QUESTION #1
Last night, while day dreaming in bed, I asked myself "If you could invite any ten historical people to a private, casual dinner party, who would you invite?" I came up with the following list:
- Jesus
- Bhagawan Nityananda
- Sri Shankaracharya
- Paramahansa Yogananda
- St. John (the Apostle)
- Ramana Maharshi
- Mother Theresa
- Hafiz
- Narada
- Frank Zappa
Then, I asked myself, "What if you could only invite two of them?" The choice was rather simple:
- Jesus
- Frank Zappa
What ten historical people would you invite to dinner?
Could you narrow it down to two?
Share your list with other Jaibhakti readers by clicking the 'Comments' link and posting your list online.
posted by Unknown at 10:53 AM
12 Comments:
I would have to say Mary Magdalene because she could give me the objective skinny on Jesus with a clear and complete appraisal. Even more important, she might have an insight as to why her gender has been systematically and maliciously excluded from religious doctrine, not only in Christian dogma, but in all religions across the board. What is it that our forefathers feared so much that induced them to label her a whore (not in the bible) and the early Christians to ruthlessly slaughter the devout followers of female deities?
I would also invite Antonio Vivaldi, the great composer. He was a Catholic priest who was, in many ways, a revolutionary. He had a special dispensation from the Vatican that excused him from saying mass because of some vague medical affliction. His liturgical music centered solely on the Gloria, which praised the joys of living and avoided the more somber aspects of the Catholic ritual. He created a haven for discarded and homeless unwed mothers and taught them and their children to play musical instruments. They became his orchestra. It seems to me that he didn’t waste much time saying his prayers, but endeavored to live them out for the benefit of those who needed them the most.
I love the way you write, Johnny.
I particularly like the way you seem to investigate what's going on beneath the common knowledge of these two people.
I agree with you that Vivaldi did with his life what many church goers only think about doing. That's harsh...but true.
By the way--I love Gloria. It's so uplifting. Didn't we used to listent to it at the toy store????
You have an excellent memory. I understand that you are well educated in the musical arts. Aren’t you a Phi Beta Zappa?
:)
Thanks for always making me smile, Johnny!
Just discovered your blog, here's my list:
1. Stan Laurel
2. Oliver Hardy
3. Richard Evans Shultze
4. Steve Martin
5. Rumi
6. My friend Armando Munoz (technically not a historical figure, but one of the funniest guys I know)
7. Gurumayi
8. Raul Julia
9. Mata Hari
10. Sita
I don't have any reasons, just thought that might be a good mix.
I'm bookmarking your blog.
I have a website at:
http://www.beautifulandes.com
Take care.
Hi Mark!
That is SO cool that you would invite Gurumayi! She's my Beloved--I'm actually her little Bhakta...
(I kept my list to people no longer in body form.)
I love the fact that your list contains so many humorous people--I'd want to be at that dinner party, too! Perhaps I could bring Hafiz and Harold Lloyd as my guests.
I'm glad that you found my site!
Keep in touch,
Love,
Bhakti
Top two choices: Sri Ramakrishna and Mahatma Gandhi. My next eight: Woody Guthrie, Carl Jung, Leo Tolstoy, Jesus, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, photographer Minor White. What bothers me about this list is that it includes no women and, other than the first two, it's all white guys. Says something about my limitations.
Anonymous--Don't fret; I felt the same way about my list. The only female is Mother Theresa. I had Anandamayi Ma on the list just so there would be two women, but she was over-ridden by the addition of Narada (how could I omit him when he was the author of the Bhakti Sutras?).
I was going to take Mother Theresa off the list when I realized that I had 'forgotten' Jnaneshwar Maharaj, but decided that I couldn't have an all male list. And, besides, Mother Theresa is so cute!
I dare say that our male-dominated lists have more to do with womens' roles throughout history than they do our own biases.
If my list were to include 'living' figures, there would certainly be a lot more woman on the list.
My guests would be:
1. Jesus (Joshua bin Joseph)
2. Bodicea/Boudicca
3. Queen Elizabeth I of England
4. Cleopatra
5. Oscar Wilde
6. Sir Bob Geldof
7. Dali Lama
8. Robert the Bruce (The original Braveheart NOT William Wallace)
9. Joan of Arc
10. St. Bernadette of Lourdes
Uh-oh! What are the differences between Robert the Bruce and William Wallace? I've never heard of either of them. My cousin, Larry, from Scotland suggested William Wallace as Braveheart.
Should I have a talk with him???
I am trying not to get on my soapbox but here goes:
'Braveheart' was Robert the Bruce - the name was 'hijacked' by hollywood for the film Braveheart and it is now thought worldwide that Wallace was 'Braveheart' not the Bruce. Does this make sense? Nothing against William Wallace but Robert the Bruce was Braveheart
not Wallace.
http://www.leaderu.com/humanities/braveheart.html
I feel quite strongly about this because I am descended from Bruce.
I know you're not on a soapbox--we're just having fun here!
So, Robert the Bruce is an ancestor of yours?
Hmmm...I'm still confused: I thought Mel Gibson was Braveheart! LOL
Let's see what my cousin has to say... :)
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