Friday, November 13, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Medium of Memoir Film: Waltz with Bashir
The Medium of Memoir Film: Analysis of Waltz with Bashir
Armen Kassabian
10/24/09
Waltz with Bashir is a 2008 Israeli animated documentary film directed by Ari Folman. A winner of best foreign language film by the Golden Globe Awards and Best Animation by Los Angeles Film Critics Association, I highly recommend it. I watched it at the Empty hand Zen center (www.emptyhand.org) in New Rochelle, New York, which has a monthly movie showing.
It depicts Folman in search of his lost memories from the 1982 Lebanon War. He meets with various members from his army squad, in order to regain lost memories. It is an animated film that uses mental images, music and flashbacks, directly bringing the viewers into the thought process of the director-narrator. The end of the film shows how the 1982 massacres of two Palestinian refugee camp villages unfolded, at the hands of Phalangist, a right-wing Lebanese political party. Folman makes comparisons between the violence he saw at refugee camps, streets filled with dead bodies, with images that were similar to the Warsaw Ghettos, during the reign of Nazism. The narrator had to deal with the reality of being a witness to this violence, even if he didn’t directly do it, and why it had been blocked out from his memory for twenty years. The images were triggers of stories that had not received not been organized into a narrative yet, which is why he blocked them out.
The film outlines the complexity of the issue, showing that the enemies were not the Israeli army members, and the good guys were not the Palestinians and Phalangist, or vice- a-versa. It outlines the complexity of putting everyday people into situations of either being killed by snipers, fighting back, hiding from enemies, or being slaughtered. Under all circumstances, there isn’t a pure 100% good or bad guy always. The movie returned the humanity and dignity to soldiers who could otherwise be viewed as mere aggressive killers, without a heart or human part to them. It returned the humanity to all parties involved in the war.
One person in the crowd, felt offended that movie was not a fair portrayal of the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces), so he ended up leaving after five minutes. His intense emotional reaction brought all in the room to higher awareness of how intense emotions, if they aren’t appropriately dealt with, can become disruptive to others and to one especially. His frustration was legitimate, but seemed a bit extreme and reactive, considering that the film had ran only five minutes before he left. Rather than listen to the movie with an open inquisitive mind, the portrayal deeply bothered him, even though the director was an Israeli person, merely reflecting artistically a vision he had. His intense reaction to film taught me how emotions can block people from being able to listen non-judgmentally to each other, or other’s opinions. We must always ask ourselves, why is this person reacting as intensely emotional as they are, rather than to demonize them as wrong always.
The movie was a riveting portrait, a memoir in cartoons, of how the director was dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is a very common result of people who have seen war or partaken in the killing of others. And similar to a book I’m reading called Shimmering Images, by Lisa Dale Norton, all about writing memoirs. Waltz with Bashir embodied all of the principles that she describes in her book as effective tools to writing a memoir. Memoirs are a tool for inner transformation. By voicing stories of difficult past experiences, one can order the chaos of their life into a narrative. This narrative closes the chapter of your life, rather than you always repeating the memory to your self, feeling as If you were the victim. One is able to eject the memory from their body. By writing an experience in a way that can actually transform the experience on the page, and transform people who read it as well. So that memoir writing becomes a tool for social change.
Lisa Norton describes memoir writing, as the “ability to take a slice-of-life, by identifying a potent period and exploring it through vivid imagery, honest voice, stunning compassion, and a deep awareness of the larger issues at play that guide your story in a subliminal way.” She describes tools such as the usage of Shimmering Images, as a tool to use “memory in consciousness, photos pulsing with meaning, that shimmers with an energy behind it,” reflecting the need for a story to be told.
In Waltz with Bashir, the narrator is using all of his mental images that keep repeating in his dreams, to try to understand what happened during that fateful night of the massacres that he has blocked out. He can only remember himself walking out of the Mediterranean by the shores of Beirut. To Norton, all effective stories are about challenges, trouble and the process of working through those challenges. Because whether you realize it or not, readers identify themselves with the narrator in stories, because they want to learn “how can I learn about my life from theirs?” The narrator in Waltz with Bashir uses these mental images as a fuel for his search to understand what they mean. To Norton, we must list and trust these images, even if we don’t understand their story immediately, as containing a story and energy behind it, that can be understood through deeper inquire and exploration. Hence, the film must have triggered some intense emotionally reactive images in the mind of the man who left after five minutes.
Norton encourages memoir writers to use another tool, called the Mountain Top Metaphor, to help writers find the beginning, middle and end of their story. They should visualize themselves on top of a mountain, looking down on a river, and write down ten challenging experiences along the meandering river. Since all effective stories must pose a “problem” that will be “solved” during the course of story. To Norton, a problem can be as subtle as “the reader following a narrator as he unravels the impact and comes to terms with some life complexity.” In Waltz with Bashir, the narrator did exactly this in attempting to understand why repeated nightmares images of the 1982 war were blocked out of his memory, although he had seen so much combat.
Waltz with Bashir, is a memoir film that is an example of how in the digital age of animated cartoons; movies at their most basic form are stories that can still evoke deep human emotions, if presented artistically. As the author of Shimmering Images states, “Story, the essence of narrative, is art. Art is creation. Memoir is art. Writing life stories borders on the mystical because you, the writer, become the master of reality. You make sense of chaos. Narrative (story) that has a beginning, a middle, and inevitable close (an end) is a kind of art that soothes the soul.” Waltz with Bashir is one of these memoir films that can soothe the soul.
Armen Kassabian
10/24/09
Waltz with Bashir is a 2008 Israeli animated documentary film directed by Ari Folman. A winner of best foreign language film by the Golden Globe Awards and Best Animation by Los Angeles Film Critics Association, I highly recommend it. I watched it at the Empty hand Zen center (www.emptyhand.org) in New Rochelle, New York, which has a monthly movie showing.
It depicts Folman in search of his lost memories from the 1982 Lebanon War. He meets with various members from his army squad, in order to regain lost memories. It is an animated film that uses mental images, music and flashbacks, directly bringing the viewers into the thought process of the director-narrator. The end of the film shows how the 1982 massacres of two Palestinian refugee camp villages unfolded, at the hands of Phalangist, a right-wing Lebanese political party. Folman makes comparisons between the violence he saw at refugee camps, streets filled with dead bodies, with images that were similar to the Warsaw Ghettos, during the reign of Nazism. The narrator had to deal with the reality of being a witness to this violence, even if he didn’t directly do it, and why it had been blocked out from his memory for twenty years. The images were triggers of stories that had not received not been organized into a narrative yet, which is why he blocked them out.
The film outlines the complexity of the issue, showing that the enemies were not the Israeli army members, and the good guys were not the Palestinians and Phalangist, or vice- a-versa. It outlines the complexity of putting everyday people into situations of either being killed by snipers, fighting back, hiding from enemies, or being slaughtered. Under all circumstances, there isn’t a pure 100% good or bad guy always. The movie returned the humanity and dignity to soldiers who could otherwise be viewed as mere aggressive killers, without a heart or human part to them. It returned the humanity to all parties involved in the war.
One person in the crowd, felt offended that movie was not a fair portrayal of the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces), so he ended up leaving after five minutes. His intense emotional reaction brought all in the room to higher awareness of how intense emotions, if they aren’t appropriately dealt with, can become disruptive to others and to one especially. His frustration was legitimate, but seemed a bit extreme and reactive, considering that the film had ran only five minutes before he left. Rather than listen to the movie with an open inquisitive mind, the portrayal deeply bothered him, even though the director was an Israeli person, merely reflecting artistically a vision he had. His intense reaction to film taught me how emotions can block people from being able to listen non-judgmentally to each other, or other’s opinions. We must always ask ourselves, why is this person reacting as intensely emotional as they are, rather than to demonize them as wrong always.
The movie was a riveting portrait, a memoir in cartoons, of how the director was dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is a very common result of people who have seen war or partaken in the killing of others. And similar to a book I’m reading called Shimmering Images, by Lisa Dale Norton, all about writing memoirs. Waltz with Bashir embodied all of the principles that she describes in her book as effective tools to writing a memoir. Memoirs are a tool for inner transformation. By voicing stories of difficult past experiences, one can order the chaos of their life into a narrative. This narrative closes the chapter of your life, rather than you always repeating the memory to your self, feeling as If you were the victim. One is able to eject the memory from their body. By writing an experience in a way that can actually transform the experience on the page, and transform people who read it as well. So that memoir writing becomes a tool for social change.
Lisa Norton describes memoir writing, as the “ability to take a slice-of-life, by identifying a potent period and exploring it through vivid imagery, honest voice, stunning compassion, and a deep awareness of the larger issues at play that guide your story in a subliminal way.” She describes tools such as the usage of Shimmering Images, as a tool to use “memory in consciousness, photos pulsing with meaning, that shimmers with an energy behind it,” reflecting the need for a story to be told.
In Waltz with Bashir, the narrator is using all of his mental images that keep repeating in his dreams, to try to understand what happened during that fateful night of the massacres that he has blocked out. He can only remember himself walking out of the Mediterranean by the shores of Beirut. To Norton, all effective stories are about challenges, trouble and the process of working through those challenges. Because whether you realize it or not, readers identify themselves with the narrator in stories, because they want to learn “how can I learn about my life from theirs?” The narrator in Waltz with Bashir uses these mental images as a fuel for his search to understand what they mean. To Norton, we must list and trust these images, even if we don’t understand their story immediately, as containing a story and energy behind it, that can be understood through deeper inquire and exploration. Hence, the film must have triggered some intense emotionally reactive images in the mind of the man who left after five minutes.
Norton encourages memoir writers to use another tool, called the Mountain Top Metaphor, to help writers find the beginning, middle and end of their story. They should visualize themselves on top of a mountain, looking down on a river, and write down ten challenging experiences along the meandering river. Since all effective stories must pose a “problem” that will be “solved” during the course of story. To Norton, a problem can be as subtle as “the reader following a narrator as he unravels the impact and comes to terms with some life complexity.” In Waltz with Bashir, the narrator did exactly this in attempting to understand why repeated nightmares images of the 1982 war were blocked out of his memory, although he had seen so much combat.
Waltz with Bashir, is a memoir film that is an example of how in the digital age of animated cartoons; movies at their most basic form are stories that can still evoke deep human emotions, if presented artistically. As the author of Shimmering Images states, “Story, the essence of narrative, is art. Art is creation. Memoir is art. Writing life stories borders on the mystical because you, the writer, become the master of reality. You make sense of chaos. Narrative (story) that has a beginning, a middle, and inevitable close (an end) is a kind of art that soothes the soul.” Waltz with Bashir is one of these memoir films that can soothe the soul.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Myrtle the Chicken
Myrtle the Chicken
Is finger looking good?
at KFC or McDonalds
finger looking good,
With Mayonnaise or ketchup,
barbecue or hot sauce,
finger licking good.
from suburbs to hoods,
from factory farms to buns,
veins run with estrogen,
testosterone hormones,
she moans like Barry Bonds,
blood burping steroids in arm,
Myrtle tastes like Lysol.
a pinch of salt and robot piss,
So enjoy your burger in fist,
at KFCs or Mickky Ds.
Testosterone she burps in breeze,
and shaking in her skinny knees,
This is her chicken Disease
Is finger looking good?
at KFC or McDonalds
finger looking good,
With Mayonnaise or ketchup,
barbecue or hot sauce,
finger licking good.
from suburbs to hoods,
from factory farms to buns,
veins run with estrogen,
testosterone hormones,
she moans like Barry Bonds,
blood burping steroids in arm,
Myrtle tastes like Lysol.
a pinch of salt and robot piss,
So enjoy your burger in fist,
at KFCs or Mickky Ds.
Testosterone she burps in breeze,
and shaking in her skinny knees,
This is her chicken Disease
Monday, October 19, 2009
COMPASSION IS SUFFERING WITH OTHERS
Compassion is suffering with others
Armen Kassabian
10. 18.09
Compassion is suffering with others. Compassion is your passion and ability to suffering with offers, non-judgmentally. Mom comes to me; expressing a suffering she has with her ex, my dad. Immediately, I’m feeling shitty and don’t want to hear any of this garbage. Farfetched and unrelated and depressing to me, it is just blocking my mental clarity. She asks “son I need a Buddhist opinion on this?” You father came, and I gave him some old lens of his, and they reminded me of times when I had given him so much. Money from divorce, the house of my aunt, whish he won, and other goods of relatives. And I felt like he was stealing something of my uncle, and this filled me with rage. As you know, I’ve suffered greatly do to this relationship in the past. But today I am much better. But it was this little interaction left me feeling so angry and cheated. I felt like he was trying to cheat me again.”
Hearing my mom spew all this emotionally frustrated energy about my dad, just makes me angry, because of my past triggers. She has hers, you have yours and I have mine. And so the sign to me was to just not push her away as I normally do. My normal pattern when hearing her say anything negative about my dad, is to shut her out, became rage full and to even scream. But she asked me honestly, “how do you think would be best to deal with this feeling that came?”
I paused for a moment, and feeling this great urge to just leave this situation that I felt was raging me and intoxicatingly destructive, I stayed in it. Slowly speaking “Well, when I had an intense reaction to something he said to me in the past, I knew I shouldn’t talk to him in the heat of the moment, because I would say even more destructive things. He merely commented that I change my answering machine, which says I’m not in the country anymore. But because of past comments, hyper sensitivity to him, I immediately took hi word as a direct attack on my being. I had to take responsibility for what I was feeling. For even though his comment really offended me, I had to express this frustration in a compassionate, clear minded and respectful manner. So I told my dad that “ I am very sensitive about not having a job yet, and what people tell me about this situation. I realize you didn’t intend to be offensive, but because of my sensitivity, I was hurt and reactive to your comment. Logically what you said makes sense, but for some reason your comment got me rage full, because it felt critical of the efforts I’m doing now. Aware of past difficulties in the relationship just cropping up now, so I ask him “Can you try an do your best and before you give me advice ask yourself if what you’re saying is positive and constructive. Because of my sensitivity, I need you to try an understand me.”
So my mom nods. “I told him that I am sensitive. I realized I need to establish personal boundaries between us. So I don’t 100% blame him or you for my anger. And you can try the same? Its so easy to blame others, and so hard to take responsibility for a feeling.” My mom says “okay.” I’m feeling more angry as I am talking to her, because these are feelings I don’t like to share with her, because I empathize more with her frustration and the anger seething out of her pores, my lungs are drinking it up. Sucking it up. But I try an stay present to this really negative emotion in me, I want to push mom away, and get out of this situation that reminds me of past pains. But then it will just come again and again. If I don’t than it will be like a small thorn left in foot for years, that needs to be amputated, because it wasn’t dealt with at the source of the pain. This is out reaction patterns of sensitivity.
I tell her, “the first step is to be aware that you’re feeling angry or upset. Second you want to identify what your particular reactive sensitivity may be. Third you want to try take responsibility for what your feelings are, rather than 100% blaming the other person. Fourth you want to express to the other person in kind speech, “ I am sensitive and reactive to_____, and I know you didn’t intend to hurt me, but because of my sensitivity and history, I perceived what you said as hurtful, and that’s what I responded or acted strangely or inappropriately after wards.” I collect some cray-pas, turn on Hawaiian Reggae and start drawing to the music as it comes out of the speakers, my hands and the colors melting. This is compassion, to be present to what is arising and knowing how to take care of yourself, when destructive or negative emotions arise within, is the practice of compassion. To see joy and suffering of yourself and others, rooted at the same source. To be with it skillfully, rather than destructively, the emotional or physical pain, to show compassion to it, which is just another way of saying “suffering with others.”
Armen Kassabian
10. 18.09
Compassion is suffering with others. Compassion is your passion and ability to suffering with offers, non-judgmentally. Mom comes to me; expressing a suffering she has with her ex, my dad. Immediately, I’m feeling shitty and don’t want to hear any of this garbage. Farfetched and unrelated and depressing to me, it is just blocking my mental clarity. She asks “son I need a Buddhist opinion on this?” You father came, and I gave him some old lens of his, and they reminded me of times when I had given him so much. Money from divorce, the house of my aunt, whish he won, and other goods of relatives. And I felt like he was stealing something of my uncle, and this filled me with rage. As you know, I’ve suffered greatly do to this relationship in the past. But today I am much better. But it was this little interaction left me feeling so angry and cheated. I felt like he was trying to cheat me again.”
Hearing my mom spew all this emotionally frustrated energy about my dad, just makes me angry, because of my past triggers. She has hers, you have yours and I have mine. And so the sign to me was to just not push her away as I normally do. My normal pattern when hearing her say anything negative about my dad, is to shut her out, became rage full and to even scream. But she asked me honestly, “how do you think would be best to deal with this feeling that came?”
I paused for a moment, and feeling this great urge to just leave this situation that I felt was raging me and intoxicatingly destructive, I stayed in it. Slowly speaking “Well, when I had an intense reaction to something he said to me in the past, I knew I shouldn’t talk to him in the heat of the moment, because I would say even more destructive things. He merely commented that I change my answering machine, which says I’m not in the country anymore. But because of past comments, hyper sensitivity to him, I immediately took hi word as a direct attack on my being. I had to take responsibility for what I was feeling. For even though his comment really offended me, I had to express this frustration in a compassionate, clear minded and respectful manner. So I told my dad that “ I am very sensitive about not having a job yet, and what people tell me about this situation. I realize you didn’t intend to be offensive, but because of my sensitivity, I was hurt and reactive to your comment. Logically what you said makes sense, but for some reason your comment got me rage full, because it felt critical of the efforts I’m doing now. Aware of past difficulties in the relationship just cropping up now, so I ask him “Can you try an do your best and before you give me advice ask yourself if what you’re saying is positive and constructive. Because of my sensitivity, I need you to try an understand me.”
So my mom nods. “I told him that I am sensitive. I realized I need to establish personal boundaries between us. So I don’t 100% blame him or you for my anger. And you can try the same? Its so easy to blame others, and so hard to take responsibility for a feeling.” My mom says “okay.” I’m feeling more angry as I am talking to her, because these are feelings I don’t like to share with her, because I empathize more with her frustration and the anger seething out of her pores, my lungs are drinking it up. Sucking it up. But I try an stay present to this really negative emotion in me, I want to push mom away, and get out of this situation that reminds me of past pains. But then it will just come again and again. If I don’t than it will be like a small thorn left in foot for years, that needs to be amputated, because it wasn’t dealt with at the source of the pain. This is out reaction patterns of sensitivity.
I tell her, “the first step is to be aware that you’re feeling angry or upset. Second you want to identify what your particular reactive sensitivity may be. Third you want to try take responsibility for what your feelings are, rather than 100% blaming the other person. Fourth you want to express to the other person in kind speech, “ I am sensitive and reactive to_____, and I know you didn’t intend to hurt me, but because of my sensitivity and history, I perceived what you said as hurtful, and that’s what I responded or acted strangely or inappropriately after wards.” I collect some cray-pas, turn on Hawaiian Reggae and start drawing to the music as it comes out of the speakers, my hands and the colors melting. This is compassion, to be present to what is arising and knowing how to take care of yourself, when destructive or negative emotions arise within, is the practice of compassion. To see joy and suffering of yourself and others, rooted at the same source. To be with it skillfully, rather than destructively, the emotional or physical pain, to show compassion to it, which is just another way of saying “suffering with others.”
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Armenian-Turkish Relations: Cultivating a 21 Century of Compassionate Dialogue
Armenian-Turkish Relations: Cultivating a 21 Century of Compassionate Dialogue
Applying a Compassionate perspective to Armenian-Turkish Relations, involves seeing the problem as the problem, and the people as mere results of their cultural context. Nationalism and historical relations becomes the major force of division in the present. Destructive emotions that persist such as hate or anger, between Turks and Armenians, will only prolong the conflict and distrust already present. Peace and security cannot be achieved between Armenia and Turkey without open dialogue, trust, non-judgmental listening and understanding about the past. This dialogue must be rooted in cultivating the compassionate perspective on the pretext that the “other” is part of the “I.” Peace must be reconciled at the level of individuals before it can occur internationally.
Many Armenians have hated Turks, for the events of 1915 that they called the “Armenian Genocide.” Many Turks have hated Armenians, for having partaken in “revolutionary activities with the Russians” during WWI. One’s perspective on the intercultural violence and the forced migration of Armenians into the Syrian deserts, is based on how they self-identify themselves. If you’re a Turk, the Armenians may have been conceptualized as an enemy in the context of the revolutions in the Balkan nations, and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. But if you’re an Armenian, the Turks may be conceptualized as inhumane people who violently forced Armenians to migrate from their historical homeland in the 20th century.
Truth is always relative based on who you ask. Whether the Armenian Genocide occurred or not, is a contentious topic, hindering the development of Armenian Turkish relations. According to the Dalai Lama, a Peace activist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989the basic element that unites humanity, is a genuine search for happiness. Turks and Armenians want happiness, but their definitions of it may differ. He encourages people to regard each other as interconnected beings. Most humans on earth do not want to rape their sister or mother or kill their brother or start a revolution, they would prefer to live harmoniously with others. Yet violence between humans in the 21st century, seems be a perpetual state of affairs in the age of Terrorism and Anti-terrorism. During the 20st century, the Armenians were to a certain degree categorized by a terrorist or potentially threatening minority in the Ottoman Empire. This “other” categorization, is a rationalization for why safety for the Ottoman nation-state had to be actively engaged.
Nationalism and a sense of homeland can be a great source intercultural conflict as well. The peace and security of modern Turkey, is rooted in its historical treatment of the Armenians during the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th Century. In the 21st century, the Kurds are greatly discriminated against in Turkey, which is only a continuation of the trend of a heightened sense of nationalism. In the 20th century, the “other,” was defined as all non- Muslims. By creating this policy of discrimination and mental categorization, Armenians became known as “Gavour.” This justified the deportation of Armenians out of their ancestral homeland. Whether the motivation of the Ottoman authorities was to achieve genocide or merely relocate Armenians is the point of dispute in the Armenian Question.
In the 20th Century, the Kurds were part of paramilitary battalions that helped “relocate” or possibly “eliminate” Armenians, based on who you ask, have today become enemies of the Turkish state. Today, the largely Kurdish-populated eastern regions have revolutionary activities in these areas with little economic activity. The new “other” has been further specified to all “non- Turks,” rather than “non-Muslims.” The Kurds have become the new Armenians or “others in Turkish society, wanting their own homeland. Although most Eastern Anatolian Armenians didn’t want a homeland, they were branded as the “other” as well. This quality of separating a multi-pluralistic society based cultural, ethnic or religious qualities, serves the prime purpose of justifying violence against certain portions of the population of a nation.
According to the Dalai Lama in a conference at the Mind Life Institute, October 7, 2009, the concept “we” and “they” are not real, because reality is that humans are economically, socially and environmentally interconnected. So why do nations such as Armenia and Turkey continue to have closed borders and little dialogue? It is partially because of a sense of distrust and dislike for the “other,” as well as varying definitions of how history should be re-told. Turkey’s pre-conditions are that it will open its borders if Armenia forgoes admitting there was Genocide, and that Armenia return the UN mandated region of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. From 1988 to 1994, there was inter ethnic fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which resulted in a destabilization of the peace and security of the region. While Armenia will not open its borders until Turkey admits the Genocide occurred. Because of these ideological differences, the two nations remain geopolitical interconnected, yet politically and economically distant.
The Dalai Lama also stated that the “20th Century was the century of bloodshed, while the 21st Century can be the century of compassion and peace from our effort. In order to solve problems, this must be the century of Dialogue.” (Lama, October 8, 2009) Those involved in long standing intercultural violence must realize that people can have different opinions and still live peacefully together, by coexisting harmoniously and securing the well-being of all human beings. As soon as xenophobic categorization and judgments are passed on the “other,” as being inherently wrong in their view, than violent attitude and actions become rationalized and enacted. Peace between Armenia and Turkey, is rooted in listening compassionately to all opinions on the topic, and respecting the views. But if hate or anger is to dominate the awareness of people, than, the views can’t be separated from the person.
In these dialogues rooted in Compassionate values, participants must embody Roger Fisher’s principle of separating the problem from the person. If someone says something severely offensive to you, it is difficult to be able to divorce their words from their being. Fisher states that much conflict arises from this inability to separate a person from the problem. In the Armenian Turkish debate over whether the Genocide happened or not or if the shared border should be opened, these are deeply contentious issues for both sides, rife with intense emotions of hate, anger and distrust. They start at the level of individuals who make up each nation. But no peace or security can be achieved when the underlying perception of the “other” is rooted in hate for their being. How can any constructive dialogue occur? Disagreements must be viewed as a conflict in opinions, rather than a conflict between human beings. Since all humans have the same basic feelings and needs, according to the Michael Rosenberg, the founder of Non-Violent Communication (NVC). The happiness and suffering of a Turk is directly interconnected to that of an Armenian. Peace and security is rooted in seeing how the mental construction and categorization of the “other” as different, as merely a false perception.
Applying a Compassionate perspective to Armenian-Turkish Relations, involves seeing the problem as the problem, and the people as mere results of their cultural context. Nationalism and historical relations becomes the major force of division in the present. Destructive emotions that persist such as hate or anger, between Turks and Armenians, will only prolong the conflict and distrust already present. Peace and security cannot be achieved between Armenia and Turkey without open dialogue, trust, non-judgmental listening and understanding about the past. This dialogue must be rooted in cultivating the compassionate perspective on the pretext that the “other” is part of the “I.” Peace must be reconciled at the level of individuals before it can occur internationally.
Many Armenians have hated Turks, for the events of 1915 that they called the “Armenian Genocide.” Many Turks have hated Armenians, for having partaken in “revolutionary activities with the Russians” during WWI. One’s perspective on the intercultural violence and the forced migration of Armenians into the Syrian deserts, is based on how they self-identify themselves. If you’re a Turk, the Armenians may have been conceptualized as an enemy in the context of the revolutions in the Balkan nations, and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. But if you’re an Armenian, the Turks may be conceptualized as inhumane people who violently forced Armenians to migrate from their historical homeland in the 20th century.
Truth is always relative based on who you ask. Whether the Armenian Genocide occurred or not, is a contentious topic, hindering the development of Armenian Turkish relations. According to the Dalai Lama, a Peace activist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989the basic element that unites humanity, is a genuine search for happiness. Turks and Armenians want happiness, but their definitions of it may differ. He encourages people to regard each other as interconnected beings. Most humans on earth do not want to rape their sister or mother or kill their brother or start a revolution, they would prefer to live harmoniously with others. Yet violence between humans in the 21st century, seems be a perpetual state of affairs in the age of Terrorism and Anti-terrorism. During the 20st century, the Armenians were to a certain degree categorized by a terrorist or potentially threatening minority in the Ottoman Empire. This “other” categorization, is a rationalization for why safety for the Ottoman nation-state had to be actively engaged.
Nationalism and a sense of homeland can be a great source intercultural conflict as well. The peace and security of modern Turkey, is rooted in its historical treatment of the Armenians during the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th Century. In the 21st century, the Kurds are greatly discriminated against in Turkey, which is only a continuation of the trend of a heightened sense of nationalism. In the 20th century, the “other,” was defined as all non- Muslims. By creating this policy of discrimination and mental categorization, Armenians became known as “Gavour.” This justified the deportation of Armenians out of their ancestral homeland. Whether the motivation of the Ottoman authorities was to achieve genocide or merely relocate Armenians is the point of dispute in the Armenian Question.
In the 20th Century, the Kurds were part of paramilitary battalions that helped “relocate” or possibly “eliminate” Armenians, based on who you ask, have today become enemies of the Turkish state. Today, the largely Kurdish-populated eastern regions have revolutionary activities in these areas with little economic activity. The new “other” has been further specified to all “non- Turks,” rather than “non-Muslims.” The Kurds have become the new Armenians or “others in Turkish society, wanting their own homeland. Although most Eastern Anatolian Armenians didn’t want a homeland, they were branded as the “other” as well. This quality of separating a multi-pluralistic society based cultural, ethnic or religious qualities, serves the prime purpose of justifying violence against certain portions of the population of a nation.
According to the Dalai Lama in a conference at the Mind Life Institute, October 7, 2009, the concept “we” and “they” are not real, because reality is that humans are economically, socially and environmentally interconnected. So why do nations such as Armenia and Turkey continue to have closed borders and little dialogue? It is partially because of a sense of distrust and dislike for the “other,” as well as varying definitions of how history should be re-told. Turkey’s pre-conditions are that it will open its borders if Armenia forgoes admitting there was Genocide, and that Armenia return the UN mandated region of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. From 1988 to 1994, there was inter ethnic fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which resulted in a destabilization of the peace and security of the region. While Armenia will not open its borders until Turkey admits the Genocide occurred. Because of these ideological differences, the two nations remain geopolitical interconnected, yet politically and economically distant.
The Dalai Lama also stated that the “20th Century was the century of bloodshed, while the 21st Century can be the century of compassion and peace from our effort. In order to solve problems, this must be the century of Dialogue.” (Lama, October 8, 2009) Those involved in long standing intercultural violence must realize that people can have different opinions and still live peacefully together, by coexisting harmoniously and securing the well-being of all human beings. As soon as xenophobic categorization and judgments are passed on the “other,” as being inherently wrong in their view, than violent attitude and actions become rationalized and enacted. Peace between Armenia and Turkey, is rooted in listening compassionately to all opinions on the topic, and respecting the views. But if hate or anger is to dominate the awareness of people, than, the views can’t be separated from the person.
In these dialogues rooted in Compassionate values, participants must embody Roger Fisher’s principle of separating the problem from the person. If someone says something severely offensive to you, it is difficult to be able to divorce their words from their being. Fisher states that much conflict arises from this inability to separate a person from the problem. In the Armenian Turkish debate over whether the Genocide happened or not or if the shared border should be opened, these are deeply contentious issues for both sides, rife with intense emotions of hate, anger and distrust. They start at the level of individuals who make up each nation. But no peace or security can be achieved when the underlying perception of the “other” is rooted in hate for their being. How can any constructive dialogue occur? Disagreements must be viewed as a conflict in opinions, rather than a conflict between human beings. Since all humans have the same basic feelings and needs, according to the Michael Rosenberg, the founder of Non-Violent Communication (NVC). The happiness and suffering of a Turk is directly interconnected to that of an Armenian. Peace and security is rooted in seeing how the mental construction and categorization of the “other” as different, as merely a false perception.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Recap of European adventures!
So there is this chance that my trip romance is coming
running to an end as my fingers are grabbing at the pen
to try an remember all the memories passing in and out
of mind shouting, Ill take you through the trip
that last 2 and `half months, mostly in frence, a bit in Italy!
Okay, so I came with brain intention to wanna
learn about The Center for Mindfulness Jon Kabat Zinn
underpinnings, what really makes the program what it is,
and studying mindfulness with Thich Nhat Han plum village was a must.
So did thus, enjoyed it, as well as helped with hyper kids
runining around, who actually ran me to the damn ground!
Before that I chilled with dad in Nice, and we went to
birth place of Parmasian cheeze and than to wedding in
Venice, discovered extended family all over the place,
like Switzerland, than took went to wrong airport in Venice.
After Plum Village, went to dharma yatra, a walking meditation
in southern France, in farms and forests. With a really cool
teacher named Christopher Titmus More info...http://dharmayatra.org/
than chilled at Moulin de Chaves, and there was this cool teacher
named Martin Alyward and much more info here. http://moulindechaves.org/
than I luckily got a ride to a youth retreat at Plum Village,
more information about this cooll event at wkup.org!
than ended up back in Paris, o yea we recorded wonderful music!
that will somehow be compiled and get to all of our fans!
just kidding! it was strange to have four meditation retreats open up back to back
when i came to Europe with the intention of just doing one__...?
near the end of trip, I ended up in Paris, went to Mosque during Ramadan, chilled with family on dad and moms side, enjoyed hearing stories of past times
of family in Turkey, before they left. Like one family member, named levon who
got away from the Turks on horse back for weeks, and much of his fmaily was killed.
like his sister who could have been saved by a Turk, right when much of levons family was climbing a moutain to be burned or slaughtered, but his sister didnt go with the turk to surely have become his wife, she choose to die with her family!
Ask yourself what is my familyäs history? what is their story, how did I end up here in this body? and what traits or habits do I see in myself that I see in family members or hear about and say hey that sounds like me a bit?
another story i heard was of how a great aunt of mine, saved my whole family, my moms mom, because of a Turk who loved my aunt very much. But they never got married. I might not be alive today it wasnt for this kind Turk. To just say I hate
all Turks for the genocide is too dualistic of a way of thinking about the world.
the reality is that I both hate and love turks equally, and feel completely neutral
as well... Because Im armenian, but ive grown up cultural more american. well not
more american, but my identity, of who i am changes, based on whom ever i am around.
when near Haitians in a bateye, Im just view as a another rich american. when in suburbs of pelham, another suburban white boy, but when at armenian church, my armenian identity comes to the forefront of my awareness.
Ive realized how i am truly indebted to learn more about Islam and Turkey, because of my familys histroy. This is my homeland, that now only exists in memories, stories and my imagination really. The fear and anger that often consume in the whimes of deep confusion when i think about bones or al lthe thousands of armenian children living in Kurdish, bedoine or Turkish villages, I get enraged or overcome with feeling. Clarity gone I just feel helpless and paralyzed. So I just retunr to theamericna identiy and play on the computer or eat a lot of brie cheeze or ice cream to try an repress the memories. Youd be amazed at how many intense emotions, or feelings and thoughts arise, that youve never noticed before arise in you, when you just still and look inside, and not eat or consume away your worries.
Not easy, but a powerful practice, what do you consume to forget or supress feelings or thoughts that are trying to climb out of subconcioussness into your conciousness?'
thats the most of it, been writing a lot of poems, in sweeden now waiting for my flight, 8 hours to go.. than 7 hour trip and im in new york and i can hug moms and lady friend and smile a bit. Its nice to not follow the regular post college life, and try an explore a bit in myself and in the world. and see what i love. This college, cant teach you, you need to take time alone to explore, all the option and see what calls back at you as you call to different things in the wind. It takes a lot of practice to find the gold in a moutain. Enjoy your trip with a smile, otherwise life is just too short and too pointless to live!
peace to you!
running to an end as my fingers are grabbing at the pen
to try an remember all the memories passing in and out
of mind shouting, Ill take you through the trip
that last 2 and `half months, mostly in frence, a bit in Italy!
Okay, so I came with brain intention to wanna
learn about The Center for Mindfulness Jon Kabat Zinn
underpinnings, what really makes the program what it is,
and studying mindfulness with Thich Nhat Han plum village was a must.
So did thus, enjoyed it, as well as helped with hyper kids
runining around, who actually ran me to the damn ground!
Before that I chilled with dad in Nice, and we went to
birth place of Parmasian cheeze and than to wedding in
Venice, discovered extended family all over the place,
like Switzerland, than took went to wrong airport in Venice.
After Plum Village, went to dharma yatra, a walking meditation
in southern France, in farms and forests. With a really cool
teacher named Christopher Titmus More info...http://dharmayatra.org/
than chilled at Moulin de Chaves, and there was this cool teacher
named Martin Alyward and much more info here. http://moulindechaves.org/
than I luckily got a ride to a youth retreat at Plum Village,
more information about this cooll event at wkup.org!
than ended up back in Paris, o yea we recorded wonderful music!
that will somehow be compiled and get to all of our fans!
just kidding! it was strange to have four meditation retreats open up back to back
when i came to Europe with the intention of just doing one__...?
near the end of trip, I ended up in Paris, went to Mosque during Ramadan, chilled with family on dad and moms side, enjoyed hearing stories of past times
of family in Turkey, before they left. Like one family member, named levon who
got away from the Turks on horse back for weeks, and much of his fmaily was killed.
like his sister who could have been saved by a Turk, right when much of levons family was climbing a moutain to be burned or slaughtered, but his sister didnt go with the turk to surely have become his wife, she choose to die with her family!
Ask yourself what is my familyäs history? what is their story, how did I end up here in this body? and what traits or habits do I see in myself that I see in family members or hear about and say hey that sounds like me a bit?
another story i heard was of how a great aunt of mine, saved my whole family, my moms mom, because of a Turk who loved my aunt very much. But they never got married. I might not be alive today it wasnt for this kind Turk. To just say I hate
all Turks for the genocide is too dualistic of a way of thinking about the world.
the reality is that I both hate and love turks equally, and feel completely neutral
as well... Because Im armenian, but ive grown up cultural more american. well not
more american, but my identity, of who i am changes, based on whom ever i am around.
when near Haitians in a bateye, Im just view as a another rich american. when in suburbs of pelham, another suburban white boy, but when at armenian church, my armenian identity comes to the forefront of my awareness.
Ive realized how i am truly indebted to learn more about Islam and Turkey, because of my familys histroy. This is my homeland, that now only exists in memories, stories and my imagination really. The fear and anger that often consume in the whimes of deep confusion when i think about bones or al lthe thousands of armenian children living in Kurdish, bedoine or Turkish villages, I get enraged or overcome with feeling. Clarity gone I just feel helpless and paralyzed. So I just retunr to theamericna identiy and play on the computer or eat a lot of brie cheeze or ice cream to try an repress the memories. Youd be amazed at how many intense emotions, or feelings and thoughts arise, that youve never noticed before arise in you, when you just still and look inside, and not eat or consume away your worries.
Not easy, but a powerful practice, what do you consume to forget or supress feelings or thoughts that are trying to climb out of subconcioussness into your conciousness?'
thats the most of it, been writing a lot of poems, in sweeden now waiting for my flight, 8 hours to go.. than 7 hour trip and im in new york and i can hug moms and lady friend and smile a bit. Its nice to not follow the regular post college life, and try an explore a bit in myself and in the world. and see what i love. This college, cant teach you, you need to take time alone to explore, all the option and see what calls back at you as you call to different things in the wind. It takes a lot of practice to find the gold in a moutain. Enjoy your trip with a smile, otherwise life is just too short and too pointless to live!
peace to you!
Monday, September 7, 2009
THE PILLS THEY SELL US!
poems to music
http://www.4shared.com/account/dir/19713479/da006585/sharing.html?sId=X38gj2pWB2g1QiWV
article on activism and meditation in tikkun magazine, about creating a more caring society
http://www.tikkun.org/article.php?story=sept_oct_09_Kassabian
freestyle rap with a concious!
so I had no clue if It would be great or terrible, but, I created a chorus before I go on and than sat in silenced, than the intention of pills arose in me, I sat with this intention in silence. mINDFULNESS ENHANCES CREATIVITY AND ONES ABILITY TO GO WITHIN, TO LISTEN TO THEIR HEART VERY DEEPLY! When I got up I took a two breathes and than started.... (something similar to this rewrite after words came out, I did write more details though)
the pills we eat
in out in out in out I shout,
none can hear it, fear it,
Opium, Inhalants, AMphetamines,
barbituarates, pychedlics
imbibing kids, bugs and beings
need to keep their heart beating
abnormally fast, ecstasies on lips
passed with pcps blood mixed to hips
life but a mushroom colored dream.
cannabis smoke hazes inner clarity,
college room of this self-abuse misuse
of substance, burns out fuses in us,
my body is yours, it returns to earth
post use, we abuse nature at the source,
truth is? you is I, why try an die, slowly
to feel adrenaline veins rush in eye
pulsing with cocaine cries blood streaming
I ask my generation? contemplations
deepened in meditations of lines
of white dust, inhaled, fueling
a nation of drug heads,
souls sale on sale to dealers
loosing feeling in neural feelers
numbing sensations, burning in temptation
(chorus)
expats in Paris chorus,
haressed combat for us,
flasks bask in ass forest
(whisper) The pills, the pills
save us and kills us;
cows, wow kung pow this high eyebrow
as we load up cow tit with chemicals
so it balloons like a baboon's fickle
red butt, and blood streams with testosterone
in drone robotic levels, so white cow
eyes get blackened to reddish brown,
pill hangover frowns, chugging down milk
a pound in blood belly, caging up
animals, human cannibals could care
less if the cow is hairless, hasn't seen
a day of sun in nightmares creaming
its tit, american cheese wheezing a bit,
before it becomes a burger with chips
stealing baby for veal, before mama burps it
so tit spits out 10 times more than real,
industrial cow tit spits chemicals sequel
into Puerto Rican girls 12 year old meal
with tits the size of 20 year old feels
2% cow tit beer milk meat we eat filled with
chemicals we'd never eat directly,
but we still eat cow meat produced abusively,
because we believe it can't affect me!
expats in Paris dust us,
haressed combat for us,
flasks bask in ass forest
(whisper) The pills, the pills
save us and kills us;
ritalin is killing my friends, slowly,
500,000 more have joined the gang learning
with a soft hand self esteems dropping,
cause they need pills for grade rising,
and learning to sit in class stiller,
silent killer makes mind body number,
like coke for kids, quiets brain neural
body function, concentrating mind faster
but are SATs the reality all kids must be?
why is energy a problem in lil kids we see?
will we sell our kids to this, to be free?
or are we locking them in cages, insecure to do
homework without aderall pill for pages,
Concerta cups concern me cuz, they affect
kids neural codes still forming till 21,
Methylphenidate, blood stream, all answers
in chemicals, that TV doctor sells me
just put it in the womb, in the blood, the ground,
the meat, and the kid cow will grow better,
stronger, faster, smarter, SAT grades go higher,
no child left behind act in american ghettos
As ADD rates grow, companies banks accounts grow
expats in Paris dust us,
haressed combat for us,
flasks bask in ass forest
(whisper) The pills, the pills
save us and kills us;
(whisper) The pills, the pills
save us and kills us
birth control, may erase your soul
ladies I aint advising you nada,
but you should analyze drinking water,
cause in Belgium the infertility rates
for ladies is great, cause they piss
out the pill into sewers which are
than processed and return to our sinks pure?
in Saint Louis the drinking water fluids
is filled with anti-depressant fluids,
I'm not telling you to not take your pills,
I just wanna ask you how long do you wanna
be infertile, a lifetime or few months,
be careful what drinking water enters mouths,
as mother earth womb gets filled with
pesticides and chemical nitrogens, a sin
to abuse her womb for wanting quadruplet
tomatoes, chemical Eiffel tower corn grains,
so we control nature for our pleasure fix,
using science to be better measure eggplants,
mommas womb pills, periods rain in earths womb,
expats in Paris dust us,
haressed combat for us,
flasks bask in ass forest
(whisper) The pills, the pills
save us and kills us;
http://www.4shared.com/account/dir/19713479/da006585/sharing.html?sId=X38gj2pWB2g1QiWV
article on activism and meditation in tikkun magazine, about creating a more caring society
http://www.tikkun.org/article.php?story=sept_oct_09_Kassabian
freestyle rap with a concious!
so I had no clue if It would be great or terrible, but, I created a chorus before I go on and than sat in silenced, than the intention of pills arose in me, I sat with this intention in silence. mINDFULNESS ENHANCES CREATIVITY AND ONES ABILITY TO GO WITHIN, TO LISTEN TO THEIR HEART VERY DEEPLY! When I got up I took a two breathes and than started.... (something similar to this rewrite after words came out, I did write more details though)
the pills we eat
in out in out in out I shout,
none can hear it, fear it,
Opium, Inhalants, AMphetamines,
barbituarates, pychedlics
imbibing kids, bugs and beings
need to keep their heart beating
abnormally fast, ecstasies on lips
passed with pcps blood mixed to hips
life but a mushroom colored dream.
cannabis smoke hazes inner clarity,
college room of this self-abuse misuse
of substance, burns out fuses in us,
my body is yours, it returns to earth
post use, we abuse nature at the source,
truth is? you is I, why try an die, slowly
to feel adrenaline veins rush in eye
pulsing with cocaine cries blood streaming
I ask my generation? contemplations
deepened in meditations of lines
of white dust, inhaled, fueling
a nation of drug heads,
souls sale on sale to dealers
loosing feeling in neural feelers
numbing sensations, burning in temptation
(chorus)
expats in Paris chorus,
haressed combat for us,
flasks bask in ass forest
(whisper) The pills, the pills
save us and kills us;
cows, wow kung pow this high eyebrow
as we load up cow tit with chemicals
so it balloons like a baboon's fickle
red butt, and blood streams with testosterone
in drone robotic levels, so white cow
eyes get blackened to reddish brown,
pill hangover frowns, chugging down milk
a pound in blood belly, caging up
animals, human cannibals could care
less if the cow is hairless, hasn't seen
a day of sun in nightmares creaming
its tit, american cheese wheezing a bit,
before it becomes a burger with chips
stealing baby for veal, before mama burps it
so tit spits out 10 times more than real,
industrial cow tit spits chemicals sequel
into Puerto Rican girls 12 year old meal
with tits the size of 20 year old feels
2% cow tit beer milk meat we eat filled with
chemicals we'd never eat directly,
but we still eat cow meat produced abusively,
because we believe it can't affect me!
expats in Paris dust us,
haressed combat for us,
flasks bask in ass forest
(whisper) The pills, the pills
save us and kills us;
ritalin is killing my friends, slowly,
500,000 more have joined the gang learning
with a soft hand self esteems dropping,
cause they need pills for grade rising,
and learning to sit in class stiller,
silent killer makes mind body number,
like coke for kids, quiets brain neural
body function, concentrating mind faster
but are SATs the reality all kids must be?
why is energy a problem in lil kids we see?
will we sell our kids to this, to be free?
or are we locking them in cages, insecure to do
homework without aderall pill for pages,
Concerta cups concern me cuz, they affect
kids neural codes still forming till 21,
Methylphenidate, blood stream, all answers
in chemicals, that TV doctor sells me
just put it in the womb, in the blood, the ground,
the meat, and the kid cow will grow better,
stronger, faster, smarter, SAT grades go higher,
no child left behind act in american ghettos
As ADD rates grow, companies banks accounts grow
expats in Paris dust us,
haressed combat for us,
flasks bask in ass forest
(whisper) The pills, the pills
save us and kills us;
(whisper) The pills, the pills
save us and kills us
birth control, may erase your soul
ladies I aint advising you nada,
but you should analyze drinking water,
cause in Belgium the infertility rates
for ladies is great, cause they piss
out the pill into sewers which are
than processed and return to our sinks pure?
in Saint Louis the drinking water fluids
is filled with anti-depressant fluids,
I'm not telling you to not take your pills,
I just wanna ask you how long do you wanna
be infertile, a lifetime or few months,
be careful what drinking water enters mouths,
as mother earth womb gets filled with
pesticides and chemical nitrogens, a sin
to abuse her womb for wanting quadruplet
tomatoes, chemical Eiffel tower corn grains,
so we control nature for our pleasure fix,
using science to be better measure eggplants,
mommas womb pills, periods rain in earths womb,
expats in Paris dust us,
haressed combat for us,
flasks bask in ass forest
(whisper) The pills, the pills
save us and kills us;
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
