Allen’s analysis of Willam Blake’s “The Marriage Heaven and Hell” – continues from here
AG:”No bird soars too high. if he soars with his own wings.” Well, anybody got any(thing to say)? It’s sort of obvious.
“A dead body revenges not injuries.” “Revenges not injuries” – That’s the opposite side of
“A cut worm forgives the plow.” There’s a Swahili proverb (related to this). There are Swahili proverbs, which are very interesting, very similar to this, and one I remember was “Don’t take vengeance on silliness.” Or “You don’t take vengeance on silliness.” It’s like “A dead body revenges not injuries.”
Peter Orlovsky: What does that mean, exactly: “A dead body revenges not injuries”?
AG: Somebody’s not going to rise up in a dead body and go into his father-in-law’s house and steal his money because he wasn’t good to him. In other words, you’re dead – You can’t take revenge. No place to take revenge.
Oddly enough, that’s very interesting. Trungpa once, years ago, talking about the state of consciousness in the Bardo after death, said it’s a very pained state because you don’t have your normal reactions of passion, aggression, and ignorance, like you can’t take revenge. You’re dead and you can’t take revenge. Because you’re not in a sphere where you can get back to the people and take revenge. You’re not in your body. If you hit them with your shadow knife, they won’t feel nothing. So very similar to the Tibetan Book of the Dead notions: “A dead body revenges not injuries.” – doesn’t revenge any injuries. A dead body can’t revenge, can’t take vengeance on some kind of injury.
Peter Orlovsky: Yeah.
AG: Is that difficult to understand?
Peter Orlovsky: No, I’m getting it.
AG: Yeah. Or don’t take vengeance on silliness. That’s the Swahili equivalent.
to be continued