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Harish Kotian
----- Original Message -----
From: "Subramani L" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 10:09 PM
Subject: [AI] Ben Okry
Ben Okri - To an english friend in Africa
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To an English Friend in Africa
Be grateful for freedom To see other dreams
. Bless your loneliness as much as you drank Of your former
companionships.
All that you are experiencing now Will become moods of future joys So
bless it all.
Do not think your ways superior To another's,
Do not venture to judge But see things with fresh and open eyes,
Do not condemn But praise what you can, And when you can't, be silent.
Time is now a gift for you;
A gift of freedom To think, and remember, and understand The ever
perplexing past,
And to re-create yourself anew In order to transform time.
Live while you are alive.
Learn the ways of silence and wisdom,
Learn to act, learn a new speech,
Learn to be what you are in the seed of your spirit.
Learn to free yourself from all things that have moulded you
And which limit your secret and undiscovered road.
Remember that all things which happen To you are raw materials;
Endlessly fertile, Endlessly yielding of thoughts that could change
Your life and go on doing for ever.
Never forget to pray and be thankful
For all the things good or bad on the rich road; For everything is
changeable,
So long as you live while you are alive.
Fear not, but be full of light and love;
Fear not but be alert and receptive; Fear not but act decisively when
you should; Fear not, but know when to stop; Fear not for you are loved
by me; Fear not, for death is not the real terror, But life -magically -
is.
Be joyful in your silence Be strong in your patience Do not try to
wrestle with the universe But be sometimes like water or air Sometimes
like fire
Live slowly, think slowly, for time is a mystery. Never forget that
love Requires that you be The greatest person you are capable of being,
Self-generating and strong and gentle- Your own hero and star.
Love demands the best in us To always and in time overcome the worst
And lowest in our souls. Love the world wisely. It is love alone that
is the greatest weapon And the deepest and hardest secret. So fear not,
my friend. The darkness is gentler than you think. Be grateful for the
manifold Dreams of creation And the many ways of unnumbered peoples. Be
grateful for life as you live it. And may a wonderful light Always guide
you on the unfolding road.
March 1991
Ben Okri
Ben Okri - Mental Fight
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Mental Fight
By Ben Okri
A few selected extracts
Already, the future is converging with the past. Already the world is
converging. The diverse ways of the world Will create wonderful new
forms, Lovely cultural explosions In the centuries to come. Already I
sense future forms of art, Of painting, sculpture, humour, Already I
sense future novels, Plays, poems, dances. Already I sense the great
orchestras Of humanity, a world symphony, A world jam, in which the
diverse Genius of the human race - It's rich tapestry of differences -
Will combine, weave, heighten, Harmonise all its varied ways And bring
about a universal flowering In all the vast numbers of disciplines And
among the unnumbered people. Already I can hear this distant music Of
the future, The magic poetry of time, The distillation of all our
different gifts.
Will you be at the harvest, Among the gatherers of new fruits? Then you
must begin today to remake Your mental and spiritual world, And join the
warriors and celebrants Of freedom, realisers of great dreams.
You can't remake the world Without remaking yourself Each new era
begins within. It is an inward event, With unsuspected possibilities For
inner liberation. We could use it to turn on Our inward lights. We could
use it to use even the dark And negative things positively. We could use
the new era To clean our eyes, To see the world differently, To see
ourselves more clearly. Only free people can make a free world. Infect
the world with your light. Help fulfill the golden prophecies Press
forward the human genius. Our future is greater than our past.
We are better than that. We are greater than our despair. The negative
aspects of humanity Are not the most real and authentic; The most
authentic thing about us Is our capacity to create, to overcome, To
endure, to transform, to love, And to be greater than our suffering. We
are best defined by the mystery That we are still here, and can still
rise Upwards, still create better civilisations, That we can face our
raw realities, And that we will survive The greater despair That the
greater future might bring.
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