joshua and caleb said the land
lays bare before us let us go in let us
possess it by force let its inhabitants
become our prey the
remaining scouts said no as soon
as we attack this land it will most
surely devour us have faith
in god do not fear
this country and its people
when the israelites gathered up
their weapons and raised
a battle cry god said
to moses listen can you hear
that doesn’t it sound like the song
of the enslaved the cry of
fear bequeathed to the
children the sound
of carrion slowly
rotting away in the
wilderness
miriam sat curled
knees up head down
eyes shut tight against
the jeers hey snow white if you
were my daughter i’d spit right in your
face
miriam slept
she dreamed the cushite
woman was finally set free she
dreamed that moses prayed
desperately for her healing she
dreamed god’s face had been gazing
at her all along when she
awoke she was told to return to the
camp before they set out she named it
hazerot which means
yes i am a prophet
too
If you’re inclined in the non-theist direction, you might be surprised to learn that there are at least as many varieties of atheism as there are forms of religious belief. Check out this really fascinating piece, “Seven Types of Non-Believers” by psychologist and religious journalist Valerie Tarico.
My favorite passage:
Some atheists think of agnostic as a weenie term, because it gets used by people who lack a god-concept but don’t want to offend family members or colleagues … But in reality, the term agnostic represents a range of intellectual positions that have important substance in their own right and can be independent of atheism.
I’ve been listening non-stop the past two weeks to the music of Azam Ali, an Indian/Persian vocalist who is gifted with one of the most ethereal, transporting voices I believe I’ve ever heard. Ali specializes in sacred music and sings them in a dizzying variety of languages.
You should give a listen – a great place to start would be her first solo album, “Portals of Grace,” which combines Judeo-Spanish and Arabic songs with medieval songs from France, Galicia, Brittany and Sweden. (!)
Click above to hear Ali’s version of the Sephardic ballad “La Serena.” Sublime.
before i
gave birth to
you i sacrificed
every first born in
the land of egypt I said
to pharaoh let my
first born go and
worship me in the wilderness then i
hardened him down to the
marrow so here we are in the
wilderness now i have you to
myself yes you
are my first born and
you are mine
all mine
you must not oppress the
stranger for the
land belongs to me and you are
all but strangers resident
upon it when you
oppress the stranger
you oppress
yourselves
and aaron replied to god
no i won’t turn
away the blind or the
scarred the fractured the
shattered the severed the
beaten or vanquished all
will be welcome to eat of
the sacred meal for there is
nothing so whole as a broken
heart none more open than the
freshly wounded
i wonder if
you
could
even
pass
that
test
While Yauch may have attained popularity as one third of a group of New York Jewish rappers who got their start helping at least one generation of suburban white boys “fight for their right to party,” his personal spiritual evolution into Tibetan Buddhism was one major reason the Beasties’ music ended up going in such amazing and ever-surprising directions for over a decade.
Yauch: The bottom line of all the problems on this planet and that all human beings are working on is this basic misconception of not-enoughness, feeling like we’re not enough. This is some strain of that, of feeling that if the dharma is presented in this way, or if these other people become interested in this or get excited about it, it’s going to take something away from me. It’s this basic misconception, this feeling of not-enoughness.
Tricycle: Do you see any difference for your own generation?
Yauch: One of the monks said something that’s relevant here. He noticed this huge separation in America between the kids and the adults that doesn’t exist where he comes from, and that there’s a real polarization between adults and youth. Where they come from, when there’s a celebration—or a dance, or a party, or music—the little kids and the grandpas are all dancing and singing together. That’s something this country could definitely grasp hold of. Our polarization of that is more extreme than it needs to be.
Tricycle: Are you hopeful about your generation?
Yauch: I’m pretty hopeful about the evolution of humanity in general. I think that all of us here on the planet at this point have come into these lifetimes and into these bodies because it’s a crucial time in the evolution of the planet and humanity. It’s a transitional phase, and I think that everyone has come in at this time to be a part of that, to be part of the Big Show.
PS: To the uninitiated: Adam is the one with the backwards cap…
The Deopokhari festival in Nepal is held to appease what locals believe is a demon that resides in a pond. Every year, goats and other animals are sacrificed to the pond demon so that no human lives will be lost to drowning. (Photo: Niranjan Shrestha / AP)
azazel danced down the edge of
the rocky slope when the
animal finally appeared in
the distance looking up he saw empty confessions
dissolving like beads of water on a
hot desert floor marveling at the desperate
neverending thirst for expiation how wonderful to
let a poor beast die for your sins how delectably
deliciously marvelous he reached the
bottom of the dry riverbed skipping gleefully in
anticipation he ran to greet the offering so
ravenous he didn’t bother to glance
behind at the dessicated goat
carcasses lying in heaps on the
floor of the
valley
Yedid Nefesh 