#heinrich harrer

[thedepartmentofdiscoveries]

David Bowie employed his artistic endeavours as a means to delve into the depths of his profound interests, among which was his enduring fascination with Buddhism and broader Eastern philosophy. His exploration of these themes became a distinctive thread woven into the rich tapestry of his creative expression.

Bowie was introduced to the power of Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies by his older half-brother, Terry Burns, who had a tremendous impact on how his life and career would turn out. Burns also opened Bowie’s mind up to total creativity with the works of Beat Generation writers such as William S. Burroughs, modern jazz, and even the occult. Many of what would become his artistic hallmarks can be traced back to these formative influences.

In the early years, when Bowie was still trying to find his feet as an artist, his fascination with Buddhism made its way into his work. The first song to contain his interest in religion is ‘Silly Boy Blue’ from 1967’s self-titled debut album. Years later, Bowie would claim that he wrote the song ‘Karma Man’ about the ongoing strife between Tibet, the home of the Dalai Lama, the leader of ‘Yellow Hat’ Tibetan Buddhism, and China, who annexed it in 1951.

Bowie developed his interest in Tibetan Buddhism in 1965. In addition to what his brother showed him, this materialised after reading Nazi SS Sergeant Heinrich Harrer’s 1952 memoir Seven Years in Tibet. It retold his experiences in the country between 1944 and the Chinese annexation.

Speaking to Melody Maker in 1966, Bowie outlined his love for Tibet, stating: “I want to go to Tibet. It’s a fascinating place, y’know. I’d like to take a holiday and have a look inside the monasteries. The Tibetan monks, Lamas, bury themselves inside mountains for weeks and only eat every three days. They’re ridiculous – and it’s said they live for centuries.”

Although Eastern philosophy and Buddhism greatly influenced the counterculture of the 1960s, Bowie was serious in his dedication to the faith, and it would remain for decades after the zeitgeist changed. In 1966, he visited the North London Buddhist Centre, Tibet House, and spoke to one of its teachers, Chime Yong Dong Rinpoche, with whom he would become lifelong friends.

Introducing ‘Silly Boy Blue’ at the Tibet House Benefit in 2001, Bowie explained: “I stumbled into the Buddhist Society in London when I was about seventeen. Sitting in front of me at the desk was a Tibetan lama, and he looked up and he said, ‘Are you looking for me?’ He had a bad grasp of English and, in fact, was saying, ‘Who are you looking for?’ But I needed him to say, ‘You’re looking for me.’ It’s absolutely true!”

Bowie recalled: “So he became my friend and teacher for quite some time. His name is Chime Yong Dong Rinpoche and he now is head of [he was Curator of Ancient Tibetan Manuscripts] at the British Museum in London. This was ’65, ’66. That’s when I met him. Around that time, I wrote this next song… ‘Silly Boy Blue’.”

Bowie also introduced Rinpoche to his friend Tony Visconti, who also became his student. Looking back on their significant first meeting, Lama Chime Tulku Rinpoche told The Telegraph in 2016: “I said, ‘Come in, young man. Why did you come to see me?’ He said, ‘I want to become a monk.’ I asked him, ‘What is your talent?’ And he said music. I said, so then don’t become monk; you do the music. And from that day, that is what he did."

[anamon-book]

新版 白いクモ－アイガー北壁 海外山岳名著シリーズ ハインリヒ・ハラー、横川文雄・訳 二見書房 装幀＝栃折久美子

[estefanyailen]

Entonces esta es otra gran diferencia entre nuestra civilización y la suya. Porque ustedes admiran al hombre que se impulsa hacía la sima, en cualquier modo de vida; mientras nosotros admiramos al hombre que abandona su ego. El tibetano promedio ni siquiera pensaría en llamar la atención.

- Siete años en el Tíbet.

[fenris64]

I have 30 feet of just travel literature at home.

Drawn in Adobe Fresco on iPad from an iPhone photo. The only book I regret buying is Aku-Aku by Thor Heyerdahl because he was such an asshole. He wanted artefacts from Easter Island indigenous peoples who were reluctant to give them to him, so he lied and cheated and fooled them into doing so. Those artefacts are in Oslo now instead of still on the Island. SUCH a complete asshole.

[mycinematheque]

[thana-topsy]

Nine People You'd Like to Know Better

Tagged by @ladytanithia, @kookaburra1701, and @mareenavee - thank you my dears! 3 Ships 1. Neloth/Teldryn - My flagship, naturally. The one I never expected but consumed me whole. 2. Enthir/Urag - Also a ship that sort of grabbed me by the throat seemingly out of nowhere, even though they'd been cooking on the back-burner for a while 3. Aiden/Harukar - When their chemistry finally clicked into place in my brain, I've been left with an appropriate amount of brainrot. All of my ships have a theme of Uppity/Stable lol

First Ship Oh we're taking it way back... Hmm, I think if I counted the first time I knew of the word ship within the context its currently being used, it would probably be Harry/Draco. Close runner up would be Hiei/Kurama, though I shipped Hiei with my own OC first. Both of these phases were taking place around 2003-2004.

Last Song *checks Spotify* Well this is a bit embarrassing.... "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down

Currently Reading "Goldstein" by Laazov "Seven Years in Tibet" by Heinrich Harrer "Nonviolent Communication" by Marshall B. Rosenberg I can never just read one thing at a time.

Last Film The Green Knight

Currently Craving Craving? Not really craving anything. I'm pretty content right now. I'd like to feel a little more inspired to write with more consistency. But that just comes down to discipline lol.

I tag @amanitajack @thetinyshiloh @exhausted-eternally @anxious--ace @weirdisme @septicrodent @nejackdaw @yansurnummu and @getheeheed

[thiswindyplace]

@mezzoviaggio

The absolute simplicity. That’s what I love.

- Heinrich Harrer

[equatorjournal]

The Tibetan with the Chinese cap rows one of the round boats, like those used in Tibet thirty years ago. From"Goodbye to Tibet" by Heinrich Harrer. https://www.instagram.com/p/CmuOm_htQ_4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[manmetaphysical]

'All the Lives We Never Lived' by Anuradha Roy: Book Review

This is quite a readable novel but that does not equate to a really satisfactory one. The writing is beautiful, if a bit too intricate and flowery where the tone and style does not change much despite the shifts in viewpoint either of character or in time. It is littered with comma splice sentences which lend a certain rhythm to the phrasing. But that can be overused.

What becomes troubling is that it suffers from poor realisation of character and confused sequencing. Much of the main action between Gayatri and her husband is told through the eyes of her son Myshkin who does not really understand what is happening. These are sidelong glances by the son, or recollections by his older self. By nature they are partial. So if this is a device- the unreliable narrator- it allows for teasing glimpses, but never the full picture.

This indirectness accumulates and the effect is we don’t reall get to sympathise with Gayatri’s situation. It’s not enough to say she is a new type of woman in Indian literature as other reviewers have said, that Gayatri breaks the mould in some way. We still need to know what motivates her, and for two thirds of it, we have no idea.

It’s not until the end when the son Myshkin reads his mother’s letters do we get Gayatri’s reasoning laid bare. The tone becomes thankfully more direct. But her insights from Bali delivered in numerous letters all seems rationalised in hindsight. We rarely get the feelings unfiltered in present tense. It’s hard to feel exactly what made her take off so impulsively.

Incidentally, if you are wondering what are my credentials for writing book reviews like this of a major novel? I used to write for the 'Village Voice' and 'Publisher’s Weekly'. So, I would not wish to spoil your enjoyment. I confess I was well prepared to like it and enjoy it, but I have to say I struggled with it on several levels.

In this review I’m going to layer in some astrological analysis too which would never have been allowed in a trade publication like PW. So it can be read on two levels.

The character Gayatri seems naïve, possibly even bipolar, she throws tantrums, and is unable to clearly perceive the impact that leaving her son and husband would have. This might be a different take than intended. She had even promised to take Myshkin with her to Bali. Yet she leaves him behind because he was held up at school? She did not go back for him. There are several other things quite odd about Gayatri.

But at least Roy allows us to see how there is a lot of ‘othering’ of other nationalities, and this goes on all the time. She shows that many Indians have a casual sort of inverse racism, where characters think all ‘white’ people are British who are posed as the 'oppressors' even when they are German in the case of Spies and Dutch in the case of Beryl de Coete. Even the Balinese are strange and opaque to Gayatri. The sea is not ‘boiling’ there, it’s just the normal temperature. And, even when Myshkin thinks someone is the prison camp is German, he says causally this man would enjoy killing, as if all Germans are psychotic sadists. This is meant to be the real life Heinrich Harrer, the mountaineer and author of ‘Seven Years in Tibet’ but he was Austrian, not German.

I can accept that Gayatri is the independent type and not suited for motherhood or being the ideal wife, and that she wants to be an artist. But it is hard to understand why she seems so blind to the fact that Walter Spies homosexual. The implications of his sexuality and its effect on repelling her husband is not explored. Yet, surely they might have suspected his tastes, even though the terminology for it was different in the 1930s?

That Spies was in India and made a point of coming to get her is where fact and fiction are woven together- and all that can make for a good novel. But it can also not ring true. The real life Spies did not go to India in this way, but he had a taste for boys, especially Balinese, but his real ‘crime’ if any, was he was German in WWII. He did not change his passport. He just happened to be on the wrong side of the fence as the world divided up its loyalties.

She does acknowledge his sexuality but in such a matter of fact way that it does not do justice to the interactions that must have occurred. India sent troops to Asia to help defend the allied forces, but Indonesia was under Dutch control until 1942 when the Japanese took over.

Spies was arrested and imprisoned, but Gayatri was not thanks to her nationality. In the story, she was allowed to live on in Spies’ house at Champuhan near Ubud. The charges against Spies may have been trumped up to create more of a vilification of him. He actually contributed a great deal to Bali as he was the curator of the first art Museum and he cultivated a love and appreciation of dance, music, art with the local painters and artisans. But that was the politics of the time.

The earlier part of the novel tells of Walter Spies’ arrival in India where he befriends the grown up Gayatri but he brings another ‘friend’ in tow. This was Beryl de Coete who was effectively his confidente. She married a man but they both arranged for it to be sexless until the man ran off with another woman and Beryl moved on. So while it is never stated, a lot can be inferred. And the writing glosses over these issues, even being coy at times via through Gaytri’s eyes. These are writer’s choices - often difficult to make.

Perhaps there are women who have no gaydar but her name is shortened to ‘Gay’ in her letters. So is that by choice or just accidental? Love between women is never broached but there’s a hint that Beryl might be fond of that in her admiration of the female body. Gayatri is okay with that. This could have been another reason why Gayatri leaves her marriage and her son, not just so she feels restricted and her vocation is to paint which her husband allowed her to do anyway.

But all this is avoided as if it is too 'real' to mention. So there could be another novel that grounds a clearer perception of shifting sexualities where Gayatri has a relationship with Beryl even if that is a romantic freindship? But that’s not the direction Roy takes. She has something else up her sleeve which is the adultery with Brijen Gayatri's neighbour. This is all kept hidden from her son and husband -and the reader- for a long time. So for some readers this can be frustrating and even feels misleading. Gayatri becomes instant friends with people she barely knows and we are expected to believe she abandons her whole life for them.

And the son, Myshkin the narrator of all this in arch, elegant prose is hard to fathom too. Who exactly is he? He is an unreliable narrator for sure as he seems to be always outside the main action that goes on. Consequently, he understands little, indulges in what appear to be controlled imagination sessions, similar to an OBE, where he imagines himself in Bali brought to life by vivid sensory detail, yet he is also capable of holding a nasty grudge.

He is more like his father who follows rigid political beliefs than his mother. If that is true, the whole underpinning of the story is unreliable, seen through shifting lenses. He never seems to come to any real insight about himself unless that is to be a mirror to his mother and become a painter himself? This is shown when he sees a photography of his mother. What does he believe in besides saving a few trees as a horticulturalist. He shows more feeling about the trees than he does about his mother. Why as a boy does he hate everyone around him, yet never blame himself for being late to meet his mother as promised? Why did he not think about it that way? Why does he never have any relationships himself? So, he is less well developed than Gayatri remaining unknowable.

Now for a bit of astrological speculation and it is only theorising until the facts are established. Anurahda Roy was born in 1967. No other birth data seems available for her, (unless someone can supply it?). Roy pushes these characters into shape in order to convey her point that women are suppressed in Indian society and that they should break free from their marriages which tie them down. The theme is that traditions are oppressive and cause a lot of needless suffering and limitation of people’s lives and this much is true in any society, hence universal.

But freedom is not absolute and still requires discipline, courage and responsibility to fully enjoy, surely? It’s not freedom at any cost. She this makes me suspect that Roy might be an Aquarian, perhaps ruled by Uranus who wishes for freedom at all costs? It is more complex, but the theme of the novel is one of breakfing free, so it could also be Sagittarius, the adventurer taking off to foreign climes. The birthdate of Gayatri is revealed in the letters to be the 13th September, year uknown. That would make her a Virgo. Virgos are not known to be flighty but to become an obsessive painter not much interested in sex except to learn its technical skills, yes, that makes more sense- at least to me.

Interesting also that this birthdate of Gayatri’s aligns to Walter Spies’ birth date which is who was 15th September. So they were both Virgos, just two days apart, just not in the same year. That they would have similar traits goes without saying as the solar traits of a sun sign are all pervasive, but I’m not sure that Roy had that this strand of thinking in mind when she wrote the novel. But it does make me think that Anhurada Roy could also be a Virgo?

The other famous ‘Bolter’ in literature is Fanny’s mother in ‘The Pursuit of Love’ by Nancy Mitford who was a Sagittarius. ‘The Bolter’ is not given any other name but takes off with a new lover and engages in serial monogamy in a series of affairs regardless of what her daughter thinks of her. But it was the real life Idina Sackville who could have been the model for Mitford’s ‘the bolter’ as she scandalised people in England by running off Kenya. She was a Piscean with Venus in Aquarius.

Back to the structure of the novel. It jumps around from viewpoint to viewpoint. Nothing wrong with that, but it does it in a way not strengthen its core message. The title also strikes me as odd ‘All the Lives We Never Lived.’ Unless, it is a warning to us all to live our lives to the full – follow your bliss as Campbell said- even if it means leaving a marriage, as Gayatri does indeed live out her ideal life. She goes off to Bali, so that is not a life spent unlived as we find it Chekhov’s short stories. She achieves her goal.

The husband also lives his life to the full by going off to be a Buddhist monk and then finding a young wife to marry with his first one gone there is no mention of anything like a divorce? He is a member of the Society for Indian Patriots and is willing to go to prison for his beliefs, just like Ghandi who is heroised. Yet, by implication he is meant to be the ‘bad’ character, way too rigid to understand Gayatri. So, whose life exactly is unlived I wonder? These are some of the thoughts that occur while reading as the psychology is puzzling.

For a much better appreciation of the life of WalterSpies at Iseh and Champuhan, Nigel Barley’s novel ‘Island of Demons’ (2010) delivers the full story much more explicitly without coyness or any veil of middle class beliefs. It may not be obvious but his coterie of friends Vicky Baum, Noel Coward, charlie Chaplin, Margaret Mead, Rudolph Bonnet could be the clues?

The only time where I felt finally it is getting somewhere is the voice of Gayatri in the letters from Bali. Gayatri is able to reflect more honestly. She talks about a lover she had back in India -not her husband- so this is the real transgression. But is it the only one? This is Brijen the lover in the local neighbourhood who she had an affair with. He is given as one of the reasons she felt she had to leave:

“I was still in love with him yet I wanted to be free of him. I did not love him, I have come to understand, I merely loved his addiction to me. I am not made for love, I need to be absolutely free. I am repelled by my indifference.”

She admits she is ‘contradictory’ and there’s a ‘civil war’ going on inside her. She wants to be lovable, a different person, yet she is not. She is sees the self love people have for themselves and is disgusted by it.

This is pure Uranus speaking so now it begins to make more sense- only through astrological understanding of this archetype the power of which intensifies at this moment as it stations retrograde in Taurus. This suggests a strong Uranus in the chart of Gayatri, the Virgo, perhaps where it is placed in Sagittarius? Or she may have a Moon in Aquarius? Or a stellium of planets in the 11th House? This feeling makes sense to those who have ever had a flashlight of alien insight into human affairs.

They most likely have experienced all the twisted ironies of human relationships- how something honorable and sacred can turn quickly into farce. Love as a tragi-comedy is only seen in this very illuminating distant and coldly objective light. Uranus photographed by Voyager II probe is an ice giant but the coldness could also be from the traditional ruler of Aquarius-Saturn. These are both literal and symbolic qualities.

So Roy’s 'All the Lives' is a very interesting read. I certainly was not bored reading it, and I daresay it fits all the specifications of the Overton window and of what Western liberals are meant to think, and Roy is the darling of all Guardian readers and perfect fodder for the BBC.

I hoped for a lot, especially with Walter Spies as a character, but it is full of unsettling questions. Perhaps others will love it, the style is charming, even lyrical in a subuded way, but these issues that I’ve mentioned make it as puzzling as a jigsaw where the pieces are scattered on the table, but don’t ever quite merge together to make the image whole.

© Kieron Devlin, September 1st, 2024, Bali

#novel #bookreview #astrology #AnhuradaRoy #allthelivesweneverlived #bali #walterspies #literature #sexuality #writing #India #independence #uranus

[dominousworld]

L’ultima profezia del Re del Mondo

L’ultima profezia del Re del Mondo

di Giuan Gudjohnsen Nella prima metà del secolo scorso, naturalisti, esploratori, antropologi, gnostici, religiosi e alpinisti guardavano al Tibet con curiosità, fascino e rispetto. Esiste molta letteratura a riguardo: è noto, ad esempio, il libro “Sette anni in Tibet” di Heinrich Harrer (ultima ristampa del 1997, edizioni Mondadori), da cui è stato tratto l’omonimo film. Ma c’è una storia di…

[juliosswisslitblog]

Five Interesting Swiss Nonfiction Books

Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I'd Known

Life in Switzerland. The not-made-for-TV version. In 2006, American Chantal Panozzo moved to a spa town near Zurich ready for a glamorous life as an expatriate. She would eat chocolate. She would climb mountains. And she would order cheese in four languages. Instead, she lived a life more in tune with reality than fantasy. Contrary to popular American belief, Switzerland isn't just a setting in a storybook called Heidi. It's a real place where someone with a master's degree in communications can't make a phone call, where you can be hired in one language and fired in another, and where small talk doesn't exist-but phrases like Aufenthaltskategorien von Drittstaatsangehörigen do. Source

50 Amazing Swiss Women: True Stories You Should Know About

This book celebrates the diverse accomplishments, struggles, and strengths of Swiss women. One-page biographies give readers a glimpse into the lives of fifty Swiss women - both historical and contemporary - who inspire and intrigue.

Each biography is paired with a unique, color illustration by Swiss illustrator Mireille Lachausse. Spies, activists, entrepreneurs, entertainers, politicians, athletes, midwives, mothers... Swiss women are daring, ingenious, and brave. Though the country is small, the heroines are vast! Source

The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer

The North Face of Eiger Mountain in Switzerland is considered one of the most dangerous ascents in mountaineering.

In 1938, Heinrich Harrer was part of the team that made the first successful ascent of the North Face route. It took them three days.

Before their ascent, two teams had attempted and tragedy had befallen them. 

The White Spider is an account of both Harrer’s team’s own achievement, as well as those who came both before and after – some who made it, and others who did not.  Source

A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain

Twain is a brilliant and judgmental people-watcher. He puts a spin on what he sees and offers up unsolicited commentary human nature. There might even be some tall tales…

Tourists and their funny actions are his favorite subjects.

Gain an appreciation and respect for the treacherous mountains since Twain loves sharing stories of travelers’ untimely demise. Source

Slow Train to Switzerland

In June 1863 an English lady set off by train on the trip of a lifetime: Thomas Cook's first Conducted Tour of Switzerland. A century and a half later, travel writer Diccon Bewes, author of the bestselling Swiss Watching, decided to go where she went and see what she saw.

Guided by her diary, he followed the same route to discover how much had changed and how much hadn't. She went in search of adventure, he went in search of her, and found far more than he expected. Slow Train to Switzerland is the captivating account of two trips through the Alps: hers glimpsing the future of travel, his revisiting its past. Together they make a journey to remember. Source

[floppicons]

Ausangate 6384m is a mountain of the Cordillera Vilcanota range in the Andes of Peru. The mountain was ascended by Heinrich Harrer in 1953 best known for his books…

[epicbellamy]

Ausangate 6384m is a mountain of the Cordillera Vilcanota range in the Andes of Peru. The mountain was ascended by Heinrich Harrer in 1953 best known for his books…

[komaeda-juuzou]

Ausangate 6384m is a mountain of the Cordillera Vilcanota range in the Andes of Peru. The mountain was ascended by Heinrich Harrer in 1953 best known for his books…

[frogsmetamorphosis]

Ausangate 6384m is a mountain of the Cordillera Vilcanota range in the Andes of Peru. The mountain was ascended by Heinrich Harrer in 1953 best known for his books...

[rockerrepro]

Ausangate 6384m is a mountain of the Cordillera Vilcanota range in the Andes of Peru. The mountain was ascended by Heinrich Harrer in 1953 best known for his books…