Arab Nationalism in the Modern Context

Arab Nationalism in the Modern Context ‘Arab Nationalism’ was an important part of anti-colonial struggle. A generation on it has little meaning today. Discuss. This essay will examine to what extent Arab nationalism as an ideology was of significance to the anti-colonial struggle and the influence of Arab nationalism in present times. A prominent question of interest in this study will be: was western domination eliminated due to the might of Arab nationalism? Certainly there has been a debate surrounding the significance of Arab nationalism today, this essay will highlight central issues surrounding the debate such as whether Arab nationalism has terminally declined or has just become a lessened force. A further question of concern will be: If Arab nationalism has gone into political remission could it be revived or gain appeal in present times? Furthermore this study will analyse when Arab nationalism was at its strongest and when the greatest expression of Arab nationalism were evident. Arab nationalism is considered to be a nationalist ideology which objective is to achieve a unified Arab nation encompassing the entire territory which is categorised as â€Å"the Arab World† from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf (Karsh Karsh, 1996). The assertion of Arab nationalism is that there should be political unity within the Arab world. Arab nationalism is an ideology that stresses solidarity of the Arab people which is entrenched in a common language, history and culture. The Arabic language is considered to play a significant unifying role. Certain scholars such as al-Hursi deem that the Arabic language is a central element of Arab nationalism (Suleiman, 1994). In addition, the end of Western hegemony and domination in the Middle East and North Africa region was a prominent objective of Arab nationalism. The notion of unity was believed to be a method that could be utilised to overcome colonisation. Arab nationalism was considered to be the sole vital method capable of providing an avenue away from colonialism and imperialism and a means to eliminate colonialism altogether. It was regarded to have the potential to provide larger regional unity as it offered the foundation of establishing an amalgamated nation that could be capable of resisting colonial powers and ultimately attaining independence. Various forms of long lasting grievances were caused by colonial occupation such as political oppression and marginalisation plus excessive economic profits and resources were continuously seized and exploited by the colonial powers. Furthermore a foreign unfamiliar culture was forced upon the Arab populaces; Arab nationalism and the set of beliefs surrounding the ideology were believed to have the capability to dissolve such matters in order to redeem and revert back to an indigenous culture and heritage. Most of the Arab world experienced colonial suppression and were ruled by western powers such as Britain and France. Was Arab nationalism vital in the struggle against colonialism? It is deemed that â€Å"†¦through the imperial world during the decolonizing period, protest, resistance, and independence movements were fuelled by one or another nationalism† (Said, 1993). The end of the Second World War caused vast political, social and economic transformations to the world order subsequently certain colonised nations gained their independence. In spite of this, the end of explicit or direct colonialism obviously did not equate to the termination of colonial dominance. European powers sought to retain their power across the Middle East and North Africa and colonialism still dominated large parts of the region. European imperialist presence was still evident as certain monarchies were under their rule and were still well disposed to them. For example, Egypt had been granted independence by the British in 1933 however Britain still played a direct role in Egyptian affairs and exercised a huge influence over the nation. It would be in this context that Arab nationalism would serve to provide a compelling set of beliefs and gain ground as a robust force in opposition to foreign occupation. Rafik Asha deemed that â€Å"(Arab) nationalism constitutes the v ital soul-force of our people, the bloodstream of Arab life and political vitality, the spirit which guides a resurgent people towards freedom from domination, servitude and patronage† (Pfaff, 1970). The Arab nationalist movement was immensely advanced by Gamal Abdel Nasser whom attained power in Egypt and became the nation’s president. In 1956, Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal which had still been occupied by the British. Furthermore, he fought against British, French and Israeli hostility and attacks towards Egypt later on that year. Both these forms of action exhibited a defiant attitude towards the Western powers and inevitably forced them into submission. During this epoch, Arab nationalism gained immense support and popularity throughout the Middle East and North Africa due to Nasser’s leadership furthermore many people in other Arab nations believed that they shared a common struggle against colonial powers. Furthermore the establishment of the United Arab Republic in 1958, which was the fusion of Egypt and Syria into one nation, was a bold experiment of Arab unity. Arab unity is one of the principal goals of Arab nationalism and it had been finally achieved. Even though it was a short lived political union it was distinguished to be a significant triumph over Western imperialism and emphasised that Arab nationalism and Arab unity did have the potential to be a distinct reality instead of being a mere ideological dream. The Arab defeat of the 1967 war had an implicit impact on Arab nationalism and led to the questioning of the secular ideology which had dominated Arab politics during the 1950s and 1960s. â€Å"It took some time for the light to go out on Arab nationalism, but its power generator went down in June 1967. After the Six-Day War, the slide of Arab nationalism toward political marginality became irreversible† (Dawisha, 2003). It is important to note that there was a considerable amount of other challenges which hindered the accomplishment of Arab unity, the principle goal of Arab nationalism. For instance there were evidently competing fidelities to tribes, sects region and religion â€Å"the Arabs were divided into sub-states identities such as tribe, religion and sect† (Dawisha, 2003). Furthermore there were different interpretations and clarifications of Arab nationalism. â€Å"Variations on Arab nationalism multiplied sometimes even inspiring separate classifications su ch as Nasserism and Ba’thism, and even more arcane subclassifications, such as neo-Ba’thism. Many of these became rivals, even to the point of bloodshed† (Kramer, 1993). Certain scholars stress that nationalist sentiment in the Middle East has significantly declined as a consequence of contesting ideologies such as Islamism (Myhill, 2010). Since 1967, Islamism has increasingly been perceived as an alternative discourse to secular Arab nationalism. In particular, it is deemed by some to be a form of response to significant failures such as the defeat of 1967 and the failure of the Arab nations to unite politically. The dissatisfaction of the people permitted Islamist groups to mobilise further recruits. During the period in which Nasser’s Arab nationalism was in power, Islamist ideologies had been marginalised and had been repressed from the political arena. For instance Egypt and Syria constrained the actions of the Muslim Brotherhood. Such circumstances as the defeat of 1967 and the on growing disillusionment of Arab nationalism led to the return of Islamist movements to the political field as such experiences of loss allowed Islam to offer a discourse that would provide the assurance of restoring the Arab region to a condition of fullness and glory. Therefore as an outcome of the decline of Arab nationalism, Islamist ideology began to fill the political void. It is claimed that Islam is the solely authentic ideology native to the Arab people, in particular Islamists contented that the secular nationalist phase was â€Å"untrue to Islam and lacking ‘authenticity’† (Fuller, 2004). In a similar vein it is argued that â€Å"Arab soldiers would have fought more bravely and effectively under the banner of Islam then they did under that of Arab nationalism†. Taking all of this into consideration, it is noticeable that the notion of that Islamism has replaced secular Arab nationalism particularly since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war is widely held. â€Å"In the 1980’s and 1990’s, radical Islam had become for the Arab regimes what Arab nationalism was in the 1950’s and 1960’s† (Dawisha, 2005). A question of relevance here is: Does Arab nationalism have any importance or significance today? It is evident that Arab nationalism went into decline following the 1967 War and that Islamist movements have been deemed as an alternative ideology however is it past the point of resuscitation? Some scholars advocate that Arab unification is completely over with and has no significance in any form (Ajami, 1978). However some judge that Arab nationalism is still in existence but will unlikely to be a potent influence. â€Å"But the Arab world today is so complex and fragmented, with such a maldistribution of population and resources (with a result that exploitation is also skewed in its local intensities) that it seems unlikely that Arab qawmiyya nationalism will survive as a major formative force† (Leiden, 1979). Arab nationalism can no longer hold the assertion that it retains an absolute grip in the mentality of the Arab people. All this, however, should not diminish the potential importance for the future course of Arab politics and culture. â€Å"Yet the idea is not dead; it still possesses force and it is possible that it can be resurrected at some later time† (Leiden, 1979). In a similar vein, it is deemed that â€Å"the fact of Arab nationalism cannot be argued away. It is a major political and social phenomenon as well as a mobilising ideology that has shaken the whole region since the last years of the nineteenth century† (Nafaa, 1983). It cannot be denied that attempts and experiments of Arab unity have been endeavoured and have not produced sincere effective outcomes. For instance notably the United Arab Republic highlighted the disagreements between Egypt and Syria. Furthermore in terms of carrying out collective aims the Arab League which was formed in 1945 was meant to bring into line meaningful cooperation plus social and economic unity. However the Arab League failed to achieve any substantial outcomes. Arab nationalism as an ideology and political movement was meaningless if its ultimate goal, the organic unity of all Arabs was unrealisable (Dawisha, 2005). On a more individual level, at present many Arabs doubt the certainty of the belief in an Arab nation and are significantly less confident on whether there now is an existing collective Arab pursuit or objective (Kramer, 1993). However, does the prosepect of attaining Arab untity really hold no weight in present times? It is important to recognise that at present unities amongst certain nations in the world are prevailing and effective. Undoubtedly, nations gain more power in numbers and that a group of nations united will certainly be more potent than a group of nations separated and split. In recent times, some may deem that the Arab population strongly requires Arab nationalism in order to gain influence in international issues. Long lasting divisions and discords have caused certain Arab nations to be less prominent in international affairs even though the Arab populace represents a considerable amount of people in Middle East and North Africa. For instance, nation states such as Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia are utterly reliant on the West (Khashan, 2000). From the time that they were established, individual Arab states have continuously given precedence to their individual interests. In present times the notion of Arab unity which is the ultimate goal of Arab nationalism may not be as inadequate as many perceive it to be. Undeniably, the accepted wisdom and thinking surrounding Arab nationalism has be subjected to certain setbacks leading to a great sense of dissatisfaction and stunted ambitions. However the notion of Arab unity holds a certain weight and is still of relevance at the current moment in time. If one is to analyse this line of thought on a pragmatic level a coherent political community would stand to serve significant purposes. Some deem that Arab nations should in spite of everything still work towards unity in order to attain constructive entities. This could be regarded to be entities such as an economic market that guarantees free movement of trade, goods and labour, a cohesive stand when handling with foreign powers in concern with economic and political matters. Unity could also serve to provide rapid assistance to an Arab nation intimidated b y a foreign power and to resolve internal Arab disagreements. Additionally an entirely Arab military authority could even be utilised to prevent potential foreign invasions (Khashan, 2000). An innovation Arab awareness should be established on the values of solidarity and constructive cooperation so that nations can associate with one another beneficially. Furthermore, some deem that the decline of Arab nationalism and its lack of influence now are due to the diminishment of imperialism as the perceived enemy. It must be recognised that by the 1960s the threat of imperialism had diminished and the issue had become less pertinent. In specific instances in Egypt and Iraq the British presence had been removed, Algeria had gained independence from the French colonial power; the Baghdad pact had been beaten (Dawisha, 2003). Without the significance of the â€Å"anti-imperialist† or â€Å"anti-colonial† resonance had Arab nationalism deteriorated to be nothing but a meaningless slogan which has run its course? Furthermore the opposition to western domination presented an opportunity and motive for unity, divisions intensified once Western imperialist domination had been removed. â€Å"So long as the greater part of the Arab polities were under the domination of their British, French or Italian overlords, the Arab nationalist c ould cooperate with those espousing a more parochial nationalism in a common effort to expel the colonial power. But once these fragmented parts attained their political independence, the efforts made to unite politically the several parts of the Arab world foundered on the shoals of parochial consideration† (Pfaff, 1970). However, undeniably in more recent times the Arab world has found itself struggling to resist foreign domination yet again in terms of international interference in the forms of Western militaries and United Nations sanctions particularly since after 1990s. On one hand this may be interpreted to have pushed Arab nationalism to retreat virtually to its state of origin however on the other hand this may be seen as to be a potential catalyst for a revival of Arab nationalism. For instance, the 2003 invasion of Iraq evoked a reaction of a certain Arab nationalist rhetoric (Taylor, 2003). All of this points to the conclusion that even though in the present day the set of beliefs relating to Arab nationalism are not as widely held as they were in the epochs of the 1950s and 1960s furthermore many claimed that the Arab vision for unity was irrelevant and exhausted especially after the Arab defeat in 1967 and overshadowed by Islamist movements. In spite of this the existence of Arab nationalist ideas are still prevailing in the Arab world and unification and political amalgamation is still required. â€Å"Nationalism will always exist when one group feels exploited by another† (Leiden, 1979) therefore in the future Arab nationalism may become more appealing due to prevailing international interference in the region and western domination. It has become evident in this study that Arab nationalism was considered to be a force implemented against colonisation and imperialism in this line of thought Arab nationalist ideas could still be utilised today in order to atta in solidarity to deter foreign intrusions. Bibliography Ajami, F. (1978). End of Pan-Arabism. Foreign Affairs, 355-373. Dawisha, A. (2003). Requiem for Arab Nationalism. Middle East Quarterly, 25-41. Dawisha, A. (2005). Arab nationalism in the twentieth century : from triumph to despair. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Fuller, G. (2004). The future of political Islam. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Karsh, E., Karsh, I. (1996). Reflections on Arab nationalism. Middle Eastern Studies, 367-392. Khashan, H. (2000). Revitalizing Arab Nationalism. Middle East Quarterly, 49-56. Kramer, M. (1993). Arab nationalism: mistaken identity. Daedalus , 171-206. Leiden, C. (1979). Arab Nationalism Today. Middle East Review, 45-51. Myhill, J. (2010). The islamization of arab nationalism. Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society, 19-43. Nafaa, H. (1983). Arab Nationalism: A response to Ajamis Thesis of the End of Pan-Arabism. Journal of Arab Affairs, 173-199. Pfaff, R. (1970). The function of Arab nationalism. Comparative Politics, 147-167. Rubin, B. (1991). Pan-Arab nationalism: The ideological dream as compelling force. Journal of Contemporary History, 535-551. Said, E. (1993). Culture and imperialism. London: Random House LLC. Suleiman, Y. (1994). Nationalism and the Arabic language: A historical overview. In Y. Suleiman, Arabic sociolinguistics: Issues and perspectives (pp. 3-23). New York: Routledge . Taylor, P. (2003, April 04). War Spawns New Arab Nationalist Mood, Pride. Retrieved April 04, 2014, from Arab news: http://www.arabnews.com/node/230249

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 22

Chapter 22 Tamil, as it turned out, was not a small town in southern India, but the whole southern peninsula, an area about five times the size of Israel, so looking for Melchior was akin to walking into Jerusalem on any given day and saying, â€Å"Hey, I'm looking for a Jewish guy, anyone seen him?† What we had going for us was that we knew Melchior's occupation, he was an ascetic holy man who lived a nearly solitary life somewhere along the coast and that he, like his brother Gaspar, had been the son of a prince. We found hundreds of different holy men, or yogis, most of them living in complete austerity in the forest or in caves, and usually they had twisted their bodies into some impossible posture. The first of these I saw was a yogi who lived in a lean-to on the side of a hill overlooking a small fishing village. He had his feet tucked behind his shoulders and his head seemed to be coming from the wrong end of his torso. â€Å"Josh, look! That guy is trying to lick his own balls! Just like Bartholomew, the village idiot. These are my people, Josh. These are my people. I have found home.† Well, I hadn't really found home. The guy was just performing some sort of spiritual discipline (that's what â€Å"yoga† means in Sanskrit: discipline) and he wouldn't teach me because my intentions weren't pure or some claptrap. And he wasn't Melchior. It took six months and the last of our money and we both saw our twenty-fifth birthdays before we found Melchior reclining in a shallow stone nook in a cliff over the ocean. Seagulls were nesting at his feet. He was a hairier version of his brother, which is to say he was slight, about sixty years old, and he wore a caste mark on his forehead. His hair and beard were long and white, shot with only a few stripes of black, and he had intense dark eyes that seemed to show no white at all. He wore only a loincloth and he was as thin as any of the Untouchables we had met in Kalighat. Joshua and I clung to the side of the cliff while the guru untied from the human knot he'd gotten himself into. It was a slow process and we pretended to look at the seagulls and enjoy the view so as not to embarrass the holy man by seeming impatient. When he finally achieved a posture that did not appear as if it had been caused by being run over by an ox cart, Joshua said, â€Å"We've come from Israel. We were six years with your brother Gaspar in the monastery. I am – â€Å" â€Å"I know who you are,† said Melchior. His voice was melodic, and every sentence he spoke seemed as if he were beginning to recite a poem. â€Å"I recognize you from when I first saw you in Bethlehem.† â€Å"You do?† â€Å"A man's self does not change, only his body. I see you grew out of the swaddling clothes.† â€Å"Yes, some time ago.† â€Å"Not sleeping in that manger anymore?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Some days I could go for a nice manger, some straw, maybe a blanket. Not that I need any of those luxuries, nor does anyone who is on the spiritual path, but still.† â€Å"I've come to learn from you,† Joshua said. â€Å"I am to be a bodhisattva to my people and I'm not sure how to go about it.† â€Å"He's the Messiah,† I said helpfully. â€Å"You know, the Messiah. You know, Son of God.† â€Å"Yeah, Son of God,† Joshua said. â€Å"Yeah,† I said. â€Å"Yeah,† said Joshua. â€Å"So what do you have for us?† I asked. â€Å"And who are you?† â€Å"Biff,† I said. â€Å"My friend,† said Josh. â€Å"Yeah, his friend,† said I. â€Å"And what do you seek?† â€Å"Actually, I'd like to not have to hang on to this cliff a lot longer, my fingers are going numb.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Josh. â€Å"Yeah,† said I. â€Å"Find yourself a couple of nooks on the cliff. There are several empty. Yogis Ramata and Mahara recently moved on to their next rebirth.† â€Å"If you know where we can find some food we would be grateful,† Joshua said. â€Å"It's been a long time since we've eaten. And we have no money.† â€Å"Time then for your first lesson, young Messiah. I am hungry as well. Bring me a grain of rice.† Joshua and I climbed across the cliff until we found two nooks, tiny caves really, that were close to each other and not so far above the beach that falling out would kill us. Each of our nooks had been gouged out of the solid rock and was just wide enough to lie down in, tall enough to sit up in, and deep enough to keep the rain off if it was falling straight down. Once we were settled, I dug through my satchel until I found three old grains of rice that had worked their way into a seam. I put them in my bowl, then carried the bowl in my teeth as I made my way back to Melchior's nook. â€Å"I did not ask for a bowl,† said Melchior. Joshua had already skirted the cliff and was sitting next to the yogi with his feet dangling over the edge. There was a seagull in his lap. â€Å"Presentation is half the meal,† I said, quoting something Joy had once said. Melchior sniffed at the rice grains, then picked one up and held it between his bony fingertips. â€Å"It's raw.† â€Å"Yes, it is.† â€Å"We can't eat it raw.† â€Å"Well, I would have served it up steaming with a grain of salt and a molecule of green onion if I'd known you wanted it that way.† (Yeah, we had molecules in those days. Back off.) â€Å"Very well, this will have to do.† The holy man held the bowl with the rice grains in his lap, then closed his eyes. His breathing began to slow, and after a moment he appeared not to be breathing at all. Josh and I waited. And looked at each other. And Melchior didn't move. His skeletal chest did not rise with breath. I was hungry and tired, but I waited. And the holy man didn't move for almost an hour. Considering the recent nook vacancies on the cliff face, I was a little concerned that Melchior might have succumbed to some virulent yogi-killing epidemic. â€Å"He dead?† I asked. â€Å"Can't tell.† â€Å"Poke him.† â€Å"No, he's my teacher, a holy man. I'm not poking him.† â€Å"He's Untouchable.† Joshua couldn't resist the irony, he poked him. Instantly the yogi opened his eyes, pointed out to sea and screamed, â€Å"Look, a seagull!† We looked. When we looked back the yogi was holding a full bowl of rice. â€Å"Here, go cook this.† So began Joshua's training to find what Melchior called the Divine Spark. The holy man was stern with me, but his patience with Joshua was infinite, and it was soon evident that by trying to be part of Joshua's training I was actually holding him back. So on our third morning living in the cliff, I took a long satisfying whiz over the side (and is there anything so satisfying as whizzing from a high place?) then climbed to the beach and headed into the nearest town to look for a job. Even if Melchior could make a meal out of three grains of rice, I'd scraped all the stray grains out of both my and Joshua's satchels. The yogi might be able to teach a guy to twist up and lick his own balls, but I couldn't see that there was much nourishment in it. The name of the town was Nicobar, and it was about twice the size of Sepphoris in my homeland, perhaps twenty thousand people, most of whom seemed to make their living from the sea, either as fishermen, traders, or shipbuilders. After inquiring at only a few places, I realized that for once it wasn't my lack of skills that were keeping me from making a living, it was the caste system. It extended far deeper into the society than Rumi had told me. Subcastes of the larger four dictated that if you were born a stonecutter, your sons would be stonecutters, and their sons after them, and you were bound by your birth to never do any other job, regardless of how good or bad you were at it. If you were born a mourner, or a magician, you would die a mourner or a magician, and the only way you'd get out of death or magic was to die and be reincarnated as something else. The one skill that didn't seem to require belonging to a caste was village idiot, but the Hindus seemed to thrust the more ec centric holy men into this role, so I found no openings there. I did have my bowl, and my experience at collecting alms for the monastery, so I tried my hand at begging, but every time I would get a good corner staked out, along would hop some one-legged blind guy to steal my action. By the late afternoon I had one tiny copper coin and the steward of the beggars guild had come along to warn me that if he caught me begging in Nicobar again, he'd see that I was admitted to the guild by the immediate removal of my arms and legs. I bought a handful of rice at the market and was skulking out of town, my bowl before me and my head down, like a good monk, when I saw before me a most delicate set of toes, painted vermilion and followed by a dainty foot, an elegant ankle ajangle with copper bangles, an inviting calf decorated with hennaed designs as intricate as lace, and from there a bright skirt led me up the seam to a bejeweled navel, full breasts haltered in yellow silk, lips like plums, a nose as long and straight as a Roman statue's, and wide brown eyes, shaded in blue and lined to make them look the size of a tiger's. They drank me in. â€Å"You're a stranger,† she said. One long finger on my chest stopped me on the spot. I tried to hide my rice bowl in my shirt, and in a fabulous display of sleight of hand, ended up spilling the grains down my front. â€Å"I'm from Galilee. In Israel.† â€Å"Never heard of it. Is it far?† She reached into my shirt and began to pick out the rice grains that had caught against my sash, running her fingernail along my stomach muscles and dropping the grains, one by one, into my bowl. â€Å"Very far. I've come here with my friend to obtain sacred and ancient knowledge, that kind of thing.† â€Å"What is your name?† â€Å"Biff – or Levi who is called Biff. We do that ‘who is called' thing a lot in Israel.† â€Å"Follow me, Biff, I'll show you some ancient and sacred knowledge.† She hooked her finger into my sash and walked into a nearby doorway, for some reason completely confident that I would follow. Inside, amid piles of colorful pillows strewn about the floors and deep carpets the likes of which I hadn't seen since Balthasar's fortress, stood a carved camphorwood stand on which a large codex lay open. The book was bound in brass filigreed with copper and silver, and the pages were made of a parchment finer than I had ever seen. The woman pushed me toward the book and left her hand on my back as I looked at the open page. The handwritten script was gilded and so ornate that I could barely make out the words, which didn't matter anyway, because it was the illustration that caught my eye. A man and a woman, nude, each perfect. The man had the woman facedown on a rug, her feet hooked over his shoulders, her arms held behind her as he entered her. I tried to call on my Buddhist training and discipline to keep from embarrassing myself in front of the strange woman. â€Å"Ancient sacred wisdom,† she said. â€Å"The book was a gift from a patron. The Kama Sutra, it's called. Thread of Desire.† â€Å"The Buddha said that desire is the source of all suffering,† I said, feeling like the kung fu master that I knew I was. â€Å"Do they look like they are suffering?† â€Å"No.† I began to tremble. I had been too long out of the company of women. Far too long. â€Å"Would you like to try that? That suffering. With me?† â€Å"Yes,† I said. All the training, all the discipline, all the control, gone in a word. â€Å"Do you have twenty rupees?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Then suffer,† she said, and she stepped away. â€Å"See, I told you.† Then she walked away, trailing the scent of sandalwood and roses behind her as she went to the door, her hips waving good-bye to me all the way across the room, the bangles on her arms and ankles ringing like tiny temple bells calling me to worship at her secret grotto. At the door she crooked a finger for me to follow her out, and I did. â€Å"My name is Kashmir,† she said. â€Å"Come back. I'll teach you ancient and sacred knowledge. One page at time. Twenty rupees each.† I took my stupid, pathetic, useless grains of rice and went back to my holy, stupid, useless, stupid male friends at the cliff. â€Å"I brought some rice,† I said to Joshua when I had climbed to my nook in the cliff. â€Å"Melchior can do his rice thing and we'll have enough for supper.† Josh was sitting on the shelf of his nook, his legs folded into the lotus position, hands in the mudra of the compassionate Buddha. â€Å"Melchior is teaching the path to the Divine Spark,† Joshua said. â€Å"First you have to quiet the mind. That's why there's so much physical discipline, attention to breath, you have to be so completely in control that you can see past the illusion of your body.† â€Å"And how is that different from what we did in the monastery?† â€Å"It's subtle, but it's different. There the mind would ride the wave of action, you could meditate while on the exercise posts, shooting arrows, fighting. There was no goal because there was no place to be but in the moment. Here, the goal is to see beyond the moment, to the soul. I think I'm getting a glimpse. I'm learning the postures. Melchior says that an accomplished yogi can pass his entire body through a hoop the size of his head.† â€Å"That's great, Josh. Useful. Now let me tell you about this woman I met.† So I jumped over to Josh's ledge and began to tell him about my day, the woman, the Kama Sutra, and my opinion that this just might be the sort of ancient spiritual information a young Messiah might need. â€Å"Her name is Kashmir, which means soft and expensive.† â€Å"But she's a prostitute, Biff.† â€Å"Prostitutes didn't bother you when you were making me help you learn about sex.† â€Å"They still don't bother me, it's just that you don't have any money.† â€Å"I got the feeling she likes me. I think maybe she'll do me pro bono, if you know what I mean?† I elbowed him in the ribs and winked. â€Å"You mean for the public good. You forget your Latin? ‘Pro bono' means ‘for the public good.'† â€Å"Oh. I thought it meant something else. She's not going to do me for that.† â€Å"No, probably not,† said Josh. So the next day, first thing, I made may way back to Nicobar, determined to find a job, but by noon I found myself sitting on the street next to one of the blind, no-legged beggar kids. The street was packed with traders, haggling, making deals, exchanging cash for goods and services, and the kid was making a killing on the spare change. I was astounded at the amount in the kid's bowl; there must have been enough for three Kama Sutra pages right there. Not that I would steal from a blind kid. â€Å"Look, Scooter, you look a little tired, you want me to watch the bowl while you take a break?† â€Å"Get your hand out of there!† The kid caught my wrist (me, the kung fu master). He was quick. â€Å"I can tell what you're doing.† â€Å"Okay, fine, how about I show you some magic tricks. A little sleight of hand?† â€Å"Oh, that'll be fun. I'm blind.† â€Å"Look, make up your mind.† â€Å"I'm going to call for the guild-master if you don't go away.† So I went away, despondent, defeated – not money enough to look at the edge of a page of the Kama Sutra. I skulked back to the cliffs, climbed up to my nook, and resolved to console myself with some cold rice left over from last night's supper. I opened my satchel and – â€Å"Ahhh!† I leapt back. â€Å"Josh, what are you doing in there?† And there he was, his beatific old Joshua face with the sole of a foot on either side like big ears, a few vertebrae showing, one hand, my ying-yang amulet vial, and a jar of myrrh. â€Å"Get out of there. How'd you get in there?† I've mentioned our satchels before. The Greeks called them wallets, I guess you would call them duffel bags. They were made of leather, had a long strap we could throw over our shoulder, and I suppose if you'd asked me before, I would have said you could get a whole person in one if you had to, but not in one piece. â€Å"Melchior taught me. It took me all morning to get in here. I thought I'd surprise you.† â€Å"Worked. Can you get out?† â€Å"I don't think so. I think my hips are dislocated.† â€Å"Okay, where's my black glass knife?† â€Å"It's at the bottom of the bag.† â€Å"Why did I know you were going to say that?† â€Å"If you get me out I'll show you what else I learned. Melchior taught me how to multiply the rice.† A few minutes later Joshua and I were sitting on the ledge of my nook being bombarded by seagulls. The seagulls were attracted by the huge pile of cooked rice that lay between us on the ledge. â€Å"That's the most amazing thing I've ever seen.† Except that you really couldn't see it done. One minute you had a handful of rice, the next a bushel. â€Å"Melchior says that it usually takes a lot longer for a yogi to learn to manipulate matter like this.† â€Å"How much longer?† â€Å"Thirty, forty years. Most of the time they pass on before they learn.† â€Å"So this is like the healing. Part of your, uh, legacy?† â€Å"This isn't like the healing, Biff. This can be taught, given the time.† I tossed a handful of rice into the air for some seagulls. â€Å"Tell you what. Melchior obviously doesn't like me, so he's not going to teach me anything. Let's trade knowledge.† I brought rice to Joshua, had him multiply it, then sold the surplus in the market, and eventually I started trading fish instead of rice because I could raise twenty rupees in fewer trips. But before that, I asked Joshua to come to town with me. We went to the market, which was thick with traders, haggling, making deals, exchanging cash for goods and services, and over on the side, a blind and legless beggar was making a killing on the change. â€Å"Scooter, I'd like you to meet my friend Joshua.† â€Å"My name's not Scooter,† said the waif. A half hour later Scooter could see again and miraculously his severed legs had been regenerated. â€Å"You bastards!† said Scooter as he ran off on clean new pink feet. â€Å"Go with God,† Joshua said. â€Å"Now I guess we'll see how easy it is to earn a living!† I shouted after the kid. â€Å"He didn't seem very pleased,† said Josh. â€Å"He's only learning to express himself. Forget him, others are suffering as well.† And so it came to pass, that Joshua of Nazareth moved among them, healing them and performing miracles, and all the little blind children of Nicobar did see again, and all the lame did stand up and walk. The little fuckers. And so the exchange of knowledge began: what I was learning from Kashmir and the Kama Sutra for what Joshua was learning from the holy man Melchior. Each morning, before I went to town and before Joshua went to learn from his guru, we met on the beach and shared ideas and breakfast. Usually some rice and a fresh fish roasted over the fire. We'd gone long enough without eating animal flesh, we had decided, despite what Melchior and Gaspar tried to teach us. â€Å"This ability to increase the bounty of food – imagine what we can do for the people of Israel, of the world.† â€Å"Yes, Josh, for it is written: ‘Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach a man to be a fish and his friends eat for a week.'† â€Å"That is not written. Where is that written?† â€Å"Amphibians five-seven.† â€Å"There's no friggin' Amphibians in the Bible.† â€Å"Plague of frogs. Ha! Gotcha!† â€Å"How long's it been since you had a beating?† â€Å"Please. You can't hit anyone, you have to be at total peace with all creation so you can find Sparky the Wonder Spirit.† â€Å"The Divine Spark.† â€Å"Whatever, th – ouch. Oh great, and what am I supposed to do, hit the Messiah back?† â€Å"Turn the other cheek. Go ahead, turn it.† As I said, thus did the enlightened exchange of sacred and ancient teachings begin: The Kama Sutra sayeth: When a woman winds her small toes into the armpit hair of the man, and the man hops upon one foot, while supporting the woman on his lingam and a butter churn, then the achieved position is called â€Å"Rhinoceros Balancing a Jelly Donut.† â€Å"What's a jelly donut?† Joshua asked. â€Å"I don't know. It's a Vedic term lost to antiquity, but it is said to have had great significance to the keepers of the law.† â€Å"Oh.† The Katha Upanishad sayeth: Beyond the senses are the objects, and beyond the objects is the mind. Beyond the mind is pure reason, and beyond reason is the Spirit in man. â€Å"What's that supposed to mean?† â€Å"You have to think about it, but it means that there's something eternal in everyone.† â€Å"That's swell. What's with the guys on the bed of nails?† â€Å"A yogi must leave his body if he is going to experience the spiritual.† â€Å"So he leaves through the little holes in his back?† â€Å"Let's start again.† The Kama Sutra sayeth: When a man applies wax from the carnuba bean to a woman's yoni and buffs it with a lint-free cloth or a papyrus towel until a mirror shine is achieved, then it is called Readying the Mongoose for Trade-in.† â€Å"Look, she sells me pieces of sheepskin parchment, and each time, after we're finished, I'm allowed to copy the drawings. I'm going to tie them all together and make my own codex.† â€Å"You did that? That looks like it hurts.† â€Å"This from a guy I had to break out of a wine jar with a hammer yesterday.† â€Å"Yeah, well, it wouldn't have happened if I'd remembered to grease my shoulders like Melchior taught me.† Joshua turned the drawing to get a different angle on it. â€Å"You're sure this doesn't hurt?† â€Å"No, not if you keep your bottom away from the incense burners.† â€Å"No, I mean her.† â€Å"Oh, her. Well, who knows? I'll ask her.† The Bhagavad Gita sayeth: I am impartial to all creatures, and no one is hateful or dear to me, but men devoted to me are in me, and I am in them. â€Å"What's the Bhagavad Gita?† â€Å"It's like a long poem in which the god Krishna advises the warrior Arjuna as he drives his chariot into battle.† â€Å"Really, what's he advise him?† â€Å"He advises him not to feel bad about killing the enemy, because they are essentially already dead.† â€Å"You know what I'd advise him if I was a god? I'd advise him to get someone else to drive his friggin' chariot. The real God wouldn't be caught dead driving a chariot.† â€Å"Well, you have to look at it as a parable, otherwise it sort of reeks of false gods.† â€Å"Our people don't have good luck with false gods, Josh. They're – I don't know – frowned upon. We get killed and enslaved when we mess with them.† â€Å"I'll be careful.† The Kama Sutra sayeth: When a woman props herself up on the table and inhales the steam of the eucalyptus tea, while gargling a mixture of lemon, water, and honey, and the man takes the woman by the ears, and enters her from behind, while looking out the window at the girl across the street hanging out her laundry to dry, then the position is called â€Å"Distracted Tiger Hacking Up a Fur Ball.† â€Å"I couldn't find that one in the book, so she dictated it to me from memory.† â€Å"Kashmir's quite the scholar.† â€Å"She had the sniffles, but agreed to my lesson anyway. I think she's falling for me.† â€Å"How could she not, you're a very charming fellow.† â€Å"Why, thank you, Josh.† â€Å"You're welcome, Biff.† â€Å"Okay, tell me about your little yoga thing.† The Bhagavad Gita sayeth: Just as the wide-moving wind is constantly present in space, so all creatures exist in me. Understand it to be so! â€Å"Is that the kind of advice you'd give someone who's riding into battle? You'd think Krishna would be saying stuff like, ‘Look out, an arrow! Duck!'† â€Å"You'd think,† Joshua sighed. The Kama Sutra sayeth: The position of â€Å"Rampant Monkey Collecting Coconuts† is achieved when a woman hooks her fingers into the man's nostrils and performs a hokey-pokey motion with her hips and the man, while firmly stroking the woman's uvula with his thumbs, swings his lingam around her yoni in a direction counter to that in which water swirls down a drain. (Water has been observed swirling down the drain in different directions in different places. This is a mystery, but a good rule of thumb for achieving Rampant Monkey is to just go in the direction counter to which your own personal drain swirls.) â€Å"Your drawings are getting better,† Joshua said. â€Å"In the first one I thought she had a tail.† â€Å"I'm using the calligraphy techniques we learned in the monastery, only using them to draw figures. Josh, are you sure it doesn't bother you, talking about this stuff when you'll never be allowed to do it?† â€Å"No, it's interesting. It doesn't bother you when I talk about heaven, does it?† â€Å"Should it?† â€Å"Look, a seagull!† The Katha Upanishad sayeth: For a man who has known him, the light of truth shines. For one who has not known, there is darkness. The wise who have seen him in every being on leaving this life, attain life immortal. â€Å"That's what you're looking for, huh, the Divine Spark thing?† â€Å"It's not for me, Biff.† â€Å"Josh, I'm not a satchel of sand here. I didn't spend all of my time studying and meditating without getting some glimpse of the eternal.† â€Å"That's good to know.† â€Å"Of course it helps when angels show up and you do miracles and stuff too.† â€Å"Well, yes, I guess it would.† â€Å"But that's not a bad thing. We can use that when we get home.† â€Å"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?† â€Å"Not a clue.† Our training went on for two years before I saw the sign that called us home. Life was slow, but pleasant there by the sea. Joshua became more efficient at multiplying food, and while he insisted on living an austere lifestyle so he could remain unattached to the material world, I was able to get a little money ahead. In addition to paying for my lessons, I was able to decorate my nook (just some erotic drawings, curtains, some silk cushions) and buy a few personal items such as a new satchel, an ink stone and a set of brushes, and an elephant. I named the elephant Vana, which is Sanskrit for wind, and although she certainly earned her name, I regret it was not due to her blazing speed. Feeding Vana was not a difficulty with Joshua's ability to turn a handful of grass into a fodder farm, but no matter how hard Joshua tried to teach her yoga, she was not able to fit into my nook. (I consoled Joshua that it was probably the climb, and not his failure as a yoga guru that deterred Vana. â€Å"If she had fingers, Josh, she'd be snuggling up with me and seagulls right now.†) Vana didn't like being on the beach when the tide came and washed sand between her toes, so she lived in a pasture just above the cliff. She did, however, love to swim, and some days rather than ride her on the beach all the way to Nicobar, I would have her swim into the harbor just under water, with only her trunk showing and me standing on her forehead. â€Å"Look, Kashmir, I'm walking on water! I'm walking on water!† So eager was my erotic princess to share my embrace that rather than wonder at the spectacle as did the other townsfolk she could only reply: â€Å"Park the elephant in back.† (The first few times she said it I thought she was referring to a Kama Sutra position that we had missed, pages stuck together perhaps, but it turned out such was not the case.) Kashmir and I became quite close as my studies progressed. After we went through all the positions of the Kama Sutra twice, Kashmir was able to take things to the next level by introducing Tantric discipline into our lovemaking. So skillful did we become at the meditative art of coupling that even in the throes of passion, Kashmir was able to polish her jewelry, count her money, or even rinse out a few delicates. I myself had so mastered the discipline of controlled ejaculation that often I was halfway home before release was at last achieved. It was on my way home from Kashmir's – as Vana and I were cutting through the market so that I could show my friends the ex-beggar boys the possible rewards for the man of discipline and character (to wit: I had an elephant and they did not) – that I saw, outlined on the wall of a temple of Vishnu, a dirty water stain, caused by condensation, mold, and wind-blown dust, which described the face of my best friend's mother, Mary. â€Å"Yeah, she does that,† said Joshua, when I swung over the edge of his nook and announced the news. He and Melchior had been meditating and the old man, as usual, appeared to be dead. â€Å"She used to do it all the time when we were kids. She sent James and me running all over the place washing down walls before people saw. Sometimes her face would appear in a pattern of water drops in the dust, or the peelings from grapes would fall just so in a pattern after being taken out of the wine press. Usually it was walls.† â€Å"You never told me that.† â€Å"I couldn't tell you. The way you idolized her, you'd have been turning the pictures into shrines.† â€Å"So they were naked pictures?† Melchior cleared his throat and we both looked at him. â€Å"Joshua, either your mother or God has sent you a message. It doesn't matter who sent it, the message is the same. It is time for you to go home.† We would be leaving for the north in the morning, and Nicobar was south, so I left Joshua to pack our things on Vana while I walked into town to break the news to Kashmir. â€Å"Oh my,† she said, â€Å"all the way back to Galilee. Do you have money for the journey?† â€Å"A little.† â€Å"But not with you?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Well, okay. Bye.† I could swear I saw a tear in her eye as she closed the door. The next morning, with Vana loaded with my drawings and art supplies; my cushions, curtains, and rugs; my brass coffeepot, my tea ball, and my incense burner; my pair of breeding mongooses (mongeese?), their bamboo cage, my drum set, and my umbrella; my silk robe, my sun hat, my rain hat, my collection of carved erotic figurines, and Joshua's bowl, we gathered on the beach to say good-bye. Melchior stood before us in his loincloth, the wind whipping the tails of his white beard and hair around his face like fierce clouds. There was no sadness in his face, but then, he had endeavored his entire life to detach from the material world, which we were part of. He'd already done this a long time ago. Joshua made as if to embrace the old man, then instead just poked him in the shoulder. Once and only once, I saw Melchior smile. â€Å"But you haven't taught me everything I need to know,† Josh said. â€Å"You're right, I have taught you nothing. I could teach you nothing. Everything that you needed to know was already there. You simply needed the word for it. Some need Kali and Shiva to destroy the world so they may see past the illusion to divinity in them, others need Krishna to drive them to the place where they may perceive what is eternal in them. Others may perceive the Divine Spark in themselves only by realizing through enlightenment that the spark resides in all things, and in that they find kinship. But because the Divine Spark resides in all, does not mean that all will discover it. Your dharma is not to learn, Joshua, but to teach.† â€Å"How will I teach my people about the Divine Spark? Before you answer, remember we're talking about Biff too.† â€Å"You must only find the right word. The Divine Spark is infinite, the path to find it is not. The beginning of the path is the word.† â€Å"Is that why you and Balthasar and Gaspar followed the star? To find the path to the Divine Spark in all men? The same reason that I came to find you?† â€Å"We were seekers. You are that which is sought, Joshua. You are the source. The end is divinity, in the beginning is the word. You are the word.†

Qualities of a Friend

Everyday we meet people. Many of them become instant acquaintances and most acquaintances bloom into friendship. Often this transition period occurs gradually. Friends come into ours lives and go. Few stay a while longer and fewer still leave footprints in our hearts and the sands of time. Who is a friend and what are the qualities a friend should possess? The definition of a friend and friendship varies with each individual. For me, a good friend is someone who understands me, accepts me for what I am and at the same time inspires me to do the best. At a personal level, a true friend should not give up on me, should always forgive my mistakes and never judge me by actions as sometimes my actions may be rash and inconsiderate. We live in a very competitive world. Most of us are caught up in the rat race of paper chase, mounting work pressure and demanding family commitments take a toll on our time and energy. Consequently most of us experience mood swings due to high expectations placed upon us. It is during times like these, when we are burdened with responsibilities and life seems to be an endless uphill struggle, that we seek the comforting words of a friend; a friend who urges you to pick up the pieces and move on. A good friend is always there to lend a helping hand or to lend us a shoulder to cry on. At the same time, a friend should be trustworthy and loyal. When friends trust us with secrets, we should never betray their confidence. No one can confide in someone whom he cannot trust to keep his secrets. True friendship is demanding. It requires loyalty, trust, empathy, support and understanding. However, one should never expect such virtues in a friend unless he is willing to offer these virtues in return. In other words, one must be a friend to have a friend. It may be impossible to find all these virtues in a single friend. However, should I come across such a friend; I shall treasure our friendship for life. As I reminisce about the good times I have shared with the best of my friends, the words of William Shakespeare keeps ringing in my ears. â€Å"The friends thou has, and their adoption tired, Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel. † Yes, friendship that has stood the test of time should be most revered and happy is the man who is blessed with such a friend.

Police Corruption Must be Stopped - 2357 Words

Police Corruption The mission statement of The Los Angeles Police Department is as follows: It is the mission of The Los Angeles Police Department to safeguard the lives and property of the people we serve, to reduce the incidence and fear of crime, and to enhance public safety while working with the diverse communities to improve their quality of life. Our mandate is to do so with honor and integrity, while at all times conducting ourselves with the highest ethical standards to maintain public confidence (The Mission Statement of the LAPD).† Although this should be the type of code police officers should follow, it is not the case for some. Police corruption is a case that occurs on a global scale. Police corruption violates the†¦show more content†¦A reason corruption within the department is happening may be a result of officer training. The thing that is drilled into an officers head during training is officer safety (White). If an officer is placed in a situation where they feel t hreatened, they may sometimes act inappropriately. While the statement regarding officer safety might be true, it could get into some officers heads. The meaning can then change, and evolve into something it’s not. These officers apply this mindset to other aspects of the job. They begin to believe that they are more important than the citizens they have vowed to protect. Another theory that may account for police corruption is the idea that once an officer departs from the academy, things change quickly. The principles that were taught in the academy may not directly relate with what the real job truly is. This is because each department takes credit for different procedures and policies, which might have been different in the academy. Field training officers at times tell the new recruits that what they learned in the academy doesnt apply to the real world, since the academy instructors are not fully aware of what goes on in the streets (White). The new training the officer s receive after that may result in corruption. Integrity is the key to discovering if officers will follow along, and become corrupt. Integrity is defined as adherence toShow MoreRelatedThe Nypd Frisk Program : Noble Cause Corruption Situation Essay1629 Words   |  7 PagesWe must start in the research of the NYPD Frisk Program: Noble Cause Corruption situation with the Fourth Amendment‘s which protects a person against unreasonable searches and seizures of the U.S. Constitutional 4th Amendment. Further review of the 4th Amendment law provides guidelines for the search and seizure between police and citizens in a public place. The terms â€Å"stop-and-frisk† is used as one, then the reality is that its two separate acts. 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