"Yad rakh" [55-word story] | 30
Meher Baba began observing silence on July 10, 1925. He would keep this vow for one year. But then he extended the term.
At one point, he announced that he would break his silence at the Hollywood Bowl. Certain luminaries (Tallulah Bankhead, Douglas Fairbanks) could attend. The event was postponed.
In 1969, he said: "Yad rakh."
Yad rakh (Hindi) : "Remember this"
[This utterance is reported to have been made just prior to Meher Baba's passing away on January 31, 1969. The report comes from his disciple and night-watchman, Bhau Kalchuri. Bhau, however, had not made any mention of this for many years (not deeming it to constitute the promised "breaking of his silence" -- an event which had taken on mythic proportions among the master's devotees and which, for Bhau, apparently had come to seem unrelated to a mere fact of physical speech). But eventually, recollecting the incident and the words, he changed his view, and permitted the information to be published. It should be pointed out, however, that in his view, Meher Baba was simply demonstrating that he had the ability to use his vocal cords -- that he could in fact physically speak at that last instance. The "breaking of his silence" (the culmination of his spiritual work: the release, into the world, of the effect & consequence of the nearly-lifelong silence-observance), this reamined a more obscure and momentous matter...]
At one point, he announced that he would break his silence at the Hollywood Bowl. Certain luminaries (Tallulah Bankhead, Douglas Fairbanks) could attend. The event was postponed.
In 1969, he said: "Yad rakh."
Yad rakh (Hindi) : "Remember this"
[This utterance is reported to have been made just prior to Meher Baba's passing away on January 31, 1969. The report comes from his disciple and night-watchman, Bhau Kalchuri. Bhau, however, had not made any mention of this for many years (not deeming it to constitute the promised "breaking of his silence" -- an event which had taken on mythic proportions among the master's devotees and which, for Bhau, apparently had come to seem unrelated to a mere fact of physical speech). But eventually, recollecting the incident and the words, he changed his view, and permitted the information to be published. It should be pointed out, however, that in his view, Meher Baba was simply demonstrating that he had the ability to use his vocal cords -- that he could in fact physically speak at that last instance. The "breaking of his silence" (the culmination of his spiritual work: the release, into the world, of the effect & consequence of the nearly-lifelong silence-observance), this reamined a more obscure and momentous matter...]
posted by david raphael israel at 9:50 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks for your nice introduction.....and yes, I related the name Ghazal to Al Ghazali......I’m not really familiar with all what youve written about that, but it sounds fascinating. There is so lil one knows and yet a lot nice stuff to discover. You’re surely right with your Rilke observation.
Have you heard of some guy called Rumi? They are all underestimated.
I finally managed to find some two pics of Anna Mahlers sculptures…….Alma Mahler had some other daughter, too I think, and the irony is that Alma called her daughter Anna, while Anna called her daughter Alma(II) and she called her daughter Anna(II) …….very confusing…..There is this one book with sculptures of Anna Mahler and Gombrich has written some sort fo introduction for it, it includes as well some essay by Anna in which she explains her rather deep thoughts on art……some say her art is a lil conventional and that is prlly linked to the fact that she focussed on the human person……a bit in analogy to this breaking the silence thing...
Francesca:
indeed, I'm aware of the superb poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi -- highly recommended.
I see you've put those photos of Anna Mahler's sculpture on your blog, thanks. I'd seen one or two others also somewhere on the internet (googled in past few days).
Once, years ago, I set out to begin learning German, mainly so I could read Rilke in the original. This only went to extent of getting one or two lessons from a tutor -- I shifted coasts (west to east) shortly after, and have never gotten back to the idea.
Even without knowing the language, I feel like I absort a hint of the feeling of his utterance from breezing over the writing (original German).
I've a friend (poet Rachel Dacus) who has (since years) worked at translating some of Rilke's French poems -- those about roses. Those may eventually see light of day in a book . . .
cheers, d.i.
Postscript
It should be noted that the story of Meher Baba's utterance is told in some degree of detail by Bhau Kalchuri here.
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