RonPrice

In the 1950s and 1960s there were evolving etymologies for the word beat. In "The Origins of the Beat Generation," originally published in Playboy magazine in 1959, the year I joined the Bahá'í Faith, the beat poet Jack Kerouac wrote that the word beat originally meant poor, down and out, deadbeat, on the bum, sad and sleeping in subways. He further noted that the word had gained an extended meaning connoting people who "have a certain new gesture, or attitude.”(1) Kerouac suffused the label with positive connotations, a move he later extended into giving "beat" a religious significance. The Beats were for a time, in this evolving etymology, saints in the making who were walking the Earth doing good deeds in the name of sanctitude, holiness and the beatific. There was certainly an element of this in the Bahá'í ethos of the Ten Year Crusade of 1953-1963. Kerouac had at one stage claimed that "beat" was the second religiousness in Western Civilization that the historian Oswald Spengler had prophesized in his Decline of the West in 1918.(2) But, by 1965, he had changed this view of the beats, the beatniks, the counter-culture and, in fact, strongly denounced its entire ethos. By the mid-soaring sixties he had come to see that generation of dissent and dissenters as the very opposite of Spengler’s second-religiousness. He called it “a soaring hysteria.”(3) -Ron Price with thanks to (1) Jack Kerouac, "The Origins of the Beat Generation," in Don Allen, ed., Good Blonde and Others Grey Fox Press, San Francisco, 1994, p. 61; (2) ibid., p.66 and (3) Ann Charters, ed., Jack Kerouac: Selected Letters 1957-1969, Penguin Books, NY, 1999, p. 464. Your notion of Beat as a Spenglerian second coming ended in a very bitter disappointment—millennialbeliever whose apocalypse just never arrived. You denied all political---collectivist implications for the beats & beatniks. You had used the term back in 1951 to describe guys who ran around the land and country in cars looking for jobs and girlfriends, kicks and fun.You remained an on-again off-again beat.....throughout your life, flirting with many religions but always infusing them with a dose of your Catholicism to which you ultimately went back for its order, tenderness and piety as you put in in one of your many letters..... The word "beat" had extended to cover all of America by the end of the sixties and most of the world..youngsters used your On the Road as a search-roadmap.(1) But you abdicated your status as King of the Road as well as King of the Beats.(2) (1) Jack Kerouac(1922-1969), On the Road, 1957. (2) I thank Bent Sørensen for his: “An On & Off Beat: Kerouac's Beat Etymologies,” in philament: An Online Journal of Arts and Culture, April, 2004. Ron Price 2 January 2010

Apologies, madanbhakta, for taking 16 months to get back to you but I just saw your post tonight for the first time. the subject we are dealing with is complex and I am no specialist in Hindu religion and its long and fascinating history. But let me add the following to continue a discussion which we can continue into the future if you would like.-Ron --------------------- First let me say a few things about the development of the Baha'i Faith in India thanks to William Garlington. He writes about the first village in India to have many Baha'is, Kweitiopani, located approximately forty-five miles from Indore. Mrs. Shirin Boman Meherabani, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly, visited this small community of tribal Bhils on several occasions over a three week period in late 1960. When she invited those who felt they believed in Baha'u'llah to sign declaration cards (mainly thumb prints) 75% of the village of 200 did so. A similar event occurred in January, 1961, when a special Baha'i conference was held in village Sangimanda in Shahjapur district. Dr. Muhajir was present at this conference, and after his presentation over 200 scheduled caste Hindus (3*) declared their belief. The events in Kweitiopani and Sangimanda ignited a series of village conversions. Word had quickly spread of the new casteless religion, and as a result there was a call from nearby villages for Baha'i teachers to visit and share their message. In response the National Spiritual Assembly purchased several jeeps and organized teaching tours throughout the rural districts of Malwa. Mrs. Meherabani and her son-in-law, Mr. K. H. Vajdi, were the spearheads of the new campaign which within the year brought thousands of new names (primarily from the scheduled castes) to the Baha'i membership roles. In other areas of India similar rural campaigns were organized with the result that over the next few years national membership figures mushroomed. Whereas prior to these teaching campaigns the Baha'i community in India had numbered less than one thousand individuals, by 1964 the figure was over 100,000. The large increases continued throughout the decade so that by 1973 the Baha'i population of India was reported at close to 400,000 (4*)...If you wouldlike to read more go to: Baha'i Bhajans: An example of the Baha'i Use of Hindu Symbols ---------- That's all for now....thank you for your response to my initial post.-Ron

The humour of this sophisticated western artist-cartoonist is a must to tryout...if CARTOONIST AND POET Reading about the work of cartoonist Gary Larson and how he works I could not help compare and contrast his modus operandi and my own with respect to writing prose and poetry. Larson draws inspiration from similar sources to my own: interests, experiences and memories. He is sensitive about his readers and whether they understand his work. And so is this the case with me and my literary opus. I have one eye on my readers most of the time, but another on the world and all that is therein. Sometimes I shut one eye and open the other; at other times I open both eyes one, I like to think, to "the hallowed beauty of the Beloved." Both Larson and I like our work to speak for itself but, after years in classrooms explaining things to students, I am not bothered if I have to discuss my work. This, though, I rarely have to do. I’m not popular enough to have to so engage my mental powers. Larson is never comfortable analysing his cartoons. We are both painstaking about making our work unambiguous. One interesting sub-set of his work is cartoons about cartoons and, for me, poems about poetry. Ideas for his work and mine can and do come from anywhere. Being a cartoonist is a solitary life as it is being a poet, but there are fewer really successful cartoonists. Few poets and few cartoonists get rich.-Ron Price with thanks to Jackie Morrissey in The Complete Far Side: Volume One: 1980-1986, by Gary Larson, Andrews McMeel Publishing, Kansas City, 2004, pp. viii-xiii. Yes, things that just drift into your head, Gary, little musings when one is alone with one’s thoughts and I, too, jot them down. But, unlike you, Gary, I get lots of ideas from others, indeed, a veritable cornucopia of sources. But we both had our door openers, eh Gary? Mine was Roger White, the unofficial laureate poet of the international Baha’i community in the 1980s and ‘90s. But I must most deeply thank the internet, a world-wide-web that got my work out-there or my words would have remained gathering dust in my files forever. And, finally, like Larson’s Humour Police, his readers, and my Poetry Police, my readers, who hover around and let me know in no uncertain terms that I have crossed some invisible line into total obscurity or obsolescence and that I am just wasting my time. Ron Price 14 December2007 PS. I also want to thank: (a) my son for loaning me the biggest, fattest book I’ve ever held in my hands or on my lap, The Far Side, Volume 1, and for continuing to make me laugh as he has done since he was just a little chap; and (b) my wife whose honesty, persistence and her multitude of other qualities have made her my indefatigable collaborator.

THIS HUMBLE HABITATION When a person plies their trade, their profession or some personal activity in one place for any length of time they tend to keep certain items of equipment, gadgets, tools and resources on their work table or bench, in their study or shed. Were some observer with literary skills to comprehensively describe the work area of a writer and poet like myself such an observer might include in his description the following: the writer’s desk--its size, quality and orderliness--his files, notebooks, stationary, pens and other aids, his computer, printer, sources of illumination(lamps, lights, access to daylight), photographs, paintings, pictures, objets d’art, a brief outline of his library, the writer’s attitudes to and treatment of his books, the frequency of their use; other items of furniture, technology and resources; the time spent in the study, in this micro-milieux, on a daily basis; the view out of the window and at the doorway, the sounds of the street and of nature; the cleanliness, the frequency the study is dusted and vacuumed. There is much to describe and depending on the level of detail in the description a writer could go on for pages, but the above provides a general overview.-Ron Price, Pioneering Over Four Epochs, 20 February 2007. I’ve had a variety of workplaces over the years: bedroom, lounge, dining-room, study and now, in these early years of late adulthood, I have the kind of order suited to my needs: an 18 ft. sq. desk space with its lamp, trays and dictionary, printer, computer, keyboard, jug and glass of water, pens, mouse and that lemon tree outside the window in my wife’s lovely garden. This place of creative tranquillity, this humble habitation, this place that is my study where I repose in peace in this my retirement far, far from the tumult of society and its madding crowd in these darkest hours before the dawn where my soul can enjoy the rendezvous with its Source and the ventilation of a quickening, renewing, clarifying, amplifying wind and its rigorous effects. Ron Price 20 February 2007

CARTOONIST AND POET Reading about the work of cartoonist Gary Larson and how he works I could not help compare and contrast his modus operandi and my own with respect to writing prose and poetry. Larson draws inspiration from similar sources to my own: interests, experiences and memories. He is sensitive about his readers and whether they understand his work. And so is this the case with me and my literary opus. I have one eye on my readers most of the time, but another on the world and all that is therein. Sometimes I shut one eye and open the other; at other times I open both eyes one, I like to think, to "the hallowed beauty of the Beloved." Both Larson and I like our work to speak for itself but, after years in classrooms explaining things to students, I am not bothered if I have to discuss my work. This, though, I rarely have to do. I’m not popular enough to have to so engage my mental powers. Larson is never comfortable analysing his cartoons. We are both painstaking about making our work unambiguous. One interesting sub-set of his work is cartoons about cartoons and, for me, poems about poetry. Ideas for his work and mine can and do come from anywhere. Being a cartoonist is a solitary life as it is being a poet, but there are fewer really successful cartoonists. Few poets and few cartoonists get rich.-Ron Price with thanks to Jackie Morrissey in The Complete Far Side: Volume One: 1980-1986, by Gary Larson, Andrews McMeel Publishing, Kansas City, 2004, pp. viii-xiii. Yes, things that just drift into your head, Gary, little musings when one is alone with one’s thoughts and I, too, jot them down. But, unlike you, Gary, I get lots of ideas from others, indeed, a veritable cornucopia of sources. But we both had our door openers, eh Gary? Mine was Roger White, the unofficial laureate poet of the international Baha’i community in the 1980s and ‘90s. But I must most deeply thank the internet, a world-wide-web that got my work out-there or my words would have remained gathering dust in my files forever. And, finally, like Larson’s Humour Police, his readers, and my Poetry Police, my readers, who hover around and let me know in no uncertain terms that I have crossed some invisible line into total obscurity or obsolescence and that I am just wasting my time. Ron Price 14 December2007 PS. I also want to thank: (a) my son for loaning me the biggest, fattest book I’ve ever held in my hands or on my lap, The Far Side, Volume 1, and for continuing to make me laugh as he has done since he was just a little chap; and (b) my wife whose honesty, persistence and her multitude of other qualities have made her my indefatigable collaborator.

Apologies if I have posted too large, too long, a seriesof remarks. I am happy to have them edited down to suit site/in-house style, if desired.-Ron Price,Tasmania

Hindu Prophecies: Baha'is consider that Baha'u'llah has fulfilled the prophecies of the Lord Krishna when he said: <DIR> Whenever there is a decline in righteousness, O Bharat, and the rise of irreligion, it is then that I send forth My spirit. For the salvation of the good, the destruction of the evil-doers, and for firmly establishing righteousness, I manifest myself from age to age.(1) </DIR>Hindus are awaiting the coming of the Kalki Avatar at the end of this present age, Kali Yuga. Baha'is believe that we are already at this time. We are at the end of the Kali Yuga and Baha'u'llah is the Kalki Avatar. This age in which we live is an age of the decline of righteousness. And, as promised in the Bhagavad Gita, the Lord has manifested Himself again, this time with the name Baha'u'llah. This name means `the Glory of Bhagwan' or `the Splendour of Ishvara'. The coming of Baha'u'llah is therefore the start of the Sat or Krta Yuga (Golden Age). It is the time when people will return to righteousness and the world will be at peace. Baha'is have pointed to the prophecies in the Hindu scriptures and stated that all of these have been fulfilled in this age. There are many passages in the Hindu writings which describe the condition of the world at the end of the Kali Yuga (Dark or Iron Age). Baha'is would say that what is described in the Hindu books is exactly what we are seeing in the world today. Among the most striking of these passages from the Hindu holy books are the following: <DIR> In the Kali Yuga, wealth alone will be the deciding factor of nobility [in place of birth, righteous behaviour or merit]. And brute force will be the only standard in establishing or deciding what is righteous or just. Mutual liking [and not family pedigree, social status, etc.] will be the deciding factor in choosing a partner in marriage; cheating will be the order of the day in business relations; satisfaction of sexual pleasure will be the only consideration of male or female excellence and worthiness; and the wearing of the sacred thread (Yajnopavita) [and not pious behaviour or Vedic or Shastric learning] will be the outward index of being a Brahmin.(2) </DIR> And also: <DIR> In the Kali Yuga, only one quarter of each of the four feet of Dharma [penance, truthfulness, compassion and charity] remains. And that too goes on decreasing day by day while the `feet' of Adharma [unrighteousness] increase greatly. So that in the end Dharma becomes extinct. In that [Kali] age, people will be greedy. They will take to wicked behaviour. They will be merciless, indulge in hostilities without any cause, unfortunate, extremely covetous for wealth and women. High social status will be attained by Sudras, fishermen and such other classes... When deceit, falsehood, lethargy, sleepiness, violence, despondency, grief, delusion, fear, and poverty prevail, that is the Kali Yuga... ... mortal beings will become dull-witted, unlucky, voracious, destitute of wealth yet voluptuous, and women, wanton and unchaste. Countries will be laid waste by robbers and vagabonds; the Vedas will be condemned by heretics; kings will exploit their subjects, and twice-borns like Brahmanas will only think of the gratification of their sexual desires and other appetites. Celibates [of the Brahmacarya ashrama ] will cease to observe their vows of study, purity and celibacy; householders will take to begging [instead of giving alms]; hermits [of the vanaprastha ashrama] will resort to villages [leaving their retreats in the forests]; and Sannyasins will be extremely greedy for money. [in short, the whole system of the Varnashrama Dharma will have broken down.] Petty-minded people will conduct business transactions and merchants will be dishonest. In the Kali Yuga, men will abandon their parents, brothers, friends, and relatives. They will establish their friendships on a sexual basis. People who are ignorant of religion will occupy high seats [and pulpits] and will [pretend to] preach religion. People will have their minds weighed down with constant anxiety and fear. This will be due to devastating famines and heavy taxation. The land will not grow food-crops, and the people will always be in fear of impending droughts.(3) </DIR>1. Bhagavad Gita 4:7-8. 2. Bhagavata Purana XII, 2:2-3. 3. Bhagavata Purana XII, 3:24, 25, 30-33, 35, 37-39. ________________________________ There are similar prophesies in many other passages of the Hindu scriptures such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana.(4) Baha'is believe that all of the conditions described in these books have come about today. And so we are living in the age prophesied in these books. Baha'u'llah describes the condition of the world at present thus: <DIR> The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long continue.(5) </DIR> Prominent contemporary Indian writers have also agreed with this assessment of Baha'u'llah. Swami Vivekananda wrote, for example: <DIR> But greater than the present deep dismal night...no pall of darkness had ever before enveloped this holy land of ours. And compared with the depth of this fall, all previous falls appear like little hoof-marks.(6) </DIR> 4. For prophecies from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, see H.M. Munje, The Whole World is but One Family, pp. 32-40; from the Vishnu Purana, 4:24. See also Bhagavata Purana, vol. 12, 2:1-15. 5. Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, LXI, p. 118. 6. Vivekananda, Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, vol. 6, p. 187. ____________ enough for now!-Ron Price, Tasmania

I am intentionally not going to begin at the beginning. Autobiographies which I’ve had a look at seem to be exercises that begin in as many different places as there are authors. Sometimes first memories are found on page one and the account proceeds chronologically if not logically until the last syllable of their recorded time, their allotment on earth, at least up to the time of the writing of their said autobiography. This is not my intention here. Anyway, when does one really begin a journey, a friendship, a love affair? Beginnings are fascinating, misunderstood, enigmatic. I’ve written much about beginnings and the more I write the more elusive they become. But there comes a moment, a point, when we realize that the journey has started and we had not realized it. As we travel along we mark historical moments which we weave into our narrative. They often change, our view of them that is, as we grow older: these rites de passage, these coming of age moments. Unlike the Roman historians of the republican days who wrote their histories annalistically, that is year by year in sequence, this work is much more varied and informal with a slight tendency to write by plans and epochs. It is important, too, that life, my life, not be seen as simply journey and not life. The two are not mutually exclusive. My ideal doctor for this journey, wrote the late Anatole Broyard, would be "my Virgil, leading me through my purgatory or inferno, pointing out the sights as we go. He would enter into the world of sin or sickness and accompany this pilgrim, this patient through it."<SUP> </SUP>Virgil was Dante's imagined guide in the Divine Comedy. My Virgil, my ideal doctor, in this autobiography is, without doubt, Baha’u’llah; my Divine Comedy is this autobiography. The parallel is, of course, not exact, but it has its relevant points of comparison. In this context I should add that the three great shapers of my nature were Baha’u’llah, ‘Abdu’l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi. There were others who unquestionably did much shaping, namely my parents and the two women I married, but from an intellectual and spiritual standpoint I would have to give the first three places to these central figures of the Baha’i Faith.

If I give to my life artistic form, spiritual vision and design in retrospect; if I discover a more profound truth in the context of this vision than an unfertilized collection of facts could deliver, I understand that is part of a design-imposed, meaning-making, process that I give to my life. Perhaps a great deal of what has happened to me is fate, destiny, a certain predestination. Such was the view Henry James took of his life when he wrote his autobiography in the evening of his life. There is little doubt of the importance of fate from a Baha’i perspective. I wish I could say in this context that my sentences had a quality of stunning exactitude, lyricism and comedy, an aphoristic concision but, alas, style is not a quality bestowed on me as it was on Flaubert. Perhaps this is because I have not been willing to work at it as obsessively as he over many decades. But I have made a start. _________________ NARROW HISTORY The popularity of a product, an item of culture, is not related to its quality or its truth, its beauty or its spirituality. The sense of reality, realness, quality, in the world for many individuals, especially the artists, is related to creativity, to generativity, a voice that is uniquely one’s own, that has the stamp of one’s inner voice or self and that is part of a community. This is particularly true for the Baha’i who is also an artist. -Ron Price with thanks to Robert McDowell, editor, Poetry After Modernism, Story Line Press, 1991. Feminist views of "history" support "anecdote as authority" since history has so largely ignored and distorted women’s lives and work. Women must learn to speak again starting with I, with we. -ibid., pp.175-76. ......the poem here has got lost......<SUP>1 1</SUP> Some poems get lost, some are not finished, some sit in a file waiting for completion.... _____________________

Pioneering Over Four Epochs is the name of my website. I will post my URL after I have made 15 posts at this site.-Ron Price, Tasmania _____________________ Pioneering Over Four Epochs This tapestry of 42 links endows a host of themes, a wide range of social science and humanities subjects, spiritual and secular topics, with many layers of meaning and tries to evoke a complex range of responses in readers. The author has also tried to evolve over the last several decades a writing style which is highly individual by fusing together much from the humanities and the social and physical sciences, from his own life and his religion. He likes to think he appeals to both the novitiate, the veteran, people on a multitude of spiritual and secular paths. There are some 3000 pages of autobiographical narrative, poetry, essays and interviews which readers might like to see as one long diary, journal and commentary on life.