Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians
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The Armenian Weekly On-Line
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The Armenian Weekly; Volume 73, No. 46; Nov. 17, 2007
Arts and Literature:
The Education of Ashot
By Knarik O. Meneshian
......
In the city of Erzerum, a center for manuscript production, there were ten
community schools, with one established in 1811. There was one Catholic
school for boys, established in 1867, run by the Mkhitarist Order of Venice;
one Catholic school for girls, run by the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate
Conception; and two schools, one for boys and one for girls, maintained by
the Protestant community. The Hripsimian Girls' School, one of the community
schools, was established in 1875. The Sanasarian Varzharan was founded in
1881 and served as a teacher-training center. Although the school was closed
in 1912, it opened later in Sebastia in the same year. The Kavafian School,
a co-educational elementary school, was established in 1905. Karmir Vank, a
monastery near the village of Hintsk, in the province of Erzerum, was a
center of education, which included an orphanage, hospital and leprosarium.
Some of Erzerum's teachers received their education at the Tiflis and
Echmiadzin schools, where they had been trained as specialists in the fields
of Armenian history, language and literature.
In the 1800s, American missionaries associated with the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions arrived in the province of Sebastia and
established a number of educational institutions including an elementary and
a high school for boys and similar schools for girls. In 1886, they
established Anatolia College in Marsovan, where the students and teachers
were largely Armenian, a kindergarten, and a school for the deaf. In the
same city, the American Boarding School for Girls was renamed Anatolia Girls'
School in 1886. Among the large number of schools in the city of Sebastia
that existed in the 1880s, there were the Aramian and Seraydarian Boys'
Schools and the Hrispimian Girls' School. The Sivas Normal School for Boys,
a secondary level school, was established in 1880 and became Sivas Teacher's
College in 1912. Armenian Catholics and Protestants also established schools
in Sebastia. Among the schools in Adana were the American School for Girls,
a Jesuit school for girls, a French college and the Mouseghian School.
In Van, Mkrtich Khrimian, reverently known as Khrimian Hairig (1820-1907,
born in Van), established a seminary at Varak Monastery in the 1850s. It was
the first school in the area that provided modern teaching methods,
including the absence of corporal punishment. He trained and encouraged
teachers to create a positive and pleasant learning atmosphere as well as to
treat students compassionately, and instill in them patriotism and love for
the homeland. He believed in the education of girls, and was against the
"Oriental idea that husbands have a right to rule over their wives by
force." Earlier in the 1840s, a number of boys' and girls' schools had been
established in the region where a number of scriptoria existed in monastic
centers of learning. The Yeramian School had been opened in Van in the
1800s. Schools established by Mekertitch Portugalian (1848-1921, born in
Constantinople), a prominent and inspiring educator, were the Varzhabetanots
(Normal School), and Gedronagan Varzharan (Central Gymnasium).
Unfortunately, both schools were short-lived.
Our visit to Shvanidzor had come to an end, but before it was time for Ashot
and I to get on the bus back to Yerevan, I asked him if we could stop at the
village cemetery. "So, you want to visit the geereezmodee dooz," he said in
his melodic Shvanidzor dialect. I nodded, wondering, What kinds of stories
will the headstones tell? Most certainly, history lessons for another day,
but for now a quick look would have to do.
The bus back to Yerevan was full. Among the passengers were two families
From Agarak, a neighboring town. They had locked the doors of their homes
permanently in pursuit of a better life, one in Yerevan, and the other in
Russia.
The following day, Ashot and I continued our discussion on education as we
strolled up and down the bustling streets of Yerevan. Much had changed in
the capital and throughout the country since I first saw it in 1975, and
then several more times beginning in 1990. But, the enthusiasm for learning
among most of the students I had seen had not changed and remained equally
strong whether in the Yerevan schools, such as the Aghbalian and Pushkin
schools I visited in 1990, or schools in the regions such as the ones where
I had taught in a remote village school and a city public school. As in the
past, the rote method of teaching is still prevalent. Teachers generally sit
behind their desks as they teach, and students rise when the teacher enters
the classroom.
During the 1800s, a number of schools were opened in Yerevan: the Yerevan
Regional School, 1832; the Armenian Religious School, 1837; the Yerevan Boy's
School, 1850; the Nork Community School, 1860; the Gayanyan Girls' School,
1866; and the Teacher's Seminary (the seminary was a three-story, black
stone, Russian era building located on Abovian Street), 1881. Also opened
were the Library in 1865 and the Printing House in 1874. Some of the
periodicals on education during this period were: Dasdeearak, (Educator),
published 1873-74, Crimea; Dbrots (School), published 1874-76, Vagharshabat;
Mangavarzhagan Tert (Pedigogic Newspaper), 1882-84, Tiflis; Aghbuir
(Source), 1883-1918, Tiflis. Of significant importance was the first
Armenian Teachers' Conference that took place in Tiflis in 1882.
"Had your father been alive and walking with us right now," said Ashot with
excitement in his voice, "he would have been amazed at the progress that has
been made in this city where he witnessed the birth of Armenia's First
Republic, in this country where later, during Stalin's reign, he was
arrested and tortured for his anti-government beliefs and writings, thus
becoming a political prisoner in Siberian prisons."
Just then, I remembered one of my students in Jrashen in 1991. He was a
quiet, studious boy, no more than ten years old, who one day during our
reading lesson suddenly blurted out, "Deegeen (Mrs.) Knarik, Lenin babeeguh
sadgets! (Grandpa Lenin croaked!)" Yes, much had changed in the country.
During the First Republic, the fledgling democratic nation, which existed
for almost two and a half years, was faced with a number of trials and
tribulations. Despite them, the government had vision and a goal to lift the
people from its centuries-old web of oppression and ignorance. Of utmost
concern was the welfare of the people; therefore, social programs were
begun, such as education and the establishment of schools and institutions
of higher learning, health and hygiene, and land distribution to farmers.
Public lecture series were begun in Yerevan and various places throughout
the country. The Minister of Education, Nikol Aghbalian, planned to have
1,500 elementary schools in operation by 1921, and to further develop
schools of higher learning (in 1908, Yerevan had 31 schools and 3,724
students, predominately Armenians). Funds were allocated for textbooks,
adult literacy classes, indigent students and children who lost family
members in defense of Armenia. Plans were made for a seven-year military
academy in Kars, a medical school in Yerevan, and technical schools in
Alexandropol and Yerevan. In 1919, Yerevan opened its first hospital, which
included an obstetrics and gynecology department.
Founded in 1919, the State University of Armenia (later renamed Yerevan
State University) was opened in 1920 in Alexandropol, with plans to expand
the university and transfer the campus to Yerevan in the fall, where it
would temporarily be housed in the building of the Teacher's Seminary on
Abovian Street. Allocations were made for faculty housing and the purchase
of books from abroad. By September 1920, six hundred thirty two men and
women had registered for the fall term, and a number of internationally
renowned Armenian scholars returned to Armenia to teach at the university.
After the Red Forces entered Yerevan on April 2, 1921, life changed
drastically for the people in Armenia. The nation's hard-fought albeit brief
independence would be squelched for decades until it came again on September
21, 1991.
During the Soviet period, education continued to excel and schooling was
free, including at the university level. In 1921, twenty-two new schools
were opened, eighteen primary and four secondary. During the same year, the
medical school reopened, and a music school was started. In 1922, the Fine
Arts School was opened, and in 1923 the Mangavarzhagan Tekhneekoom.
During the 1930-31 period, a literacy program was instituted (during the
First Republic such a program had already been initiated and existed in
1919), and night schools associated with factories were opened so that
workers could continue their education. In 1930, mandatory primary education
(4th grade) was initiated. In 1940, the mandatory grade level was seven, and
in 1969 it was eight.
It must be noted that after the 1915 genocide, Armenian communities in the
Middle East opened many Armenian schools, including secondary level, and in
some communities post-high school educational institutions.
In Armenia today, the education system is as follows: pre-school or
kindergarten; elementary school (grades 1-3); basic school (grades 4-8);
high school (grades 9-10); and higher education. Primary and secondary
education is free. Higher level education is free only for a limited number
of students who score high on entrance exams.
"Come," said Ashot in his impassioned and cheerful manner, "let us walk a
little more!" The statue of Vartan Mamigonian soon came into view. We
stopped to watch some children at play. Their happy sounds felt good, like
the warmth of the sun on a chilly day. Suddenly, Ashot grew quiet and
withdrawn, and the glimmer in his eyes was gone. I wondered what had
happened, but dared not ask. In an attempt to get his mind off of whatever
was distressing him, I said, "Ashot, I cannot believe we have walked so far!
Nearby is the kindergarten I visited in 1991. I remember it so well. It was
autumn, and the children were welcoming voske ashoon (golden autumn) and all
its bounty, with songs and dances and recitations."
Ashot sighed and slowly nodded his head as he continued watching the
children. Suddenly, more to himself then to me, he said, "Heema hasgatsa vor
sood er, amen eenchuh sood er! (I have now understood that it was a lie, it
was all a lie.) Look around you now. Look what has been accomplished so far
under our own flag! It can only get better for us, including my Weeping
Valley, Sweet Valley. Yes, voske ashoon will soon be here. Let its bounty be
reaped by all, and let it be used with wisdom, foresight and benevolence!"
-
Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians
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The Armenian Weekly On-Line
80 Bigelow Avenue
Watertown MA 02472 USA
(617) 926-3974
[email protected]
The Armenian Weekly; Volume 73, No. 46; Nov. 17, 2007
Arts and Literature:
The Education of Ashot
By Knarik O. Meneshian
.....
Soon after Raffi's return home to Payajuk, he and a friend opened a school
to provide the children of the village with a modern education.
Unfortunately, due to fierce opposition from the clergy and the Prelate, the
school was shut down, and his dream of opening a girls' school never
materialized.
In 1810, the Armenian community in Astrakhan, Russia, opened its first
school, the Aghababian School. Earlier, in 1780, the Armenian community in
Calcutta, India, had opened a school, and in 1821 they opened the Armenian
college, Mardasiragan Jemaran (depending on the curriculum, the jemaran is a
high school or a junior college), which trained numerous teachers and men of
letters for forty years. In the early 1800s, the Murad-Rafaelian School was
opened in Venice by the Mkhitarists. In Moscow, the Lazarian College was
established in 1815. Initially, an elementary school for poor children, in
1820 it became a gymnasium, where along with basic subjects, Arabic,
Armenian, French, German, Latin, Persian, Russian and Turkish were also
taught. It was renamed the Lazarian Institute for Oriental Languages in
1827, and in the 1830s received the title of Second-Level Educational
Institution. Later, the school was known as the Moscow Institute for Eastern
Studies, and during the Soviet era it was known as the Institute for the
History of Asian Peoples. Mikael Nalbandian, who graduated from the
University of St. Petersburg, earning the title of professor, was one of the
teachers that taught at Lazarian College. Some of the school's well-known
graduates were Rafael Patkanian (Kamar Katiba), Vahan Terian, Leo Tolstoy
and Ivan Turgenev.
In the Russian Empire, freedom was given in 1836 to its ethnic communities
to open their own schools. Etchmiadzin was given permission to open one
school associated with each active church, and one school for each of the
six regions subject to Etchmiadzin. Prior to 1836, though, Armenian schools
had opened in Astrakhan, Nor Nakhichevan (near Rostov-On-Don), and in
Kizliar and Mozdok in southern Russia north of the Caucausus Mountains.
This crucial period in the history of the Armenians-the 1800s-marked the
revival of education and the establishment of schools and learning centers
for all the people, not just the select few. This period of enlightenment
was met with zeal, idealism and a sense of renewal.
Before 1800, nearly all education for the Armenians was controlled by the
church in order to train clerics and to preserve the literature of Classical
Armenian. Armenians in the Caucasus had very few if any schools before the
Russian annexations. With the existence of the Aghababian, Gogoian and
Lazarian schools in Astrakhan, Nor Nakhichevan and Moscow, respectively, the
Zharangavorats Seminary in Etchmiadzin (opened 1813), and the Nersisian
Jemaran in Tiflis, Armenian learning in the Caucasus or Eastern Armenia
began to take shape and branch out to the churches and homes where usually
one devoted teacher would teach. By the end of 1836, there were twenty-one
Armenian church schools.
In Tiflis, the Nersisian Jemaran was established in 1824, and had three
grades with 80 students the first year. By the 1885-86 school-year it had
seven grades with 487 students, and by the end of the 1800s it had 712
students. The school graduated its last 25 students in 1924. The following
year it was converted to a trade school. Some well-known Nersisian School
graduates were Khachatur Abovian, who later taught in Tiflis (from 1837 to
1843), Derenik Demirjian, Anastas Mikoyan and Hovhannes Toumanian. Besides
the Garabed Belakhian School, the Gayanian and Hovnanian Girls' Schools in
Tiflis were also opened in the 1800s, as were the Yegheesabetian Girls'
School in Akhltskha, Georgia, and the Mariam-Ghoogasian School in Shushi,
Karabakh.
After leaving Tiflis, Khachatur Abovian, (1809-1848-born in Kanaker on the
outskirts of Yerevan) a progressive thinker, who had studied in Dorpat,
Germany (now Tartu, Estonia), and read works by Kant, Rousseau, Goethe and
Schiller, believed that students should be treated kindly, with respect and
in a pleasant teaching environment. He also believed strongly in education
for girls. (Mkrtich Khrimian Hairig and Raffi had similar beliefs and
implemented such teaching approaches as well.) Abovian was both a teacher
and principal at the Yerevan Regional School from 1843 to 1848. The school
was established in 1832 with three grades. Later, pre-gymnasium and
gymnasium level grades were added. Because of Abovian's progressive,
nurturing and encouraging approach to education, during his second year as
principal at the school the number of students increased from 90 to 190. The
majority of students were Armenian, while the remainder was a mixture of
other ethnic students, including Russians and Adrbajanies. Classes were
conducted in Russian, and the major subjects taught were mathematics,
religion and Russian. In addition to their regular subjects, the Armenian
students also studied Armenian, and the Adrbajanie students studied Turkish.
In the school's pre-gymnasium level-grade four-French, geography, history
and Latin were taught. At the gymnasium level-grades five through
eight-Greek and physics were taught. In 1881, the school became a gymnasium
with eight grades and two pre-college grades. The gymnasium offered boarding
and had a library and workshop. In 1925, the school was renamed Abovian
School.
The Gevorgian Jemaran, founded at Echmiadzin in 1874, was dedicated to the
training of priests and teachers. Gradually, it became a college with a
strong emphasis on Armenian scholarship, and its religious character grew
less. Later in the century, the jemaran became a hotbed for political
activity. Both the Gayanian School in Yerevan and the Arghootian School in
Alexandropol (later known as Leninakan, and now Gyumri) were opened in the
1800s. Emphasis on education for the Armenians in Persia came later in the
1800s, whereas it came earlier for the Armenians in Eastern Armenia-Yerevan,
Nakhichevan, Zangezur and Karabakh-within the Russian Empire, especially in
Tiflis, and the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
In the mid 1800s, American and French missionaries had established schools
in the Urmia region in predominately Assyrian areas. A number of Armenian
students attended these schools where they studied English and French. In
Tavriz, Persia, the Aramian School was opened in the mid 1850s, and schools
in New Julfa (Isfahan), where many illuminated manuscripts were produced,
also opened. Raffi taught history and Armenian at the Aramian School from
1875 to 1877. During this period, he modernized the curriculum, introduced
new teaching methods, and was instrumental in secularizing the school,
"which earlier was run by ignorant deeratsoos." In 1877, he was invited to
teach at a boys' school and a girls' school in the town of Verin Agulis in
the Nakhichevan Province in Eastern Armenia. (During the 1600s, eight
thousand Armenian families lived in Agulis. They had schools and a library.)
In the Ottoman Empire, even though minorities were finally given the right
to open their own schools in 1789, it was by the second half of the 1800s
that Armenian schools and other schools that Armenians attended began
opening in large numbers. In Constantinople and Smyrna, however, a number of
boys' and girls' schools already existed in the 1840s, one of them being the
Mesrobian College, which had opened in 1825 in Smyrna. In both cities there
had been schools for the training of trade apprentices, and small church
schools where priests taught religion, reading and writing to neighborhood
children. In Constantinople, the Nersesian Varzharan and the Skudar College
were well known. By the end of the 1800s, nearly every Armenian village had
at least one school. In areas with large Protestant and Catholic
communities, those denominations also opened schools. Later, with the
re-establishment of the Ottoman Constitution in 1908, reading rooms and
lecture halls were also established in Armenian villages and towns.
In Kharpert, schools were opened by French, German, Italian and Spanish
missionaries, as well as by the Armenian Evangelical Union and the Armenian
(Catholic) Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in the 1800s. At the
missionary schools, boys and girls attended separate classes at the high
school and college levels. In the lower grades, co-education was practiced.
A theological seminary was founded by American Missionaries in 1859-named
Armenia College in 1876, and renamed Euphrates College in 1888. The Kharpert
Central School was founded in 1887. The writers Hamasdegh and Totovents were
students at the school.
.......
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Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians
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The Armenian Weekly On-Line
80 Bigelow Avenue
Watertown MA 02472 USA
(617) 926-3974
[email protected]
The Armenian Weekly; Volume 73, No. 46; Nov. 17, 2007
Arts and Literature:
The Education of Ashot
By Knarik O. Meneshian
"Yes, he was here, Raffi was here in Shvanidzor in 1881," said Ashot as we
climbed up the foothill, up the steep, narrow, winding path leading to a row
of crumbled and crumbling stone houses turning to piles of stone. "And when
he came," continued Ashot, "Raffi said, 'You must build a school in this
village!' and the villagers did."
"This is where I was born, and this is where I received my elementary
education!" announced Ashot proudly, his green eyes sparkling as he raised
his arms to the sky. "And it was in these mountains, during Lenin's time,
while walking one day with my father, who was a religious man, where I
learned from him what to say, what not to say. and warning me not to go to
church because I was a Gomsomol, a young Communist. I was just nine years
old.
"Ashot, what does Shvanidzor mean?" I asked the tall, gentle-voiced man of
the mountains.
"The word, according to the locals," he explained, "actually has two
meanings. The first is 'weeping valley' because of all the blood that was
shed protecting our land from both Turkish and Persian invaders. The second
is 'sweet valley' because the sun is so intense here in the southern part of
Armenia that it makes our fruits extra sweet."
As I listened to Ashot speak with such fervor in his voice, such passion in
his eyes about this rugged, jagged land of his ancestors-Weeping Valley,
Sweet Valley-I looked long and hard at the terrain before me, so
mountainous, rocky and dry, yet lush in the distance where the river Arax
flowed. So, this was Davit Beg Country! This was Zangezur! This was Siunyats
Ashkhar! This was where for centuries heroes lived, fought and died
defending home and hearth and land; where today heroes still live, but the
treacherous invaders now are joblessness and poverty.
We finally reached the rocky slope, the place where crumbled and crumbling
stone houses were once home to many. Ashot's home, abandoned years ago for a
better life in Yerevan, still stood but was on the verge of collapsing,
while all that remained of the house next to his was the toneer (a
bell-shaped clay oven placed in the ground) and a partial wall. That house
had been his relative Suren Hagobjani Hovhannesian's (my father) childhood
home. I touched the wall, walked over to where the toneer room had been, and
thought, My father was born here, seven children and their mother and father
had lived here-here, where once a one-room house with a hearth, a toneer
room, and a balcony overlooking the dirt road below had stood. This was
where he was orphaned at nine, finished the village school, a
grades-one-to-four elementary school, and left in 1917 to live with his
uncle in Yerevan where, yet a child, he worked in a shop and continued his
education, eventually earning his teaching degree in 1930 from the
Mangavarzhagan Tekhneegoom by attending its evening classes.
In those days, children began first grade at age seven, sometimes eight, and
while some villages had schools up to grade four, others had schools up to
grade seven. First graders learned the alphabet, the numbers, adding,
subtracting and multiplication. By the second half of the school year they
began reading lessons. Today, villages such as Shvanidzor offer a higher
level of education; its teachers have university degrees; and a number of
the students go on to study at universities and institutes.
Traveling by foot from one's village to a nearby one or moving to a town or
city in pursuit of a better or higher education was not uncommon as far back
as the 1840s, when the revival of Armenian learning and literature had
already begun. In the case of a student who wished to continue his or her
education and the family was able to arrange such a move, the student would
either be placed with relatives or friends while he or she attended school
or enrolled in a boarding school. Such arrangements were also the practice
in Armenian regions in Turkey.
"Ashot," I asked, "are there any churches in this village?" I had not seen
any domes.
"Look over there, on that hill beyond the trees," he replied as he pointed
to one of Shvanidzor's three churches nestled in between a cluster of
houses.
The small 17th-century church with a slanted roof had no dome. It was the
style in this village of 112 households (as of 2004). Not far from the
village, there was yet another style church. Built in the 10th century of
small stones and mud, the square-shaped church, with two small slits for
windows, was built partially underground and had a flat roof. This place of
worship was not easily noticeable in the rocky terrain where lizards and
scorpions scurried about, where Turkish villages had been built (prior to
and during Soviet times) between the existing Armenian ones. As I thought
about the various churches and ancient monasteries I had seen throughout
Armenia, I began thinking about the important roles they, as well as the
pagan temples during the pre-Christian era, played in the history of the
people, one of them being early education. During medieval times, 10th to
14th centuries, courses such as medicine, the natural sciences and
philosophy were taught at such monasteries as Datev (in the Zangezur
region), Gladzor, Haghbat and Sanahin; at Akhtamar, Ani, Sis, and Yerznga,
where the education at the time was dominated by Christian influence. Many
who attended these learning centers were secular people.
The educational institutions associated with the monasteries of Datev,
Gladzor and Sanahin (all three in Eastern Armenia) were considered
universities, while the monasteries of Haghbat (in Eastern Armenia),
Naregavank and Varagavank (both in the Van Province) were considered
schools. These monastic centers of learning played a major role in preparing
teachers. In addition to the courses mentioned, students also studied
architecture, astronomy, geometry, handwriting, history, music, mathematics,
painting and other sciences. Some of the teachers that taught at these
centers were Anania Shiragatsi and Grikor Datevatsie.
As Ashot and I began making our way down the slope, I asked, "How did the
women and children carry water from the nearby chaheriz (centuries-old,
man-made underground canal which provides potable water) all the way up
here, every day, all year long?"
"Stone steps used to line this path," Ashot explained, "making the climb up
and down much easier. But time and the elements have crumbled and swept away
the steps just like the houses. You see, because arable land is scarce in
this area, we have always had to build our homes up high in the hills in
order to cultivate the land below for food, for our livelihood. In addition,
the vantage point and the secret passages between the houses served us well
during times of danger."
As I looked up at the rocky slope one last time, I thought, Besides the
teachers in the pagan temples, the monasteries and the schools, by far the
most demanding and exacting of teachers were the rugged terrain, turbulent
history and harsh life of the Armenian people.
Walking again on flat land free from rolling pebbles and stones and thorny
weeds, we were greeted on the side of the road by a sleepy cow, lazily
waving her tail in the air, and chickens clucking and pecking in the dirt.
"Barev dzez," (Hello to you) we said to a group of old and young men sitting
in the shade smoking and talking, and to some old women sitting on a log,
staring into the dusty distance. Somberly, they greeted us too, and we
continued on our way. Nearby, a young girl about ten or twelve years old sat
on a tree stump reading a book. She reminded me of another girl, who was
about her age in 1991, studying in her frigid kitchen in Yerevan during
Armenia's bleak days when the country was still traumatized by the physical
and emotional damages caused by the 1988 earthquake, and the political and
economic upheaval and uncertainty that prevailed. I remembered 1991 and my
students in the little blue school house in Jrashen, a village next to
Spitak, and how eager they were to learn despite the lack of food, water,
heat and electricity. Our English classes would often times be held in a
large closet where a broken sink, a broom and a mop were kept. For the
entire class period, the lesson would be conducted standing shoulder to
shoulder with coats on. The students, both the younger ones and the older
ones, were eager and enthusiastic to learn. In the mud, in the snow, in
shabby clothes and shoes, with worn-down pencils and flimsy notebooks, and
some in poor health, they came every day to learn English, even on holidays.
Whether in the villages, towns, cities or the capital Yerevan, schools were
open and education continued despite all adversity.
"See that girl reading over there," said Ashot pointing to the girl sitting
on the tree stump, "she reminds me of a scene from one of Raffi's (Hakop
Melik-Hakopian, 1835-1888, born in Persia) writings. He had just returned
home with great excitement and enthusiasm to Payajuk, a village in the
Salmast region of Persia, in 1856 after receiving his education in Tiflis,
Georgia, first at the Garabed Belakhian School (established in 1846), a
private Armenian prep-school, and then at the Russian Gymnasium. (The
prep-school offered boarding, specialized in Armenian studies and prepared
students for the gymnasium (high school.) Learning much and exposed to new
ideas, curricula and methods of teaching other than the harsh, overly
pedantic and unproductive Der Totik Dbrots (village schools run by priests)
style of teaching, he was filled with a passionate desire to educate and
enlighten his fellow Armenians. One day, as he was walking around his
village, he came across a young teenage girl sitting near a spring. Raffi
asked her, 'Do you know how to read?'
"The girl responded, 'I am not a deeratsoo (one studying for the priesthood)
or a priest that I need to learn or know how to read.'"
"Raffi felt strongly that women needed to be educated for the enlightenment
of the nation, and as he pondered the young girl's response, he thought to
himself, Poor girl, I will remove the confusion from your innocent mind.
Reading is more important for you than for the deeratsoo and the priest. You
must educate the new generation, and you must smooth the path for our bright
future! Yes, you must learn to read! It will be then that you will no longer
be a poor and pitiable creature, and your children will live good and happy
lives."
.....
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Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians
Atom Egoyan's Adoration finds a familiar subject
Katherine Monk CanWest News Service
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Long before the Internet redefined the place of ordinary people in the real
world, Atom Egoyan was obsessed by new modes of communication that allowed for
a virtual separation between mind and body, as well as a reinterpretation of
individual identity.
For a big chunk of the 1980s, the celebrated director of The Sweet Hereafter
made movies that touched on these themes: the role of a therapist's videotape
in the development of a young boy's self-image (Next of Kin, 1984); people
looking for family through a video lens (Family Viewing, 1987); the blurred
line between reality and fiction as he explored the idea of alternate
identities and the actor's craft (Speaking Parts, 1989).
It's been a while since the Victoria-raised, Toronto-based director examined
technology and its effect on the construction of personal identity, but he's
back at it in his latest effort, Adoration.
Currently in post-production, Adoration focuses on one young man's
fascination with the possibility he's the spawn of two historical figures --
and how his personal obsession is both enabled, and threatened, by technology.
"We've just assembled the first rough cut and it looks good," says Egoyan
>From a Toronto edit facility. "The whole idea was triggered by an account of a
real life incident I read from 1986, where a Jordanian guy talked his Irish
girlfriend into boarding an El Al flight with a bomb in her purse -- which she
didn't know was there," he says.
In his dramatic account, Egoyan doesn't focus on the two newsmakers as much
as he focuses on their potential offspring, or at least one young man's desire
to be seen as the progeny of the doomed couple.
"The whole thing is left pretty ambiguous, but there's this thing about high
school drama. There's a definite relationship between adolescents and
theatricality," says Egoyan.
"Our son is 14 now, and it seems the whole idea of (remote) connection is
very casual now. Before, the world was essentially divided into those who make,
and those who watch. The lines of demarcation between the two worlds were
very clear. But not anymore," he says.
"It's been really exciting to go back to textures I explored in the '80s, the
idea of people looking at each other in video monitors and the need for
connection. Back then, it was a pretty rarified form of communication -- it
wasn't something everyone had access to. But that's changed so much," he says.
"Before it was all quite intimate. Now, it's viral."
Egoyan says he'll expand his thoughts on the role of technology vis-a-vis the
human condition when he takes the stage at the Whistler Film Festival this
weekend, where he will be honoured with a tribute as well as preside over the
jury for the Phillip Borsos Competition, one of the richest purses on the
Canadian festival circuit boasting a $15,000 prize.
"I'll also be talking about a lot of the non-film related projects I've been
doing that people may not have had a chance to see, the work on (Samuel)
Beckett and stuff like that. It will be exciting to show clips from this work
and to share it with a new audience."
In Egoyan's fertile mind, everything can find new meaning, and so the
convergence of technology, identity and his mid-edit trip westward has already
sparked his imagination -- making it a little tough to keep up with his
lightning-fast synapses as they start to accelerate.
"You can generate a tremendous amount of excitement through the Internet, but
ultimately, that kind of energy can't sustain itself," he says, continuing
his thoughts about the changes in communications technology.
"Apprenticeship is no longer part of the process and as a result, the journey
one used to go through in order to gain access has evaporated. The whole
nature of that journey has changed, so how do you find identity? You can'tfind
it through technology, even though it offers infinite possibilities for
character."
Egoyan says despite his own fascination for the changing face of technology,
he's gone through his own struggles as a user. "I don't Skype and I had a
hard time watching people texting all the time, but now I'm addicted to it."
The key is to remain curious in the face of change, he says, otherwise it's
easy to feel overwhelmed, if not completely alienated by a world moving faster
than human understanding.
"The tension is always on now. People are always looking for the next thing,"
he says. "There is no down time on the Internet. No time to fully digest
anything, so how do you secure a physical relationship with other people using
the 'Net' when you can't be off? You still have to negotiate the notion of
absence."
Egoyan's voice trails off for a brief second. Technology is interrupting the
choo-choo train of thought. "I have another call," he says.
"But before I go, I want to say I don't think we're more disconnected than
before, I think the question is how much effect will our efforts produce? We
can make our feelings known to a broad community through the Internet, butdoes
anyone really care?"
© CanWest News Service 2007
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Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians
I don't consider him Armenian nor do I consider him a "Armenian writer". Why are Armenians like this? He writes about his experiences as a American, growing up in the "Big Apple" or New York, and he is half Armenian. How can you possible consider him Armenian? It is mind boggling. How is this appropriate under "Cultural Horizons of Armenians"? This should be posted under "Cultural Horizons of Armenian Diaspora" or more specifically, "Cultural Horizons of Armenian-Americans". The latter is not even a correct catagorization of where to place this writer. At least with writers like Professor Balakian, he writes about the Armenian-American identity growing up in the United States, which then makes sense to catagorize him as a Armenian-American, but what is the justification to catagorize Nersessian under a full blown Armenian writer, furthermore, what is justification to consider this as part of the "cultural horizans of Armenia"? Understand, I am not attacking you or your thread, but I totally understand the non Armenian point of view when we are accused of claiming "everyone is Armenian" and or trying to mask "cultural assimilation" under "Armenian culture", I can understand this now, I see it, it makes sense to me, does it make sense to you? If we assume that we live in world based on nation states and national identity then we have to stop pretended that people of Armenian ancestory are Armenian, there not, they were, but not anymore. They are neutralized into a new nation, under this nation they promise to live and develop, to push forward the interests of this new home, to ignore this, it is a level of backwardness that I can not seem to understand, what is motivating you to post him as part of the "Cultural Horizans of Armenian"? What is your justification?Originally posted by Siamanto View Post
This is a Turkish Writer:
This is a American Doctor:
One is Turkish, he writes about Turkish identity, he writes about his experiences in Istanbul, he writes in Turkish, and he resides in Turkey. The latter is a American of Turkish extraction, he practices medicine in the United States, contributes to the development of the American medical professsion, speaks English, and is American as American apple pie. Do you understand how if we allow this to occur, we are losing our national talent? It is a lowpoint of a nation when your heroes and "cultural stars" are foreign nationals, we have built up our identity on the wins of foreigners and placed our identity on the backs of foreign nationals. One wonders, when this perversion will end.Last edited by Virgil; 12-04-2007, 11:47 PM.Leave a comment:
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Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians
BOOK SIGNING IN L.A.
By Christina Nersesian
New University Online, CA
Nov 19 2007
Skylight Books in Los Angeles became home to the cultured and aging
scruff of Los Angeles on Nov. 13. Aging hipsters with tatted chests
and heavily sunbathed arms filed in and maintained the status quo
between the hoardes of bookshelves in a tiny space. People from all
walks of life quietly scampered in. There was an immediate sense of
community because everyone was united for the cause of innovative
and wholly unrepressed literature. Two celebrated authors and artists
within their own crafts - Arthur Nersesian and Lydia Lunch - held a
book signing and reading for their latest endeavors.
Mementos of Lunch's past littered the scene as she gabbed about her
prior experiences. From glamorous punks hitting their prime to tattered
shirt-wearing and hair-dyed youths, the variety of those in attendance
showcased the proliferation of Lunch's style. Particularly indicative
of her eclectic nature was the inclusion of a white-collar office
executive - preened to perfection - sitting in a front row seat, subtly
showing off full finger tattoos and a nautical star-studded neck.
Then there were the bookish types with middle-aged men and women.
Obviously fans of Nersesian, they held tight their copies of some
of his works, including "The xxxx-Up" and "Manhattan Loverboy," and
stayed firmly placed in their seats. Watching the carnival of oddities
roll by, these fans were quiet yet they must have had an underlying
appreciation for the sort of unparalleled literary existence found
within his works.
Up first came Nersesian, his native New York accent evident with
certain vowel-ridden words. He has peppered hair and thick-rimmed
glasses with red insets that are typical of the hip professional. As a
professor at city and state universities in New York, he appropriately
donned a suit coat over a plain T-shirt.
Extremely humble and seemingly ordinary, he began to read from heavily
side-notated photocopied pages of his newest book, "The Swing Voter
of Staten Island."
Unable to disappoint even if he tried, his cult status with previous
published works has given him a high place on the tier of fiction
and literature. "The xxxx-Up" had been initially self-published until
MTV caught wind of it and published it. They advertised it alongside
their other unabashed novels about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.
Showcasing an individual in the prime of his or her muck-ridden life,
usually in a setting comprised of his native New York, Nersesian takes
the reader on adventures of back alley happenings, piss-ridden street
agendas and the filth of New York society. Published by Akashic Books,
"The Swing Voter of Staten Island" features an embellished version
of these previous themes, including referential real-life characters
and allusions to the isolated desert travels akin to the fate that
befell his Armenian ancestors nearly a century ago.
His featured clip was poignant and teasing for what was to come,
proving yet another golden morsel to his already celebrated body
of work.
Lunch came up next, and showed the crowd her colors immediately. Her
sensually raspy voice showed signs of years of wear from a life
riddled with experience. She delivered a somewhat unnerving reading of
"Paradoxia: A Predator's Diary." The microphone readily absorbed the
obvious sexual undertones and the speakers unwillingly transmitted
her breathy voice.
Every once in a while, her half-lidded eye leered into the crowd,
choreographed perfectly as she read aloud an account of sex with
Richard Hell, of TV fame. Her words were stream-of-consciousness and
as she read them aloud, the audience caught a rare glimpse into her
thought process.
She read to the audience a romance novel of the modern age and made
the listening experience visceral as she muttered add-ons, a continual
tirade as she flipped through the pages.
Somewhere down the line of her narrative, someone told her before
making love to her, "Sickness becomes you." She recited to a crowd
with bated breath and laughed at her somewhat tactless and abrasive
delivery.
Such is the character of Lunch, famous perhaps for collaborating as
a poet, musician and overall popular culture artists on many projects.
That night, she let everyone in on her dirty little secrets and the
crowd loved it.
Her book of collaborative poetry with legendary punk band X's
front-woman Exene Cervenka, fittingly titled "Adulterers Anonymous,"
sits atop of a roster of already deeply confessional writing.
When new wave was dying and Brian Eno was catching the remnants to
bring to life the no wave genre, Lunch and her band, Teenage Jesus
and the Jerks, were featured in Eno's compilation "No New York"
alongside the likes of DNA and Mars.
Where Skylight Books has brought two very influential and
against-the-grain writers together, their admirers created a cesspool
of fandom around them. Deservingly so, both Nersesian and Lunch have
graced Los Angeles during their book tour through the country. While
musicians release new albums, remixes and compilations, b-sides and
live tracks, writers wield the power of language to create a unique
and individual work each time. Nersesian and Lunch not only signed
books, but held a celebration for their craft as well.
Disclosure: The writer of this article is not related to the author,
Arthur Nersesian.
Some Links:
1- Personal Site???
2- WikipediaLeave a comment:
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Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians
MIRROR IMAGE
By Michelle Mastro
Glendale News Press, CA
Nov 15 2007
Area artist uses rearview theme to showcase her philosophy of living
in the 'Nanopresent,' looking toward what could be.
Artist Seta Injeyan works on a painting in her home studio on
Thursday. (Roger Wilson/News-Press)
If 18th-century romantic poet William Wordsworth were alive today,
he and local artist and quasi-philosopher Seta Injeyan might have
something to gab about.
Wordsworth dubbed the composing of poetry the "spontaneous overflow
of powerful feelings." With her paintbrush, Injeyan experiences a
parallel transformation.
"I think about ideas, but once I start painting, I put away my
conscious thoughts and paint with my unconscious self," the Glendale
resident said. "I start with an idea, and then the idea becomes a
part of me."
Injeyan's unconscious self is constantly stumbling upon new avenues
of imagination. Her previous artistic endeavor, pictures of cloudy
skies with fish in flight, plays upon our perceptions of reality and
can attest to her creative and philosophical ingenuity.
Injeyan's solo exhibition, "In the Nanopresent" - her latest art
series named after the term she coined - opens Friday at the Harvest
Gallery in Glendale. The idea of the "Nanopresent" for Injeyan is
the precise moment in which we leave what was and look ahead to the
prospect of what could be. In the exhibition "In the Nanopresent,"
this sliver of time, the here and now, is found in the driver's seat.
"My art is very, very contemporary. Instead of still-life images,
I use things like rearview mirrors," Injeyan said. "In the car, we
see what is behind and what is coming up - the past, the future and
the present - the driver."
Injeyan uses the sort of subject matter that Gayane Gulstyan, Harvest
Gallery manager and curator, said she rarely comes across. Yet her
art remains aesthetically pleasing without being too novel in its
approach to depict new ideas.
"I find Seta's works thought-provoking and pleasing to the eye,"
Gulstyan said. "Side mirrors have never been used as a subject
matter." advertisement
Revolving around the driver's perspective, Injeyan's series of
paintings symbolizes the road of life. The receding image of the past
is captured in the mirror's reflection, while the ever-looming future
waits on the vast expanse of road ahead, Injeyan said.
"In the car, we see what is coming up," she said. "I thought a lot
about the process in a nanosecond. I think about the subject.
Painting is as much as thinking. My paintings are not decorations.
They inspire the viewer to think. They are thought-provoking."
Longtime friend and fellow artist Ruben Amirian of Glendale calls
Injeyan a thinking artist and said her work forces others to consider
new ways of looking at things, even the mundane, fleeting moments.
"Leaving the past and entering the future all at the same time,
it makes you think," Amirian said. "You realize how true it is."
Injeyan is also an artist with a philosophical edge, he said. Her
education is evident in her work. She can see through appearances
to reality.
The running theme in the series addresses perceptions of Hollywood,
Injeyan said.
"I wasn't thinking about Hollywood, but all of a sudden, it
showed up in my rearview mirror and I suddenly thought of illusion
verse reality," she said. "I hadn't thought of it, but it became
interesting."
One of Injeyan's paintings at the gallery, "Holly Flock," comments
on people's relation to Hollywood. Hollywood, Injeyan said, is an
illusion. It is not real, but we follow it nevertheless.
In the painting, a rearview mirror captures the reflection of the
Hollywood sign while a flock of sheep grazes alongside the car.
"We follow Hollywood," she said. "We adopt what it says."
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Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians
RARE ARMENIAN MANUSCRIPTS DAZZLE AND DELIGHT
Swissinfo
Nov 22 2007
Switzerland
An exhibition of exquisitely illustrated Armenian manuscripts
has opened for the first time in Switzerland at the Martin Bodmer
Foundation in Cologny near Geneva.
The documents of great cultural importance reveal how ancient and
medieval Armenian literature was dominated by both Christian thought
and scientific curiosity.
"This exhibition is truly unique," said exhibition curator Valentina
Calzolari. "It's the first time that Armenian manuscripts, a majority
of which come from Armenia's famous library, the Matenadaran, have
ever been shown in Switzerland."
Armenia, which shares borders with Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and
Iran, is one of the earliest Christian civilisations.
It has a rich cultural heritage, the result of being repeatedly
invaded and spending many years under Turkish or Persian control.
Despite that, the Armenian language and identity has survived largely
intact.
Around 40 manuscripts, dating from the ninth to the 17th century,
are on display at the "Illuminations of Armenia" exhibition.
Calzolari, who is also the director of the Armenian Research Centre
at Geneva University, said the religious element was very important
during this period. Armenians, she said, were and still are a
"Christian people par excellence".
She said that historians had always sought to find elements of national
identity in Christian thought and in literature. This has manifested
itself in translations of the Bible and in religious writings.
Scientific side
But this is not the only side to the Armenians, who "have been
interested from the very beginning of their literary endeavours in
the sciences too. They have always been fascinated by everything that
was not considered sacred," said Calzolari.
"Therefore we also have astrological manuscripts, musical manuscripts
and historical ones which tell of the exploits of Alexander the Great."
There are many rarities among the texts, such as the first ever
manuscript miniature on a non-religious subject: a book of hymns
depicting scenes from an epic 5th-century battle fought between the
Armenians and the Persians.
"On two of the pages you can admire the Persians on the one side,
with their elephants," said Calzolari. "And on the other, Armenian
general Vardan Mamikonian with his valiant companions, in the midst of
strenuously defending the Christian faith but also - and above all -
the Christian identity of the Armenians."
Also shown are Armenian versions of philosophical texts. One of them
includes a commentary by the great Armenian scholar, the Neo-Platonist
Davide Invitto, who neatly encapsulates the country's dual interest
in subjects both religious and secular.
Next to it is a plain, sober manuscript containing no illustrations,
"but is of major importance", according to Calzolari.
"It's one of the first medical texts. It's not a translation of a
Greek, Syrian or Arab text, but one written directly in Armenian by
[the founder of Armenian medieval medicine] Mekhitar Heratsi."
Zodiac
Another curiosity shows the astrological sign of Pisces. The text
around it explains the zodiac, and includes an astrolabe - an early
way of helping to tell the time - as well as some songs.
Calzolari says it was almost certainly used by merchants on their
travels to help read the skies and alleviate periods of boredom.
The "Illuminations of Armenia" exhibition is also showing a series of
photographs, taken by French religious art and architecture historian,
Regis Labourdette, depicting the architectural dimensions of the
cross as used in 7th-century Armenian churches.
"It was the intention of the organisers... to show these two symbols
of the continuity of Armenian culture: the book and the stone -
the churches," said Calzolari. "Because this is what they are still
considered to be by the Armenians today."Leave a comment:
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Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians
3 of 3
GURDJIEFF: THE FOUNDER OF AMERICAN MYSTICISM
By Roya Monajem, Tehran
Payvand News
11/06/07
......................
On the other hand, each one of us is a legion, perhaps in order to
make it easier for us to understand each other, to understand the
concept of 'unity in multiplicity' or in Sadi's words to understand
the fact that 'sons of Adam are organs of the same body' and "because
they did not see the Truth, went after Myth" (Hafez) In other words,
we actually and potentially carry all personalities in this legion for
a purpose: to reach a better understanding of ourselves because one
can only understand things that one experiences within oneself. In
other words, in this way one may accelerate the process of sensing,
feeling and thinking of unity in multiplicity and vice versa. The
aim of the concept of reincarnation and life after Resurrection
and Day of Judgment may also be the same. Whether they are true or
not, they point to the same thing: 'one will pay for one's deeds'
(karma). The idea of 'humans as being a legion' can be helpful in
this regard because in order to decrease 'evil deeds' in ourselves,
learned men suggest: "Know yourself." In G's teaching the first step
begins with self-observation in this manner: we become the camera
woman or man of ourselves, as much as we remember. It is not that
difficult because I don't think there is now not a single person in
our world who has not wished to be a film star and has not identified
herself/himself with one of them! And when one identifies oneself
with any personality, one learns to play that role. Ignoring the
more important fact that most of the time, whether by 'free will,'
'free choice' or coercion, we are acting. In any case, supposing we
honestly and sincerely wish to 'know ourselves,' by playing the role
of the camera man or woman of the film of our lives, we gradually
see that a series of 'I's appearing nearly everyday, seizing the
reign of the 'common presence of our legion.' For example, we might
notice that everyday a nervous person appears and depending on the
surrounding condition, shows itself once or twice a day and is then
replaced with for example, a lazy 'I' or a worried 'I' or...and...
This film-making helps us to experience more fully the reactions and
moods of these different 'I's, and if the real 'I' that would hopefully
be born little by little from the Nothingness of the pettiness of
our existence succeeds in taking their reigns in its hand, then when
this happens, we add say one 'carat' to that diamond or Persian
turquoise that we carry on our brace and is called 'essence.' In
other words, we reach peace with the same number of 'I's and 'unify'
with them and experience some heavenly moments until the next 'round'
the next cycle starts. And if we fail to take their reign, we keep
reproducing the same film-script over and over and pay the price in
the form of reactions we receive from outside and thus 'the melody of
grief continues'[11] till the last day of our lives. For those who
think and believe that is the end, well that is the end. For those
who believe in the first above concept (reincarnation), we continue
to pay the price in a series of lives by in this very same world,
and in the other concept we pay it in another world. As it can be
seen the difference between these two seemingly different concepts
is just a difference in time-space.
Now on the basis of all that has been said, if we accept that it is
according to Nature or Divine providence to have different types of
human beings, then the subsequent divisions have to automatically
follow; the fall of Mazdakism in Ancient Persia, Socialism and
Communism in modern Europe present further evidence for this claim,
that is human divisions into different categories. The main question
is how is it that despite this concept of war of good and bad now
encoded in two of our brains (instinctive and mental), thanks to all
religions and moralities so far appearing and existing on earth,
with the obvious result that every 'other human being' depending
on the degree of differences - from racial to tribal, to religious,
cultural, familial and... - will deep down can appear 'evil' to each
of us, how is it that we don't explode out of anger or tear 'others'
into pieces, for the simple fact that these 'others' can not share our
'world view,' 'our perceptions' our 'conceptions' and...?
There is only one answer! It is even possible to hear all of us singing
it in our hearts: It is the heavenly feeling of Love, located in the
third center that is preventing this most natural consequence of our
historical way of thinking.
Now if the above claim sounds sensible that G taps this center by
using emotional words - isn't this what poetry does to us?
- then based on above explanations, when this center is tapped,
three other impulses are simultaneously tickled too, conscience,
faith and hope.
In addition to the above and some other emotional words seen in this
work, there is one word that is repeated at least once in nearly
every page or so of these Tales: favorite, mahboob.
Human beings are Beelzebub's grandson's favorites! It is a word that
in most of our mystical poetical writings is one of the commonest
equivalents of man's ultimate 'beloved,' god.
When we see this word which is now a part of our collective memory,
knowingly or unknowingly it brings about associations that in addition
to tackling our emotional center, it tickles the emotional part of our
physical center as well. On the other hand, considering the root of
the word emotion, (stirring up, incite, agitate), any emotional word
then should put into motion something in our mental center too. In
other words, it should refer us to an emotional experience as the
result of which an emotional state arises in us whether we become
aware of it or not! All in all, each time we read this or similar
words, all our three centers are stimulated, but each time with new
impressions that arise from information and knowledge obtained from
the part we are reading. Now remembering that the place of conscience
is in the same center, when this center is tapped, our conscience
is tickled too. Then according to G's description of conscience:
"a state in which a man feels all at once everything that in general
feels or can feel,"[12] then many of our habitual self-deceptions,
self-righteousness, self-justifications, partialities, and...will
naturally and automatically gradually fall into pieces. And this
opens the way for further purification of this important center for
our conscious individual development and evolution. It is apparently
through this center that we get connected to our higher centers.
It is here that we can understand better the meaning of the story
G relates in the first chapter of this book as a warning, the story
of a villager who buys a whole kilo of red pepper, thinking that it
should be a tasty fruit, and starts eating them, ignoring the burning
he is experiencing in his whole being. And again according to him,
god forbid if one reads this book just as a matter of curiosity! Like
that poor villager, one of the 'I's of this legion writing these lines
who ignored G's warning was badly burning and scorching all the time.
As this may happen to others too, then with a relatively long
experience in medical field, I have a suggestion that may salve and
ease this burning and scorching.
The sense and feeling of our 'weaknesses', 'selfishness',
'self-deceptions', 'wishful thinking' 'day-dreaming', 'foolish
prejudices and partialities', 'vain self-justification' and... is
indeed hellish!
When we start acting as a camera man or woman of our personal life,
that is start the process of self-observation, it is necessary to
try to remember one thing that can be called the second step in
G's teaching: we should remember not to identify with any of 'I's we
film. For example, when we observe a lazy 'I', we should remember that
our whole 'common presence' is not lazy, but we just have a strong
or weak lazy I, shared by all humans. That's why laziness (sloth)
is a sin in Christianity. Secondly, it helps to search for instances
in life that we were not lazy at all, like in childhood when we were
always ready to play and never felt lazy in this regard. Or even now,
when we wish to do something with our whole being, like taking a trip
to a land we always wished to visit, or...In such instances the lazy
I immediately disappears. We do the same thing with all our 'weak,'
'negative' or 'evil' 'I's, that is we search for their opposites,
that is our 'positive' activities, the 'sacrifices' we make and...
Not identifying ourselves with any 'I's whether positive or negative,
means to remember our real self. Each time we say this is not I,
willy-nilly we remember that divine particle we carry in our 'heart'
that will be revealed only after we manage to see the veils of our
vain empty egoism.
You are your own veil Hafez / Rise up (and free yourself from them
all)[13]
We separate ourselves from each I of the legion, to get closer to
our real I. Such long way! G comes to help again. He says: "study of
laws of the world of creation and existence (which is what this book
is all about) frees the third force that is the reconciling force.
This is perhaps the 'peace and reconciliation' we feel when reading
sacred books or mystical poetry. We might not feel it as openly when
reading Beelzebub, because G intentionally sends our 'I's into the
battlefield and in this war of "Iran and Turan"[14] like any other war
'they don't distribute halva (sweet).' And the main reason for this
may be that according to G this third or reconciling force always
arises from friction and opposition of the other two sources, called
active or affirming and passive or denying forces. So when this war
reaches its peak, manifested each time we watch a part of the film we
are making of our lives and realize our 'nothingness' 'powerlessness'
'will-less-ness' and the bitter truth that 'we can do' almost nothing
with our own initiative, or put it another way, we are always under
the domination of outside influences, and because this time we truly
wish to 'know ourselves' and thus close the normal habitual doors of
escapes, we naturally can feel even suicidal, it really helps if we
remind ourselves of the presence of the above reconciling force that
arises from the war between the two legions of our 'good' and 'bad'
'I's (inner good and evil) and this is a law and it can't be otherwise
as much as the sun -at least under normal conditions - can not rise
from the west, and wish beforehand that whenever this reconciling force
arises, something in us uses it to back up and strengthen the legion
of those 'I's that wish to stay on the path of goodness and love. And
we can be sure that our 'common presence' knows what this something is,
because as mentioned above, G promises that fortunately the impulse of
'conscience' together with the other three impulses, i.e.
faith, hope and love have not been completely destroyed and uprooted
in us. One of the qualities of the force of goodness is to evoke love
and forgiveness in us and what is more healing than this? Can there
be a more beautiful heaven than what we find inside ourselves when
filled with love?
[1] Ouspensky was one of G's most famous pupils and apparently
G's groups in US suggest that anybody interested to learn about G's
teachings should start with this book. The Persian translation of this
book by the translator has been published by Elmi Publishing (2007).
[2] See G's Life is Real, only then when "I am."
[3] I know it is very unscholarly, but I really don't remember whether
I have read this or heard it in a documentary film about G's life.
[4] It should be mentioned here that the sense and feeling I get from
G's style of writing reminds me very much of our Persian writers of
the past, before the invention of grammar here. Some of them still
live. They use same long sentences without commas, full stops or
question marks. It is quite possible that the translation of this
work into English had been much harder than into Persian. G's style
can be due to his origin, being born in Caucasus and getting a part
of his teachings from Persian speaking people of the region.
[5] Not a poetical translation! The verse is har kasi az zan khod
shod yaar man.
[6] G suggests that we should read this book three times, and because I
translated the work, typed it, edited it and corrected it as well, I am
counting the times I went over it as all these different personalities!
[7] See B's Tales...chapter 26, Terror of the Situation.
[8] See Jacob Needleman and George Baker, Gurdjieff, Continuum, 1996.
This book is a collection of articles written by significant American
and European figures influenced by G's teaching.
[9] There is a discussion with Ouspensky in this regard in the same
mentioned book. In addition, Rhonda Byrne's The Secret, may be looked
at another evidence for this claim.
[10] The source of exact or free quotations in this note is
Beelzebub... unless stated.
[11] Sohrab Sepehri.
[12] In search of Miraculous, chapter 8.
[13] A verse impossible to translate, I had to add that interpretation
to show the point.
[14] In our now called legendary history recorded mainly in Ferdosi's
epic, Shahnameh, this is a never ending war, that symbolizes the war
of good and bad.
Leave a comment:
-
Re: Cultural Horizons of Armenians
2 of 3
GURDJIEFF: THE FOUNDER OF AMERICAN MYSTICISM
By Roya Monajem, Tehran
Payvand News
11/06/07
................
And the last point in this regard.
I sincerely hope I have not made any mistakes that would harm the
reader's understanding in this translation with this confession that
imitating G, I have intentionally used a couple of words that may sound
awkward, and for which we have commoner equivalents, such as the word
'intentional' (repeated often) translated as niyat-mandaaneh. The
purpose was to further help reader to stay attentive and awake while
reading. But in order to complete this note, let me add the following.
G says: "Man is a legion with three headquarters mentioned above.
If I am right to say that stories of this work which are simple stories
of our everyday life experienced by all human beings regardless of
time-space, aim at our physical center (roughly instinctive brain)
and the non-story parts aim at our mental center, then although on
one hand the love stories of this work are limited to first of all
Beelzebub's love for his grandson, a case of mother-son love and
a couple of friendly love-relations, and on the other hand very
little has been directly said about our emotional center, then one
can rightly ask how is he tackling our emotional center that plays
a vital role in understanding?
Its absence does not appear very strange at the first glance or
first reading of the book. According to Ouspensky in Miraculous,
G's teaching has been criticized for not saying much about love and
loving! He is indeed a strange mystic! Yet, let us not forget that
again according to Ouspensky, G called his way the Way of Sly-man and
in the documentary that Peter Brook has produced on G's life we see
a scene when G catches a sparrow, paints it and sells it as American
Canary to buy some old books from a Persian speaking book seller
and there is a part in this very work that associate the same thing,
but of course he is the kind of sly man that Hafez describes: Learn
slyness and be generous, as it is not an art/an animal not drinking
and not becoming man.
It is hard to believe that G has left out this center particularly
vital in reaching real understanding of anything, let alone his
teachings. He must have tackled this mysterious center of ours, but
so slyly that we can not perceive it at first. But how? This was a
question that haunted me all the time, until the sixth time I was
working on this translation,[6] when something like an answer crossed
the mind. Perhaps he is tapping our 'emotional center' by using
'emotional' words?! The word love itself is used a dozen of times,
but always with two other words 'faith' and 'hope' and a few times
with the third word 'conscience.' He says with the abnormal life man
has created for himself with the result of development of self-love,
vanity, conceit and...he has pushed these sacred feelings to his
subconscious and what man calls 'love' is mainly sexual attraction
and/or mental considerations (free quotation). He says, it is a long
time that man has not experienced the real taste of love and that is
why he can not describe this "most beatific sacred impulse." The clue
he gives for its identification is this: 'the result of experiencing
of which we can blissfully rest from the meritorious labors actualized
by us for the purpose of self-perfection.'[7]
The first notion that we can have from this is that love is the fruit
of 'conscious labor' for keeping oneself 'awake,' for the purpose of
self-perfection. On the other hand he says in another part: what is
most accessible to us in the process of self-perfection is patient
endurance of unpleasant manifestations of the people we live and
socialize with for any reasons' (free quotation).
Isn't this in a way teaching how to truly love in practice, or using
the prevalent term used today, isn't this the very definition of
'unconditional love?'
G's teachings seems lacking this most loved subject, love, because
his approach is neither the 'Hollywoodian' contemporary form of love,
nor the classic form of 'Leyly and Majnoon' or 'Romeo and Juliet'
including mystical type of love. In fact, considering all evidences
(see below) we can dare to call this way, the 'way of lovers of truth'
with its loving aspect concealed because of the above reasons.
And if it repels potential candidates of the way of spiritualism
for this, let them cling to empty words and as there is not much
open talk about love and loving, let them follow much talked about
'unconditional love' of American mysticism and the 'new priesthood
of spiritualism' arising from it. Yet, the interesting point or the
paradox here is that G himself with all the people he directly or
indirectly trained in West, among them are many brilliant trend-making
individuals in various fields from sciences to arts may very well be
called the founder of this new priesthood and American Mysticism.[8]
This may not seem obvious at first because not all the people who
'profiting by the crumbs fallen from his so to say 'idea table' and
'opening their, what he would say 'Shachermacher workshop-booths'
were honest and sincere enough to mention his name and his influence
on their works. But the real proof for the above claim, the G is the
founder of a 'new' kind of 'priesthood' is not only this very book
itself, but a part of it where Beelzebub tells his grandson that
'one of the strangest things about these contemporary three-brained
beings is to teach what themselves don't know...
You can even earn money from it (free quotation).[9] Has there ever in
the history of mankind been so many 'gurus' and 'spiritual teachers'
all charging their 'followers?' Like lots of other things, G bravely
just brought into surface what the traditional priesthoods have been
doing in concealment in the past and present.
G or perhaps his Eastern masters before him realized that the center
of civilization is moving completely to the West and by G's first
appearance in Russia, even from Europe to America and this 'new
civilization' needs its own spiritual way and language. Africa at the
time of Atlantis, Asia at the time of Persia, Egypt, Babel, India and
China, Europe since Renaissance until the end of WWII and now it is
naturally the turn of America to be the center of civilization.
Majnoon's turn is over and it's our turn/everybody has his turn for
five days (Hafez)
Now when we look at the question from this perspective, and we realize
what is now 'exported' under the name of 'progressive culture, new age
material and spiritualism', is directly or indirectly influenced by
G's teaching, himself trained in central Asia, then we might be less
worried and fearful about our 'backwardness' from the contemporary
center of civilization and as G says 'vainly grow sincerely indignant
about it.' G says nothing that Hafez, Molana and their teachers and
disciples haven't said. As he himself says all our 'the- so-called-
new- ideas and inventions have a prototype in the past.' G is just
repeating all the things considered as 'truth' from the dawn of
civilization on earth in our language. Without a true knowledge
of where we are standing we can never appreciate what we have and
therefore continue being 'vainly and sincerely indignant' and worried
for being 'backward' without deeply reflecting on the meaning of this
word, plus the fact that it is impossible to violate the universal
laws and do not pay for our past and present mistakes? Dark nights
always end in bright days, and east, west, north, south will have
their turn of rise and fall, birth and death...
And in the last analysis what has been said up to now about the
"Original Truth" no matter who, where and when is based on a war
between two opposites, good and bad. G's emphasis on the existence of
the third reconciling force, recorded before in the idea of Trinity and
Tao, particularly in the way he explains it, in a language accessible
to all is really promising.
We were talking about G's method of tackling our emotional center by
using emotional words. If this understanding based on G's teaching of
the way our centers work and the role of 'association' in these centers
is correct and Beelzebub's Tales simultaneously affects and works on
all our three centers - with stories affecting our instinctive center,
non-story parts tackling our mental center and emotional words tapping
our emotional center - then this last example will give another proof
for calling 'Fourth Way' or the Way of Sly-man, the Way of lovers of
Truth. G says the main human calamity arises from the fact that they
divided themselves into four casts (classes) that turns all human
relations to that of lords-slaves, depending on whether we see the
other person as higher or lower than ourselves. In other words, if we
see them higher, we behave like slaves, immediately "picking up our
handkerchief to rub their 'ticklish organ'" (i.e. flatter them) and if
we see them lower we boast like lords and issue orders, etc. Another
thing that G says in addition to what mentioned above about division
of followers of any 'ontological cosmological system of thought'
into different orders as soon as its founder put his head on earth,
is that never would come a day when only one system of thought rules
the earth.[10] In fact, these are among G's 'objective criticisms of
the life of man.'
What I don't understand in this historical masculine interpretation of
life and creation based on war of opposites and division into classes
is why we never suspect the fact that perhaps this state of affairs is
also the will of our common 'Endless Creator?' In other words, there
will never come a day when only one single interpretation of Truth
dominates the world, because human beings are of different types and
thus different world views, different approaches to the Truth. Doesn't
this variety and multiplicity rule throughout the universe, from the
world of plants and animals, to the world of planets and solar systems?
Let's look at this evidence in more detail. In case of mammals and
even before them, this variety starts with having two different sexes
for each species and in case of human beings, this two different sexes
if looked at from Indian point of view, each has three different types
(vata, pita, kafa) and if we look at them from Persian-Greek point of
view they are divided into four dispositions (lets leave out details)
and if we look at them from Chinese point of view they are divided
into five dispositions, and if we look at them from the Gurdjieffian
level of Being, these earthly 'three-brained beings' are divided into
seven groups depending on the kind of emanations they issue with seven
planets and seven amshaspand (archangels) representing them and based
on I Ching's eight hexagrams, they are divided into 8 groups and based
on Eneagram types, into 9 types, and if we wish to see what is allotted
to each of these two, three, four, five, seven, eight, nine types in
'the circle of fate,' depending on the time of their conception or
birth, they are divided into at least 12 different types, each having
their own world-view and their own interpretation of existence. And
perhaps the cause of 'war between 72 nations' lies in this simple
fact that because humans do not have the same predisposition, type,
emanation, for this simple reason that they are born and grow up on
different geographical lands with different nutrition under different
cosmic radiation, willy-nilly they are divided into different races,
tribes, nations, casts, classes, types. Perhaps there is a purpose in
that too. It is true that it is the recognition of this obvious fact
that probably gave rise to the idea of Federation (from the time of
ancient Persian king Cyrus) and recently of Democracy, but the question
is why hasn't this unquestionable fact become an integral part of
our collective consciousness, why hasn't it entered our genetic pool?
The reason may lie in the overwhelming dominance of our ontological
and cosmological interpretation based on the war of opposites that
by now has completely dominated two of our centers- instinctive and
mental. Perhaps that is why as G says, the world has always been as
it is today.
Somewhere in these Tales dealing with the aim of creation of humans,
an idea is expressed that is very similar to Zoroastrian view that
Ahuramazda (God) created humans to help Him in the war with Ahriman
(Satan), with this difference that here the aim is to help Him in
management of his expanding Universe. It has also been said that
the world is an 'experimental crucible,' and 'attainment of full
consciousness is only possible through conscious work on ourselves,'
therefore is it not possible to conclude that the 'owner of this
laboratory' wish to try different combinations for his ultimate aim,
even if we forget the terminating question of the above paragraph
(i.e. keep with masculine interpretation)? What I am trying to say
is let us work hard to truly accept the fact that because we are
of different types, we can never live in peace with ourselves and
others, unless we recognize this fact so deeply that it gets absorbed
in our genetic pool and becomes an integral part of our collective
consciousness.
............................
Last edited by Siamanto; 11-25-2007, 08:46 PM.Leave a comment:
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