Friday 23 March 2018

Baudelaire - 'Meditation'.

'Meditation.

Be wise, O my Woe, seek thy grievance to drown,
Thou didst call for the night, and behold it is here,
An atmosphere sombre, envelopes the town,
To some bringing peace and to others a care.

Whilst the manifold souls of the vile multitude,

'Neath the lash of enjoyment, that merciless sway,

Go plucking remorse from the menial brood,

From them far, O my grief, hold my hand, come this way.

Behold how they beckon, those years, long expired,

From Heaven, in faded apparel attired,

How Regret, smiling, foams on the waters like yeast ;

Its arches of slumber the dying sun spreads,
And like a long winding-sheet dragged to the East,
Oh, hearken Beloved, how the Night softly treads !'



-- from Baudelaire's 'Les Fleurs du Mal' / en: 'The Flowers of Evil' /.


Source: archive.org.



Critic.

From my knowledge & experiences:


Eastern meditation is a tool for reaching Enlightenment, Mind State beyond happiness - but still containing happiness, i should add.

When one engages in the buddhist meditation, one's grieviances drown, transform to state where regrets & despair disappears, replaced by feelings of happiness, love & meaning.

Mind's calmness appears, there's sense of belonging to a Buddhist community, Sangha.

Sangha reaches for those who need help and for those who are motivated to repay with helping others as well.

Shame, remorses & regrets are 'plucked' from one's thoughts & feelings, leaving only neutral memories that these appeared in past.

There's also a critic - as i perceive it - in Baudelaire's poem that regrets are coming from heaven, from catholic upbringing.

But a buddhist meditation of the East has a way, it tempts & seduces like softly-treading night, making these feelings calm down, go to peaceful sleep.

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