resided at the seat built by his father as before-mentioned, which he alienated to Mr. James Hugessen, merchant adventurer of Dover, who kept his shrievalty at it in the 17th year of Charles I. He was the son of James Hugessen, of Dover, merchant adventurer, who bore for his arms, Argent, on a mount vert, an oak proper, between two boars erect, sable, armed, or, as did his descendants afterwards. He died in 1646, and was buried in the chapel on the north side of the chancel of this church, which has continued the burial-place of his descendants to this time. He left six sons and one daughter, of whom William the eldest, succeeded him in this seat, and John the second son was a merchant adventurer of Dover, where a branch of this family remained many years afterwards in that line. After the restoration of king Charles II. William Hugessen, the eldest son, having removed his residence to Provender, in the adjoining parish of Norton, where he kept his shrievalty in 1671, in which year he was knighted, this house was pulled down, but the scite of it remained the property of his descendants, down to William Western Hugessen, esq. of Provender, whose two surviving daughters and coheirs, Mary, married to Edward Knatchbull, esq. who has since his father's death succeeded to the title of baronet, and Sarah, to Sir Joseph Banks, bart. since K. B. and privy counsellor, have entitled their respective husbands to the possession of it. There are still the garden walls, and some other such remains of this mansion left.

 

BUT THE MANOR AND MANSION OF SEWARDS, which is a large building, was alienated by Sir Drue Drury's heirs, about the year 1670, to William Finch, esq. though whether he was a descendant of the former owners of this name I have not found, and he died possessed of it, as appears by the court-rolls of Tenham manor, in 1672, whose heir, in 1677, alienated it to Mr. John George, in which name it continued till by a female heir, Jane George, it went in marriage to Vincent Underdowne, gent. of Dover, who was a distributor of Stamps; but he becoming greatly in arrears on that account, an extent was issued from the exchequer, and this estate continued till about the year 1773, in the hands of government, when all debts being satisfied, which were due to it, it was ordered by a decree of that court to be sold, to satisfy the costs and expences, which had accrued by the proceedings on it, which it was accordingly soon afterwards to Mr. John Smith Barling, gent. of Faversham, who died in 1795, leaving one son and two daughters, who are now entitled to it.

 

Henry Eve, D.D. vicar of this parish and of Tenham, died in 1685, possessed of a capital house, called Edwards, in Linsted, where he resided; the heirs of whose grandson of the same name, some years afterwards sold it to John Sympson, esq. of Canterbury, whose widow Mrs. Mary Sympson afterwards possessed it, on whose death it came to Mr. Baptist Sympson, whose heir is the present owner of it, but it is now in the state of a mean cottage.

 

Charities.

JOHN WESTON, of this parish, by his will in 1482, ordered, that his seoffees should make an estate to twelve of the most sufficient men of the parish, in a tenement called Goddys-house, with a garden and land adjoining, in this parish; the profits to be applied by them to find an obit yearly for ever, on the day of his anniversary, and the residue to the repair of the church for ever. And he ordered, that his seoffees should yearly permit the parishioners to occupy one piece of land, in a field called Chirchefielde, to the making a place called a pleying-place, on holy-days, and other six days, for ever, on condition that the parishioners should keep the sence of it, and the profits of the pasture of the piece of land to remain to his house, called Weston tenement, yearly for ever.— This is still called the Playstool; being a meadow of between three and four acres, and is part of the estate of Mr. Baptist Sympson. It is situated opposite the vicarage-house. There is a house belonging to Mr. Tappenden, of London, situated at the end of the vicarage meadow, called the School house. The report of the parish is, that there was once a free school there, which by some means or other the parish has been deprived of.

 

TEN SHILLINGS, in lieu of corn, is yearly paid to the poor of this parish by the lessee of the parsonage, by covenant in his lease.

 

THERE were 20s. per annum paid to the poor of this parish, out of a farm called Theobalds, near Erriot-wood. It was paid in 1695, by Mr. Tong, of Sittingborne, as it has been several times since, though it does not appear by whom. This payment has been withheld for some years pall.

 

LINSTED is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Ospringe.

 

The church, which stands on the south side of the village, is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. It is a handsome building, and consists of three isles and three chancels. The steeple, which is a spired shaft, covered with shingles, stands at the north west corner of it: in it is a ring of five bells. William Apulderfield, of Faversham, was a benefactor to it by his will anno 1487, in which he directed his wife to repair the buttresses of the wall of the church-yard, on the east side of it, and to new shingle the chapel of our Lady in the church. In the Hugessen chancel are several brass plates and monuments likewise for that family, one of them an elegant one for William-Western Hugessen, esq. obt. 1764, æt. 29, and for his widow, obt. 1774, æt. 39; against the south pillar a tablet and inscription for Rodulph Wecherlin, esq. of Championcourt, obt. 1667; in the vault underneath lies his widow, remarried to Gideon Delaune, esq. obt. 1719; a monument on the north side of the chancel for Catherine, wife of Sir Drue Drury, obt. 1601. In the Teynham chancel are monuments for John Rooper, first lord Teynham, obt. 1618, and for Christopher, lord Teynham, obt. 1622, and no others, or even gravestones for this family. In the high chancel a brass for John Aiscough, esq. justice of peace, temp. Elizabeth, obt. 1601; another for John Worley, gent. of Skuddington, in Tong, obt. 1621, and his wife; in the east window, in a pane of glass of a lozenge form, is the figure of a venerable old man bearded, clad in purple, sitting in a gilt chair, holding a book open on his right hand, from which he looks forward as speaking or exhorting.

 

The church of Linsted was antiently esteemed as a chapel to the church of Tenham, as appears by the black book of the archdeacon of Canterbury, and was given and appropriated, with that church and its appendages, in 1227, by archbishop Stephen Langton, to that archdeaconry. It has long been independent of the church of Tenham, and still continues appropriated to the archdeacon, who is likewise patron of it.

 

It is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at 8l. 3s. 11½d. and is of the yearly certified value of 70l. 12s. 4d. the yearly tenths being 16s. 4¼d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred pounds. Communicants two hundred and thirty-five.

 

¶Dr. Samuel Parker, archdeacon of Canterbury, at the instance of archbishop Sancroft, by lease, anno 27 Charles II. reserved the additional pension of ten pounds per annum to the vicar of Linsted and his successors. It pays no procurations to the archdeacon.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol6/pp296-307

A buck with unpolished antlers posing with a doe

I found him easily enough. One would like to witness some kind of abhorrent behavior or at least feel something unsavory emanating from the commission. In real life though that rarely happens, it is mostly why so many of my peers drink so much. At first the drinks come after the job to sort of soothe. Years in, and several are need before even starting because you always know whats coming and this eventually leads to the weary revelation that it may just be easier to stay drunk. As happens most of the times, he just looked like a guy sitting at the bar. Someone had punched his ticket though. I saw him get up and head to the restroom, usually a sign of getting ready to go home. Two guys went into what had to be the small bathroom before him so he diverted through the side door which lead out to the alley. I did not worry that he would just leave from there, people were superstitious in a vague way, no one wanted to walk the entire alley to get back out onto the street. Just as we are unable to explain our dislike of nails on a chalkboard, so too did this abstract mostly prevent that from happening. I heard a series if cheap champagne cork pops. No one else seemed to notice or pretended not to. I went out back to hear the last of rapid footfalls fading from down the end of the alley. The commission was laying there. He lay there, a goldfish that fell out of the bowl, mouth slowly opening and closing. He looked up at me. He was well past the point of asking for help and he knew it. Instead his eyes asked me "why" . Once I had gotten a bottle of Blue Absinthe as a birthday gift. Cecilia & I spent the entire night listening to Mahler and drinking it. When it had first hit us hard, laughing she fumbled and after much effort took her compact out of her pocketbook. Laughing, she had handed it over to me and said "Look at your eyes...". The commission's eyes now had that same look but tinged with a melancholy. The sound of the needle first hitting the record is like the exhale of that last breath.

Fini

(W.Wolfson)

 

www.waynewolfson.com

 

Not for use without permission

LT Paul Friedrich Kempf, was a pilot of Jasta 2 (Boelke). He only got 4 victories so you won't find much information on him. But because he had an elaborate paint scheme his pictures are widely seen. He was also one of the few flight leaders to servive the war. he died in the 1960's

 

Kennscht mi noch? is swabian dialect for 'Kennst Du mich noch?' , in english: Do you still remember me?. What he means is: You can't get me! or, as another writing, this time on a Fok. DVII, says: Du doch nicht!

 

Kempf was a very talkative young man and when he meets an old comrade he hasn't saw for months he walked to him, touched his shoulders and said: "Hello, I'm Fritz Kempf, we know each other from..., kennscht mi noch?" (Do you still remember me?) He adds this question nearly everytime, it was a funny habit of him. His comrades made a joke of it and asked him if he would say this to the enemy too, especially when he is in a hot dogfight. So he decided to choose this sentence as his personal marking.

 

'Kennscht mi noch' is not slang! In 'high german' the correct version is 'Kennst Du mich noch'. As Aaron said: 'Kennst' is from 'Kennen'= remember. But in Baden-Wuerttemberg and the swabian part of Bavaria this 'Kennst' is pronounced 'Kennscht' and also includes the 'Du'. It's not a slang word, but dialect. German dialects are sometimes hard to understand and differs greatly from each other. For myself I am speaking the 'franconian' variant and some time ago when I was in Switzerland and talked with my wife in 'franconian', the people around us thought we are coming from Finnland.

 

Interrupted his engineering studies to fulfill his Einjahrfreiwilliger compulsory military obligation at age 19, October 1913. Joined 5. Badisches-Infanterie Regiment Nr. 113 in Freiburg. His volunteer service was extended by outbreak of the war. He was promoted Unteroffizier on August 3, 1914 as his unit prepared to go to battle. In the fighting for the Battle of the Frontiers which seesawed back and forth around Mulhausen, Upper Alsace, Kempf was seriously wounded remaining in hospital until February 1915. During the healing process applied for a transfer to the Luftstreitkraefte arriving at FEA 3 in Gotha on May 6, 1915. He was then sent back to Freiburg for complete training and then on to Darmstadt and FEA 9 at the end of November 1915. During this time he received a number of awards/promotions for his earlier infantry service and good work in training and other duties. These are: 11-12/?/15 Iron Cross 2nd Class, 1/27/16 promoted to Vizefeldwebel, 5/21/16 received Pilot's Badge, 7/22/16 Baden's Silver Merit Medal, promoted to Leutnant on 9/9/16. Jan. 4, 1916 joins Kampfstaffel 20 of Kampfgeschwader 4. Participates in Verdun and Somme battles. Unit transferred from the Western Front and goes east and is attached to Halbgeschwader I and supports the drive to capture Bucharest in the Rumanian campaign. After the fall of Bucharest the unit is transferred to Macedonia. Kempf's squadron mate is Hermann Frommherz. The unit is then transferred west in late February 1917. 3/20/17 Kempf receives Iron Cross 1st Class and is transferred to Jasta Boelcke. Frommherz is already there a week earlier. Kempf is recorded as scoring victories on these dates: 4/30/17 a BE2d, 6/5/17 Sopwith Pup, 10/20/17 Sopwith Camel. He receives another decoration, Bulgarian Military Merit Order w/ War Decoration. Assigned 10/20/17 to Jastaschule I at Valenciennes for duty at the flight school until 1/30/18. Kempf scores again on 5/8/18 another Sopwith Camel. His last victory. He is awarded another decoration, the Knight 2nd Class with Swords of the Zaehringen Lion. On 8/18/18 Kempf is detached from Jasta B and returns to Jastaschule I and finishes out the war there. His final award of the war comes two days before his return home, the Wound Badge in Black for his wounding four years earlier in the infantry.

Taken for 52 weeks for dogs. Jake. Against the fall leaves on our WNC vacation. Jake was studying some people about to take off on a trip- he's such a curious fellow-- so focused when there is some point of interest. Today was such a glorious sunny, blue sky day. Many of the leaves are gone from the trees, at the higher elevations, where I am. But there are still a few leaves left. Jake loves it here. I know- another head shot. I'll include in the first comment below- a partial body shot of Jake at the waterfall, where we hiked. I can't let Jake off leash on hikes. He eats things he shouldn't and gets sick if I do. He is too curious about other dogs and wild life. So it's very hard to let him be off leash, outside (where my camera works best),, to get his whole body in a shot. Darn.

 

Taken 10/13/11, Uploaded 10/23/11, 2011 10 23_zTSBS82pctLevelsScreen30pctEnhanceDDLevelsJake Treespots WNC dogs_7428

 

If you wish, view "my own favorites" of my photostream

 

Or view all of my Photostream, sorted by Interestingness: <a href="http://fiveprime.org/flickr_hvmnd.cgi?search_domain=User&textinput=louise+lindsay&search_type=Search+User&photo_number=50&photo_"

1968; The Big Gold Dream by Chester Himes. Cover Photograph by Dennis Rolfe.

A boy in “duma-Syria” Ride a bicycle and his family behind him

My friend Andreas let me photograph him. I love this picture since it gives a warm, cozy feeling with the sunset and the pose of Andreas. Especially with this "colour paper" filter.

 

I actually cannot describe how it makes me feel. If I'd have to describe it with one word, it would be "Awesome" (haha)

  

A quick visit to my resident yellow orb weaver found him with a yellow tiger swallowtail. Kept watch through the day, see below, mid-day, late afternoon. I guess he finished his breakfast.

The “Real” KOM League

Flash Report for

Week of October 9, 2016

  

On October 6, 2016 a preliminary report was posted at: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/30037985332/ At that time I mentioned that some updating would be done in the next 24 hours. One of the things mentioned in the report was Billy Hoeft and the relationship to Don Biebel. In the report Biebel was urged to get in touch and provide some comments about his boyhood friend and high school teammate. Biebel read the report, at his Sacramento, CA estate, and it started a three way e-mail party among him, Bill O’Donnell of Durham, NC and myself, right here in Columbia, MO. Like most things that get mentioned in these reports they expand. The story turns out to involve a number of young men from Oshkosh, Wisconsin’s high school baseball team of 1949. Three of them made it to the major leagues in ways some people might never guess. So, to be up to speed for the next Flash Report, you might wish to study up on William Frederick Hoeft, Donald Floyd Biebel and Laurence Henry “Dutch” Rennert.

 

To make it easy to do your research here are a few links to the aforementioned trio:

Don Biebel

www.google.com/search?rls=aso&client=gmail&q=dutc...

Billy Hoeft

www.google.com/search?rls=aso&client=gmail&q=dutc...

Dutch Rennert

www.google.com/search?rls=aso&client=gmail&q=dutc...

 

And, while you are looking ahead you might wish to take a look back, one decade, to a story found in the Columbia, Missouri Tribune from September of 2006. One recipient of this report is Bill Clark and he doesn’t have a computer. His son prints these reports and gives them to him. So Casey doesn’t need to print out the following link. Bill you can go back to your old files and dig out the one wrote wrote about the KOM league reunion in 2006 at Carthage, Missouri.

archive.columbiatribune.com/2006/sep/20060920Feat001.asp

_____________________________________________________________________________

Recommended reading

 

If you are limited in your time and interest in reading this report I suggest you go directly to the obituary of Vincent Nicholas Kokenge and see how it dovetails to the obituary shared seven years ago with that of Martin Claude Reisch. Each pitched for the 1947 Chanute Athletics and probably the only game Reisch ever started, Kokenge finished.

 

As with most reports an attempt is made to include a photo of the team on which a deceased member played. Vince Kokenge and Martin Reisch may or may not have been present when the 1947 Chanute A’s team photo was taken. There are two players in the back row that I have not been able to identify even with the help of five guys who are in that photo. www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/30037985332/

Here are those who were there when the “family” portrait was taken:

Front Row: Earl Anstaett, Lou Bejma, Bobby Johnson, Jack Jordan and Francis Urban.

Middle Row: Sam Dixon, Sheldon Lewis, Charles Kunkle, Don Phillips and Bob Phillips.

Back Row: Team President W. C. McCullough, Joe Eperasy, Rex Simpson, Unidentified, Unidentified (Possibly, Vince Kokenge), Bernie Tye, Jake Thies and Charles Bates-Manager.

 

There are two -major league players in that photo. One had been there and the other headed in that direction. If you don’t know who they were look it up. If you are still stumped and interested in knowing, let me know.

______________________________________________________________________________

A personal request:

 

Put yourself in this scene. It is a cold, dark morning on December 1. You are a member of a service club and it meets before the sun comes over the horizon and you are expected to drive to the meeting site, sign in, listen to a few announcements, eat breakfast and listen to some old guy drone on about something that happened when Harry Truman was President of these United States. Gosh, I miss Harry. By the way Harry Truman was in the same town, Columbia, Mo., where the presentation will be made, when Franklin Roosevelt died.

 

Back to the issue. Put yourself in the place of the service club members who have to appear to be interested in what the speaker has to say that has been lined up by the program committee chairman. On top of that that speaker appeared before that same group three years earlier.

 

Now, put yourself in the shoes of the speaker. The chances are the same speech could be presented once again but since the speaker is senile he can’t recall what was presented. Most likely a few members of the service club would remember and they’d either leave in disgust or heckle the speaker off the platform.

 

So, in short, that is where Yours truly stands, or sits, as the case may be, as his last appearance in a public forum rapidly approaches. The most daunting task of any speaker is to follow the three “C’s” of public speaking. If you need a refresher they are: Clear, Concise and Ceated.”

 

Now I come to my point. If you were in an audience to hear a speaker talk about something that transpired 63-70 years ago and only knew the general topic was about baseball, what questions would you pose? Tough job, right? Well, I’m asking my “vast” e-mail family to join me at the service club. No, no, not in person but by sending along a question or two that you would ask if you had to get up early and trudge through the early dawn hours in order to keep your perfect attendance record intact.

 

If you send a question, that is selected to use in my presentation, you will be given full credit for your effort and if you happened to have played professional baseball I will even embellish your career by 10 or 15 points in batting average or a have a dozen more wins tacked on if you were a pitcher.

 

There are no restrictions to the kind of questions that will be considered. I fully expect about six people to respond to this request and with that I’ll probably use my verbosity skills to fill the full 30 minute time requirement and maybe empty a meeting hall in a lot less time than that. Send me a question or two. Thanks!!!

_____________________________________________________________________________

Vincent Kokenge

 

www.legacy.com/obituaries/argusleader/obituary.aspx?n=Vin...

 

Sioux Falls, SD ~ Vincent N. Kokenge, 93, died on 9/28/16.

 

Funeral services will begin at 11 AM on Friday, 10/7/16 at George Boom Funeral Home in Sioux Falls. Visitation will begin at 5 PM on Thursday at the funeral home with the family present to greet friends from 5-7 PM. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation.

Vincent Nicholas was born on Sept.12, 1923 in Sioux County, IA to Joseph & Catherine (Kellen) Kokenge. He was raised and received his education in Sioux County attending and graduating from Paullina High School in 1941. It was as a child that Vince developed a love of baseball. Playing ball out of Granville, IA Catholic High School, Vince eventually signed to play minor league baseball with the New York Yankees organization in Quincy, IL. That dream of the "bigs" did not come to pass, but he did spend several years in Iowa and Nebraska as a baseball player. From baseball Vince moved on to throwing a hook from the left side as a bowler. In 1989 Vince was inducted into the South Dakota Bowlers Association Hall of Fame.

Vince was united in marriage with Delores Kroeger on 11/10, 1947. In 1967 he started Kokenge Painting Service, a business he owned and operated until his retirement in 1988.

Grateful for having shared his life are his wife, Delores Kokenge; 6 children: Mike (Marcia) Kokenge, Larry (Colleen) Kokenge, Kathy (Jim) Lang, Cindi (Tony) Ruggiero, Pam (Jeff) Cox, and Ron (Barb) Kokenge; daughter-in-law, Michelle Ward; 22 grandchildren; 40 great grandchildren; 2 great-great grandchildren; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Vince is preceded in death by his parents; son, Douglas Kokenge; and brothers: Raymond and Virgil Kokenge.

 

Ed comment:

 

A couple of notes were received about the death of Mr. Kokenge and I shared this with Jack Morris, baseball necrologist. “Vince gave me a lesson on how to pronounce his name many years ago. The "g" is silent and he told me to say the word ‘cocaine’ and I'd be pronouncing his name correctly. Baseball Reference didn't show what handed he was but he was a lefty.”

 

Baseball Reference officials aren’t going to change anything without some type of documentation and I shared this newspaper quote from the Iola, Kansas Register. For documenting that fact it is contained in the Iola Register. June 28, 1947--Vince Kokenge. a lefty, who lost to lola 5-3 Wednesday night, was called on to finish the game and he performed reasonably well. He retired his first two batters, but Hal Fortine then drove a triple to left to. score (Ken) Aubrey and (Bill) Chandler.

 

A little more background. Kokenge was the batboy for the Sioux City Cowboys of the Western league in the mid-1930's. He was the batboy while Hal Luby was on that team. I suspect that was 1935-36. While with the Chanute A’s, in 1947, Kokenge posted a 3-6 record. His nickname with his teammates was Cocaine.

 

With the death of Vince Kokenge the number of former 1947 Chanute A’s players, still living, are down to four: Gerald Cross—Ft. Smith, Ark., Sam Dixon—Lawrence, Kans., Robert H. Peel—Hutchinson, Kans., and Frank Urban former Carthage resident who now lives in Springfield, Mo.

 

Bob Peel has long operated a women’s cosmetic supply company in Hutchinson, Kansas and has traveled the world in that capacity. However, nothing comes close to an experience he had in 1985 from Oct. 7 thru 10. He was aboard the Italian cruise ship, the Achille Lauro, when it was hijacked by Palestinian Liberation Front thugs. He saw the entire episode unfold, even the death of Leon Klinghoffer. Don’t have space to rewrite that event from 31 years ago this week but here is a refresher course site: www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&am...

 

One member of the 1947 team was never found. His name was Rice Martin. He attended the University of Missouri in the spring of 1947 and then showed up in Chanute for a short time. The Chanute newspaper said that he attended Missouri University and listed his hometown as St. Louis but no trace of him was ever found.

 

Could this be Rice Martin? After looking at the 1947 Chanute roster for over two decades something finally clicked in that vacant spot above my shoulders. The only instance that I ever found the name, Rice Martin, was in a Chanute sports column. However, there was a Martin Claude Reisch who was born 8/27/1924 in St. Louis. He was in the Army from 7/5/1943 to 4/8/1946. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that he went to the University of Missouri in 1947. Reisch appeared in the same May 28, 1947 sports column as does the late Vince Kokenge.

May 28, 1947--Chanute's starting pitcher, Martin Reisch, pitched only to four batters —Bugs Redden, who doubled, Paul Box, who singled, Ken Aubrey a walk and Bill Chandler, who singled. Two scored on Chandler's hit. Vince Kokenge, a lefty, who lost to lola 5-3 Wednesday night, was called on to finish the game and he performed' reasonably well. He retired his first two batters, but Hal Fortine then drove a triple to left to score (Ken) Aubrey and (Bill) Chandler.

 

Conclusion: After 25 years of carrying Rice Martin, on my database of Chanute A’s, I officially and ceremoniously deleted his name this past week. The person was Martin Claude Reisch and he passed away June 17, 2009 in Ft. Worth, Texas. Although, I’m not 100% sure, those four Iola batters he faced on May 27, 1947 may well have represented his entire professional baseball career. When I spoke with Reisch some 20 years ago our conversation didn’t cover that subject.

 

In the August 4, 2009 edition of this seldom seen and even less often read publication I shared the obituary of Reisch. Four months after his passing his wife also died. Here is Martin’s obituary:

 

***

Martin Claude Reisch, 84, retired news bureau manager for Bell Helicopter Textron, died Monday, June 8, 2009.

Service: Memorial Mass will be at 2:30 p.m. Friday, June 19, with rosary at 2, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 2016 Willis Lane, Keller.

Martin was born Aug. 27, 1924, in St. Louis, Mo. He pitched in baseball's minor leagues alongside some up-and-comers including Yogi Berra. A veteran of World War II, Martin was called to serve under Gen. Patton following the D-Day landing at Normandy.

After the war, Martin moved to Denver, Colo., where he met and married Elodie. He was the first civilian to work at the U.S. Air Force Academy, serving as sports publicity director. He later joined the Rocky Mountain News as sports columnist. During this time, he also wrote a weekly sports column for the Denver Catholic Register and hosted a bowling radio show interviewing personalities such as Don Carter. In 1966, Martin moved to Fort Worth to join Bell Helicopter Textron as chief of national media. He retired from Bell after 21 years.

Martin was always active in church and school activities. He coached Little League, was an assistant Cub Scout master, headed parish committees, and was a longtime member of the Knights of Columbus.

Martin and his wife of 60 years, Elodie, traveled the world together and enjoyed spoiling their many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his son, John Reisch.

As a final act of generosity, he has willed his body to the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth to be used for educational purposes.

Survivors: His wife, Elodie; children, Norman and wife, Pat, of Colorado, Jim and wife, Sandy, of Dallas, Bill and wife, Betty, of Bedford, Mary Colette and husband, Don McCall, of Mansfield, Madonna Trujillo of Fort Worth, Annette and husband, Frank Kearns, of Bedford; 12 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Published in Star-Telegram on 6/17/2009

For a photo of Mr. Reisch you can go to the following URL and it will also contain the obituary that is included in this report.

www.legacy.com/obituaries/dfw/obituary.aspx?n=martin-clau...

(Ed note: There is a possibility that URL is no longer active, since this posting seven years ago.)

 

Ed note:

(This note was also written seven years ago at the time Reisch’s obituary was posted.)

 

Just so the readership knows that I know, one aspect of the obituary is not factually correct. The statement made that he played in baseball’s minor leagues with Yogi Berra is incorrect. Reisch may have played against Berra in St. Louis kid team baseball, but I cannot document that either. Some of you former St. Louisans my remember Reisch and you can fill me in on his non-professional history.

 

For Reisch to have played against Berra, in the professional ranks, old Yogi would have had to have played in the KOM League. Reisch’s career with Chanute was less than five games as a pitcher, in 1947. The Chanute newspaper from that era reported that Reisch’s nickname was “Specs.” Of course, the wearing of glasses was rare in that era and organizations frowned upon young ballplayers wearing them. Bob Field played for Miami, Okla., in 1946, and he told me it nearly cost him a chance to play for that club due to wearing spectacles

 

A quote from the September 17, 1957—Long Beach, Independent. Ken Sanders, UCLA grid boss, said "I doubt if anyone could name any players on the Air Force Academy team which UCLA plays Friday night, but we could because we wanted some of them . . . namely halfback George Pupich and guard John Dolan.”.. ..” “The Air Force is going after the same type of kids we are…good scholars who can run off tackle!" said Martin Reisch, Air Force Academy publicity chief.

__________________________________________________________________________.

Comments about last week’s report

 

Well you outdid yourself!! This one will take a while to go thru everything! Will start with the pictures of Alphie - boy has he grown up.

 

Know my Pop is reading over my shoulder with the rest - so many names of so many guys he would recall & some I even recognize after following the Hall reports.

Am recovering from stem cell injections into right knee week ago Tuesday. Used bone marrow & fat this time so am hopeful it will do the job. Dang arthritis is a literal pain!!

Keep these reports coming. The "crossing Johnny Hall" has a great ring!!—Barb Eichhorst—St. Louis.

 

***

`nother good one john Jim Skog—Davenport, Iowa

 

Ed reply:

 

Thanks for the encouragement. One other reader has also said he enjoyed it. That would be Walt Babcock. I think you two got together on this one.

 

***

A good read after your no report time. How did you get in the Carthage stadium with your grandson? I wanted to get in a couple of years ago to see the blue seats with the plaques on them. Weren't they acquired from Atlanta? Because of your mother's story, I know how you do enjoy fried green tomatoes. Immediate mystery: World Series and November election results. Jim Jay-Kansas City A’s batboy 1956-57

 

Ed reply:

 

I got in the Carthage Stadium for I knew where the keys were. Alan Bull was overseeing the place and I went over to his office on the park grounds and told him I wanted in.

 

I don't much care who plays in the World Series so I can't care much who wins. I know who is playing in the other fall classic and I do know where I stand on that subject. In fact, I don't believe anyone is undecided. I think some people use the line of "undecided" line in order to get attention or to be paid for their vote. Yes, money does go to people to vote for certain individuals. In fact, when I get those harassing robo calls I ask the person if their candidate is prepared to pay me more than their opponent has promised.

 

I never answer a telephone poll, honestly. Last time I was a 25-year old female Latino who is leaning toward Gary Johnson.

 

****

 

Hi John--Enjoyed all the stories of (Darryl) Strawberry, (Dick) Wakefield etc. I grew up 20 miles from Rochester, NY and remember when Johnny Antonelli got the big bonus of about 50K, I believe. That sure sparked me with enthusiasm for my own pitching dreams.

One of the great HS pitchers was Billy Hoeft of Oshkosh HS (Wis) I think he graduated in 50 or 51. Signed with Detroit. Had a 15 year MLB career.

Thanks for all of your writing for us baseball junkies ! -- Bill O—Durham, NC

P. S.

The mind is a weird thing. Inside it I am about 18 looking at myself be 82.

 

Ed reply:

 

Thanks for the comments. I recognize all the names you mentioned I agree with that statement about 18 and 82. It reminds me of the little boy sitting on the curb crying. An older man came up and asked the boy why he was crying and the reply was "I can't do what the big boys do." At that moment the old man sat down beside the boy and commenced crying with him.

 

Ed comment:

 

Billy Hoeft’s high school catcher was Don Biebel. Biebel was signed by the Chicago Cubs and by virtue of that was assigned to Carthage, Mo. for part of the 1950 season and all of 1951. Don managed in the Cub organization after his time looking after me on road trips and making sure I had something to eat, especially at Miami, OK one night. He wound up be the traveling secretary for the Chicago Cubs as well as the last public relations director for the Kansas City A’s. I still call him a friend when he takes the time to read these reports and responds. Come on Don, send me a note about Hoeft.

 

***

I could read this type of material and stories forever as I long to remember the (Baxter Springs) Whiz Kids and setting in the stands and watching games as a toddler. My dad told me many stories about what was going on later in life.

 

My cousins came down from Iowa and they were older. Back then they used to give out snow cones or popsicles for baseballs returned to the concession stand. As we were getting ready to go home the floor board in the back seat was covered with baseballs. My cousins told my father that they got tired of eating them and just put the balls in the backseat. He of course made them return them. Thomas Drake

  

***

 

JOHN, I SEEM TO REMEMBER MICKEY ROBERTS FROM MY STAY IN CARTHAGE IN 1951. DID HE GO TO THE U. OF MISSOURI AND HAVE A SISTER ABOUT MY AGE. I BELIEVE I MET HIM ON THE OCCASIONS HE WOULD COME HOME TO CARTHAGE FROM COLLEGE. MAYBE A BAD MEMORY. WALT Babcock—Cape Cod, Mass.

 

Ed reply:

 

You probably are thinking about Terry Roberts who was Mickey's cousin.. He attended MU on a football scholarship and was an All Big Seven lineman. Mickey didn't graduate from high school until 1952. He may have come around with some of the guys you ran with such as Jim McKinney, Charlie Scott and Danny Woodward. Mike didn't have any sisters.

 

Babcock’s reply:

 

THANKS, FOR REVIVING MY MEMORY. YOU ARE CORRECT. THANKS, WALT

 

Ed reply:

 

I'm correct, as always, right?

____________________________________________________________________________

A former Independence Yankee-- John M. Bachar Jr. still churning out the numbers.

 

A member of the 1947 Independence Yankee pitching staff was John M. Bachar Jr. not to be confused with Medar Joseph Backers another pitcher on that team. Bachar was born in Chicago in 1928 and Backers in Detroit in 1927. Over the years I communicated with Backers who died in St. Clair, Mich. in 2010.

 

For many years Bachar has been a statistical guru in the California system of higher education and now writes for Progressive Magazine in his emeritus status. While playing in the KOM league he was a student at Northwestern University. If you want to know more about him here is a link. www.laprogressive.com/author/john-m-bachar-jr/

______________________________________________________________________________

Once again, the conclusion

 

Defying all the odds of time and finding material about an old league that went belly up at the end of the 1952 baseball season, this concludes another report. Will there be another one? The answer to that question basically depends upon the feedback received.

 

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin [nb 1] (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet Air Forces pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space, achieving a major milestone in the Space Race; his capsule Vostok 1 completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961. Gagarin became an international celebrity and was awarded many medals and titles, including Hero of the Soviet Union, his nation's highest honour.

 

Vostok 1 was Gagarin's only spaceflight but he served as the backup crew to the Soyuz 1 mission, which ended in a fatal crash, killing his friend and fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. Gagarin later served as the deputy training director of the Cosmonaut Training Centre, which was subsequently named after him. He was elected as a deputy to the Soviet of the Union in 1962 and then to the Soviet of Nationalities, respectively the lower and upper chambers of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Gagarin died in 1968 when the MiG-15 training jet he was piloting with his flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin crashed near the town of Kirzhach.

Contents

 

1 Early life and education

2 Soviet Air Force service

3 Soviet space program

3.1 Selection and training

3.2 Vostok 1

4 After the Vostok 1 flight

5 Personal life

6 Death

7 Awards and honours

7.1 Medals and orders of merit

7.2 Tributes

7.3 Statues and monuments

7.4 50th anniversary

8 See also

9 Notes

10 References

10.1 Sources

11 Further reading

12 External links

 

Early life and education

 

Yuri Gagarin was born 9 March 1934 in the village of Klushino,[1] near Gzhatsk (renamed Gagarin in 1968 after his death).[2] His parents worked on a collective farm:[3] Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin as a carpenter and Anna Timofeyevna Gagarina as a dairy farmer.[nb 2][4] Yuri was the third of four children: his siblings were brothers Valentin (1924) and Boris (1936), and sister Zoya (1927).[5][6]

 

Like millions of Soviet Union citizens, the Gagarin family suffered during the Nazi occupation of Russia during World War II. Klushino was occupied in November 1941 during the German advance on Moscow and a German officer took over the Gagarin residence. The family were allowed to build a mud hut approximately 3 by 3 metres (10 by 10 ft) inside on the land behind their house, where they spent twenty-one months until the end of the occupation.[7] His two older siblings were deported by the Germans to Poland for slave labour in 1943 and did not return until after the war in 1945.[5][8] In 1946, the family moved to Gzhatsk, where Gagarin continued his secondary education.[7]

 

In 1950, aged 16, Gagarin began an apprenticeship as a foundryman at the Lyubertsy steel plant near Moscow,[5][8] and enrolled at a local "young workers" school for seventh-grade evening classes.[9] After graduating in 1951 from both the seventh grade and the vocational school with honours in mouldmaking and foundry work,[9] he was selected for further training at the Saratov Industrial Technical School, where he studied tractors.[5][8][10] While in Saratov, Gagarin volunteered at a local flying club for weekend training as a Soviet air cadet, where he trained to fly a biplane, and later a Yak-18.[8][10] He earned extra money as a part-time dock labourer on the Volga River.[7]

Soviet Air Force service

 

In 1955, Gagarin was accepted to the 1st Chkalovsky Higher Air Force Pilots School, a flight school in Orenburg.[11][12] He initially began training on the Yak-18 already familiar to him and later graduated to training on the MiG-15 in February 1956.[11] Gagarin twice struggled to land the two-seater trainer aircraft, and risked dismissal from pilot training. However, the commander of the regiment decided to give him another chance at landing. Gagarin's flight instructor gave him a cushion to sit on, which improved his view from the cockpit, and he landed successfully. Having completed his evaluation in a trainer aircraft,[13] Gagarin began flying solo in 1957.[5]

 

On 5 November 1957, Gagarin was commissioned a lieutenant in the Soviet Air Forces having accumulated 166 hours and 47 minutes of flight time. He graduated from flight school the next day and was posted to the Luostari airbase close to the Norwegian border in Murmansk Oblast for a two-year assignment with the Northern Fleet.[14] On 7 July 1959, he was rated Military Pilot 3rd Class.[15] After expressing interest in space exploration following the launch of Luna 3 on 6 October 1959, his recommendation to the Soviet space program was endorsed and forward by Lieutenant Colonel Babushkin.[14][16] By this point, he had accumulated 265 hours of flight time.[14] Gagarin was promoted to the rank of senior lieutenant on 6 November 1959,[15] three weeks after he was interviewed by a medical commission for qualification to the space program.[14]

Soviet space program

Selection and training

See also: Vostok programme

Vostok I capsule on display at the RKK Energiya museum

 

Gagarin's selection for the Vostok programme was overseen by the Central Flight Medical Commission led by Major General Konstantin Fyodorovich Borodin of the Soviet Army Medical Service. He underwent physical and psychological testing conducted at Central Aviation Scientific-Research Hospital, in Moscow, commanded by Colonel A.S. Usanov, a member of the commission. The commission also included Colonel Yevgeniy Anatoliyevich Karpov, who later commanded the training centre, Colonel Vladimir Ivanovich Yazdovskiy, the head physician for Gagarin's flight, and Major-General Aleksandr Nikolayevich Babiychuk, a physician flag officer on the Soviet Air Force General Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Air Force.[17]

 

From a pool of 154 qualified pilots short-listed by their Air Force units, the military physicians chose 29 cosmonaut candidates, of which 20 were approved by the Credential Committee of the Soviet Government. The first twelve including Gagarin were approved on 7 March 1960 and eight more were added in a series of subsequent orders issued until June.[18] Gagarin began training at the Khodynka Airfield in downtown Moscow on 15 March 1960. The training regiment involved vigorous and repetitive physical exercises which Alexei Leonov, a member of the initial group of twelve, described as akin to training for the Olympics Games.[19] In April 1960, they began parachute training in Saratov Oblast and each completed about 40 to 50 jumps from both low and high altitude, and over land and water.[20]

 

Gagarin was a candidate favoured by his peers. When they were asked to vote anonymously for a candidate besides themselves they would like to be the first to fly, all but three chose Gagarin.[21] One of these candidates, Yevgeny Khrunov, believed that Gagarin was very focused and was demanding of himself and others when necessary.[22] On 30 May 1960, Gagarin was further selected for an accelerated training group, known as the Vanguard Six or Sochi Six,[23][nb 3] from which the first cosmonauts of the Vostok programme would be chosen. The other members of the group were Anatoliy Kartashov, Andriyan Nikolayev, Pavel Popovich, German Titov, and Valentin Varlamov. However, Kartashov and Varlamov were injured and replaced by Khrunov and Grigoriy Nelyubov.[25]

 

As several of the candidates selected for the program including Gagarin did not have higher education degrees, they were enrolled into a correspondence course program at Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. Gagarin enrolled in the program in September 1960 and did not earn his specialist diploma until early 1968.[26][27] Gagarin was also subjected to experiments that were designed to test physical and psychological endurance including oxygen starvation tests in which the cosmonauts were locked in an isolation chamber and the air slowly pumped out. He also trained for the upcoming flight by experiencing g-forces in a centrifuge.[28][25] Psychological tests included placing the candidates in an anechoic chamber in complete isolation; Gagarin was in the chamber on July 26 – August 5.[29][20] In August 1960, a Soviet Air Force doctor evaluated his personality as follows:

 

Modest; embarrasses when his humor gets a little too racy; high degree of intellectual development evident in Yuriy; fantastic memory; distinguishes himself from his colleagues by his sharp and far-ranging sense of attention to his surroundings; a well-developed imagination; quick reactions; persevering, prepares himself painstakingly for his activities and training exercises, handles celestial mechanics and mathematical formulae with ease as well as excels in higher mathematics; does not feel constrained when he has to defend his point of view if he considers himself right; appears that he understands life better than a lot of his friends.[21]

 

The Vanguard Six were given the title of pilot-cosmonaut in January 1961[25] and entered a two-day examination conducted by a special interdepartmental commission led Lieutenant-General Nikolai Kamanin, tasked with ranking of the candidates based on their mission readiness for the first human Vostok mission. On 17 January 1961, they were tested in a simulator at the M. M. Gromov Flight-Research Institute on a full-size mockup of the Vostok capsule. Gagarin, Nikolayev, Popovich, and Titov all received excellent marks on the first day of testing in which they were required to describe the various phases of the mission followed by questions from commission.[22] On the second day, they were given a written examination following which the special commission ranked Gagarin as the best candidate the first mission. He and the next two highest-ranked cosmonauts, Titov and Nelyubov, were sent to Tyuratam for final preparations.[22] Gagarin and Titov were selected to train in the flight-ready spacecraft on 7 April 1961. Historian Asif Siddiqi writes of the final selection:[30]

 

In the end, at the State Commission meeting on April 8, Kamanin stood up and formally nominated Gagarin as the primary pilot and Titov as his backup. Without much discussion, the commission approved the proposal and moved on to other last-minute logistical issues. It was assumed that in the event Gagarin developed health problems prior to liftoff, Titov would take his place, with Nelyubov acting as his backup.

 

Vostok 1

Main article: Vostok 1

 

Poyekhali!

Menu

0:00

Gagarin's voice

Problems playing this file? See media help.

 

On 12 April 1961, 6:07 am UTC, the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1) spacecraft was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Aboard was Gagarin, the first human to travel into space, using the call sign Kedr (Russian: Кедр, Siberian pine or Cedar).[31] The radio communication between the launch control room and Gagarin included the following dialogue at the moment of rocket launch:

 

Korolev: Preliminary stage ... intermediate... main... LIFT-OFF! We wish you a good flight. Everything's all right.

 

Gagarin: Off we go! Goodbye, until [we meet] soon, dear friends.[32][33]

 

Gagarin's farewell to Korolev using the informal phrase Poyekhali! (Russian: Поехали!)[nb 4] later became a popular expression in the Eastern Bloc that was used to refer to the beginning of the Space Age.[35][36] The five first-stage engines fired until the first separation event, when the four side-boosters fell away, leaving the core engine. The core stage then separated while the rocket was in a suborbital trajectory, and the upper stage carried it to orbit. Once the upper stage finished firing, it separated from the spacecraft, which orbited for 108 minutes before returning to Earth in Kazakhstan.[37] Gagarin became the first to orbit the Earth.[31]

File:1961-04-19 First Pictures-Yuri Gagarin-selection.ogvPlay media

An April 1961 newsreel of Gagarin arriving in Moscow to be greeted by First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev.

 

"The feeling of weightlessness was somewhat unfamiliar compared with Earth conditions. Here, you feel as if you were hanging in a horizontal position in straps. You feel as if you are suspended", Gagarin wrote in his post-flight report.[38] He also wrote in his autobiography released the same year that he sang the tune "The Motherland Hears, The Motherland Knows" (Russian: "Родина слышит, Родина знает") during re-entry.[39] Gagarin was qualified a Military Pilot 1st Class and promoted to the rank of major in a special order given during his flight.[15][39]

 

At about 23,000 feet (7,000 m), Gagarin ejected from the descending capsule as planned and landed using a parachute. There were concerns Gagarin's spaceflight record would not be certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the world governing body for setting standards and keeping records in the field, which at the time required that the pilot land with the craft.[40] Gagarin and Soviet officials initially refused to admit that he had not landed with his spacecraft,[41] an omission which became apparent after Titov's subsequent flight on Vostok 2 four months later. Gagarin's spaceflight records were nonetheless certified and again reaffirmed by the FAI, which revised it rules, and acknowledge that the crucial steps of the safe launch, orbit, and return of the pilot had been accomplished. Gagarin continues to be internationally recognised as the first human in space and first to orbit the Earth.[42]

After the Vostok 1 flight

Gagarin in Warsaw, 1961

 

Gagarin's flight was a triumph for the Soviet space program and he became a national hero of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, as well as a worldwide celebrity. Newspapers around the globe published his biography and details of his flight. He was escorted in a long motorcade of high-ranking officials through the streets of Moscow to the Kremlin where, in a lavish ceremony, Nikita Khrushchev awarded him the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Other cities in the Soviet Union also held mass demonstrations, the scale of which were second only to World War II Victory Parades.[43]

Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova (seated to his right) sign autographs in 1964

 

Gagarin gained a reputation as an adept public figure and was noted for his charismatic smile.[44][45][46] On 15 April 1961, accompanied by official from the Soviet Academy of Sciences, he answered questions at a press conference in Moscow reportedly attended by 1,000 reporters.[47] Gagarin visited the United Kingdom three months after the Vostok 1 mission, going to London and Manchester.[48][44] While in Manchester, despite heavy rain, he refused an umbrella, insisted that the roof of the convertible car he was riding in remain open, and stood so the cheering crowds could see him.[44][49] Gagarin toured widely abroad, accepting the invitation of about 30 countries.[50] In just the first four months, he also went to Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Hungary, and Iceland.[51]

 

In 1962, Gagarin began serving as a deputy to the Soviet of the Union,[52] and was elected to the Central Committee of the Young Communist League. He later returned to Star City, the cosmonaut facility, where he spent several years working on designs for a reusable spacecraft. He became a lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Forces on 12 June 1962, and received the rank of colonel on 6 November 1963.[15] On 20 December 1963, Gagarin became Deputy Training Director of the Star City cosmonaut training base.[53] Soviet officials, including cosmonaut overseerer Nikolai Kamanin, tried to keep Gagarin away from any flights, being worried about losing their hero in an accident noting that he was "too dear to mankind to risk his life for the sake of an ordinary space flight".[54] Kamanin was also concerned by Gagarin's drinking and believed the sudden rise to fame had taken its toll on the cosmonaut. While acquaintances say Gagarin had been a "sensible drinker", his touring schedule placed him in social situations in which he was increasingly expected to drink alcohol.[5][10]

Gagarin with U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey, French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou and the Gemini 4 astronauts at the 1965 Paris Air Show

 

Two years later, he was re-elected as a deputy of the Soviet Union but this time to the Soviet of Nationalities, the upper chamber of legislature.[52] The following year, he began to re-qualify as a fighter pilot[55] and was backup pilot for his friend Vladimir Komarov on the Soyuz 1 flight after five years without piloting duty. Kamanin had opposed Gagarin's reassignment to cosmonaut training; he had gained weight and his flying skills had deteriorated. Despite this, he remained a strong contender for Soyuz 1 until he was replaced by Komarov in April 1966 and reassigned to Soyuz 3.[56]

 

The Soyuz 1 launch was rushed due to implicit political pressures[57] and despite Gagarin's protests that additional safety precautions were necessary.[58] Gagarin accompanied Komarov to the rocket before launch and relayed instructions to Komarov from ground control following multiple system failures aboard the spacecraft.[59] Despite their best efforts, Soyuz 1 crash landed after its parachutes failed to open, killing Komarov instantly.[60] After the Soyuz 1 crash, Gagarin was permanently banned from training for and participating in further spaceflights.[61] He was also grounded from flying aircraft solo, a demotion he worked hard to lift. He was temporarily relieved of duties to focus on academics with the promise that he would be able to resume flight training.[62] On 17 February 1968, Gagarin successfully defended his aerospace engineering thesis on the subject of spaceplane aerodynamic configuration and graduated cum laude from Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy.[27][63][62]

Personal life

Gagarin and his wife Valentina clapping at a concert in Moscow in 1964.

Gagarin and his wife Valentina at a concert in Moscow in 1964.

 

Gagarin was a keen sportsman and fond of ice hockey as a goal keeper.[64] He was also a basketball fan and coached the Saratov Industrial Technical School team, as well as being a referee.[65]

 

In 1957, while a cadet in flight school, Gagarin met Valentina Goryacheva at the May Day celebrations at the Red Square in Moscow.[66] She was a medical technician who graduated from Orenburg Medical School.[8][10] They were married on 7 November 1957,[8] the same day Gagarin graduated from Orenburg, and they had two daughters.[67][68] Yelena Yurievna Gagarina, born 1959,[68] is an art historian who has worked as the director-general of the Moscow Kremlin Museums since 2001;[69][70] and Galina Yurievna Gagarina, born 1961,[68] is a professor of economics and the department chair at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics in Moscow.[69][71] Following his rise to fame, at a Black Sea resort in September 1961, he was reportedly caught by his wife during a liaison with a nurse who had aided him after a boating incident. He attempted to escape through a window and jumped off a second floor balcony. The resulting injury left a permanent scar above his left eyebrow.[5][10]

Death

Plaque on a brick wall with inscription: Юрий Алексеевич Гагарин, 1934-03-09–1968-03-27

Plaque indicating Gagarin's interment in the Kremlin Wall

 

On 27 March 1968, while on a routine training flight from Chkalovsky Air Base, Gagarin and flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin died when their MiG-15UTI crashed near the town of Kirzhach. The bodies of Gagarin and Seryogin were cremated and their ashes were buried in the walls of the Kremlin.[72] Wrapped in secrecy, the cause of the crash that killed Gagarin is uncertain and became the subject of several theories.[73][74] At least three investigations into the crash were conducted separately by the Air Force, official government commissions, and the KGB.[75][76] According to a biography of Gagarin by Jamie Doran and Piers Bizony, Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin, the KGB worked "not just alongside the Air Force and the official commission members but against them."[75]

 

The KGB's report declassified in March 2003 dismissed various conspiracy theories and instead indicated the actions of airbase personnel contributed to the crash. The report states that an air-traffic controller provided Gagarin with outdated weather information and that by the time of his flight, conditions had deteriorated significantly. Ground crew also left external fuel tanks attached to the aircraft. Gagarin's planned flight activities needed clear weather and no outboard tanks. The investigation concluded Gagarin's aircraft entered a spin, either due to a bird strike or because of a sudden move to avoid another aircraft. Because of the out-of-date weather report, the crew believed their altitude was higher than it was and could not react properly to bring the MiG-15 out of its spin.[76] Another theory, advanced in 2005 by the original crash investigator, hypothesizes that a cabin air vent was accidentally left open by the crew or the previous pilot, leading to oxygen deprivation and leaving the crew incapable of controlling the aircraft.[73] A similar theory, published in Air & Space magazine, is that the crew detected the open vent and followed procedure by executing a rapid dive to a lower altitude. This dive caused them to lose consciousness and crash.[74]

 

On 12 April 2007, the Kremlin vetoed a new investigation into the death of Gagarin. Government officials said they saw no reason to begin a new investigation.[77] In April 2011, documents from a 1968 commission set up by the Central Committee of the Communist Party to investigate the accident were declassified. The documents revealed that the commission's original conclusion was that Gagarin or Seryogin had manoeuvered sharply, either to avoid a weather balloon or to avoid "entry into the upper limit of the first layer of cloud cover", leading the jet into a "super-critical flight regime and to its stalling in complex meteorological conditions".[78]

A Russian MiG-15UTI, the same type as Gagarin was flying

 

Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, a member of a state commission established to investigate Gagarin's death, was conducting parachute training sessions that day and heard "two loud booms in the distance". He believes that a Sukhoi Su-15 was flying below its minimum altitude and, "without realizing it because of the terrible weather conditions, he passed within 10 or 20 meters of Yuri and Seregin's plane while breaking the sound barrier". The resulting turbulence would have sent the MiG-15UTI into an uncontrolled spin. Leonov said the first boom he heard was that of the jet breaking the sound barrier and the second was Gagarin's plane crashing.[79] In a June 2013 interview with Russian television network RT, Leonov said a report on the incident confirmed the presence of a second, "unauthorized" Su-15 flying in the area. However, as a condition of being allowed to discuss the declassified report, Leonov was barred from disclosing the name of the Su-15 pilot who was 80 years old and in poor health as of 2013.[80]

Awards and honours

Medals and orders of merit

Jânio Quadros, President of Brazil, decorated Gagarin in 1961.

 

On 14 April 1961, Gagarin was honoured with a 12-mile (19 km) parade attended by millions of people that concluded at the Red Square. After a short speech, he was bestowed the Hero of the Soviet Union,[81][82] Order of Lenin,[81] Merited Master of Sports of the Soviet Union[83] and the first Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR.[82] On 15 April, the Soviet Academy of Sciences awarded him with the Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Gold Medal, named after the Russian pioneer of space aeronautics.[84] Gagarin had also been awarded four Soviet commemorative medals over the course of his career.[15]

 

He was honoured as a Hero of Socialist Labor (Czechoslovakia) on 29 April 1961,[85][86] and Hero of Socialist Labor (Bulgaria, including the Order of Georgi Dimitrov) on 24 May.[15][chronology citation needed] On the eighth anniversary of the beginning of Cuban Revolution (26 July), President Osvaldo Dorticos of Cuba presented him with the first Commander of the Order of Playa Girón, a newly created medal.[87]

 

Gagarin was also awarded the 1960 Gold Air Medal and the 1961 De la Vaulx Medal from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in Switzerland.[88] He received numerous awards from other nations that year, including the Star of the Republic of Indonesia (2nd Class), the Order of the Cross of Grunwald (1st Degree) in Poland, the Order of the Flag of the Republic of Hungary, the Hero of Labor award from Democratic Republic of Vietnam,[15] the Italian Columbus Day Medal,[89] and a Gold Medal from the British Interplanetary Society.[90][91] President Jânio Quadros of Brazil decorated Gagarin on 2 August 1961 with the Order of Aeronautical Merit, Commander grade.[92] During a tour of Egypt in late January 1962, Gagarin received the Order of the Nile[93] and the golden keys to the gates of Cairo.[50] On 22 October 1963, Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova were honoured with the Order of Karl Marx from the German Democratic Republic.[94]

Tributes

 

The date of Gagarin's space flight, 12 April, has been commemorated. Since 1962, it has been celebrated in the USSR and most of its former territories as Cosmonautics Day.[95] Since 2000, Yuri's Night, an international celebration, is held annually to commemorate milestones in space exploration.[96] In 2011, it was declared the International Day of Human Space Flight by the United Nations.[97]

Yuri Gagarin statue at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London

 

A number of buildings and locations have been named for Gagarin. The Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, was named on 30 April 1968.[98] The launch pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome from which Sputnik 1 and Vostok 1 were launched is now known as Gagarin's Start. Gagarin Raion in Sevastopol, Ukraine, was named after him during the period of the Soviet Union. The Russian Air Force Academy was renamed Gagarin Air Force Academy in 1968.[99] A street in Warsaw, Poland, is called Yuri Gagarin Street.[100] The town of Gagarin, Armenia was renamed in his honour in 1961.[101]

 

Gagarin has been honoured on the Moon by astronauts and astronomers. During the American space program's Apollo 11 mission in 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left a memorial satchel containing medals commemorating Gagarin and fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov on the Moon's surface.[102][103] In 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin left the small Fallen Astronaut sculpture at their landing site as a memorial to the American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who died in the Space Race; the names on its plaque included Yuri Gagarin and 14 others.[104][105] In 1970, a 262 km (163 mi)-wide crater on the far side after him.[106] Gagarin was inducted as a member of the 1976 inaugural class of the International Space Hall of Fame in New Mexico.[107]

 

Gagarin is memorialised in music; a cycle of Soviet patriotic songs titled The Constellation Gagarin (Russian: Созвездье Гагарина, tr. Sozvezdie Gagarina) was written by Aleksandra Pakhmutova and Nikolai Dobronravov in 1970–1971.[108] The most famous of these songs refers to Gagarin's poyekhali!: in the lyrics, "He said 'let's go!' He waved his hand".[35][108] He was the inspiration for the pieces "Hey Gagarin" by Jean-Michel Jarre on Métamorphoses, "Gagarin" by Public Service Broadcasting, and "Gagarin, I loved you" by Undervud.[109]

Russian ten-ruble commemorating Gagarin in 2001

 

Vessels have been named for Gagarin; Soviet tracking ship Kosmonavt Yuri Gagarin was built in 1971[110] and the Armenian airline Armavia named their first Sukhoi Superjet 100 in his honour in 2011.[111]

 

Two commemorative coins were issued in the Soviet Union to honour the 20th and 30th anniversaries of his flight: a one-ruble coin in copper-nickel (1981) and a three-ruble coin in silver (1991). In 2001, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Gagarin's flight, a series of four coins bearing his likeness was issued in Russia; it consisted of a two-ruble coin in copper-nickel, a three-ruble coin in silver, a ten-ruble coin in brass-copper and nickel, and a 100-ruble coin in silver.[112] In 2011, Russia issued a 1,000-ruble coin in gold and a three-ruble coin in silver to mark the 50th anniversary of his flight.[113]

 

In 2008, the Kontinental Hockey League named their championship trophy the Gagarin Cup.[114] In a 2010 Space Foundation survey, Gagarin was ranked as the sixth-most-popular space hero, tied with Star Trek's fictional James T. Kirk.[115] A Russian docudrama titled Gagarin: First in Space was released in 2013. Previous attempts at portraying Gagarin were disallowed; his family took legal action over his portrayal in a fictional drama and vetoed a musical.[116]

Statues and monuments

 

There are statues of Gagarin and monuments to him located in Gagarin (Smolensk Oblast), Orenburg, Cheboksary, Irkutsk, Izhevsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and Yoshkar-Ola in Russia, as well as in Nicosia, Cyprus, Druzhkivka, Ukraine, Karaganda, Kazakhstan, and Tiraspol, Moldova. On 4 June 1980, Monument to Yuri Gagarin in Gagarin Square, Leninsky Avenue, Moscow, was opened.[117] The monument is mounted to a 38 m (125 ft) tall pedestal and is constructed of titanium. Beside the column is a replica of the descent module used during his spaceflight.[118]

Bust of Gagarin at Birla Planetarium in Kolkata, India

 

In 2011, a statue of Gagarin was unveiled at Admiralty Arch in The Mall in London, opposite the permanent sculpture of James Cook. It is a copy of the statue outside Gagarin's former school in Lyubertsy.[119] In 2013, the statue was moved to a permanent location outside the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.[120]

 

In 2012, a statue was unveiled at the site of NASA's original spaceflight headquarters on South Wayside Drive in Houston. The sculpture was completed in 2011 by artist and cosmonaut Alexei Leonov and was a gift to Houston by various Russian organisations. Houston Mayor Annise Parker, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were present for the dedication.[121][122] The Russian Federation presented a bust of Gagarin to several cities in India including one that was unveiled at the Birla Planetarium in Kolkata in February 2012.[123]

 

In April 2018, a bust of Gagarin erected on the street in Belgrade, Serbia, that bears his name was removed, after less than week. A new work was commissioned following the outcry over the disproportionately small size of its head which locals said was an "insult" to Gagarin.[124][125] Belgrade City Manager Goran Vesic stated that neither the city, the Serbian Ministry of Culture, nor the foundation that financed it had prior knowledge of the design.[126]

50th anniversary

50th anniversary stamp of Ukraine

 

The 50th anniversary of Gagarin's journey into space was marked in 2011 by tributes around the world. A film titled First Orbit was shot from the International Space Station, combining sound recordings from the original flight with footage of the route taken by Gagarin.[127] The Russian, American, and Italian crew of Expedition 27 aboard the ISS sent a special video message to wish the people of the world a "Happy Yuri's Night", wearing shirts with an image of Gagarin.[128]

 

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation released gold and silver coins to commemorate the anniversary.[129] The Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft was named Gagarin with the launch in April 2011 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first manned space mission.

Co. C, 67th IND. Infantry

South Kansas Tribune, Wednesday, April 21, 1920, Pg. 1:

 

DEATH OF CHRISTIAN SOLDIER

 

Comrade Quigley Rests From Labor

  

Wednesday night William A. Quigley and wife attended a picture show in his usual good health and genial spirits and were at home before 11 o’clock and after eating an apple and taking his bath retired. Soon after he called his wife and she found him to weak to talk and called in their neighbors Captain and Mrs. Geo. L. Banks and Attorney and Mrs. P. L. Courtright. A physician was called but before one could arrive Comrade William A. Quigley had answered roll call for eternity and entered into rest, without pain, having went to sleep in a stupor.

In recent months the influenza weakened him, but he recovered and Thursday of last week attended Woman’s Relief Corps meeting at which quite a number of Grand Army were present, and Comrade Quigley with others. When it was known that State Commander Theodore Gardner was in the city he was the volunteer to find and report his presence, and that he would address the G. A. R. and Relief Corps Friday.

Comrade Quigley was born in Madison, Ind., in 1842, enlisted in Co. __ Indiana Regiment, and was with the “Boys at Shreveport, La.,” where he was wounded and detailed later from the hospital for duty at Washington, D. C., serving ten years altogether.

In 1870 Mr. Quigley was united in marriage with Miss Virginia Hurlburt. Twenty years later they moved to Topeka and for a time was a very popular clerk in the Capital Hotel, Topeka, later for years in the Santa Fe offices, and with the coming of the Kansas Natural Gas company to our city in 1905 he came as cashier and served unit its sale, and continued with its successor, the Independence Gas Co., until death.

Mr. Quigley was an honored, active member of the Christian church, and was one of the most helpful and cheerful workers, and his friends were all with whom he did business. He is survived by his devoted wife and daughters Mrs. F. C. Palmer of New York City and Mrs. S. J. Harland of Highland Park, Ill.

The funeral was largely attended by G. A. R., W. R. C., and S. of V., and the public at the Christian church, and Rev. F. L. Pettit paid a beautiful testimony to the veteran’s character and life.

In the death of the lamented W. A. Quigley Kansas loses and ex-Union soldier who had the unique distinction of having been present at Ford’s Theater in Washington when John Wilkes Booth found his way to the private box of President Lincoln and slew him. That shot was fired fifty-five years ago. Mr. Quigley in speaking of the immediate incidents of the awful tragedy would emphasize the extreme excitement and rage of the audience, one it was fully understood that the President was murdered, and that his murderer had escaped. Mr. Quigley, it seems, had been in service at the front, before Richmond, and had but recently been detailed for some duty at Washington, and with others of his command had found his way for a an evening’s entertainment to Ford’s theater, principally because he had learned that President Lincoln would be there. He could not recount the incidents of the assassination that he saw without much emotion. A better soldier, a finer gentleman or a truer American or a better citizen that W. A. Quigley never lived.

 

O. P. ERGENBRIGHT

   

Independence Daily Reporter, Thursday, April 15, 1920, Pg. 1:

 

DEATH CALLED W. A. QUIGLEY LAST NIGHT

Veteran of Civil War Passed Away Very Suddenly

LIVED HERE 15 YEARS

Was One of This City’s Most Popular Men

Greatly Admired by General Public

 

The entire community was shocked this morning to learn of the sudden death of W. A. Quigley, for years the cashier of the Kansas Natural Gas Co., which occurred last night at 11:30 at the home, 414 North Fifth street. After his usual day’s work at his desk, Mr. Quigley had accompanied his wife downtown last evening and after attending a picture show, had returned home about 10 o’clock. He seemed in his usual good health and after bathing and eating an apple had gone to bed. He called Mrs. Quigley to his side within a few minutes, and Mrs. Quigley called in two neighbors, Capt. and Mrs. G. L. Banks and Mr. and Mrs. P. L. Courtwright.

Mr. Quigley suffered no pain, seeming to lie in a slight stupor. The family physician was hurriedly summoned, but by the time he had arrived Mr. Quigley was dead. Last fall Mr. Quigley had suffered a slight attack of the flu, and it had left him in a weakened condition, affecting his heart.

Was 77 Years Old.

The deceased was born in July 1842 at Madison, Ind., and was 77 years, 9 months of age. He answered the call of his country in the Civil war and served for ten years. He was wounded near Shreveport, La., and was later detailed for duty at Washington, after being discharged from the hospital. He attended the Ford Theater the night Lincoln was assassinated.

In 1870 he was united in marriage with Miss Virginia Hurlburt. In 1890 he moved to Topeka and was employed in the Santa Fe offices. About fifteen years ago he moved to Independence, being in the employ of the Kansas Natural and its successor, the Independence Gas Co. until his death.

Mr. Quigley was an active member of the Christian church and participated in its work to a great extent. He was also a prominent member of the local post of the G. A. R. and had been post commander.

Surviving are the widow, and two daughters, Mrs. F. C. Palmer of New York City and Mrs. S. J. Harland, of Highland Park, Ill. Mrs. Palmer is expected here tomorrow. The funeral arrangements have not been made.

Had Hosts of Friends.

Mr. Quigley was certainly one of the most beloved old men in this city. He had the heart of a boy and was noted for his cheerfulness and activity. He attended every commercial club dinner when he could do so and was always the center of conversation because every one delighted to meet him, and talk with him. He grew old gracefully, and had he been permitted to select the manner of his passing into the Great Beyond, he would undoubtedly have asked for just such a quiet, peaceful death as came to him. He was deeply religious and made the tenets of his religion stand out in his every thought and act. He had a kind work for every one and friends came to him naturally and in great numbers. Always kind and accommodatius, with a happy, cheery smile for everyone, he will be missed by patrons of the Gas company as well as by all who knew him. The city has truly suffered a real loss in his death.

 

A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, written and compiled by William E. Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, copyright 1918; transcribed 1997.

 

William A. Quigley

 

WILLIAM A. QUIGLEY. A varied and eventful career has been that of Mr. Quigley, the efficient and popular cashier of the Kansas National Gas Company in the offices of this corporation at Independence, Montgomery County. Mr. Quigley claims the old Hoosier State as the place of his nativity, was there reared and educated and it was given him to represent that commonwealth as one of the valiant soldiers of the Union during the major portion of the Civil war. His activities in the business world have been diversified and he has been a resident of Kansas for the past thirty years. His paternal grandfather was born in Pennsylvania and passed the closing years of his life near Cincinnati, Ohio, where he settled in 1816 in the pioneer days. The original American progenitors of the Quigley family came from Ireland and settled in Pennsylvania prior to the war of the Revolution.

 

William A. Quigley was born in Jefferson County, Indiana, on the 19th of July, 1842, and is a son of Hiram and Melvina (White) Quigley, the former of whom was born near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1812, and the latter of whom was born in Jefferson County, Indiana, in 1823.

 

Hiram Quigley was about four years old when his parents removed from Pennsylvania and settled near the present Village of North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1816. There he was reared to adult age, and there, in the City of Cincinnati, he served a thorough apprenticeship to the trade of carpenter and steamboat joiner. He became a specially skilled artisan as a woodworker and he continued to follow his trade in Ohio until 1835, when he removed to Jefferson County, Indiana, and became one of the pioneer settlers of that section of the Hoosier State, where he passed the remainder of his long and useful life, his death having occurred in 1880. He was originally a whig and later a republican in politics, and both he and his wife were earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Quigley continued to maintain her home in Jefferson County after the death of her honored husband, but she died while making a visit in Southern Illinois in 1887. Of the children the subject of this review is the first born; Mary Frances died in childhood.

 

Samuel White, who during his active career was a successful carpenter and builder, is now living retired at Kansas City, Missouri; Martha died at the age of two years; and Miss Fannie resides at Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.

 

William A. Quigley acquired his early education in the common schools of his native county, where he became a student in the high school at Madison, but he left school at the age of fifteen years and at Madison turned his attention to learning the jewelry and watchmaking business, with which he continued to be identified for a period of seven years--both before and after the Civil war. In August, 1862, at the age of twenty years, he tendered his services in defense of the Union by enlisting as a private in Company C Sixty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, his having been the company that bore the colors of the regiment. In September, 1862, Mr. Quigley was captured while on duty in Kentucky, and shortly afterward he was parolled, his exchange having been effected in the following December, after which he rejoined his command, with which he continued in active service, mostly in detached duty, until the close of the war. He was with his regiment on the Red River campaign and at the battle of Sabine Crossroads, Louisiana, in the spring of 1864, he was wounded. His injury did not long incapacitate him and he continued in service for several months after the surrender of General Lee, he having been mustered out September 4, 1865, and having duly received his honorable discharge. Mr. Quigley not only made in the Civil war a record that shall reflect lasting honor upon his name, but that he has also retained deep interest in his former comrades is shown by the active and influential part he has played in connection with the Grand Army of the Republic. He has the distinction of being affiliated with McPherson Post No. 4, Grand Army of the Republic, one of the oldest in the State of Kansas, and is past commander of the same.

 

For a short period after the close of the war Mr. Quigley continued his association with the jewelry business, and after passing one year in the City of Louisville, Kentucky, he returned, in 1867, to Madison, Indiana, the ensuing nine years having found him continuously identified with railway service, mostly in a clerical capacity. After his retirement from this line of occupation he followed various vocations at Madison, including the insurance business, until 1886, when he came with his family to Kansas and engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Ottawa. Fifteen months later he removed to Topeka, where for the ensuing six years he was employed in the general offices of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. He then resumed his activities in the real estate and insurance business, with which he continued to be associated at Topeka until April, 1904, when he removed to Independence, where he has since given most effective service in the office of cashier for the Kansas Natural Gas Company. In politics Mr. Quigley has never faltered in his allegiance to the republican party and both he and his wife are active members of the Christian Church.

 

At Madison, Indiana, the year 1870 recorded the marriage of Mr. Quigley to Miss Helen Virginia Hurlbut, daughter of Hiram and Eliza Hurlbut. Mr. and Mrs. Quigley became the parents of three children, of whom two are living: Alice is the wife of Frank C. Palmer, chief stereotyper in the offices of the Jersey City Journal, one of the leading newspapers of New Jersey, and they maintain their home at Ridgefield Park, a suburb of Jersey City; Howard H. died at the age of five years; and Mabel is the wife of Sydney I. Holland, who has been for the past thirty years a contracting agent for the R. G. Dun Commercial Agency, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Holland being at Highland Park, one of the attractive suburbs of the City of Chicago, Illinois.

 

Contributed by Mrs. Maryann Johnson a Civil war researcher and a volunteer in the Kansas Room of the Independence Public Library, Independence, Kansas.

    

Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or simply the Buddha, was a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in northeastern India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.

 

The word Buddha means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one". "Buddha" is also used as a title for the first awakened being in a Yuga era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (Pali sammāsambuddha, Sanskrit samyaksaṃbuddha) of the present age. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala.

 

Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

 

CONTENTS

HISTORICAL SIDDHARTA GAUTAMA

Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most accept that he lived, taught and founded a monastic order during the Mahajanapada era during the reign of Bimbisara, the ruler of the Magadha empire, and died during the early years of the reign of Ajasattu, who was the successor of Bimbisara, thus making him a younger contemporary of Mahavira, the Jain tirthankara. Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddha's lifetime coincided with the flourishing of other influential śramaṇa schools of thoughts like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism, and Ajñana. It was also the age of influential thinkers like Mahavira, Pūraṇa Kassapa , Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambalī, Pakudha Kaccāyana, and Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, whose viewpoints the Buddha most certainly must have been acquainted with and influenced by. Indeed, Sariputta and Moggallāna, two of the foremost disciples of the Buddha, were formerly the foremost disciples of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, the skeptic. There is also evidence to suggest that the two masters, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, were indeed historical figures and they most probably taught Buddha two different forms of meditative techniques. While the general sequence of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" is widely accepted, there is less consensus on the veracity of many details contained in traditional biographies.

 

The times of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE. More recently his death is dated later, between 411 and 400 BCE, while at a symposium on this question held in 1988, the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet been accepted by all historians.

 

The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhārtha Gautama was born into the Shakya clan, a community that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the northeastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE. It was either a small republic, in which case his father was an elected chieftain, or an oligarchy, in which case his father was an oligarch. According to the Buddhist tradition, Gautama was born in Lumbini, nowadays in modern-day Nepal, and raised in the Shakya capital of Kapilavastu, which may have been in either present day Tilaurakot, Nepal or Piprahwa, India. He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, and died in Kushinagar.

 

No written records about Gautama have been found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to the Buddha's birthplace in Lumbini. Another one of his edicts mentions several Dhamma texts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era and which may be the precursors of the Pāli Canon. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, reported to have been found in or around Haḍḍa near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan and now preserved in the British Library. They are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE.

 

TRADITIONAL BIOGRAPHIES

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies. These include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa, and dating around the beginning of the 2nd century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE. The Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE. The Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra, and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE. The Nidānakathā is from the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka and was composed in the 5th century by Buddhaghoṣa.

 

From canonical sources, the Jataka tales, the Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14), and the Achariyabhuta Sutta (MN 123) which include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies. The Jātakas retell previous lives of Gautama as a bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts. The Mahāpadāna Sutta and Achariyabhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from the Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.

 

NATURE OF TRADITIONAL DEPICTIONS

In the earliest Buddhists texts, the nikāyas and āgamas, the Buddha is not depicted as possessing omniscience (sabbaññu) nor is he depicted as being an eternal transcendent (lokottara) being. According to Bhikkhu Analayo, ideas of the Buddha's omniscience (along with an increasing tendency to deify him and his biography) are found only later, in the Mahayana sutras and later Pali commentaries or texts such as the Mahāvastu. In the Sandaka Sutta, the Buddha's disciple Ananda outlines an argument against the claims of teachers who say they are all knowing while in the Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta the Buddha himself states that he has never made a claim to being omniscient, instead he claimed to have the "higher knowledges" (abhijñā). The earliest biographical material from the Pali Nikayas focuses on the Buddha's life as a śramaṇa, his search for enlightenment under various teachers such as Alara Kalama and his forty five year career as a teacher.

 

Traditional biographies of Gautama generally include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt. lokottara) and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world. In the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supra-mundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma". Nevertheless, some of the more ordinary details of his life have been gathered from these traditional sources. In modern times there has been an attempt to form a secular understanding of Siddhārtha Gautama's life by omitting the traditional supernatural elements of his early biographies.

 

Andrew Skilton writes that the Buddha was never historically regarded by Buddhist traditions as being merely human:

It is important to stress that, despite modern Theravada teachings to the contrary (often a sop to skeptical Western pupils), he was never seen as being merely human. For instance, he is often described as having the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks or signs of a mahāpuruṣa, "superman"; the Buddha himself denied that he was either a man or a god; and in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta he states that he could live for an aeon were he asked to do so.The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which significant accounts exist. British author Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure. Michael Carrithers goes a bit further by stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.

 

BIOGRAPHY

CONCEPTION AND BIRTH

The Buddhist tradition regards Lumbini, in present-day Nepal to be the birthplace of the Buddha. He grew up in Kapilavastu. The exact site of ancient Kapilavastu is unknown. It may have been either Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, present-day India, or Tilaurakot, present-day Nepal. Both places belonged to the Sakya territory, and are located only 15 miles apart from each other.

 

Gautama was born as a Kshatriya, the son of Śuddhodana, "an elected chief of the Shakya clan", whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime. Gautama was the family name. His mother, Maya (Māyādevī), Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess. Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.

 

The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak. Buddha's Birthday is called Buddha Purnima in Nepal and India as he is believed to have been born on a full moon day. Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great sadhu. By traditional account, this occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight Brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man. Kondañña, the youngest, and later to be the first arhat other than the Buddha, was reputed to be the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.

 

While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Suryavansha (Solar dynasty) of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars think that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.

 

Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition. The state of the Shakya clan was not a monarchy, and seems to have been structured either as an oligarchy, or as a form of republic. The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the śramanic Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.

 

EARLY LIFE AND MARRIAGE

Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati. By tradition, he is said to have been destined by birth to the life of a prince, and had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) built for him. Although more recent scholarship doubts this status, his father, said to be King Śuddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great king, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering.

 

When he reached the age of 16, his father reputedly arranged his marriage to a cousin of the same age named Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā). According to the traditional account, she gave birth to a son, named Rāhula. Siddhartha is said to have spent 29 years as a prince in Kapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Buddhist scriptures say that the future Buddha felt that material wealth was not life's ultimate goal.

 

RENUNCIATION AND ASCETIC LIFE

At the age of 29, the popular biography continues, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father's efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he initially strove to overcome aging, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.

 

Accompanied by Channa and riding his horse Kanthaka, Gautama quit his palace for the life of a mendicant. It's said that, "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods" to prevent guards from knowing of his departure.

 

Gautama initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. After King Bimbisara's men recognised Siddhartha and the king learned of his quest, Bimbisara offered Siddhartha the throne. Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.

 

He left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers of yogic meditation. After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama (Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), he was asked by Kalama to succeed him. However, Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practice, and moved on to become a student of yoga with Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra). With him he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness, and was again asked to succeed his teacher. But, once more, he was not satisfied, and again moved on.

 

Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya are then said to have set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practising self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha was rescued by a village girl named Sujata and she gave him some payasam (a pudding made from milk and jaggery) after which Siddhartha got back some energy. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's ploughing. He attained a concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the jhāna.

 

AWAKENING

According to the early Buddhist texts, after realizing that meditative dhyana was the right path to awakening, but that extreme asceticism didn't work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way - a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path, as was identified and described by the Buddha in his first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to have accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata. Such was his emaciated appearance that she wrongly believed him to be a spirit that had granted her a wish.

 

Following this incident, Gautama was famously seated under a pipal tree - now known as the Bodhi tree - in Bodh Gaya, India, when he vowed never to arise until he had found the truth. Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained Enlightenment. According to some traditions, this occurred in approximately the fifth lunar month, while, according to others, it was in the twelfth month. From that time, Gautama was known to his followers as the Buddha or "Awakened One" ("Buddha" is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One").

 

According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary to eliminate it. These discoveries became known as the "Four Noble Truths", which are at the heart of Buddhist teaching. Through mastery of these truths, a state of supreme liberation, or Nirvana, is believed to be possible for any being. The Buddha described Nirvāna as the perfect peace of a mind that's free from ignorance, greed, hatred and other afflictive states, or "defilements" (kilesas). Nirvana is also regarded as the "end of the world", in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain. In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.

 

According to a story in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1) - a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons - immediately after his awakening, the Buddha debated whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp. However, in the story, Brahmā Sahampati convinced him, arguing that at least some will understand it. The Buddha relented, and agreed to teach.

 

FORMATION OF THE SANGHA

After his awakening, the Buddha met Taphussa and Bhallika — two merchant brothers from the city of Balkh in what is currently Afghanistan - who became his first lay disciples. It is said that each was given hairs from his head, which are now claimed to be enshrined as relics in the Shwe Dagon Temple in Rangoon, Burma. The Buddha intended to visit Asita, and his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, to explain his findings, but they had already died.

 

He then travelled to the Deer Park near Varanasi (Benares) in northern India, where he set in motion what Buddhists call the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the five companions with whom he had sought enlightenment. Together with him, they formed the first saṅgha: the company of Buddhist monks.

 

All five become arahants, and within the first two months, with the conversion of Yasa and fifty four of his friends, the number of such arahants is said to have grown to 60. The conversion of three brothers named Kassapa followed, with their reputed 200, 300 and 500 disciples, respectively. This swelled the sangha to more than 1,000.

 

TRAVELS AND TEACHING

For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka. Although the Buddha's language remains unknown, it's likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardization.

 

The sangha traveled through the subcontinent, expounding the dharma. This continued throughout the year, except during the four months of the Vāsanā rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely traveled. One reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to animal life. At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.

 

The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was formed. After this, the Buddha kept a promise to travel to Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, to visit King Bimbisara. During this visit, Sariputta and Maudgalyayana were converted by Assaji, one of the first five disciples, after which they were to become the Buddha's two foremost followers. The Buddha spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, capital of Magadha.

 

Upon hearing of his son's awakening, Suddhodana sent, over a period, ten delegations to ask him to return to Kapilavastu. On the first nine occasions, the delegates failed to deliver the message, and instead joined the sangha to become arahants. The tenth delegation, led by Kaludayi, a childhood friend of Gautama's (who also became an arahant), however, delivered the message.

 

Now two years after his awakening, the Buddha agreed to return, and made a two-month journey by foot to Kapilavastu, teaching the dharma as he went. At his return, the royal palace prepared a midday meal, but the sangha was making an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana approached his son, the Buddha, saying:

 

"Ours is the warrior lineage of Mahamassata, and not a single warrior has gone seeking alms."

 

The Buddha is said to have replied:

 

"That is not the custom of your royal lineage. But it is the custom of my Buddha lineage. Several thousands of Buddhas have gone by seeking alms."

 

Buddhist texts say that Suddhodana invited the sangha into the palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk. After this he is said to have become a sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the sangha. The Buddha's cousins Ananda and Anuruddha became two of his five chief disciples. At the age of seven, his son Rahula also joined, and became one of his ten chief disciples. His half-brother Nanda also joined and became an arahant.

 

Of the Buddha's disciples, Sariputta, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa, Ananda and Anuruddha are believed to have been the five closest to him. His ten foremost disciples were reputedly completed by the quintet of Upali, Subhoti, Rahula, Mahakaccana and Punna.

 

In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali when he heard news of the impending death of his father. He is said to have gone to Suddhodana and taught the dharma, after which his father became an arahant.The king's death and cremation was to inspire the creation of an order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that the Buddha was reluctant to ordain women. His foster mother Maha Pajapati, for example, approached him, asking to join the sangha, but he refused. Maha Pajapati, however, was so intent on the path of awakening that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, which followed the sangha on a long journey to Rajagaha. In time, after Ananda championed their cause, the Buddha is said to have reconsidered and, five years after the formation of the sangha, agreed to the ordination of women as nuns. He reasoned that males and females had an equal capacity for awakening. But he gave women additional rules (Vinaya) to follow.

 

MAHAPARINIRVANA

According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha. Mettanando and Von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning. The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns.

 

Waley suggests that Theravadin's would take suukaramaddava (the contents of the Buddha's last meal), which can translate as pig-soft, to mean soft flesh of a pig. However, he also states that pig-soft could mean "pig's soft-food", that is, after Neumann, a soft food favoured by pigs, assumed to be a truffle. He argues (also after Neumann) that as Pali Buddhism was developed in an area remote to the Buddha's death, the existence of other plants with suukara- (pig) as part of their names and that "(p)lant names tend to be local and dialectical" could easily indicate that suukaramaddava was a type of plant whose local name was unknown to those in the Pali regions. Specifically, local writers knew more about their flora than Theravadin commentator Buddhaghosa who lived hundreds of years and kilometres remote in time and space from the events described. Unaware of an alternate meaning and with no Theravadin prohibition against eating animal flesh, Theravadins would not have questioned the Buddha eating meat and interpreted the term accordingly.

 

Ananda protested the Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India) of the Malla kingdom. The Buddha, however, is said to have reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king that resounded with joy:

 

44. Kusavati, Ananda, resounded unceasingly day and night with ten sounds - the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, the rattling of chariots, the beating of drums and tabours, music and song, cheers, the clapping of hands, and cries of "Eat, drink, and be merry!"

 

The Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikkhus to clarify any doubts or questions they had. They had none. According to Buddhist scriptures, he then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All composite things (Saṅkhāra) are perishable. Strive for your own liberation with diligence" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā'). His body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where what some believe to be the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.

 

According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Emperor Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of the Buddha. According to two textual records in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Emperor Aśoka is 116 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 545 BCE, because the reign of Emperor Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates. In Burmese Buddhist tradition, the date of the Buddha's death is 13 May 544 BCE. whereas in Thai tradition it is 11 March 545 BCE.

 

At his death, the Buddha is famously believed to have told his disciples to follow no leader. Mahakasyapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the First Buddhist Council, with the two chief disciples Maudgalyayana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha.

 

While in the Buddha's days he was addressed by the very respected titles Buddha, Shākyamuni, Shākyasimha, Bhante and Bho, he was known after his parinirvana as Arihant, Bhagavā/Bhagavat/Bhagwān, Mahāvira, Jina/Jinendra, Sāstr, Sugata, and most popularly in scriptures as Tathāgata.

 

BUDDHA AND VEDAS

Buddha's teachings deny the authority of the Vedas and consequently [at least atheistic] Buddhism is generally viewed as a nāstika school (heterodox, literally "It is not so") from the perspective of orthodox Hinduism.

 

RELICS

After his death, Buddha's cremation relics were divided amongst 8 royal families and his disciples; centuries later they would be enshrined by King Ashoka into 84,000 stupas. Many supernatural legends surround the history of alleged relics as they accompanied the spread of Buddhism and gave legitimacy to rulers.

 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

An extensive and colorful physical description of the Buddha has been laid down in scriptures. A kshatriya by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry. He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by Buddhists to have "the 32 Signs of the Great Man".

 

The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive." (D, I:115)

 

"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A, I:181)

 

A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an arahant, was so obsessed by the Buddha's physical presence that the Buddha is said to have felt impelled to tell him to desist, and to have reminded him that he should know the Buddha through the Dhamma and not through physical appearances.

 

Although there are no extant representations of the Buddha in human form until around the 1st century CE (see Buddhist art), descriptions of the physical characteristics of fully enlightened buddhas are attributed to the Buddha in the Digha Nikaya's Lakkhaṇa Sutta (D, I:142). In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by Yasodhara to their son Rahula upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn, Narasīha Gāthā ("The Lion of Men").

 

Among the 32 main characteristics it is mentioned that Buddha has blue eyes.

 

NINE VIRTUES

Recollection of nine virtues attributed to the Buddha is a common Buddhist meditation and devotional practice called Buddhānusmṛti. The nine virtues are also among the 40 Buddhist meditation subjects. The nine virtues of the Buddha appear throughout the Tipitaka, and include:

 

- Buddho – Awakened

- Sammasambuddho – Perfectly self-awakened

- Vijja-carana-sampano – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct.

- Sugato – Well-gone or Well-spoken.

- Lokavidu – Wise in the knowledge of the many worlds.

- Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people.

- Satthadeva-Manussanam – Teacher of gods and humans.

- Bhagavathi – The Blessed one

- Araham – Worthy of homage. An Arahant is "one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge."

 

TEACHINGS

TRACING THE OLDEST TEACHINGS

Information of the oldest teachings may be obtained by analysis of the oldest texts. One method to obtain information on the oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest extant versions of the Theravadin Pali Canon and other texts. The reliability of these sources, and the possibility to draw out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute. According to Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies.

 

According to Schmithausen, three positions held by scholars of Buddhism can be distinguished:

 

"Stress on the fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a considerable part of the Nikayic materials;"

"Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism;"

"Cautious optimism in this respect."

 

DHYANA AND INSIGHT

A core problem in the study of early Buddhism is the relation between dhyana and insight. Schmithausen, in his often-cited article On some Aspects of Descriptions or Theories of 'Liberating Insight' and 'Enlightenment' in Early Buddhism notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the Rupa Jhanas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36

 

CORE TEACHINGS

According to Tilmann Vetter, the core of earliest Buddhism is the practice of dhyāna. Bronkhorst agrees that dhyana was a Buddhist invention, whereas Norman notes that "the Buddha's way to release [...] was by means of meditative practices." Discriminating insight into transiency as a separate path to liberation was a later development.

 

According to the Mahāsaccakasutta, from the fourth jhana the Buddha gained bodhi. Yet, it is not clear what he was awakened to. "Liberating insight" is a later addition to this text, and reflects a later development and understanding in early Buddhism. The mentioning of the four truths as constituting "liberating insight" introduces a logical problem, since the four truths depict a linear path of practice, the knowledge of which is in itself not depicted as being liberating:

 

[T]hey do not teach that one is released by knowing the four noble truths, but by practicing the fourth noble truth, the eightfold path, which culminates in right samadhi.

 

Although "Nibbāna" (Sanskrit: Nirvāna) is the common term for the desired goal of this practice, many other terms can be found throughout the Nikayas, which are not specified.

 

According to Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term "the middle way". In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path.

 

According to both Bronkhorst and Anderson, the four truths became a substitution for prajna, or "liberating insight", in the suttas in those texts where "liberating insight" was preceded by the four jhanas. According to Bronkhorst, the four truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of "liberating insight". Gotama's teachings may have been personal, "adjusted to the need of each person."

 

The three marks of existence may reflect Upanishadic or other influences. K.R. Norman supposes that these terms were already in use at the Buddha's time, and were familiar to his listeners.

 

The Brahma-vihara was in origin probably a brahmanic term; but its usage may have been common to the Sramana traditions.

  

LATER DEVELOPMENTS

In time, "liberating insight" became an essential feature of the Buddhist tradition. The following teachings, which are commonly seen as essential to Buddhism, are later formulations which form part of the explanatory framework of this "liberating insight":

 

- The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an ingrained part of existence; that the origin of suffering is craving for sensuality, acquisition of identity, and fear of annihilation; that suffering can be ended; and that following the Noble Eightfold Path is the means to accomplish this;

- The Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration;

- Dependent origination: the mind creates suffering as a natural product of a complex process.

 

OTHER RELIGIONS

Some Hindus regard Gautama as the 9th avatar of Vishnu. The Buddha is also regarded as a prophet by the Ahmadiyya Muslims and a Manifestation of God in the Bahá'í Faith. Some early Chinese Taoist-Buddhists thought the Buddha to be a reincarnation of Lao Tzu.

 

The Christian Saint Josaphat is based on the Buddha. The name comes from the Sanskrit Bodhisattva via Arabic Būdhasaf and Georgian Iodasaph. The only story in which St. Josaphat appears, Barlaam and Josaphat, is based on the life of the Buddha. Josaphat was included in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology (feast day 27 November) — though not in the Roman Missal — and in the Eastern Orthodox Church liturgical calendar (26 August).

 

Disciples of the Cao Đài religion worship the Buddha as a major religious teacher. His image can be found in both their Holy See and on the home altar. He is revealed during communication with Divine Beings as son of their Supreme Being (God the Father) together with other major religious teachers and founders like Jesus, Laozi, and Confucius.

 

In the ancient Gnostic sect of Manichaeism the Buddha is listed among the prophets who preached the word of God before Mani.

 

WIKIPEDIA

On the right, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach KCB, DL, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff.

 

Behind him, Major-General Sir Edward Smyth-Osbourne KCVO CBE, late The Life Guards, Major-General Commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District.

 

To the left, a senior officer in the Turkish Air Force.

 

From the Official Programme

 

THE NATIONAL COMMEMORATION OF THE CENTENARY OF THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN AND ANZAC DAY AT THE CENOTAPH, WHITEHALL, LONDON

HOSTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE HIGH COMMISSIONS OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND IN LONDON

 

On 25 April 1915 Allied soldiers landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey in one of the most ambitious amphibious assaults in history.

 

More than 550,000 soldiers from Britain, Ireland, France, Australia, New Zealand, the Indian sub-continent, Canada and Sri Lanka waged this historic campaign, including 400,000 from Britain alone. 58,000 Allied servicemen and 87,000 from Turkey died in this campaign.

 

ANZAC Day was established by Australia and New Zealand as an annual day of commemoration to remember their servicemen who died in Gallipoli. The first ANZAC Day march in London took place on 25 April 1916. ANZAC Day has been commemorated in London on 25 April every year since then.

  

ORDER OF SERVICE

 

11:00 Big Ben strikes the hour

Two minutes’ silence

 

The Last Post Sounded by buglers from the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines

 

Reading by Michael Toohey, age 22, descendant of Private Thomas Toohey, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, killed in action at V beach on 25 April 1915, aged 22.

 

The Fallen by Laurence Binyon, 4th verse, published in The Times on 21 September 1914

 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: age shall not weary them nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.

All: We will remember them.

 

Laying of Wreaths

 

After Her Majesty The Queen has laid a wreath the Massed Bands will play Elegy (1915) – in memoriam Rupert Brooke – by F S Kelly (1881–1916) and Largo by G F Handel (1685–1759).

 

Her Majesty The Queen lays the first wreath followed by:

The Right Honourable David Cameron, Prime Minister Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Senator the Honourable George Brandis QC, Attorney General, Commonwealth of Australia

The Right Honourable David Carter MP, 29th Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives

A representative of the Republic of Turkey

The Right Honourable Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The Right Honourable Michael Fallon, Secretary of State for Defence

The Right Honourable Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Right Honourable Hugo Swire, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Helen Grant, Minister for the First World War Centenary

Dr Andrew Murrison, Prime Minister’s Special Representative for the First World War Centenary

The Right Honourable Ed Miliband, Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition

Keith Brown MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, Scottish Government

The Right Honourable Carwyn Jones, First Minister, Welsh Government

A representative of the Northern Ireland Executive

Lieutenant General Sir Gerry Berragan KBE CB, Adjutant General

Air Marshal Dick Garwood CB CBE DFC, Director General Defence Safety Authority

Vice Admiral Sir Philip Jones KCB, Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff

Lieutenant General John Caligari AO DSC, Chief Capability Development Group, Australian Defence Force

Brigadier Antony Hayward ONZ, Head New Zealand Defence Staff, New Zealand High Commission

Colonel Ömer Özkan, Air Attaché, Embassy of Turkey

A representative of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Steven Vandeput, Minister of Defence of Belgium

His Excellency Gordon Campbell, High Commissioner for Canada

A representative of the Republic of France

A representative of the Federal Republic of Germany

His Excellency Dr Ranjan Mathai, High Commissioner for the Republic of India

His Excellency Daniel Mulhall, Ambassador of Ireland to the United Kingdom

His Excellency The Honourable Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta

A representative of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal

His Excellency Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

His Excellency The Honourable Peter O’Neill CMG MP, Prime Minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea

His Excellency Mr Obed Mlaba, High Commissioner for the Republic of South Africa

A representative of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Sonata Tupou, Acting High Commissioner for the Kingdom of Tonga

The Honourable Bronwyn Bishop MP, Speaker to the Australian House of Representatives

Bill Muirhead AM, Agent-General for South Australia

Ken Smith, Trade Commissioner for Europe and Agent General for UK at Trade & Investment Queensland

Kevin Skipworth CVO, Agent-General for Western Australia

Ian Matterson, Representative of the Premier of Tasmania

Mathew Erbs, on behalf of the Agent-General for Victoria

Gary Dunn, Deputy Commonwealth Secretary General

General The Lord Richards of Herstmonceux GCB CBE DSO, Deputy Grand President, British Commonwealth Ex-Servicemen’s League

Vice Admiral Peter Wilkinson CB CVO, National President, the Royal British Legion

Right Honourable The Viscount Slim OBE DL, Returned and Services League of Australia

Colonel Andrew Martin ONZM, Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association

Lindsay Birrell, CEO, London Legacy

Captain Christopher Fagan DL, Chairman, The Gallipoli Association

The Honourable Mrs Ros Kelly AO, Commissioner, Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Sue Pillar, Director of Volunteer Support, Soldiers’ And Sailors’ Families Association (SSAFA)

Captain Jim Conybeare, Master, The Honourable Company of Master Mariners

Lyn Hopkins, Director General, The Victoria League for Commonwealth Friendship

Sir Anthony Figgis KCVO CMG, Chairman, Royal Overseas League

 

Reveille sounded by buglers from the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines

 

THE PRAYERS

 

Prayer by The Venerable Ian Wheatley QHC, Royal Navy Chaplain of the Fleet

 

God our Father, we come together today to honour all those who gave themselves with great courage in service and sacrifice for their country in the Gallipoli Campaign. We pray that their example may continue to inspire us to strive for the common good, that we may build up the harmony and freedom for which they fought and died.

 

Help us O Lord, to lift our eyes above the torment of this broken world, and strengthen our resolve to work for peace and justice, and for the relief of want and suffering. As we honour the past, may we put our faith in your future; for you are the source of life and hope, now and forever. Amen.

 

Hymn led by the Choirs of Chelmsford Cathedral and accompanied by the Massed Bands

 

I Vow To Thee My Country

 

All:

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,

Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;

The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,

That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;

The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,

The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,

Across the waste of waters, she calls and calls to me.

Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,

And around her feet are lying the dying and the dead;

I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns;

I haste to thee, my mother, a son among thy sons.

And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago,

Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;

We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;

Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;

And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,

And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

 

Prayer read by Grace van Gageldonk (14 years old) from Australia

 

God of compassion and mercy, we remember with thanksgiving and sorrow, those whose lives in world wars and conflicts past and present, have been

given and taken away.

Enfold in your love, all who in bereavement, disability and pain, continue to suffer the consequences of fighting and terror; and guide and protect all those who support and sustain them. Amen.

 

National anthem Advance Australia Fair

 

Led by the Choirs of Chelmsford Cathedral and accompanied by the Massed Bands

 

Australians all let us rejoice,

For we are young and free;

We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil,

Our home is girt by sea;

Our land abounds in nature’s gifts

Of beauty rich and rare;

In history’s page, let every stage

Advance Australia Fair.

In joyful strains then let us sing,

‘Advance Australia Fair’.

 

Prayer read by Kathryn Cooper (11 years old) from New Zealand

 

God of hope, the source of peace and the refuge of all in distress, we remember those you have gathered from the storm of war into the everlasting peace of your presence; may that same peace calm our fears, bring reconciliation and justice to all peoples, and establish lasting harmony among the nations.

 

We pray for all members of the armed forces who strive for peace and fight for justice today; bless and keep their families and friends at home awaiting their return. Help us, who today remember the cost of war, to work for a better tomorrow, and bring us all, in the end, to the peace of your presence; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

National anthem God Defend New Zealand

 

Led by the Choirs of Chelmsford Cathedral and accompanied by the Massed Bands

 

E Ihowā _Atua,

O ngā _iwi mātou rā

Āta whakarangona;

Me aroha noa

Kia hua ko te pai;

Kia tau tō _atawhai;

Manaakitia mai

Aotearoa

God of Nations at Thy feet,

in the bonds of love we meet,

hear our voices, we entreat,

God defend our free land.

Guard Pacific’s triple star

from the shafts of strife and war,

make her praises heard afar,

God defend New Zealand.

 

Reading Atatürk’s message to bereaved pilgrims, 1934, read by Ecenur Bilgiç (14 years old) from Turkey

 

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives…

You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace.

 

There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours…

You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace, after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

 

National anthem İstiklal Marşı (The Independence March)

 

Led by Burak Gülşen from Turkey, accompanied by the Massed Bands

 

Korkma, sönmez bu şafaklarda yüzen al sancak;

Sönmeden yurdumun üstünde tüten en son ocak.

O benim milletimin yıldızıdır, parlayacak;

O benimdir, o benim milletimindir ancak.

Çatma, kurban olayım, çehreni ey nazlı hilal!

Kahraman ırkıma bir gül! Ne bu şiddet, bu celal?

Sana olmaz dökülen kanlarımız sonra helal…

Hakkıdır, Hakk’a tapan, milletimin istiklal!

Fear not! For the crimson flag that flies at this dawn, shall not fade,

As long as the last fiery hearth that is ablaze in my country endures.

For that is the star of my nation, which will forever shine;

It is mine; and solely that of my valiant nation.

Frown not, I beseech you, oh thou coy crescent!

Come smile upon my heroic race! Why this rage, this fury?

The blood we shed for you shall not be blessed otherwise;

For independence is the absolute right of my God-worshipping nation.

 

Remembering Gallipoli a commemoration created by Michael McDermott

 

Music composed by Michael McDermott

Reading by James McDermott (17 years old) from the United Kingdom

The Attack at Dawn (May, 1915) by Leon Maxwell Gellert (1892–1977)

 

‘At every cost,’ they said, ‘it must be done.’

They told us in the early afternoon.

We sit and wait the coming of the sun

We sit in groups, — grey groups that watch the moon.

We stretch our legs and murmur half in sleep

And touch the tips of bayonets and yarn.

Our hands are cold. They strangely grope and creep,

Tugging at ends of straps. We wait the dawn!

Some men come stumbling past in single file.

And scrape the trench’s side and scatter sand.

They trip and curse and go. Perhaps we smile.

We wait the dawn! … The dawn is close at hand!

A gentle rustling runs along the line.

‘At every cost,’ they said, ‘it must be done.’

A hundred eyes are staring for the sign.

It’s coming! Look! … Our God’s own laughing sun!

 

Closing prayers by The Venerable Ian Wheatley QHC, Royal Navy Chaplain of the Fleet

 

Eternal God,

from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed;

Kindle, we pray, in the hearts of all, the true love of peace

and guide with your pure and peaceable wisdom

those who take counsel for the nations of the world,

that in tranquillity your kingdom may go forward,

and all people may spend their days in security, freedom and peace;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Merciful God

we offer to you the fears in us

that have not yet been cast out by love:

may we accept the hope you have

placed in the hearts of all people,

and live lives of justice, courage and mercy;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

The Lord’s Prayer

 

All:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come, thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give is this day our daily bread.

And forgive is our trespasses,

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those that trespass against us.

And lead is not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

fro ver and ever. Amen.

 

The Blessing

 

God grant to the living grace, to the departed rest,

to the Church, the Queen, the Commonwealth and all people,

unity, peace and concord,

and to us and all God’s servants, life everlasting;

and the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

 

National anthem God Save the Queen

 

Led by the Choirs of Chelmsford Cathedral and accompanied by the Massed Bands

 

God save our gracious Queen,

Long live our noble Queen.

God save the Queen!

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us;

God save the Queen!

 

They Are At Rest by Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934), sung by the Choirs of Chelmsford Cathedral (unaccompanied)

 

THE MARCH PAST

Contingents from:

The Royal Navy

HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH

The Fleet Air Arm

The Submarine Service

Hybrid (HMS OCEAN, HMS ALBION,

Britannia Royal Naval College)

The Royal Marines

Maritime Reserves (Royal Navy

and Royal Marines Reserves)

Representatives from the Armed Forces of other countries who fought at Gallipoli

invited to join the March Past:

Australia

New Zealand

Canada

Turkey

India

Germany

Ireland

France

Bangladesh

Pakistan

South Africa

Papua New Guinea

Tonga

The Gallipoli Association

Naval Services Associations

The Royal Naval Association

The Royal Marines Association

Army Units and their Associations

The Royal Regiment of Artillery

The Royal Corps of Engineers

The Royal Regiment of Scotland

The Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment

The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment

The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

The Royal Anglian Regiment

The Yorkshire Regiment

The Mercian Regiment

The Royal Welsh

The Royal Irish Regiment

The Royal Gurkha Rifles

The Rifles

The Royal Logistics Corps

The Royal Army Medical Corps

The Royal Army Veterinary Corps

The Royal Yeomanry

The Royal Wessex Yeomanry

The Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry

The London Regiment

Court & City Yeomanry Association

In-Pensioners of the Royal Hospital Chelsea

The Turkish Air Force Band plays Marche Mustafa Kemal Atatürk by Fazıl Çağlayan

Followed by: Descendants of those whose ancestors were involved in the Gallipoli campaign and others who march past the Cenotaph every year to commemorate Anzac Day.

I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the outcast.

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

Allah’s peace be upon Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), the glorious Prophet of Islam, and on his Companions and his followers.

  

TASAWWUF

"There is no doubt that Tasawwuf is an important branch of Islam. The word itself may have been derived form the Arabic word "Soof" (Wool) or from "Safa" (cleanliness), but its foundation lies in one’s personal sincerity in seeking Allah’s nearness and trying to live a life pleasing to Him. Study of the Quran, the Hadith, and the practical life of the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and his faithful Companions provide unmistakable support to this reality." (Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A)

 

SUFISM, AN ESSENTIAL PART OF ISLAM

Doubts exist not only in the minds of the Muslim faithful but also among the Ulema, notably the exoteric about Tasawwuf and its votaries. Often they lead to misunderstanding, as if Shariah and Tariqah were two separate entries, or that Tasawwuf was some obscure discipline foreign to Islam, or that it was altogether above the established laws and injunctions of our Religion. To help remove these misgivings and to reassure seekers, as well as scholars, our Sheikh Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A), Sheikh Silsila Naqshbandia Awaisia, wrote Al-Jamal Wal Kamal, Aqaid-O-Kamalaat Ulmai-e-Deoband, Binat-e-Rasool (S.A.W), Daamad-e-Ali (R.A), Dalael-us-Salook, Ejaad-e-Mazhab Shia, Hayat-un-Nabi (S.A.W), Hayat Barzakhia, Ilm-o-Irfan, Niffaz-e-Shariat Aur Fiqah-e-Jaferia, Saif-e-Owaisi, Shikast-e-Ahdai Hussain and Tahkeek Halal Haram books.

 

BIOGRAPHY

Sheikh Allah Yar Khan was born in Chakrala, a remote village of Mianwali District of Pakistan, in 1904. He completed his religious education in 1934. The very year, he met Shaykh Abdul Rahim, who took him to the shrine of Shaykh Allah Deen Madni. By Divine Will his spiritual connection was right away established with the saint of the 10th century Hijra (sixteenth century) and he started receiving spiritual beneficence. His sublime education in Sufism, signifying progressive spiritual growth and advancement, continued for about twenty-five years. In 1962 he was directed to carry out the propagation of Prophetic blessings - a noble mission that he accomplished with singular enthusiasm and devotion for a period spanning half a century. Anybody who visited him was duly rewarded with a share of spiritual bliss as per his/her sincerity and capacity. Shaykh Allah Yar Khan's mission produced men and women of deep spiritual vision and distinction.

 

Although Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A) have lived a major portion of his life as a scholar, with the avowed mission of illuminating the truth of Islam and the negation of fallacious sects, and this would appear quite removed from Tasawwuf, yet the only practical difference between the two, namely the use of the former as a media to expound the truth, and the latter to imbue people with positive faith. Nevertheless, people are amazed that a man, who until the other day, was known as a dialectician and a preacher of Islam, is not only talking of Mystic Path, but is also claiming spiritual bonds with the veteran Sufi Masters of the Past. This amazement is obviously out of place in the view of Quranic injunction: This is the bounty of Allah which He gives to whom He wills. (62:4)

 

THE PURIFICATION OF THE SOUL

The purification of the soul always formed part of the main mission of the Prophets; that is, the dissemination and propagation of the Devine Message. This responsibility later fell directly on the shoulders of the true Ulema in the Ummah of the last Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), who, as his genuine successors, have continued to shed brave light in every Dark Age of materialism and sacrilege. In the present age of ruinous confusion, the importance of this responsibility has increased manifold; of the utter neglect of Islam by Muslims has not only driven them to misery, but also grievously weakened their bonds of faith in Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). The decay in their belief and consequent perversion in their conduct has reached a stage that any attempt to pull them out of the depth of ignominy and the heedless chaos of faithlessness, attracts grave uncertainties and apprehensions rather than a encouraging will to follow the Shariah, to purify the soul and to reform within. The Quranic Verse: Layers upon layers of darkness… (24:40) provides the nearest expression of their present state.

 

SHARIAH & SUFISM

Any action against the Sunnah (Prophet’s way of life) cannot be called Sufism. Singing and dancing, and the prostration on tombs are not part of Sufism. Nor is predicting the future and predicting the outcome of cases in the courts of law, a part of Sufism. Sufis are not required to abandon their worldly possessions or live in the wilderness far from the practical world. In fact these absurdities are just its opposites. It is an established fact that Tazkiyah (soul purification) stands for that inner purity which inspires a person’s spirit to obey the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). If a false claimant of Sufism teaches tricks and jugglery, ignoring religious obligations, he is an impostor. A true Sheikh will lead a believer to the august spiritual audience of the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). If you are fortunate enough to be blessed with the company of an accomplished spiritual guide and Sheikh of Sufism, and if you follow his instructions, you will observe a positive change in yourself, transferring you from vice to virtue.

 

ISLAM, AS A COMPLETE CODE OF LIFE

Islam, as a complete code of life or Deen, was perfected during the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). He was the sole teacher and his mosque was the core institution for the community. Although Islam in its entirety was practiced during that blessed era, the classification and compilation of its knowledge into distinct branches like ‘Tafsir’ (interpretation of the Quran), Hadith (traditions or sayings of the holy Prophet- SAWS), Fiqh (Islamic law), and Sufism (the soul purification) were undertaken subsequently. This Deen of Allah passed from the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) to his illustrious Companions in two ways: the outward and the inward. The former comprised the knowledge defined by speech and conduct, i.e., the Quran and Sunnah. The latter comprised the invisible blessings or the Prophetic lights transmitted by his blessed self. These blessings purified the hearts and instilled in them a passionate desire to follow Islam with utmost love, honesty and loyalty.

 

WHAT’S SUFISM

Sufism is the attempt to attain these Barakah (Blessings). The Companions handed down Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) teachings as well as blessings to the Taba’een. Their strong hearts were capable of infusing these blessings into the hearts of their followers. Both aspects of Islam were similarly passed on by the Taba’een to the Taba Taba’een. The compilation of knowledge and its interpretation led to the establishment of many schools of religious thought; famous four being the Hanafi, the Hanbali, the Maliki, and the Shafa'i, all named after their founders. Similarly, in order to acquire, safeguard and distribute his blessings, an organized effort was initiated by four schools of Sufism: The Naqshbandia, the Qadria, the Chishtia, and the Suharwardia. These schools were also named after their organizers and came to be known as Sufi Orders. All these Orders intend to purify the hearts of sincere Muslims with Prophetic lights. These Sufi Orders also grew into many branches with the passage of time and are known by other names as well. The holy Quran has linked success in this life and the Hereafter with Tazkiyah (soul purification). He, who purified, is successful. (87: 14) Sufi Orders of Islam are the institutions where the basics of Tazkiyah (soul purification) and its practical application are taught. They have graded programs in which every new seeker is instructed in Zikr-e Lisani (oral Zikr) and is finally taught the Zikr-e Qalbi (Remembrance in heart).

 

ZIKR-E QALBI

However, in the Naqshbandia Order, Zikr-e Qalbi is practiced from the very beginning. Adherence to the Sunnah (Prophet’s way of life) is greatly emphasized in this Order, because the seeker achieves greater and quicker progress through its blessings. The essence of Zikr is that the Qalb should sincerely accept Islamic beliefs and gain the strength to follow the Sunnah with even greater devotion. ‘If the heart is acquainted with Allah and is engaged in His Zikr; then it is filled with Barakaat-e Nabuwwat (Prophetic blessings) which infuse their purity in the mind and body. This not only helps in controlling sensual drives but also removes traces of abhorrence, voracity, envy and insecurity from human soul. The person therefore becomes an embodiment of love, both for the Divine and the corporeal. This is the meaning of a Hadith, “There is a lump of flesh in the human body; if it goes astray the entire body is misguided, and if it is reformed the entire body is reformed. Know that this lump is the Qalb”.’

 

PAS ANFAS

Recent History Khawajah Naqshband (d. 1389 CE) organized the Naqshbandia Order at Bukhara (Central Asia). This Order has two main branches – the Mujaddidia and the Owaisiah. The former is identified with Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi, known as Mujaddid Alif Sani (literally: reviver of the second Muslim millennium), a successor to Khawajah Baqi Billah, who introduced the Order to the Indo- Pakistan sub-continent. The Owaisiah Order employs a similar method of Zikr but acquires the Prophetic blessings in the manner of Khawajah Owais Qarni, who received this beneficence from the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) without a formal physical meeting. The Zikr employed by the Naqshbandia is ‘Zikr-e Khafi Qalbi’ (remembrance of Allah’s Name within the heart) and the method is termed ‘Pas Anfas’, which (in Persian) means guarding every breath. The Chain of Transmission of these Barakah, of course, emanates from the holy Prophet- SAWS.

 

SPIRITUAL BAI’AT (OATH OF ALLEGIANCE

It is necessary in all Sufi Orders that the Sheikh and the seekers must be contemporaries and must physically meet each other for the transfer of these blessings. However, the Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order goes beyond this requirement and Sufis of this Order receive these Barakah regardless of physical meeting with their Sheikh or even when the Sheikh is not their contemporary. Yet, it must be underscored that physical meeting with the Sheikh of this Order still holds great importance in dissemination of these Barakah. Sheikh Sirhindi writes about the Owaisiah Order in his book ‘Tazkirah’: ‘It is the most sublime, the most exalted, and the most effective…and the highest station of all others is only its stepping stone.’ By far the greatest singular distinction of the Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order is the honor of Spiritual Bai’at (Oath of Allegiance) directly at the blessed hands of the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W).

 

SHEIKH HAZRAT MOULANA ALLAH YAR KHAN (R.A)

The Reviver Sheikh Allah Yar Khan was born in Chikrala, a remote village of Mianwali District of Pakistan, in 1904. He completed his religious education in 1934. The same year, he met Sheikh ‘Abdul Rahim, who took him to the shrine of Sheikh Allah Deen Madni. By Divine Will his spiritual connection was immediately established with the saint of the 10th century Hijra (sixteenth century CE) and he started receiving spiritual beneficence. His sublime education in Sufism, signifying progressive spiritual growth and advancement, continued for about twenty-five years, after which he was directed to undertake the propagation of Prophetic blessings - a noble mission that he accomplished with singular zeal and dedication for a period spanning half a century. Anybody who visited him was duly rewarded with a share of spiritual bliss commensurate with his/her sincerity and capacity. Sheikh Allah Yar Khan’s mission produced men and women of deep spiritual vision and eminence. He authored eighteen books, the most distinguished being Dalael us-Sulook (Sufism - An Objective Appraisal), Hayat-e Barzakhiah (Life Beyond Life) and Israr ul- Haramain (Secrets of the two holy Mosques). He was undoubtedly one of the most distinguished Sufi saints of the Muslim Ummah and a reviver of the Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order. He passed away on 18 February 1984 in Islamabad at the age of eighty.

 

THE CHAIN OF TRANSMISSION OF NAQSHBANDIA OWAISIAH

1. Hazrat Muhammad ur-Rasool Allah (Sall Allah-o Alaihi wa Sallam), 2. Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (Radhi Allah-o Unho), 3. Hazrat Imam Hassan Basri (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 4. Hazrat Daud Tai (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 5. Hazrat Junaid Baghdadi (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 6. Hazrat Ubaid Ullah Ahrar (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 7. Hazrat Abdur Rahman Jami (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 8. Hazrat Abu Ayub Muhammad Salih (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 9. Hazrat Allah Deen Madni (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 10. Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi).

 

THE SPIRIT OR RUH

The spirit or Ruh of every person is a created reflection of the Divine Attributes and it originates in Alam-e Amar (Realm of Command). Its food is the Light of Allah or the Divine Refulgence, which it acquires from the Realm of Command through the holy Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s choicest favors and peace be upon him), whose status in the spiritual world is like that of the sun in the solar system. The Quran refers to him as the ‘bright lamp’. Indeed, he is the divinely selected channel of all Barakah. All Exalted Messengers themselves receive these Barakah from him.

 

LATAIF

The human Ruh also possesses vital organs like the physical body; through which it acquires its knowledge, food and energy. These are called Lataif (singular Latifah: subtlety). Scholars of various Sufi Orders have associated them with specific areas of the human body. The Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order identifies these Lataif as follows. First - Qalb: This spiritual faculty is located within the physical heart. Its function is Zikr. Its strength increases one’s capacity for Allah’s Zikr. Second – Ruh: The site of this Latifah, which is a distinct faculty of the human Ruh, is on the right side of the chest at the level of Qalb. Its primary function is concentration towards Allah. Third – Sirri: This is located above the Qalb and functions to make possible Kashf. Forth – Khaffi: This is located above the Ruh and functions to perceive the omnipresence of Allah. Fifth – Akhfa: This is located in the middle of chest, at the centre of the first four Lataif and makes it possible for the Ruh to perceive the closeness of Allah, Who is closer to us than our own selves. Sixth – Nafs: This Latifah is located at the forehead and functions to purify the human soul. Seventh – Sultan al-Azkar: This Latifah is located at the top centre of the head and serves to absorb the Barakah of Allah into the entire body, so that every cell resonates with Zikr.

 

FIVE EXALTED MESSENGERS OF GOD

There are Five Exalted Messengers among the many known and unknown Messengers of Allah. They are Hazrat Muhammad, Hazrat Nuh (Noah), Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham), Hazrat Musa (Moses), and Hazrat Esa (Jesus), peace be upon them all. Hazrat Adam is the first Prophet of Allah and the father of mankind. Each Latifah is associated with a particular Prophet. The Barakah and lights from Hazrat Adam (peace be upon him), descend on the first Latifah Qalb; its lights are reflected from the first heaven and are yellowish. The second Latifah is associated with Hazrat Nuh and Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon them). Its lights descend from the second heaven and appear as golden red. The lights descending upon the third Latifah are from Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him) and are white. One the fourth Latifah, the lights of Hazrat Esa (peace be upon him) descend from the fourth heaven and are deep blue. The fifth Latifah receives its Barakah directly from the holy Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s choicest favors and peace be upon him). The lights associated with this Latifah are green, descend from the fifth heaven, and overwhelm all the first four Lataif. The Lights descending upon the sixth and seventh Lataif are the Divine Lights, whose color and condition cannot be determined. These are like flashes of lightening that defy comprehension. If Allah blesses a seeker with Kashf, he can observe all of this. The vision is slightly diffused in the beginning, but gradually the clarity improves.

 

SULOOK

Stages of the Path After all seven Lataif of a seeker have been illuminated with Divine Lights through Tawajjuh of the Sheikh and his Ruh has acquired the ability to fly, the Sheikh initiates its journey on the sublime Path of Divine nearness. The Path is known as Sulook, and its stages are not hypothetical imaginations but real and actually existing stations on the spiritual Path. These are also referred to as Meditations, because a seeker mentally meditates about a station while his/her Ruh actually ascends towards it. The first three stations that form the base of whole Sulook are described as; Ahadiyyat, a station of Absolute Unity of Divinity. It is above and beyond the seven heavens. It is so vast a station that the seven heavens and all that they encompass are lost within Ahadiyyat as a ring is lost in a vast desert. Its lights are white in color. Maiyyat station denotes Divine Company, ‘He is with you, wherever you might be.’ This station is so vast that Ahadiyyat along with the seven heavens beneath are lost within it as a ring is lost in a desert. Its lights are green in color. Aqrabiyyat station denotes Divine Nearness, ‘He is nearer to you than your life- vein.’ Again, Aqrabiyyat is vast as compared to Maiyyat in the same proportion. Its lights are golden red and are reflected from the Divine Throne. It is indeed the greatest favor of Almighty Allah that He blesses a seeker with an accomplished Sheikh, who takes him to these sublime stations. The final station that a seeker attains to during his/her lifetime becomes his/her Iliyyeen (blessed abode) in Barzakh and his/her Ruh stays at this station after death.

  

ZIKR

Why is Zikr Necessary for Everyone? Allah ordains every soul in the Quran to Perform Zikr. This not only means reciting the Quran and Tasbeeh but also Zikr-e Qalb. It is only through Zikr-e Qalbi that Prophetic Lights reach the depths of human soul and purify it from all vice and evil. Zikr infuses a realization of constant Divine Presence and a seeker feels great improvement in the level of sincerity and love towards Allah and the holy Prophet- SAWS. Such levels of sincerity, love and feelings of Divine Presence can never be obtained without Zikr. It would be a mistake to believe that Zikr may be a requirement only for the very pious and virtuous people. Zikr provides the Prophetic blessings which are in effect the life line of every human soul. It transforms even the most corrupted humans into virtuous souls by bringing out the best in them. The fact is that Zikr is the only way to achieve true contentment and satisfaction in life. The holy Quran has pointed to this eternal fact that it is only through Zikr Allah that hearts can find satisfaction. Such satisfaction and peace are the ultimate requirements of every person, regardless of religion, race and ethnicity. Practicing Zikr regularly removes all traces of anxiety and restlessness, and guides the human soul to eternal bliss and peace.

 

KHALIFA MAJAZEEN

Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A), during his life time in 1974, presented a nomination list to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), during Maraqba, of expected Khalifa Majazeen for Silsila Naqshbandia Awaisia. Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) approved some names, deleted some of the names, and added down the name of Major Ghulam Muhammad as also Khalifa Majaaz of Silsila Naqshbandia Awaisia (which was not previously included in the list)

 

The approved names at that time included:

1. Mr. Muhammad Akram Awan Sahib,

2. Mr. Sayed Bunyad Hussain Shah Sahib,

3. Mr. Major Ahsan Baig Sahib,

4. Mr. Col. Matloob Hussain Sahib,

5. Mr. Major Ghulam Muhammad Sahib of Wan Bhachran Mianwali,

6. Mr. Molvi Abdul Haq Sahib,

7. Mr. Hafiz Abdul Razzaq Sahib,

8. Mr. Hafiz Ghulam Qadri Sahib,

9. Mr. Khan Muhammad Irani Sahib,

10. Mr. Maolana Abdul Ghafoor Sahib,

11. Mr. Syed Muhammad Hassan Sahib of Zohb.

 

These Majazeen were authorized to; held Majalis of Zikar (Pas Anfas) in their respective areas, arrange Majalis of Zikar in neighboring areas, train them on the way of Sulook, prepare them for Spiritual Bai’at (Oath of Allegiance), and present them to Sheikh Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan for Spiritual Bai’at at the Hand of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), in the life of Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A), and were all equal in status as Khalifa Majaaz of Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A).

 

Presently we are following Hazrat Major ® Ghulam Muhammad Sahib, Khalifa Majaaz of Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A).

 

Photograph by: Ryan Nyenhuis

 

Sunday June 15th 2008, Fathers Day. Ryan and I woke with a plan. The plan being to sneak into the abandon R.L. Hearn Thermal Generation Power Plant which is located in the south east area of downtown Toronto. We wanted to photograph the beauty of decay.

 

We had made a trip over to the power plant a week prior to scout out the area, to see where guards were located and to find easy access inside.

 

Sneaking past the guard house located at the front of the property and making our way along the north west section of property towards the back of the plant where the barbed wire fence was weakest.

 

We then smoked three quarters of a joint together before working up the nerve to hop the fence. Ryan went first, watching him hop the fence and dart out into the yard and hiding behind scrap metal for cover then finally making it to the back of the building. Then it was my turn. What excitement that was, knowing your breaking the law to do something adventurous.

 

After getting onto the property we were standing at the back of the Hearn and looking for our way inside. To do so we had to hop up onto a metal fence post and from there had to reach up and grab a hold of plywood that covered up the tall entrance area. A good 15 foot climb up, over and in.

 

Once inside the first photo that was taken was the one of Ryan and I standing together, titled "final hours".

 

This place was like no other we had ever explored together. The shear size of it all was breathtaking and mind blowing at the same time. The beauty of destruction.

 

After the first photo was taken we started exploring the plant. Taking the necessary precautions we had come prepared with asbestos masks and flashlights.

 

We had made our way around on the ground floor, through locker rooms, showers, storage rooms. Then we started making our way up stairs to the 2nd and 3rd level offices, had the remainder of our joint together.

 

From the office levels we went back onto the factory area and started climbing the metal stairs up further still. Some photos show how high up we were in that building.

 

We then made ourselves up onto the roof. What a view from there looking out over the city core. Looking out over Lake Ontario we saw really dark storm clouds. Ryan pulled out a cigarette and had a smoke.

 

We were up on the roof for about a half hour before Ryan asked me "what do you want to do now man?". "Do you want to go home now or stay a bit longer and explore?". My camera battery had died at this point and being there any longer served no purpose for me. I was hesitant on a response because at the same time I wanted to keep exploring because the plan was to keep coming back weekend after weekend to explore and document the old structure.

 

I then agreed to keep exploring. We came in off the roof, coming down a level, walked through a doorway into a long looking dark room. All across the top level of The Hearn runs conveyor belts that run coal from one end to the other. Walking together along the metal grating flooring. Ryan was 2 feet in front of me.

 

I then ended up tripping over a small extruded piece of metal on the floor, and from that second on I pointed my flashlight directly onto the floor to see where I was walking.

 

Very shortly after this happens, in mid sentence Ryan just falls into blackness. All I see is from his waist up as he plunges into complete blackness and followed by about 4-5 seconds before hearing a sick crash far below.

 

I then look 2 feet in front of me and see there is no more floor. My imediant thought is that he is dead. Then my brain clicks "I have to get my best friend out of here".

 

I then tried my best to back track to get out of the building, taking a route that he and I had not taken to get to this point. All I knew is I had to get out of The Hearn and find someone that could help.

 

I don't even know how I got out of that place. When I did I came out on the back side of the building, ran around to the guard house screaming for help.

 

I screamed to the guard that my best friend just fell in there and is hurt really bad, he asked what we were doing in there and I told him we were just taking photos.

 

The guard then called like every paramedic, fire and police officer in the city. About 10 minutes after the call was made all I could hear were the sirens. Scared and relived at the same time I was.

 

Once they all showed up I told them Ryan was in there, that we were up high in the building and he fell. All the cops were telling me to retrace my steps, they wanted to see where we came in from. I screamed at them "we don't have time for that right now, my best friend is dying in there". I then started leading them to the front of the Hearn because I knew it was the closet way inside. We get to the front and all entrances were boarded up. One cops said to me "Ian there is no way in through this way, you have to show us where you came in from". I then demanded to the fire fighters that they bust this plywood down to get inside.

 

Once inside the cops started fucking with my mind, me being in total shock at the time they started asking me where we had explored, they wanted me to take them on what would have been a few hours of exploration, which we didn't have time for.

 

Then an officer finds his asbestos mask and glasses. My first thought is he was okay, that he somehow managed to crawl out under his own power. I was wrong. His mask and glasses had bounced off of objects on the fall and Ryan was nowhere to be found.

 

The police tried getting a hold of Rogers Communication to see if they could pin point his location with the cell phone he had on him. They ended up using thermal vision to locate him. He was trapped in a coal hopper located high up in the building.

 

I was escorted out at this point in time because I was too "hysterical" for the cops liking.

 

Two and a half hours went by, a fierce thunderstorm was passing through.

 

While they were working on getting Ryan out I was giving my statement to the police. Never gave one of those in my life. I told them everything that I am writing here right now, everything, even the joint smoking. I had Nothing to hide.

 

We went in undetected but I didn't care if the whole world was watching at this point, I was doing what any best friend would do. I was trying to save him. City Pulse News was there and I was trying to hide from them. I was scared that this is how his family would find out and how my family would find out, being Fathers days and all.

 

After two and a half hours of hell they finally got Ryan out. I watched them carry him out on a backboard and I yelled to him that I loved him.

 

Ryan was rushed to St. Micheal's Hospital, the best in all the city for trauma.

 

I followed about an hour after him, being escorted in a police car. On the drive one officer said to me "this is going to cost you and your buddy about a hundred thousand dollars for all that had to be done here today". What a jackass thing to say. I responded by saying "I don't give a fuck about money, take all I have from me I don't care, I'm loosing the most important person in my life right now".

 

We get to the hospital, I enter the trauma wing of St. Micheal's. They told me that I was going to be the one to call the home of the Nyenhuis'. I thought that was insane, and told them I could not make that call, that they would have to.

 

I then went into the waiting room, sat down. I remember the NBA finals were on the televisions in there and I ended up falling asleep somehow.

 

Waking to Stevie and Tammy's faces hours later (Stevie being Ryan's room mate and Tammy being Ryan's girlfriend).

 

Stevie told me that John and Cheryl were on their way and that we could go up stairs to the trauma ward to see Ryan.

 

The trauma centre, located on the 9th floor of St. Micheal's Hospital.

 

Hours passed by, as the night went on the news kept getting worse and worse about his condition.

 

I ended up leaving to come back to my apartment at 6am the following morning, I had to talk to my parents and try and shovel some food into my system. Still being in shock and never got treatment for shock when it happened.

 

I returned to the hospital at 3pm that day. Only to find nothing had changed with his condition.

 

Then came the worst words I ever had to hear, Ryan's father coming in the room and telling me it was time to say goodbye to Ryan.

 

We made our way into where he was being cared for. To see my best friend in the state he was in broke my heart. Blood coming out the back of his head, body black and blue bruised from head to toe, internal damage that could not be repaired, feeling his forehead and it being ice cold. He was laying there in front of us, dead. Machines were the only thing keeping him "alive".

 

I said my goodbyes to him, telling him that he can't leave me here, he can't leave the creation of Studies In Comfort behind, something that is so brilliant, that we were supposed to take over the world together and do all that was planned. I told him to haunt me.

 

I then looked at his eyes and saw tears. He may have been brain dead but I know he heard every word I said. Doctors did not give an explanation to what was coming out of his eyes.

 

If only I had said to Ryan "hey man watch your step" he might still be alive today. I have been told over and over again that I can not blame myself for what happened that day. I sometimes still do.

 

Ryan and I once had a conversation that if something ever happened to one of us that Studies In Comfort would stop, without a core creator there is no sense to continue it. Well I am going against those wishes. I can't lose what he and I created even before it took off the ground.

 

I now know my purpose in life. To carry on Studies In Comfort. I must continue on for him, finish off the 3 studio albums we had in the works and continue on with this art form.

 

Ryan died at the wheel and I have moved his lifeless body to the passengers seat and now a fucking insane madman is driving.

 

Ryan Nyenhuis, whos favourite artist was Nine Inch Nails, who lived on floor number 9, who wore a roman numeral 9 on his right arm, who died on the 9th floor at St. Micheal's Hospital, Toronto.

 

Thank you to 55 Division and all the paramedics and fire fighters who helped get Ryan out of that terrible dark place.

 

Ryan Nyenhuis is survived by his father, John, mother Cheryl, sisters, Jennifer and Leah, their beautiful children, myself and Studies In Comfort.

  

Ryan John Nyenhuis

July 28th 1981 - June 15th 2008

 

We love and miss you.

___________________________

 

All photographs were taken by Ryan Nyenhuis & Ian Levack with a Casio EX-Z1050 camera.