Say What?

I am totally bewildered and confused with Krishna's teachings. As he would say, my understanding is still in the swamps of delusion (part 52). I really don't understand what his arguments are to make Arjuna want to fight. Apart from preserving his honor, which is very understandable since he is supposed to be a brave warrior that must lead his people into battle (it would seem a little sissy to turn back in fear), there is no real reason why he shouldn't call for peace instead of war. Krishna is telling him that you are not really killing anyone because no one really exists in this reality. Supposedly life death, pain and pleasure are simple illusions of this world, and for this reason killing another human being is perfectly justified. "He who thinks his self a killer and he who think he killed both fail to understand; it does not kill and isn't killed." (Part 19). I still don't get Krishna's reasoning. Maybe this is where religion ethics are different, but I have been taught that every human life is valuable and we have no right to take someone else's life, no matter how evil or twisted that person is. Something else I do understand, but don't exactly agree with is the idea of letting go of all aspects of terrestrial life. I have heard that in order to be enlightened you have to go through a process of letting go of all attachments, pleasures, cares and desires. If you don't have desires, you won't want to acquire that desire. This way you won't fail in obtaining it, and you won't be sad. "When he gives up desires in his mind, is content with the self within himself, then he is said to be a man..."(part 55).To me, this is not a reasonable way to live life. I have come to believe that you have to enjoy life as much as possible, and search for happiness before your life is over. Even if you do have a thousand other reincarnations in front of you, I am sure you will never be the same person or thing you are now. Never will you be together with the people you love now and never will you be able to remember who you were before. The reality you live in right now will be lost forever when this part of you perishes (if I understand Krishna right). This is why I prefer to enjoy life as it comes at me. The material or human attachments I have will certainly cause me pain and sorrow when they are gone. That just means I can appreciate them even more while I still have them. I will not always get what I want. I will certainly be frustrated, but I have learned that all you have to do is move on with life. As I have said many times now, many people would think following Krishna's advice is the key to happiness. I certainly want to follow my beliefs and enjoy life and every second I am granted from it.


Note: I thought those teachings were Buddhist, not Hindu. Is Krishna a man or a woman?

A Senseless Battle

It seems to me that this war has no sense at all. I actually think that war itself is very useless. It's like telling someone, “since we can't agree on a point let's kill each other until one of us agrees with the other." But even worse is when you fight your own family or friends. I still don't know the reasons why they are fighting, but fighting your own family and friends is the worse thing you can do to yourself, because, even if you are angry now, when you calm down and see the horrors you've done, you will deeply regret it. "How can we ignore the wisdom of turning from this evil when we see the sin of family destruction, Krishna? When the family is ruined, the timeless laws of family duty perish; and when duty is lost, chaos overwhelms the family."(Part 35). Family unity is perhaps the most important aspect for a person. Friends, colleagues and lovers will come and go, but a well united family will always be there for you, no matter what you do wrong or right. The saddest thing there can be is a loving family divided by hate. My grandmother's family had a problem some years ago that no one has bee able to solve yet. One of her sisters married a man that destroyed the whole family. He ruined the family factory (Tornillos Gutemberto); set the brothers and sisters against each other, and eventually the factory had to be sold. My grandmother's final wish is to see her family reunited, and that terrible war makes her very sad. And to think only one stupid guy could cause so much havoc to a family that loved each other so much before he arrived.

Back from the Underworld

This last tablet seemed to have almost nothing to do with the rest of the book. How come Enkidu is already out of the Underworld and then goes back for Gilgamesh's drum? Did he somehow revive or in this part did he never die at all? Still, I think it was a little stupid of him to do exactly everything he was not supposed to do when he went to the Underworld. Unlike his first death, where it was the will of the gods he had to die, this time it was entirely his fault for disobeying the rules to visit the Underworld, and I don't feel so much pity for him now. Why is it that humans can never do as they are told, and they always do what they want without thinking of the consequences that will come after? It's like the story of Adam and Eve, where they are expelled from Paradise for eating the only fruit they weren't supposed to eat in the whole garden. Again, it's impressive how this book is so similar to the Bible. The weird thing is this story was written thousands of years before the Bible. That leaves me with many thoughts about the origin of Christianity.

The entire epic was very interesting to read. It feels so weird to read a book that was written so long ago, and it's very impressive that anyone could write a book like that, so similar to more modern books that were written thousands of years after it. I think it was a great experience to read this book, and I learned a lot from it.

Noah's Arc?

Utnapishtim's story stunned me because it was exactly the same as the story of Noah's Arc in the Bible. It is the same story in which a god wants to flood a city, (in the Bible the whole world). one small group of people (one led by Noah and the other by Utnapishtim), manages to survive by building a huge boat and taking one pair of animals of each species so they won't be obliterated by the flood. "...abandon your house and build a boat instead...take with you, on the boat you build, an instance of each thing living so they may be safe from obliteration in the flood." (pg. 66). Still, while God wanted to purge all the world from evil humans, Enlil seemed to have no reason at all to drown Shuruppak. He seemed to be even jealous of the fortunate city. In addition, he was furious when he saw that humans had survived. In the Bible, God purposefully asked Noah to save himself and his family in reward for being good people. I definitely prefer the Bible's version of the "Great Flood".
I got a video from Fantasia 2000's version of Noah's Arc, accompanied by Pomp and Circumstance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-AgDl5PBl0

Scared to Death

I don’t understand Gilgamesh’s reaction. He claims he was Enkidu’s companion and brother Enkidu “I grieve for the death of Enkidu, the companion.”(pg.59), but he isn’t showing it at all. He has now decided to search for immortality and escape death. He has abandoned Enkidu in the underworld, and won’t accompany him in the darkness of death. Enkidu, which did so much for Gilgamesh, is now destined to stay alone in the underworld, while Gilgamesh fights to escape death, forgetting his promise that two companions would prevail. He was so spooked by death, “…I saw a worm fall out of his nose. Must I die too? Must Gilgamesh be like that?” (pg.56) that he has decided to waste all his time and energy on something that is nearly impossible, like escaping death, instead of trying something that is equally hard, but less selfish, like trying to bring Enkidu back from the Underworld. Personally, I think Enkidu is being very selfish and disloyal to his brother and companion Enkidu, who had to die for something Gilgamesh also did.

Talk About Preferences

I think it is so unfair Enkidu is the one who dies. After all, he didn't even need to go to that mission. It was Gilgamesh's idea to search the Cedar Forest and kill Huwawa. He was the one seeking glory for all his children, and he wanted his greatness to be remembered for generations. "If I should fall, my fame will be secure. 'It was Gilgamesh who fought against Huwawa!' It is Gilgamesh who will venture into the Forest and cut the Cedar down and win the glory. My fame will be secure to all my sons."(pg. 17) Enkidu only wanted to help his brother, and he wasn't looking for any fame or glory. Besides, why Enkidu, the one who used to live among the gazelles and drink with the beasts, and formerly protected nature should be punished, while Gilgamesh, the ambitious, powerful king that was determined to cut the Cedar Tree and Kill Huwawa is left to live. To me, it is a very controversial situation, and those gods must have something in mind to take this terrible decision.
Either way, to me none of them is the real culprit of the violation of the forest. The one to blame to me is the goddess Shamash. She was the one who sent them both on the mission, and she even helped them kill Huwawa. "And Shamash said: 'The two of them went together, companions on my errand into the Forest.'... Angry Enlil said: 'You went with them as if you were companion day after day as they went upon their journey to violate the Forest and kill the guardian." (pg. 37). The weird thing is Enlil doesn't punish her for it.
This part of the story can be related to Disney's Pocahontas, where Smith's friend (Gilgamesh) kills Kokum(Huwawa) in his attempt to protect him when they were fighting (Battle in the Cedar Forest). Unfortunately, Smith(Enkidu) is blamed and is sentenced to death by the Natives(Gods), even if he had been the one trying to make peace between the explorers and Pocahontas's tribe.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbd8XlHD7Yo

Ishtar, the Goddess of Terror

This reading left me with one impression that was present the whole tablet: Abuse of power. The goddess wanted to sleep with Gilgamesh, but he already knew about the evils she did to those she slept with, so he didn't accept her plea, and she got furious.
She abused of her amazing beauty, to which no male animal can resist to easily to sleep with whoever she felt like. Not only that, but she convinced them by offering them endless richness and power. After that, she did something terrible to them, like breaking the bird's wind, or forcing the wild horse to drink the water his muddy feet had already walked on. When Gilgamesh denied her his body, she got furious, and later wanted to punish him for discovering her secret. She then uses her godly powers to bring the Boar and cause suffering to everyone. The Boar opened a whole in the middle of Uruk, sending so many innocent people to their deaths. She would have gone on with her terrible massacre if Enkidu and Gilgamesh hadn't stopped the Boar and killed it. It seems Ishtar'a abuse of power isn't over yet. There is possibly going to be a meeting with the gods about it.
"Why is it that the gods are meeting in council?" (pg.36)

Fortunate Dreams

The dreams Gilgamesh had are all very strange. They all picture some type of death or misfortune, but Enkidu always says they dictate good fortune and predict victory for them against Huwawa. How is it possible to think that a bull's wrestle is a blessing, especially when the dream was so desperate and fearful? "The bull is Shamash, the wrestling is his blessing." (pg.23)
To me, it seemed more like Enkidu's efforts to keep Gilgamesh's hopes alive so he wouldn't coward away form his mission. In the end, it was all thanks to the goddess Shamash that they were able to defeat Huwawa. All Gilgamesh and Enkidu did was pull its guts out.

The Epic of Gilgamesh Tablet II and III

It is so ironic how Enkidu is slowly becoming more civilized. First, he lays with the harlot and the animals run away from him. Next, he is taught how to eat and drink like a civilized man. He then stays up all night to protect the people form the wild beasts. The same ones with which he grazed and drank water with seven days ago. Apparently, this process of civilization is good for Enkidu. Still, what would have happened to Enkidu if he never had been civilized? We can relate it to ourselves and our own process of civilization. What would have happened if we had stayed as hunter gatherers and never become civilized? It is a very complicated view of how things would have been different. We probably would be living like Enkidu; naked, "grazing", and drinking with fellow beasts, in harmony with nature. We would have never achieved all our feats of architecture and technology. We would have never even created the society in which we live in today. Would we even miss the world we have so perfectly accommodated for ourselves? Is it even possible to miss something you've never had? To this questions I have no answer. It all depends on each individuals own perspective of life.

A. Asian Ramblings
B. The blog is about a guy (possibly a journalist or a photographer) that talks about his life experiences during his travels to China
C.The title fits with the blog because the title "Asian Rambling" fits with his entries, which are all about stories in China, mainly about his camera.
D. This blog is very original because it has stories that almost always are about his camera. It's like the story of his travelings with his camera.
E. Compared to the other blog in the category of Asian Blogs, "Weblog Wannabe", this one has a more profesional voice. It talks about his work and his camera, while "Weblog Wannabe" talks about more private and personal stuff. "Asian Ramblings" has very simple, and rather informative writing, while " Weblog Wannabe" has more deep and sentimental entries.
F. I think it is a very good blog. The entries are not as interesting as 'Weblog Wannabe" but the pictures are very good, artistically speaking.

Blog questionaire

A. According to this author where does the word blog come from?
Blog comes form the word "Web blog"

B.Why might the writer object to a book about blogs? What is the difference between a blog and a book?
Blogs are always changing and are subject to comments and editing constantly. They also are portals to links tahth talk about other themes and topics. This is why a book of blogs would be quite useless.

C. How have blogs changed recently?
The first blogs where small comments on articles that included links to other pages and more information. It was almost a pre- surf of the internet for you. Later on, as blogging became more popular, people started to turn it more into an opinion source, and bloggers used blogging for commenting on any topic and almost gaining fame or popularity.

D. Why might you read a blog rather than a book, or a magazine, or a newspaper?
Blogs are somehow more interseting because they have links that take you round the internet giving you more information. Also, it can be funner to read, since bloggers see their audience as friends and have a very free style of writing and composition.

D. Is there reason to doubt the objectivity of a blog? Why? Why not?
A blog can never be 100% arbitrary. The whole point of blogs is to give an opinion about a specific topic, so objectivity doesn't really fit in a blog.

E. If you kept your own blog, what would you title it?
Maria Laura's opinion, because it would be my opinion over something, in this case , the books we read in class.

F. Find three blogs that mention our summer reading.

Replies to This Discussion
Permalink Reply by savagegirli on April 28, 2009 at 4:01am
This book has changed my life! What a cheezy thing to say but I think the world would be a MUCH better place if everyone would just READ THIS BOOK! In fact, Ishmael is the reason I am here. I am networking to find people with like minds to help me on my journey towards a better life :o)Check out IshThink.org if you want to chat with other people that love the book.
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Permalink Reply by savagegirli on May 6, 2009 at 2:58am
Ooooh thanks for that PDF link that is priceless!!! A way to get Ishmael out to the masses for FREEEEEEEE...OMG amazing! I already posted a bulleting on myspace and sent it to a few friends :o)
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Permalink Reply by Chris Smith on August 6, 2009 at 11:16am
I bought a paperback version of Ishmael and absolutely loved it. It should be essential reading for everyone. I then bought a hardback of The Story Of B and loved that even more than Ishmael. Please spread the word. It could save the World! Thanks for the pdf, now I can read it again anytime on my iPhone. Anyone know where I can get any of the other Daniel Quinn books in ebook format?
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Introduction to Maria Laura's Blog

Blogging is a very new way of communication that has revolutionized the world of the internet. It is a way of giving your opinion and letting your mind run free over the keyboard, and have your say in the world.. This blog is merely for academic purposes, but it will be full of opinions and writings that believe it or not, are just part of a Pre AP English class requierement. I hope you enjoy surfing over my blog, and please have an open mind over it. After all, it's not a published book, it's not an anthology of essays, it's merely a blog