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Meaning from a Philosophical Point of View

Life is the celebration of meaning.

Philosophy is the possession of meaning.

Truth is the presence of meaning.

Poetry is the flower of meaning.

Being is the awareness of meaning.

Orgasm is the ecstasy of meaning.

Art and Literature are the experiences of meaning.

Nietzsche and God

Travel and the Writer

Travel and the writer are inseparable. Travel for the writer broadens his or world view. The writer is in search of new experiences that molds him or her as writer. Travel is a writer’s pen.  Travel is a pen shaping the ink of the writer into a new experience. With travel time, space, and people mingle into the writer’s mind with passion. Travel opens new opportunities for the writer. The writer has to feel the newness of culture, customs and traditions of the people. There are many writers and painters who have gone to exotic places where they fused new avenues of art. One example is Gauguin who went to Tahiti and he painted impressionistic sketches of the natives there. Picasso was very much influenced by primitivism. Travel is the joy of journey of a writer. Travel provides the beauty of experience.

Structural analysis of nursery rhymes

I divide the structural analysis of nursery rhymes into the following: and they are: a lexical meaning, symbolic meaning, and psychiatric meaning.

Row row row your boat

Gently down the stream

Merrily merrily merrily

Life is but a dream

At a literal level a person is rowing a boat across the river.

At a symbolic level the boat is a journey of life and the path for the journey is the stream.

At a psychiatric level it is a conversation between a patient and doctor and the boat is a psychic symbol of an inner journey and merriness is successful completion of desire.

Humpty Dumpty

Sat on a wall

Humpty dumpty

Had a great fall

All the king’s horses and men

Couldn’t put humpty dumpty

Together again

At a literal level Humpty dumpty is cartoon character who had a fall and injured himself.

At a symbolic level humpty dumpty is a nation at war and it has lost the battle.

At a psychiatric level humpty dumpty is character who suffers from a mental trauma. He is on medication and his having a conversion with the psychiatrist.

Hot cross buns

Hot cross buns

One a penny

Two a penny

Hot cross buns

At a literal level someone is selling hot buns and announcing a price.

At a symbolic level buns are an archetype of food. Words are food for thought and theirs is the symbolism of filling the mind.

At a psychiatric level it depicts a glutton.

Twinkle Twinkle

Little star

How I wonder

What you are

Up above the

World so high

Like a diamond in the sky.

At a literal level one is gazing the sky and enjoying the beauty of the night.

At a symbolic level the gaze of the star is one of inward looking, a desire to excel in life. Diamonds can also mean accomplishments and achievements.

At a psychiatric level the star could mean a psychiatric disorder a megalomania of delusional and grandiose thinking. The subject is in search of a grand narrative that does not exist.

Mary had a little lamb

Little lamb Little Lamb

Little lamb

Whose fleece was

White as snow

Everywhere that Mary went

Mary went Mary went Mary went

The lamb was sure to go

It followed her to school one day

School one day

It made the children laugh and play

Laugh and play laugh and play

To see a lamb at school

At a literal level it is the story of Mary who had a pet lamb and that followed her everywhere.

At a symbolic level it is coming to puberty of a girl. And the lamb is symbolic of the changes taking place in her body. She is caught in the feeling of maturity and childishness.  She comes to possess Freud’s Electra complex.

Quote

All art is the subversion of morals.

Power

Now what is power? Power is like wind, you can’t see it but it is exerted and felt. Some attributes of power are the following and they are: democratic power, tyrannical power, autocratic power and subversive power.

Democratic Power

Democratic power is a two way power, the power exercised by the people to choose their leaders and the power shared by the leaders when they are at the helm of governance. Democratic power is based on the citizen’s conscience. The will of the people prevail in the exercising the choice of their leaders.

Tyrannical Power

Now what is tyrannical power? Tyrannical power is in one way an experience of power. And it is wielded by institutions like prisons, mental hospitals, and by autocrats. Prisons are institutions where people are incarcerated for committing crimes. Prisons are an obstructive mental penal system. Crimes are value ridden and an individual needs a break through. Sartre’s non-moral existentialism liberates the idea of crime and an adherent of crime is in Sartre’s words is condemned to be free. Prison is an institution of manipulation and domination. Prison violates democratic principles. Prison is the depth of hell.

Next source of Power resides in mental hospitals. The patient becomes the gaze of the psychiatrist. My experience in a mental hospital has been grim, violent and dismal. The patient becomes a down syndrome of confiscation. The mental hospital where I was admitted was run by nuns, all bitchy and fucked up. The male nurses there abused the inmates verbally and physically. They against my will used to force me to attend prayers. Mental hospitals are a shit hole and fuck holes degradation.

Next source of power is autocratic power. There’s a saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. An example is the Nazi regime. But in many democracies degenerate into autocratic powers. Let me take an example from India. The minority Christians of Manipur were abused by the majority Hindus with the conniving of the government. Their houses and churches were burnt, their women stripped and paraded naked, and then raped and killed. Another example is the rigging of the electoral ballet.

Subversive Power

Kafka

I love Kafka’s metamorphosis whose protagonist Gregor Samsa becomes an insect. It was a change into a monstrous, gargantuan weirdo, a misfit of a destiny. Samsa wants to grotesqueify the mundane life of everydayness, its coldness, its morals, its vocations into something hideous and dismal. His disgust with a day job, his soiled relationship with his farther, his isolation from society all become tragic and Samsa is Samsified into an insect.

Borges

Borges a distinguished writer from Latin America is the father of magic realism. Myth and legend are woven with fantasy and reality.  Borges writes about books that never existed. For Borges imagination is a writer’s license. His characters are fictions in motion. He follows a path of narcissism and mental chivalry.

Derrida

Derrida is a French philosopher who propounded the Philosophy of deconstruction. Deconstruction looks at a text’s discourse as the marginal and the privileged. An example is: South East Asian schools advertising: wanted Native English teachers. What the fuck do they mean native? I live in a country that was colonized by the British and the bastards have unwillingly bequeathed English and my English is in no way inferior to that of British English. South East Asian schools privilege native English and marginalize Indian English. From Derrida, I have coined binary Fusion: a text which neither privileges nor marginalizes anyone and examples of binary fusion are Wo/Man, His/Her/Story and so forth.

A Lover’s Discourse

On Roland Barthes

It was Roland Barthes who introduced me to the concept of the sign. A sign is made up of the signifier and the signified where the signifier is a thing and the signified an idea. For example if I say rose is passion, rose is the signifier and passion the signified. The sign has an empty lexical meaning and an inflated meaning as a myth. Let me use an example: panty is comfort to your under parts. Panty is an inflated signifier and comfort is inflated signified. Deflating both is to deconstruct their mythical posture.

Taj  Mahal

Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World located in Agra India. Shajhan the Mughal monarch ordered it to be built in memory of his deceased wife Mumtaz. Soon after the architect built it, Shajahan cut of his hands so that he will never build another like it. The Taj Mahal is a paradox of love and cruelty.

Statue of Liberty

Statue of liberty needs no mention. It is portrayed as a woman holding a torch with spikes in her head, representing oceans and continents. There are two levels of symbolism, one, the authority of a nation to exert power, influence and domination and the other democracy and freedom. Their mythical significance eludes reason and is engulfed by passion.

Nietzsche’s Ubermensch

Nietzsche’s Ubermensch is a hero who does not follow the herd. The Ubermench is a lexical appropriation and possession of meaning. It is the will to self as meaning.

Abraham and his offspring

According to the history of scriptures both Isaac and Ishmael are sons of the same father Abraham.  Isaac was born from the womb of Sarah and Ishmael was born from the womb of Hagar. I wonder why both the Arabs and the Jews being the sons of Abraham are sworn enemies. Why is not Israel giving land to the Palestinians? Why are they making it an occupied enclave? Why did Israel attack Iran without provocation? Again it raises eye brows that Iran needs a democratic change of government. A long lasting solution of peace is need very early. The signing of the memorandum of a truce is a welcome step.

Julia Kristeva

Julia Kristeva is the philosopher who introduced me to the semiotic and the symbolic text. A semiotic text is text which does not follow the rules of grammar and examples of it are: dance, drama, music and streams of consciousness. A symbolic text is the one in which the rules of syntax and grammar prevail and examples of it are legal and medicinal texts. A semiotic text directly touches feelings but the symbolic text permeates the mind with reason.

James Joyce

Seat Number 11 A

Kathakali is an ancient dance form of Kerala where the narrator recites and uses his hands, legs and faces as gestures. Kathakali comes from Katha story and Kali game. Some of the themes of Kathakali are the fight between Good and Evil and traditions and culture of the society.

I have divided the experiences of Kathakali as:

a) Spiritual

b) Cathartic

c) Orgasmic

Spiritual Experiences

In the spiritual explanation: Ravana the demon abducts Sita (wife of Ram) and takes her to Lanka. Ram rescues her from the trap and slays Ravana. It is a spiritual experience of a binary divide and that is good over evil.

Cathartic Experience

When the Kathakali artist mimics the actions of Devils and Gods the mind undergoes rapture, a catharsis of cleansing. All the negative thoughts become cleaned and the mind traverses as ecstasy.

Orgasmic Experience

Camus

Camus is the existential philosopher who used the myth of the Sisyphus to coin the philosophy of existentialism. According to the myth Sisyphus is condemned by the Gods to roll a stone uphill only to find that it rolls down and he is forced to repeat this meaningless task. From this myth Camus said that life is meaningless and absurd. For me Sisyphus is creative and he celebrates his existence by rolling the stone creatively, uniquely, and differently. Instead of life being absurd and meaningless, life for me is the celebration of meaning.

Sartre

Now what is the art of writing? I have classified writing into the following and they are: the occult function, biographical function, transcendental function, aesthetic function, cathartic function and the allegorical function.

Occult function

The occult function of the writer is how he programs the mind with creative experiences. Let me say an example: while cruising on the backwaters of Kerala, my Swizz friend remarked casually that this is the remnant of the sunken continent Atlantis. This struck a bell in mind as something scared and spiritual.

Biographical Function

Biographical function is an experience of a personal nature. As examples I say that my college lover ditched me. I carry that loss as an emotional heart break. Till today I have not got over it. Another experience is I lost my virginity to an old granny of my village. I became filled with guilt and shame. As fiction biographical fiction is the unveiling of personality and character.

Transcendental Function

Transcendental function evolves as the newness of function. One example I made is Still Life prose. Still Life prose is the painting of words. Another example is: eternity flies as sadhus in white unveiling time on mystic flight. Another idea is pop art writing: pop art writing is figural fetish description of objects. An example is: the mixer gave a gentle hum: seeing the bra I was filled with the ecstasy of sex. Seeing a panty my eyes lusted with thirst.

Aesthetic function

Aesthetic function is to decorate words and render the beauty of words. An example is: brook of beauty running through gurgling moksha all the way through.

Cathartic function

Cathartic function is to create psychological states or moods. The reader’s temperament is affected. I am taking an example from Keats: truth is beauty beauty truth.

Allegorical Function

Allegorical function is defined as an extended fable. A famous passage in the Bible is when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist: a dove descended from heaven and a voice spoke: this is my son whom I am well pleased.

Existential Function

A yellow pouch wafted across the sky in a flight of passion. Its wings are poems of music, its motion a dainty song. Its wings are now perching and preaching on a bough. There again it is skipping with a gentle torpor. Its wings are a melodious song. It’s a sunshine of happiness. It’s a doodle of joy, a charisma of catharsis.

Saw and heard the leaves rustle in the wind in a soothing tempest. It’s singing the song of nature. My cheeks are applauding in joy. My cheeks are being kissed with a gentle melody.

Quote

Tropes are the painting of words, tropes sculpt words, and tropes are the music of words.

Affirmations to boost finances

Money is my friend and money comes to my life in abundance.

Windfall bonanzas are my friends and I am getting a heap of windfall bonanza wins.

Bank accounts are my friends and my bank accounts are overloaded with cash.

First of all myth has to be defined. Myth of consumerism is the fetish of language. Now I am making it a sign—consumerism (the tangible) is the signifier and fetish of language (idea) the signified. How does the buying power of the consumer align with that of the producer? The producer entices the consumer with advertising. The consumer either falls prey to advertisements or exercises a choice of wise buying. Is the myth of selling the product customer friendly? Advertisement glamorizes the product and they surreptitiously woo the consumer. Advertisements can be labeled into the following.

Noisy adverts

Noisy adverts pre-warn the consumer about impinging danger. Examples are adverts on cigarette packets and alcohol bottles. An ad on a cigarette says: cigarettes are injurious to health and drinking booze jeopardizes health.

Playful advert

Some adverts are playful. A common example can be taken from automobiles: driven for life: drive for the ultimate joy.

Tempting Adverts

Some adverts are tempting. An example is the logo on Star Bucks, the mermaid wooing customers. Also popular is the logo of Kentucky Fried Chicken: finger licking good. The logo of Apple is worth a note. The half bitten apple is an enchanting logo.

Erotic Adverts

Some adverts are erotic and they awaken the sensual taste of the consumer. An example is a woman’s panty and the ad says: live with earthly pleasure: my wear a sensuous extravaganza.

Snake boat race

Kerala’s snake boat race is held in Kerala during the festival of Onam. Snake boats are long and sleek having the assemblage of snakes. People crowd round the river banks and applaud the racers. Snake boats are a cultural tapestry of Kerala. In the language of signs, snake boats are an inflated sign. People rowing the boats raise a loud hue and cry of victory. The snake boat race works as a cultural sedative. Victory is not important but the participation is what matters. Snake boats are a carnival, an enigma of spirituality, a conscience of aesthetics, a muse of motion, an occasion for pleasure, a carnival of the seasons, a feeling of celebration.

God’s Own country

Mahabali is the legendary mythical king of Kerala. His rule is a pleasant and prosperous one.  All the people enjoyed prosperity and wellness.  It is known that whoever comes to Mahabili for help would not go disappointed. God Vamana became jealous and decided to test him. He came in disguise as a dwarf and asked Mahabali for three boons and Mahabli willingly conceded. Mahabali grew in stature and with one step he covered the heavens and with the second step he covered the earth and asked Mahabali where he should plant the third step. Mahabali offered him his head but asked him that once in a year he should visit his people and this was granted. This is celebrated by the people as Onam.

Next is the myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus is condemned by the Gods to roll a stone uphill to find out to consternation it rolls down and he is forced to repeat this meaningless task.