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What Is Nostalgia?

  Homesickness, or nostalgia, is a longing not so much for people as for the natural landscape of one's homeland: its forests, mountains and hills, rivers, lakes, the blue of its skies, its sunsets—in short, for the whole environment with which a person has grown together, and on leaving which he feels that he has left behind a part of himself. (Antanas Maceina) Below is a poem by Salomėja Nėri s, one of Lithuania's most celebrated poets, who suffered more than perhaps any other Lithuanian intellectual from being separated from her homeland and, above all, from being accused of treason (rightly or wrongly, that is not for us to judge). Bloodied and plundered, You stand before my eyes... I would walk a hundred miles on foot Until I saw you living once again. Whether orchards there are blossoming, Or fruit hangs heavy on the bough, Or yellow leaves are falling, I shall return to you on my knees Through rain, hard frost, and winter's cold... Like the grass that grows in...
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Kas yra nostalgija?

  Tėvynės pasiilgimas, arba nostalgija, yra pasiilgimas ne tiek žmonių, kiek tėvynės gamtos: miškų, kalnų bei kalnelių, upių, ežerų, dangaus mėlynės, saulėlydžio, apskritai visos aplinkos, su kuria žmogus yra suaugęs ir kurią palikęs jis jaučiasi palikęs savo paties dalį.  (Antanas Maceina) Sukruvinta ir apiplėšta Ji stovi man akyse… Šimtus aš mylių eisiu pėsčia, Kol gyvą pamatysiu. Žydės ten sodai, svyros vaisiai, Ar lapai kris pageltę, Aš keliais į tave pareisiu Per lietų, gruodą, šaltį… Mane – kaip lauko žolę – girdė Gimtosios žemės syvai… Aš saugojau tau savo širdį – Žėruojančią ir gyvą. Nepardaviau tavęs aš niekad, Neišdaviau, mieloji! Audra praūžia, miškas lieka… Širdis gi nemeluoja. (Salomėja Nėris)

Meditation on Death

  "Perhaps I did not live as I ought to have done." ( Leo Tolstoy) When we speak of death, we have in mind two kinds of death: death in life and death after life. While we are alive, we avoid speaking or thinking about death, as though it were not part of life; we live as if we were immortal. Death after life—as far as we can conceive of it while still alive—can only be imagined, and we begin to imagine it when we start to feel old, when death draws near. Then reality begins to seem unreal, and everything we have experienced up to that point loses its tangibility, its coherence, and its shape. We begin to realise that the life in which we believed no longer exists—indeed, that it never truly existed—and that the only genuine reality is death: the everlasting end of all illusions, all hopes, and everything, great or small, that we have managed to achieve within the span allotted to us. In this way, we learn to die, just as we once learned to live. ---------- Telegram: De Unamu...

Meditacija apie mirtį

  „Galbūt aš negyvenau taip, kaip turėjau gyventi.“ — Levas Tolstojus Kalbėdami apie mirtį, turime omenyje dvi jos rūšis: mirtį gyvenime ir mirtį po gyvenimo. Kol esame gyvi, vengiame kalbėti ir galvoti apie mirtį, tarsi ji nebūtų gyvenimo dalis; gyvename taip, lyg būtume nemirtingi. Mirtį po gyvenimo – tokią, kokią dar gyvi galime įsivaizduoti – galime tik įsivaizduoti, ir pradedame tai daryti tuomet, kai pradedame senti, kai mirtis artėja. Tuomet tikrovė ima atrodyti netikra, o visa, ką iki tol patyrėme, praranda savo apčiuopiamumą, nuoseklumą ir pavidalą. Pradedame suprasti, kad gyvenimas, kuriuo tikėjome, nebeegzistuoja – iš tiesų jis niekada ir neegzistavo – ir kad vienintelė tikroji tikrovė yra mirtis: amžina visų iliuzijų, visų vilčių ir visko – didelio ar mažo – ką mums pavyko pasiekti per mums skirtą laiką, pabaiga. Taip mes išmokstame mirti, kaip kadaise išmokome gyventi. ---------- Telegram: De Unamuno Whatsapp: De Unamuno

Essere o non essere - il tradimento della realtà

  Às vezes, em dias de luz perfeita e exacta, Em que as coisas têm toda a realidade que podem ter "A volte, nelle giornate di luce perfetta e precisa, Ecco che le cose hanno tutta la realtà che possono avere" (Fernando Pessoa) La tua presenza - leggera sembravi E costante andavi tutta la vita. Eterna promessa a me passavi. Non era quella la terra smarrita La terra di mezzo di ora data Era l'unica terra e la mia vita. E lí radicati a noi fissata Tu la carne insegnavi e lo spirito Modellavi di me tu dedicata. Una madre sperimenta il suo debito Al figlio dà vita di stesso sangue Va al presente delle cose suo credito. Ma la memoria fa tempo esangue Si scolora come mai avvenuto Tutto quello hai creduto poi langue. ---------- Telegram: De Unamuno Whatsapp: De Unamuno

Padre - mai patrigno

  Mi chiedo se un Dio davvero piccino Come l'essere umano così sia Da chinarsi a sua altezza meschino. La miseria dell'uomo nella via Di sua vita molte bassezze chiede Che per un Dio sarebbe sol follia. Un Dio per uffici e riti cede? Pare. In tutta la storia irretito Vedo nella liturgia si concede. Non da altro modo è appetito. Ma davvero un Dio buono è quello Che per darsi deve venir circuito? Rispondere né so e neppure bello Dire che sia quel Dio a noi maligno. Un Dio è di amore a sé sacello. Dio, io spero tu a me sempre benigno E nel dubbio ogni giorno straziato Ti imploro padre - non mai patrigno. Telegram: De Unamuno Whatsapp:  De Unamuno

On Haecceitas Again

  I believe there is a single transversal category embracing all those subsistentiae of which Richard of St. Victor writes [ HERE ]: subsistentiae quae sunt illae substantiae quas participare non potest aliquid aliud - those subsistentiae of which each is that very substance in which no other being can participate. It is the category expressed by every human being on this planet throughout his or her life: “Here I am. I exist. Me too.”  The following short story beautifully exemplifies this: Nymphomaniac "Ηθος Ανθρωπῳ Δαιμων" A man's character is his demon. (Heraclitus) Men call me a whore. They say I'm a whore. How simple men's minds are. To them, a woman is either a mother, a sister, a saint, or a whore. I'm twenty-five years old. I've been with about two hundred men. I made love for the first time when I was eighteen. I don't remember all their faces. I don't remember all their names. I remember their smell, though. Their bodies. The pleasur...