EXPERIMENTAL

Khayyam

So you know Khayyam ? And you know how he was?
I assume you met him in person :)

You are such an Idiot to claim that you know what Khayyam is all about. Since none of the scholars can agree on who and what he was or if the poems even belongs to him.

I saw the clip and the website of the guy who made the clip. I don't know what this documentary film is trying to say since I have not seen it. There is only one image on this website and all it says (obviously you can't read Persian" is "KHAYYAM" written in Persian.

What an ass you are.

Yes you can express your opinion about Khayyam, but you don't know diddly do about him. So shut up, go read few books and then discharge your opinions.

Javad

This is an interesting take

This is an interesting take on Khayam's work! I know khayam as a HAPPY and INTOXICATED guy rather than a dark spirited, depressed, and Edgar Allen Poe-ISH entity that this site tries to portray. I visited the site of Beenteha and I'm not sure how Khayam fits with other art presented in this site. Khayam (similar to Rumi, Attar, Jami, Hafez and others in the same line of peotry) believed in "heaven on earth". They believed that IF one does NOT experience the heaven (state of joy and happiness) on earth, how could they be prepared or worthy of the heaven in hereafter. To them, heaven is for those who trade with god. The real joy is the proximity to god and one can achieve this proximity to god in this world as well as the one hereafter. So, Khayam intensifies his take on this more than others and promotes joy and happiness on earth. For example, I see this more in tune with the state of being of khayyam:

//uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DO5mAsHzR94

The lyrics of Khayyam Khani:
*******
"abr Amad-o bAz bar sare sabzeh gerist"
=
Dawn fall the tears from skies enwrapt in gloom

"bi bAdeye golrang nemibAyad zist"
=
without this drink, the flowers could never bloom!

"In sabzeh keh emrooz tamAshAgah-e mAst"
=
As now, these flowerests yield delight to me

"tA sabzeh-ye khAk-e mA tamAshAgah-e kist"
=
So shall my dust yield flowers, God knows to whom
************

Unfortunately, a lot of people (knowingly or unkhowingly) take these poems at their face value portraying Khayam as a character who did not believe in the life after death - Just like some who take Hafez as a wine drinking drunk character......I hope I expressed my understanding here clearly.

This poem under "STUFF" in main page talks about the state of being of Sufis as they reach certain level of intoxication that they may seem crazed to ordinary people. Rumi puts this in another form:
Har ke ra asrar haqq amookhtand;
Mohr kardando dahanash dookhtand;

To whomever the secrects of univers was taught;
Their lips where seals and knit (so they can not tell the secret to the untuaght);

I do not pretend to be able to inerpret this stuff but this is my take on Khayam's poem;

Oh, no, canadai, not corrupt for YOU..

I was just using the language of the people here who THEMSELVES find it corrupt to explain to them that there are actually WOMEN here among us who DON'T agree with them,,that Souri finds it quite ok although she normally doesn't go for this kind of reading, whereas you did NOT find it "gripping" enough...as you say...I'm trying to remind them that there are WOMEN who differ with their view that there is something INHERENTLY objectionable in this kind of writing..I WANT them to understand that....and that they are GOOD women...women who are part of this COMMUNITY and who PARTICIPATE in it and BELIEVE in it...IRANIAN women of different AGES and BELIEFS...I want them to UNDERSTAND that...see?

Actually I haven't read the Napoleon series, but JJ provided a link...homework assignment...reminder to self....read Napoleon...a cowboy's work is never done...  :D

Best,
Robin

Rosie T I didn't find it

Rosie T

I didn't find it corrupt enough??? What ?? Napoleon series wasn't corrupt. It was gripping. It was very interesting. It had so much substance. Character development. Scenery. So much more. This one didn't.

LostID, Actually no,

my views are not Freudian.  If anything they are Jungian (if they must be classified), and well, acutally my views are an evolving synthesis of years and years of reading across many disciplines and also PRACTICING (spiritually) in several different disciplines and so on ...and so there you go again!!! categorizing....  :D

I actually think Sarvenaz' thread is as good a place as any and in some ways the most appropirate to discuss these issues but I have no doubt we'll continue elsewhere.

 In any case, you DID speak in your post below of Mary as the PUREST OF ALL WOMEN so I'm not sure you're being scrupulously honest with yourself when you say you don't worship Mary in the way I claim she is used.  Mary IS de facto the pure and cannot really be worshipped as anything BUT the pure, because within patriarchy the female and the earth itself are associted with dirt, as in dirty....and so they need to be...cleaned up, you see...and then you have Mary (and the God hence not of Woman Born), and the next thing you know it's hijab...it's very clear in the Old Testament, where Eve is responsible for the "Fall."

 Anyhow, I went through it myself, this path of projection of the soul..it is not that ALL I see are the earthly attributes, it is just that .for several years...I wanted "the pure"...I placed this projection of the soul beyond all else...I wanted a state of grace...because I'd had one you see and the revelation I'd had of this "pure", well I just couldn't go back...and so I embarked on my search for the "pure", for the soul...and I saw my teachers commit acts of such abuse of power...and I saw hypocrisy, the same kind that you talked about among the Bahai...I saw this among Vipassana Buddhists and Zen Buddhists and Vedic yogis...I saw this among the "pure"....and I saw it in MYSELF...and as I am trying to tell you, I came to understand that all this...unbridled talk of the soul and the pure without a firm GROUNDEDNESS in the SOIL, in the DIRT, in the LUST of the WOMB of the EARTH...is patriarchal...all this spirituality without GROUNDING in the DIRT is AS patriarchal as an atom bomb... 

Finally I LOVE the Khayyam you posted!  I am wondering, would you be so kind as to please give me a rought translation of  the Khayyam poem that is posted on the home page under "Stuff" before it gets changed?  I understand about half of it....and it's sooo beautiful...actually to tell you the truth I really do prefer Khayyam to the others....well, after what I just told you, I guess that's not surprising..  :DSolh
Robin

All sex orientations (right, left, middle)

People of all sex orientations (right, left, middle) - nice show with your comments. Good demonstration of creating fuzzy atmosphere to space out the audience. Please no more comments on this article. God bless all of you.

PS – Please try to make shorter comments on other blogs, minute and concise (mokhtasar & moofeed). Thanks you.

Rosie, It looks to me your

Rosie, It looks to me your take on the subject is based on Freudian theories. Now I can see where the disconnect is. Unfortunately, I do not share most of those views. I truly don't observe Mary the way you do. I know she was a human with all earthly attributes, but I'm more in tune with her spiritual side and the rest disappears. She shows me the path how far I can project my soul. Perhaps all you see is the earthly attributes? The pasted verses in previous post are from Quran depicting the character of Mary best.

Freudian theories have caused enough social problems. The result is that we have created new professional called psychologist to attend people with psychological issues. Why should we have more psychos in modern age? Why should a modern society which is more "aware" of the environment and people have staggering # of sex offenders compared to old days? Is it because we are more "emancipated"?
On the other hand, drug companies are making billions selling Zantacs, Traivil, Clozaril, Haldol.........

I hope that we continue these discussions under another topic than Sarvenaz's.

PS, Khayam is the most misunderstood peot. I like his views so much as well. Here is tree takes on one of his peoms:

Literal:

This Universal wheel, this merry-go-round
In our imagination we have found
The sun a flame, in the Cosmic lantern bound
We are mere ghosts, revolving, the flame surround.

Meaning:

In our imagination, the Cosmic Wheel
Will cause us pain and cause us heal
We find our source give life and steal
We are phantoms that think and feel.

Fitzgerald:

For in and out, above, about, below,
'Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,
Play'd in a Box whose Candle is the Sun,
Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.

Mother Mary and Sarvenaz

LostIdentity speaks of Mary. I hope by now he understands that I'm not anti-Muslim and my views on sigeh were nuanced. I want to return to the main topic here, which is Sarvenaz, and I'll do so by responding to him about Mary.

A reader wrote me last month under my article "Salaam Iran"which ended "Remove your hijab. All your hijabs. Stand up Iran and dance."   He asked me about my spiritual/political vision and I spoke of the return of women, of the Great Mother after 5000 years of patriarchy, violence and destruction. And he asked me about Mary. And this is what I wrote him:

 "I didn't intentionally omit Mary.  The Mother has ALWAYS been present, she is there in the poem I posted to you ...in the Songs of Solomon which predate her by FAR.  It is impossible to conceptualize that a man, above all a KING, wrote those words, and perhaps he did, perhaps he didn't, nonetheless Judaism, that MOST patriarchal of religions, attributes them to him.  So Mary, the Mother, never completely left us.  However there is a fundamental problem with what in Catholicism is known as "Marianism." Mary is the VIRGIN Mother.  She is truncated from the Earth, her source, she is "pure".  The Mother I speak of is no such Virgin.  She is a mother with a CUNT, and a BIG MOUTH, she not only BIRTHS but she FUCKS and she SCREAMS and she LIVES and she DIES....and when it is justified, her wrath knows no bounds.  In this incarnation, she is known, in some Eurasian traditions as 'The Terrible Mother."  But she only does so in the name of LIFE.

I have the same reservations about Mary's limitations  (to whose statues I have knelt and prayed and wept in the little cathedral-like church around the corner from me) as I have about Buddhism, especially in its Theravadic (South East Asian) and Zen (Chinese/Japanese...) form (as opposed to the Tibetan which is melded with an ancient earth-based Shamanism).  And also with the non-Tantric yogic traditons of India.  This spiritualization into Nirvana, cleanliness, quietism, abstraction, excessive kindness, is itself MALE.  Remember, in the old yin/yang the polarity is (spirit/sky = yang, positive, body/earth = yin, negative).  "Westerners" are attracted to these highly abstracted versions of Buddhisms and Hinduisms to get away from the patriarchy of the Abrahamic tradition, but they really haven't thought it out clearly.  They fall into a "quietistic" version of the exact same thing.  These Nirvana-seeking traditions are essentially patriarchal.

As far as I'm concerned, there is more Mother in Khayam than in any of these.  I hope I'm making sense."

 Food for thought.

Robin

PS JJ posted us all a beautiful poem by Khayyam on the home page under "Stuff."  Please listen and enjoy.

Dear Persian Woman, The

Dear Persian Woman,
The closest entity that comes to god on earth is a "Mother". Mother's love of her child is the most genuine love on earth - no strings attached!
Mary is as pure as a human can get!
Merry Christmas

.....
Al-Imran (The Family of Imran)

3:35 when a woman of [the House of] `Imran prayed: "O my Sustainer! Behold, unto Thee do I vow [the child] that is in, my womb, to be devoted to Thy service. Accept it, then, from me: verily, Thou alone art all-hearing, all-knowing!"
3:36 But when she had given birth to the child, [24] she said: "O my Sustainer! Behold, I have given birth to a female" - the while God had been fully aware of what she would give birth to, and [fully aware] that no male child [she might have hoped for] could ever have been like this female [25] - "and I have named her MARY. And, verily, I seek Thy protection for her and her offspring against Satan, the accursed."
3:37 And thereupon her Sustainer accepted the girl-child with goodly acceptance, and caused her to grow up in goodly growth, and placed her in the care of Zachariah. [26] Whenever Zachariah visited her in the sanctuary, he found her provided with food. He would ask: "O mary, whence came this unto thee?" She would answer: "It is from God; behold, God grants sustenance unto whom He wills, beyond all reckoning."
3:42 AND LO! The angels said: "O mary! Behold, God has elected thee and made thee pure, and raised thee above all the women of the world.

Re: Rosie.......It's all good if it produces goodness;

Dear Rosie, I certainly did not mean to get on your nerve! I think of you as a person who's looking for resolving issues rather than creating them. i'm all for that. Your approach to understanding moslem culture is a clear type of our major issue these days - Conflict of civilizations as best described by Samuel Huntington. There definitely exist some cross-cultural issue between us. I think the mutual respect comes from mutual understanding at cultural level. If we come and say this moslem guy did this and that jew did that or this christian did this, all this finger pointing is goin to cause more chaos and misunderstanding. We will be branded as "Mozdoors" and nothing will be resolved...........
......
As on sigheh, let me paste what you posted below:

"sigheh is a very interesting phenomenon. Generally speaking, in modern history, it has been considered a kind of legitimized prostitution (which it often IS, with mullahs literally acting as pimps in dark alleys in places like the holy city of Qom) and frowned upon by "progressives." But recently in Iran, under the current hardliner crackdown, something interesting happened. The trend changed and now sigheh is a favorite cause among certain sectors of the progressive youth. It is like the ONLY way they can BREATHE if they are interested in "premarital" sex (which I know you're not but of course it IS a legitimate position tohave). So, like everything, sigheh is a PHENOMENON. As such it is both simple and complex.
Seen from the Hajiagha perspective, you really can't blame people for bringing up "sigheh." He is such a hopeless case (really...have you seen Mouse's last blog on him lately?) and some people think he'd be helped if he...well...basically...got laid. HE says he wants to get married, and he is religious...and so are you...and of course a "real" marriage with such a person is impossible, who could live with him?...and so...they see you, and you are pretty, and you believe in Islam...and they think...well...what's a way around the impasse? Why not a sigheh? If it's good enough for the progressive youth these days, why not for him...and you?"
...............
Well, a guy like me takes away all negative points from your post presuming you are ridiculing (if not bashing) and falsifying the essence of a religious law. This is not a law that Mullahs came out with and perhaps not the ones who downgraded to the level you speak of. I'm not here to defend Mullahs since I don't go defending a error-prone elements. But a religious law, if some people believe, needs to be respected unless it pauses danger or harms others.
The essence of sigheh is to protect people from wrong doing - corruption, prostitution, and other social issues. By no means it is intended to spread lust in the society. in the early years of Islam, you find this law helping prohet and others to interact in appropriate way with women (some twice the age) for social services such as taking care of families with no husband, women helping husband to care for needy, elders and the sick - pretty much the efforts social security department and senior citizen houses are doing nowadays. Unfortunately, some selfish sub-humans like to use the law to their own benefit. Now if you ask me, a 6-month sigheh treaty is far better than a open-ended boy-girlfirendship. What do you call a "one night stand" where a guy spends few hundred bucks on a date and the next day........a new day and a new opportunity!

Now if you go to details of sigheh you will see that it is supposed to support the rights of both sides (I think more of the women). So, is this right or is what is known here as "extra marital affair" is right?
You may ask if I plan to apply this law in my own life. Surely NOT; I have not found a reason to do it.

I'm sorry if I portrayed myself as a Rumi loving all spiritual Sufi - which I'm by no means NOT! WHen I bring on Rumi poems, I mean to show true fruit of Islam in contrast to some anti-islam terror loving elements. I try to interject some positive energy to the discussion.

Lastly, you are right - I do not have sense of humor in these threads.But, I can be; You kidding, an unfunny persian is a dead persian! The reason is I think the subjects are non-humorous. I hope you give me a credit for that.

peace;

Dear Male Seeking Female,

No, I can't!  i simply MUST know...what do YOU think of Sarvenaz's article?....

and also, when you are seeking a female, if you ever get desperate, do you ever consort with prostitutes, and have you ever done so in your home while your children were sleeping?

Do tell, please.
Kisses,
Rosie

shut the fuck up ..

.. Rosie T.

jahanshaah u r disgustingly lost...

I am so sorry to see Jahaanshaah slipping down the road of moral misery, by descending from a hezbolaahi to a JAAKESH!
As I once was very proud of Iranian.com and recommending it to my teenaged children, now I just hate looking at it and am so sorry for recommending it to my kids.

As for Sarvenaaz, I should say that you are a sick minded pervert and totally disgusting. I feel sorry for your children to have a whore mother like you, as a mother should always be and stay sacred. I hated your diary....

Down with you and Jahaanshaah

Re: Rosie Khanom, here you go...

LostID, this is funny:  I'd just drafted you a post and the title was, I SWEAR this is true, "LostID, there you go again... " 

but I planned to finish it tomorrow. To be brief (always a challenge for me) I pointed out that you are using CATEGORIES such as identifying yourself as a left-brain engineer while refusing to divulge your age or where you live on the basis of not wanting to categorize or be categorized. And that, to repeat what I told you weeks ago, non-ideology is an ideology and this is how you use Molanaa every time someone says something you don't agree with, they're categorizing, they're false, they're hypocrites, a nd Molanaa is not and you are close to..fanaa...Good. So much for that post.  Now I'll start afresh responding to your new post. 

You keep bringing up this sigheh thing.  I mentioned "sigheh" ONCE weeks ago when Sasha told me that someone seriously had suggested a "sigheh" between her and Haji and she was very offended and I said she shouldn't necessarily be because "sigheh" is a complex phenomenon. That is all I EVER said about sigheh on this entire website until today.

Today I used "sigheh" in the context of someone talking about Sarvenaz' article violating their cultural values and I wanted to know which culture it violated.  For better or for worse, "sigheh" IS a part of Iranian culture, and it is sometimes (not ALWAYS) used to legitimize  back-alley bangings for cash with a mullah as pimp. Obviously it is offensive to use a religion in this way. Hence, my tone. I did NOT glorify any specific content in Sarvanez' article. 

You also keep accusing me of Islam-bashing.  I just wrote to Jamshid recently accusing him of the same and if you know Jamshid you will know exactly what I mean.  And I told Jamshid "Islam is just a word" and I explained what I meant. I will explain it now to you more clearly.

Islam is a word.  Islam is Averrroes and Avicenna who did more for the progress of the secular Enlightenment in the Middle Ages than any of their Christian contemporaries, Islam is al-Hallaj martyring himself in ways that would have made the Christian martyrs of his century frankly jealous.  Islam is Wahabbism in Saudi Arabia cloaking their women in year-round Halloween costumes and Islam is Queen Nor of Jordan running around in a tight mini-skirt saying here in Jordan we Muslim women are modestly dressed and shaking her booty.  Islam is Mohammad Ali (the boxer) saying "I am the greatest" and Islam is Mullah Omar.   It is the Assassins stoned out of their heads on hashish and  Hafez in a tavern shitfaced drunk and getting laid as I like to imagine him (and whether it was metaphorical or not, it certainly was the way he liked to be imagined on some level) and Islam is "My First Iranian Lover" telling me I ruined his life by "making" him fuck me outside of marriage and betray Allah after he carried me into his bedroom when I said I had to go home. 

And I don't know where you get your ideas about my opinions on Islam because I NEVER talk about Islam on this website.  Really.  I talk about the IRI and that is a POLITICAL system, it is NOT a religion.

Now  a couple of days ago you popped up under my article to tell me what a hypocrite I am and that I am just like a mullah, and you "proved" it as you always do by "molanaaing" me. Look, you can quote Molanaa until you are blue in the face but it WON'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT YOU ARE IN NO STATE OF FANAA and that you DO CATEGORIZE AS MUCH AS EVERYONE ELSE AND OFTENTIMES MORE.

My advice to you is to stay away from Molanaa for THREE MONTHS.  Don't read him.  Don't think about him.  AND DON'T QUOTE HIM for God's sake.  And then you will be able perhaps to LISTEN to yourself and hear your own categories and dogma and ask yourself whether THIS was the conversation Molanaa had with Shaams alone in that room all those weeks in Konyaa.

 I HAVE NO OPINION  WHATSOEVER ABOUT ISLAM AND I ALSO HAVE NO OPINION ABOUT SARVENAZ'S ARTICLE.  I already said below what I think about its publication here.  It is very MILD erotica in comparison with the hard HARD core porn that is accessible to EVERYONE now. This is a FACT of this technology and to expect a website founded on the concept of free speech to  have NO erotica is quite simply a daydream. In my last post I was PLAYING AROUND with the HYPOCRITES on this site who couldn't wait to read Sarvenaz and then attack her. I know you're not one of them but I also know they exist here. 

Trust me, if I DO write my article on "My First Iranian Lover" it will have a very profound commentary on the complex cultural, social, class and gender dynamics between the two of us as well as the spiritual dimension and the door he opened for me to Iran four years ago, along with a mention of his huge dick.  (what a waste...my god...) And DON'T get at me about being pornographic HERE on THIS thread...I've DON'T talk like this normally on this website, but HERE, on THIS THREAD, I CAN. And I AM, Just...just...to annoy you.... 

You know what the trouble with you is, LostID? You know what the REAL trouble is?

YOU HAVE NO SENSE OF HUMOR.

Robin

Oh, PS I just remembered.  I HAVE spoken about Islam on occasion.  I have spoken about what I sayspiritual Muslims crefer to  "the true Jihad": the struggle of the human heart over itself.

To: Jahanshah Javid

Dear Mr. Javid,

It seems that when you changed your ideology and appearance from a first-class Hezbollahee to an extra-strength western liberal overnight, you also lost all your morality and sense of decency (if you had any in the first place).

I know that your motto is "nothing is sacred" (which you yourself have frequently proven it false), but you should realize that you, as a mouthpiece in the public domain, still have certain responsibilities in the free society. You should learn that with freedom also comes responsibility, otherwise anarchy would replace civility and order which are the bases for democracy. I'm afraid that this is exactly what is happening to your website. Your site is turning into a dumpster of profanity and irrational, hateful, and disgraceful messages.

If you want to be in the business of adult entertainment and pornography that's fine. However, you should at least warn the readers, among which are many minors, about the content of your site. You should change your motto to something like "nothing is sacred on this site and you must be 18 or older to enter". And please change the name of your site to something else. Iranians deserve better than this.

Rosie khanom, here you go

Rosie khanom,
here you go again:
RE: "Oh, Souri-jooni,
by Rosie T. on Tue Dec 25, 2007 07:49 PM PST"

1st of all I want to acknowledge that I'm not anybody's moral police or guide in general and yours specifically. If I can, I will try to keep myself straight and in-balance.
That said, here we go again! In all fairness, I can't understand such a double standard the way you respond to this "Elena" writing vs. the subject of sigheh. The way you approach "Elena" is with so much dazzle, admiration and acception but when it comes to the subject of sigheh, you demonize it, make a hammer out of it and bang it on Islam's head. The 1st of course promotes indecency and lust while the 2nd is supposed to be a way to prevent indecency and provide a venue to moral relationship, most of the time without any sexual context.
Being fair and just keeps all of us in harmony.

Just a subtle observation.

Peace;

souri / canadai

Well now they live in sunny Nice and Nice they say is very nice.

Canadai, you naughty thing, back again to corrupt our morals....

So nice to be among the ladies.....for a change of pace....you see, guys, Souri found it not quite so offensive, and Canadai found it not offensive ENOUGH.....

and Rosie feels inspired to one-up Sarvenaz.  She's been asked by a few male readers, under her own article's  INNOCENT little thread, which was actually called porne-narm (by a male reader of course, and one very near and dear to her heart, you know how ROMANTIC those ultra-Shahis can be...  ;D  ) , to recount her experiences with that most unusual of species, the Persian Male....and she is seriously, seriously considering it.... hmmm.... a cowboy's work is never done... 

Wow...what a dissapointment.

Wow...what a dissapointment. I loved the Napoleon series. But this one sucked royally. I couldn't even make it to the end. Bon courage mon ami(e).

Was I mistaken ?

I always thought Sarvenaz and Napoleon were living in Avignon !

Didn't pay attention to JJ's comment about them. So is that true that they live in Nice ?

Oh, Souri-jooni,

if I may, I can't resist saying this:  Souri that's a very good idea and Jahanshah should certainly do it, but I would bet you dollars to donuts (as we say aux Etats Unis) that many of the people complaining about this article knew PERFECTLY well EXACTLY who Sarvenaz is, read JJ's travel blogs saying he was going to see her and Napoleon in Nice, read the Napoleon pieces she wrote before too, know EXACTLY what "Experimental" means on this forum--it means porn, and clicked on this article as fast as their little fingers could take them, riding their computer mouse like Santa's sleigh as soon as they saw it came out. 

For those of you about whom this is NOT true, I humbly apologize.  I am quite sure you exist, as sure as I am that the ones I described above do....

and so the world spins...

Robin

A word to JJ :

Dear JJ,

I was used to reading Sarvenaz experimental article before, and although I am always against vulgarity and oppose to some vulgar saying as "poem" by some of the so said "libertin poet" but  I have never been offended by Sarvenaz writing. Don't know why. Maybe because of her style of writing. She point out some real social/cultural obstacle of Iranian women's life in general.

My question now:  Is it possible for you to impose (like before) the question to readers : if they really want to read this sexually explicit article ?

So you will inform them that it may harm their sensitivity ? Then each one take their own responsiblity in regard to reading those articles and won't post agressive comment about them.

To all the moral police

Don't you people ever realize that this sort of thing goes on anyway? The author of this story is just putting it in writing.
This will happen (and has always happened) no matter if you're in the east or in the west, at the beginning of a century or in the end of one, living under a theocracy or a democracy, or no matter how you would like to put your head (or anyone else's) under the sand.
It's human behavior. Just that some people talk and/or write about it.

To Sarvenaz

I feel your using Iranian words makes your stories vulgar for some reason. Please try using the English words instead next time to see what it gives. I don't think the words would sound this vulgar if the whole story was written in Farsi.
The vulgarity takes away the eroticism for me all together.

To the writer, Sarvenaz

You Iranian assholes make sure if you write in English, white everything in English, What the fuck "Koss" or "Koon" mean when you write in English? Is that your mouse or your fucking pussy? Be clear!

Zarebin says "Cant wait to

Zarebin says "Cant wait to read the sequel, hurry up please." I say, don't. I can still re-read this piece a few times with an intense feeling of a liberating release. Good writing knows no bounds. Thank you. Keep at it,

I'm only LostID in this

I'm only LostID in this thread. I do change names on my postings to commensurate with specific subject. I see that it creates negative effect, so I will be only lostID from now on on all threads. Before everything, I am human being and...... the rest is really immaterial. When it comes to Internet, I'm paranoid and tell my kids to be on-guard when dealing with it. I have filters but the filtering system is really weird and don't go with my value system. If I turn it on, they can't even go and shop on the Disney store.

In general, I can only take individual's postings at their face value and don't want to spend time to analyze people and judge them who they are. The reason, I know that I will only know them at best the way they portray to be in this virtual community. however, I care for every individual as a human being and that's why I intend to spend time here. I know your questions are intended to know me so you can better communicate your points with me. But, I really do no pay attention to any posters' Bio (including yourself), when I respond.

You mentioned:
"You are an extraordinarily complex, sensitive and nuanced individual"
It's iteresting! you're very clever in judging people. Above all that one needs to be rational in mind and kind in heart to be fair and sensible to self and others. being sensitive is not desired; One needs to wheather the currents of disturbance without moving from where he/she stands.

I know we have somewhat opposing views and appreciate the discussions which are educational to me. You see you and I use different lobe of our brain - I'm engineer.

Peace;

to Sarvenaz: Missing voice

After reading your piece, and all the comments below, I think that as a writer, you need to find your unique voice.Besides the choice of your subjects (as seen in your previous writings), there is nothing else (something unique and special) to notice in your style of writing. Any anonymous writer could have written it :-) So, it is possible that you could attract Iranian readers (mainly because of the content of your piece), but the lack of style cannot take you (and your readers) anywhere farther in the literary scene. So if you are passionate about writing (with the same intensity you crave attention), then you have to search that hidden voice which is truly yours, no matter what you are writing about.

To Lost Identity

I see our posts crossed, and this is good. It means we're sincerely trying to communicate. And so there really IS potential for this medium to be MORE than just a sewer...or a toy...or a dehumanizing agent... now, let me state that you have been Lostidentity and Toranj and Manamanam and I have had numerous conversations here with you not even knowing I was talking to the same person. So, when I wrote below about cultural identity I didn't even know I was speaking with YOU, because you didn't use any of those pseudonyms before I'd posted. Can you please write with one name? This is...befuddling...it adds to the problems you continually (and rightly) complain about on this website: dehumanization, hypocrisy, getting lost in language games, erosion of a vital human core, and so forth...I'll assume you're going to be "LostIdentity" on this thread at least...so having said that, can you please tell me which (if any) post was yours before I wrote about cultural identity and balance? And then give me a breather to re-read the whole thread from the bottom up... You are an extraordinarily complex, sensitive and nuanced individual..would you also mind telling me if you are a man (I think you are, because people have called you "he" and you've never corrected them), and your approximate age and where you live? You know all about me, I think... best regards, Robin

Re: Rosie.......Identity tracking

Rosie khanom,
You ask:
""Westoxification.." And what then is your solution? Which culture? Which identity? Do you find it in Shia Islam, whose benevolent Mullah standing in a back alley in Qom arranging a one-hour "marriage" between a teenager and a theology student is so well-known? Is that your cultural identity? Or do you, like Kasravi, argue for a broader Islam? And if so, which one? Wahabbism, as in Saudi Arabia? Or Hafez's--the "rend", the libertine in the tavern? (or the hash cafe of Amsterdam...) And if someone disagrees with you, should they kill you, like Kasravi?"
.......

No Dear Rosie I do not see cultural identity in any of this. One needs to NOT focus on too far away but rather look "within". It's all in "you".

Let me recall definition of IDENTITY 1st:
the state or fact of remaining the same quality, as under varying aspects or conditions.

See, you can link to your genuine "human identity" if you listen to the voice within calling upon you. You can be a Christian, Jew, Moslem, Bhuddist or any human being and possess your human values.

Unfortunately, you see or preach only the negative values of Islam and it is really not so bright and clear to me WHY? You will only see what you want to see or you will find what you look for. In Islam, I see beauty, Dignity, Life, Joy, Love, Freedom, and other attributes that humanity longs for. I see the same things in the teachings of Christ, Moses, Bhudda and other great moral Identities. I see greatness of Rumi, Hafez, Attar, Coleman Parks, Anne Marie Schimmel.........but I'm not them. My Identity is in me, independent of geography, history and whatever belongs to them. I just have to let it rise and shine

As the Poet say:
You are what your are in search of;
You are gold if you're in search of gold mine;

Open your heart and, then, your mind; you will find genuine love for all humaniy.

Here 's a saying from a indigenous Sufi:
......
Rather than focus our attention toward struggling and fighting against the shadow that is called evil, we should instead direct our efforts to understanding and removing the obstacle that is preventing the free-flow of Goodness. It is not that we should accept or welcome any evil, but rather that we should strive to allow the Light of Goodness to shine into every situation in order to eliminate the evil shadow.

Jesus taught that struggling against evil was not the correct approach, but rather that only the Light of Love could remove the shadow that we call evil.

Likewise hatred is not an inherent quality of being, it is simply what happens when something has blocked the flow of Love into that area.

War is not an inherent quality, but rather it is only the result of an obstruction of the flow of Peace into an area.

Great to read yoy here again!

Nice comeback piece, thank you Sarvenaz!
Do write more, you're so good at this too. And post more often.

M