Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Missing Abiola Irele

'whether Abiola Irele and Toyin Adepoju  can be considered peers or mentor and mentee!'

Olayinka

There exists a third possibility, neither wholly a relationship of mentor, mentee or  peer, not completely encapsulated by any of these categories, but perhaps distilling elements of them all.

Master, we salute you.

"We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees,
your starlight on the Western Seas"- Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings.

"If you see the Buddha [the founder of Buddhism]  on the road, kill him".

 Attributed to Linji Yixuan, progenitor of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism.

The only teacher is yourself. All others are complementary.

"Who can follow his devotee on a distant journey?

Is it you, Obatala?

If as you walk and walk you get to Ketu,  the place of your most ardent worship, and are offered three snails cooked in delicious oil, what will you do?"

"I will eat my fill and return home joyously".

"Is it you Esu?

If as you walk and walk, you reach Ore, your first home, and are offered two fast moving rats,seasoned with fresh palm oil, what will you do?"

"I will enjoy the delicacy and return home".

"Is it you Orunmila?

If as you walk and walk, you reach Igeti, your ancestral home, and are offered two fish that swim gracefully, with pounded yam and  well-brewed guinea-corn beer, what will you do?"

 "I will eat happily and  head back home"

Ifa, I confess my helplessness.
Gbolajokoo, offspring of tusks
that make the elephant trumpet
the sage who teaches one wise things like one's relation.
Please enlighten.

Ifa said, "It is Ori [ the core of individual being],
Ori alone
who can follow his  devotee to a distant journey without turning back."

Adapted from 'The Importance of Ori',  poem from the Yoruba origin Ifa system of knowledge and divination,  in Oral Poetry in Africa edited by Jack Mapanje and Landeg White.

"Your inner self knows all your deepest, most private thoughts and emotions. There is none more committed to serving you."

Adapted from AMORC(Ancient Mystical Order of the Rosy Cross) First Temple Degree initiation ceremony.

"The self is one with Shiva, beyond time and space, the self expresses the power of Shakti, active in existence as the power of Shiva, as flame and the heat of the flame".

Adapted from Wikipedia on Hindu Trika thought and Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka, Light on the Tantras.

The essence of self is so deeply revered in Benin philosophy, that a particular story shows the individual consulting the ultimate creator, Osanobua, to help him consult his own  inner self, so deeply cloaked in numinous mystery is this aspect of the human person, as demonstrated in a story published in R. E. Bradbury's"Ehi: Three Stories from Benin".

In his cave in the Himalays, Milarepa visualized himself as one with his guru, and his guru and himself united to the transcendental magnificence, the sublime peace of the Dhyanni Budhha Dorje Chang, the supreme spiritual authority of their Kargyupta school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Adapted from Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa. Edited by W.Y. Evans Wentz.

On 16 July 2017 at 12:39, Chidi Anthony Opara <chidi.opara@gmail.com> wrote:

Olayinka,
I think I made a mistake. The mistake was my not ignoring you and IBK. That mistake will never happen again, I promise.

CAO.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue

Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.