The Art of Writing

Writing for Business !

2011-12-28T21:21:00.001-08:00

Undoubtedly blogging is fun. You write whatever is on your mind. You can set up blogs on Blogger or Typepad. Blogger seems to be the most user friendly.

I have 39 active blogs on Blogger . I get a lot of traffic from these blogs.

You can put Adsense ads on your blog. Also Adbrite and other affiliate ads and you get paid either PPC or PPS ( Pay Per Click or Pay per Sale ).

Blog Marketing is the latest buzz. If you use a conversational tone you will get a big audience. Never broadcast. Never indulge in self promotion. Never sell. Be altruistic and share your knowledge with the international community !

Wealth or Knowledge should not be accumulated. It should be shared with our brethren. Marx, Jesus and Aurobindo were altruistic and they shared their immense knowledge with their brethren. Let us go after Almighty Love and not after Almighty Mammon !

You can share not only articles written by you, but also your favorite videos and photos dealing with that topic. You can go to social networking sites like Facebook or Google Plus and update your status and tell your friends that you have been blogging, with links pointing back to your blog ! This is the joy of Blog Marketing !

Write about everything under the Sun.

2010-07-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

We have to write about every subject under the Sun. Then only will it be the Art of Writing.

Great dog training tips are given at dog training This website, Ddog training is an expert site which give dog training tips to all dog lovers.

Dogs properly trained are simply great. There are circus performing dogs and dogs of all descriptions !

Ticket America.com has tickets

Ticketamerica.com has allstate arena tickets and for the denver broncos tickets and the soldier field tickets. TicketAmerica.com is the leading website dealing with tickets. Ticketamerica.com has seating charts, tickets and map plus directions. We have tickets for all games for the college season.

Shaw, the master Satirist !

2010-07-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

Shaw was influenced by Annie Besant and Henri Bergson. Bergson postulated the theory of L'Evolution Creatrice or Creative Evolution.

Everything is done by Creative Evolution and its errors are called the Problem of Evil.

"Shaw's seriousness and mock humour run into an incredible, inextricable melange ", remarked Aurobindo.

One of his best quotations

" This earth of ours is a place where the Fool flourishes, where the good and the wise are hated and persecuted, where men and women torment each other in the name of love; where children are enslaved in the name of parental duty and education, where the weak in body are poisoned and mutilated in the name of medical healing & where the weak in character are imprisoned in the name of justice. It is clear to me that this earth is hell and as the Indian revealed to me, we are here to expiate for crimes committed by us in a former existence.

Bhartrihari, The Master Poet !

2010-07-01T07:28:00.001-07:00

He was one of the greatest Sanskrit poets of all time. He was a philosopher-king turned renunciant ( (c. 450-510 CE?)

He dealt with Literature, Philosphy & the Arts.

Initially, it is Wealth that is recognised. Hence about Wealth he wrote

He who has wealth is deemed aristocratic
The scholar, the man who is indeed versatile
The philosopher, the leader and the guide
All qualities are based on Wealth !

A wealthy man without kids is not considered fortunate. Or Fortune is an invisible goddess which no wealth can court !

About Fortune he wrote

He who is fortunate is aristocratic
The scholar and the man versatile
The leader, guide and the tribal chief
For all qualities Fortune is the base !

Even then, it is not perfection. For we find that man's span is one hundred years, of which half is gone as night, half as boyhood and old age. The rest is accompanied by service, loss and pain.
Happiness, it seems, is elusive !

He wrote

One hundred years: one half is stillness of the night,
and half again is gone in boyhood or old age.
In what is left, accompanied by illness, loss and pain,
pleasure is a water bubble, passing breath.

In other words, in contrast to the lives of miserable men, the immortalised poets are the most famous and victorious !

Victorius are the masters, the rasa-siddha poets
Whose body of fame has no fear of age or death.

The true Yogi, the Seer, the Psychic, the Sage is the most fortunate. We find parallel lines in another philosopher, Sankara.

He who recites the sacred syllable Om
He who visualises himsef as the Self Absolute
He who is happy with the Bliss of the Self
Fortune belongs to him; to none else, to none else.

Matter supramentalised ?

2010-07-01T07:22:00.002-07:00

" God descending into materiality is what we call humanity, with Matter as the lowest principle and Absolute Being as the highest " , wrote Aurobindo. He was also one of the greatest writers of all time. In his epic poem, " Savitri ", he depicts the victory of Immortality ( Self Actualisation) over mundane mortality

Everything is done by the divine Conscious Force

A luminous heart of the Unknown is She
A power of Silence in the depths of God
She is the Force, the inevitable word,
The magnet of our difficult ascent,
The Sun from whom we kindle all our suns,
The Light that leans to us from the Unrealised vasts,
The Joy that beckons us from the impossible " ( Savitri)

It is said that at the time of samadhi, his body became golden !

The Song of Myself by Walt Whitman

2010-07-01T07:22:00.001-07:00

Walt Whitman was a transcendentalist. He eulogised the Self. " The Song of Myself " is one of his epic poems. He wondered at Space, Time and Death, the three modes thorough which the Universal expresses Itself

Swiftly I shrivel at the thought of God
At Nature and her marvels - Space, Time and Death !

Then I turn to Thee , O Actual Me,
Lo! Thou gently masterest the orbs
Thou smilest content with Death
And fillest swellest the vastnesses of Space !

From this verse, it is clear that Walt Whitman had philosophic knowledge as he understood the relationship of individual Self to the Supreme Self ! Thee is Actual Me !

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Article writing is the best vocation !

2010-07-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

"Reading maketh a full man
Writing a precise man

And Conference a ready man !"

said Bacon.

Writing can make you precise.

The Internet, peopled by 1.4 billion, is a writer's paradise ! Writers should have blogs and sites and we averr that writing is one of the best professions !. We join the likes of Goethe, Aurobindo, Shakespeare, Kalidasa etc

I was thrilled when my first article was published by Carl Stillman of Access New Age, in 1999, when I started my first dotcom. I have been writing for 9 years now and I have written more than 200 articles, most of them displayed at my site, Eastrovedica, Article Wisdom & Article Gnosis. Article Wisdom has now more than 36 K articles and Article Gnosis in the infancy stage. Eastrovedica has more than 1500 articles.

The power of the pen is mightier than the power of the sword. With the pen you can get the message across to millions !

It is easy to become a writer, but difficult to make a living with it. That is true. But on the Net, you can get paid for writing. Your articles get you the necessary exposure.

All the articles that I wrote are free, but they got me international exposure. My articles allowed me to establish all the eight dotcoms.

The ancients were not wrong when they said that Writing can make one immortal and can survive the
Cosmological Cycles.

Airy Saturn in earthly Virgo !

2010-05-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Airy Saturn in earthly Virgo !

Pullback on Dalal and Wall Streets !

2008-10-14T05:54:00.000-07:00

Link

a sprocket found in the backseat

Poetry Contests... To Bring Out the Poet in You

2008-03-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

- By: Johnsmith Brown, 2008-03-19

Poetry is a beautiful art form that has been successful in getting the appreciation of the world as a whole. Those who can?t enjoy the beauty of a poem can be described as someone who can?t appreciate true beauty. Love poems substantiate this statement. They are the masterpieces of many poets and there are poets who continue to consider their love poems as their best works."

Article Body: "Poems can influence people of all ages because of the incomparable beauty that it holds. Poets are a class of people who are loved and remembered by people through the ages. Love poetry is the best example that supports this statement. Love poetry is more than poems of love. The influence and impact is much more.

Love poetry is a class of poetry that handles love as the theme of the poem. Poets can take their own experiences in love or they can be mere imaginations of love. Whatever it may be, love poems will be appreciated always. This is because each and every human being in this world is in search of true love. Anything that can speak about love will gather their attention. Love poetry is so powerful that, it can help the people to understand love and teach them to love others.

This public acceptance of love poetry has provoked many organizations and web sites to concentrate their interest on love poems. They realized that love poets need more attention and encouragement if they are to be uplifted. With this as the prime aim, web sites conduct online poetry contests.

PoetryCraze.com is one of such web sites that offer contests for love poets on a regular basis. The participants need not pay any fee towards the registration of their name for poetry contest. This is intended to give the necessary chances of growth to the future love poets.

Prizes are given to the winners of the contest. The exposure that they get through these contests is not negligible. In fact their names and poems will be displayed in the site. What else is required for an aspiring poet of the new generation?

The selection of the best poet is done on the basis of the vote. Visitors of the web site are requested to vote for the poet whom they feel is worthy of being rewarded. So there is no partial treatment for any in the web site. The prize is delivered to the one who is elected by the panel of experienced people as the winner. So it is the talent that is praised and appreciated here.

Poetry contests never demand anything from the writers expect sincerity to their work which they are obliged to do. The work should be unique and purely written by the person who claims to be the writer. The rules set and displayed in the site are to be strictly followed.

Selection criteria are set and the participants are supposed to go through the site and understand the terms and conditions. This is meant to avoid confusions and complaints that may arise in future. No particular consideration will be given to any. The individual is judged only on the basis of the talent.

These poetry contests are conducted by the fond lovers of poems. There is no profit oriented work behind this web site. The challenging world is giving a chance to the skilled and talented people. This is surely a blessing to the people who are born with inborn talents.

Roshni is the owner of PoetryCraze, the best poetry contest website on the internet.

How to Build Funds Writing Articles Online

2008-03-18T23:04:00.000-07:00

- By: Noel Swanson, 2008-03-18

The demand for writers has always been great, but with the spread of internet marketing, content writers are now in great demand. Here are some ideas for how to make dollars writing articles on the world wide web.

One of the outcomes of this big demand for writers are some great sites that will pay you directly for your writing. One of the best of this genre is www.associatedcontent.com. But be aware that their standard rate of 3-4 dollars an article is that low because they basically take any writer whether they have credentials and skills or not. But it's a good site to have on your list to keep the grocery and gas money coming in.

What internet employers really need are writers who can create interesting and new content that will bring traffic to their sites and grab and hold customers. On top of that there are web sites that will broker work to writers from other online employers. Get to know these sites because they are a reliable source of income in a pinch. But to get your rate up, also build your reputation and your resume at better paying sites.

Now you will need to write everything you submit yourself as plagiarism will get caught but don't labor at making each article brilliant. If you can produce relatively readable text at around five hundred words each article, keep the spelling and grammar in good shape and meet deadlines, you will do great. And since a lot of sites pay for any kind of content, you can get inspiration for topics by just browsing what other writers are submitting. It isn't ok to plagiarize but its ok to let other writers inspire you just as you will inspire others after you.

A good portion of freelance writers operate in groups, so if you are looking into how make dollars this way, you should do some networking with other writers. Freelance writing groups will always get more work to pass along amongst their members than any individual writer. If you submit articles to the paid sites first then you will have samples that you can show the group of your finished work so they can decide about letting you join.

Sometimes these writers' communities are managed by a strong leader who serves to make sure the work is shared with the writers and keeps a little commission per job for his trouble. Still other writer's communities are just that and writers simply land work and share with others at a lower fee when they have more work in than they can handle. But these writers consortiums also benefit from the huge need for quality content on the internet and these groups are skilled at knowing where to find the good projects online.

Along with these options, there are quite a few sites that are always looking to bring on talented writers. However be aware that these sites are usually passing work to you that they hunted up so your pay might be lower than you might expect. So when you sign on with a site like this, read the terms screens closely so you don't end up doing endless edits and writing more than you agreed to for the money.

Writing can be a solid income using these resources even if it isn't "big money". But this is a good way to get a start and build your ability to write. Writing is a skill that has to be built to write every day and you will become both prolific and able to write strong prose. Then once you get your reputation up, you may be able to get $25 each article from the quality agents. By building your career up from the bottom like this, you can eventually look to make a good income doing what you love to do.

If you haven't made any money online yet then you need to read this article on how to make money with paypal which will give you lots more ideas on how to make your first dollar online.

Article Writing For Money - 3 Ways to Write Articles for Money

2008-03-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

- By: Benjamin Ehinger, 2008-03-06

Do you write on a regular basis and want to turn your article writing into money? Are you looking for a free way to market your website and make more money? You have found the article that will change things for you. You are about to discover how to write articles for money and how to make money from your articles. Read on to find out how.

The first way to make money from writing articles is to get them listed on Google's first page. You can do this by choosing keywords that have a decent amount of traffic and low competition. Then, you write an article with that keyword targeted in the title, once in each paragraph, and in the resource box. This will give you a chance to get your article listed on Google and if you put a link to a website with affiliate products or Google Adsense ads in your resource box, then your traffic will create an income for you.

The second way to use articles to make money is to sell them. Yes, you can write articles and sell them all over the internet. There are people that make money specifically from selling their articles on sites that allow you to do so. The only downfall to this method is that your articles have to be better than if you submit them to free directories and there are certian subjects that these sites don't like so much. The good thing is these sites get request for articles on specific subjects, so all you have to do is some research and write the articles.

The last way you can write articles for money is to write them and turn them into an ebook. Then, you can sell this ebook for $17 each sale in forums, on your website, and with other articles. There are a lot of people out there making money with articles and they all like to take a series of their articles about the same subject and compile them into an ebook. They like to sell these ebooks for $7 to $17 per order and they make a lot of money this way. They even use articles to market these ebooks. You could have 20 of these out there in a year's time.

Now you how to use article writing for money. You can make money by writing and getting listed on Google, selling your articles all over the internet, or you can compile them into an ebook and sell it. Now you have 3 great ways to write articles and make money. Use them and work your way towards a big income day online.

Want to write more articles in less time? Create unique articles about any subject in less than 10 minutes. Find out how right here: Free Offer Sites

The noblest conquest is the conquest by the Pen

2008-02-20T01:14:00.000-08:00

It is said that the pen is mightier than the sword.

How we may ask ? The poets, the writers, the literateurs all had their say in human history. Even the politicians quote poets before beginning a lecture.

What guides a poet, a writer ? It is the Intuitive Mind !

Man has got two types of Mind - the Rational Mind & the Intuitive Mind. All scientific discoveries are the product of the Rational Mind while all epic poems are the products of the Intuitive Mind !

The Intuitive Mind reveals to the writer what to write. It guides the poets. It guides philosophers and prophets !

Revelation, inspiration, intuition, illumination - these are the four faculties of the Intuitive Reason. The Intuitive Reason reveals as these four faculties.

Like Dante's heirophantess Beatrice, there are type eternally feminine, as Goethe divined, to lead the intellect on and on.

So the Intuitive Mind is considered as feminine, while the Rational Mind is considered as masculine, the mind that guided Einstein, Darwin etc. Dante, Goethe and Aurobindo were instructed by the Intuitive Mind. They wrote and conquered the intellectuals ! Hence we say that the noblest conquest is the conquest by the pen !

Bhartrihari's Fear inherent in worldly affairs

2008-02-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

With enjoyment, comes fear of disease
With social position, fear of disfavor
With riches, fear of hostile people (kings)
With honor, fear of humiliation
With power, fear of enemies
With beauty, fear of old age
With scholarship, fear of challengers
With virtue, fear of traducers
With the identification with body, fear of death
Everything in this world is done with fear
Renunciation alone makes one fearless."

Article Source : Bhartrihari

The Origin of a Young God

2008-02-14T08:24:00.001-08:00

“And the splendor of her hips can be measured
by how Śiva at last would lift them
to his lap and there, faultless, she would rest
where even the desires of other women cannot go.

A delicate line of young hair crossing
the knot of her skirt and entering her deep
navel seemed a streak of dark light
from the blue gem centering her belt.

At her waist like an altar, curving and slender,
there were three gentle folds of the skin,
as if a woman in her youth could freshly grow
steps for the God of love to climb.

She with her eyes like dark waterlilies had full breasts
and they were of a light color, with black nipples,
and pressed so closely together not even
the fiber of a lotus could find space between them.”

That’s exactly the kind of poetry the moral police in India today (it could be the Shiv Sena, or the Bajarang Dal, or any one else) would be outraged by, and probably call a strike for (along with the burning down of a library or two). Clearly, according to them, such scandalous thought and writing is corrupting the country’s ancient culture and moral fiber.

Clearly. Except that these stanzas are taken from a translation of Kālidāsa’s magnificent Sanskrit poetic composition, Kumārasambhava (an absolutely brilliant translation by Hank Heifetz). Kālidāsa is undoubtedly one of Sanskrit’s greatest writers, remembered to this day (perhaps 1500 or more years after his time) for his three magnificent plays, two mahākāvya’s and one khandakāvya (extended lyric), which have been translated and rewritten in scores of Indian and western languages, and told and enacted more times than can be counted. Kumārasambhava is a mahākāvya, a great poem, and has eight cantos (or sargas) definitively written by Kālidāsa (with nine more, that may or may not have been written by him). It is the poem of the events leading to the conception of Kumāra (Skanda or Shanmukha or Kārttikeya, who fused with the Tamil Muruga), the eternal youth, and child of Śiva and Pārvati.

The eight sargas start with the birth of Umā (or Pārvati) in the lap of the lord of the Himālayas, Himvan, and moves on to the manifestation of Brahmā, the burning of the god of love, Rati’s lament, achieving the fruit of tapas, Umā to be given in marriage to Śiva, the marriage of Śiva and Pārvati, and the description of Umā’s pleasure (ending in the conception of Kumāra).

Kālidāsa’s presentation of Śiva’s as a lover may have been criticized in India, yet Kālidāsa’s work remains true to the Upanishads. This poem is just one among many other countless works in Sanskrit that unabashedly celebrates the erotic mysticism that was very much an overt part of Indian philosophy and literature. Where there is Kāma (love, desire) there always is Rati (sexual delight), and the two are never apart.

One absolutely outstanding aspect of Heifetz’s translation is his ability to maintain the Sanskrit meter. Classical Sanskrit poetry is written in four-line stanzas, with a definite number of syllables in each stanza. One of the most common Sanskrit meters is the Śloka, which has eight syllables in each quarter (yes, the word Śloka, does not necessarily mean a prayer, but is just a Sanskrit meter). Kumārasambhava uses eight different meters (for eight sargas) including the Śloka meter. Heifetz has incredibly managed, in his translation, to retain the feel and count of these meters. Thus, every stanza flows in a rhythm that Kālidāsa himself intended.

“There the god who can be known in eight forms
fed wood to the fire, itself a form of him,
and, for some unimaginable reason of his own, practiced
tapas, he who himself gives the fruits of it.”

This is a truly outstanding effort at translation, of an immortal poem that celebrates love, life, and our culture.

Read it, even if only to enjoy the absolutely breathtaking poetry. (ISBN 0-520-07126-3, Amazon link)

Posted by Sunil at 8/20/2005 02:52:00 PM

Labels: books, religion

Article Source : http://balancinglife.blogspot.com/2005/08/origin-of-young-god.html

John Dryden's Quotes

2008-02-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

A knock-down argument; 'tis but a word and a blow.
John Dryden

All heiresses are beautiful.
John Dryden

All objects lose by too familiar a view.
John Dryden

All things are subject to decay and when fate summons, monarchs must obey.
John Dryden

And love's the noblest frailty of the mind.
John Dryden

And plenty makes us poor.
John Dryden

Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten.
John Dryden

Beauty, like ice, our footing does betray; Who can tread sure on the smooth, slippery way: Pleased with the surface, we glide swiftly on, And see the dangers that we cannot shun.
John Dryden

Beware the fury of a patient man.
John Dryden

Boldness is a mask for fear, however great.
John Dryden

But far more numerous was the herd of such, Who think too little, and who talk too much.
John Dryden

But love's a malady without a cure.
John Dryden

By education most have been misled; So they believe, because they were bred. The priest continues where the nurse began, And thus the child imposes on the man.
John Dryden

Dancing is the poetry of the foot.
John Dryden

Death in itself is nothing; but we fear to be we know not what, we know not where.
John Dryden

Either be wholly slaves or wholly free.
John Dryden

Even victors are by victories undone.
John Dryden

Fool that I was, upon my eagle's wings I bore this wren, till I was tired with soaring, and now he mounts above me.
John Dryden

For they conquer who believe they can.
John Dryden

For truth has such a face and such a mien, as to be loved needs only to be seen.
John Dryden

Forgiveness to the injured does belong; but they ne'er pardon who have done wrong.
John Dryden

Genius must be born, and never can be taught.
John Dryden

Go miser go, for money sell your soul. Trade wares for wares and trudge from pole to pole, So others may say when you are dead and gone. See what a vast estate he left his son.
John Dryden

God never made His work for man to mend.
John Dryden

Great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide.
John Dryden

Happy the man, and happy he alone, he who can call today his own; he who, secure within, can say, tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
John Dryden

He has not learned the first lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear.
John Dryden

He who would search for pearls must dive below.
John Dryden

Honor is but an empty bubble.
John Dryden

If you be pungent, be brief; for it is with words as with sunbeams - the more they are condensed the deeper they burn.
John Dryden

Ill habits gather unseen degrees, as brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.
John Dryden

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
John Dryden

It is madness to make fortune the mistress of events, because by herself she is nothing and is ruled by prudence.
John Dryden

Jealousy is the jaundice of the soul.
John Dryden

Let grace and goodness be the principal loadstone of thy affections. For love which hath ends, will have an end; whereas that which is founded on true virtue, will always continue.
John Dryden

Look around the inhabited world; how few know their own good, or knowing it, pursue.
John Dryden

Love is love's reward.
John Dryden

Love is not in our choice but in our fate.
John Dryden

Love works a different way in different minds, the fool it enlightens and the wise it blinds.
John Dryden

Never was patriot yet, but was a fool.
John Dryden

Only man clogs his happiness with care, destroying what is with thoughts of what may be.
John Dryden

Pains of love be sweeter far than all other pleasures are.
John Dryden

Reason is a crutch for age, but youth is strong enough to walk alone.
John Dryden

Repentance is but want of power to sin.
John Dryden

Roused by the lash of his own stubborn tail our lion now will foreign foes assail.
John Dryden

Seek not to know what must not be reveal, for joy only flows where fate is most concealed. A busy person would find their sorrows much more; if future fortunes were known before!
John Dryden

Self-defence is Nature's eldest law.
John Dryden

Shame on the body for breaking down while the spirit perseveres.
John Dryden

Successful crimes alone are justified.
John Dryden

The first is the law, the last prerogative.
John Dryden

The intoxication of anger, like that of the grape, shows us to others, but hides us from ourselves.
John Dryden

The sooner you treat your son as a man, the sooner he will be one.
John Dryden

There is a pleasure in being mad which none but madmen know.
John Dryden

They that possess the prince possess the laws.
John Dryden

Time, place, and action may with pains be wrought, but genius must be born; and never can be taught.
John Dryden

To die is landing on some distant shore.
John Dryden

Tomorrow do thy worst, I have lived today.
John Dryden

War is the trade of Kings.
John Dryden

We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.
John Dryden

What passions cannot music raise or quell?
John Dryden

When I consider life, it is all a cheat. Yet fooled with hope, people favor this deceit.
John Dryden

Words are but pictures of our thoughts.
John Dryden

You see through love, and that deludes your sight, As what is straight seems crooked through the water.
John Dryden

Article Source : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_dryden.html

Paradise Lost

2008-02-14T08:04:00.001-08:00

Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
10
Rose out of Chaos. Or if Sion Hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd
Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.
And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first
20
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may assert th' Eternal Providence,
And justifie the wayes of God to men.

Article Source : http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Erbear/lost/pl1.html

Faust

2008-02-14T07:57:00.000-08:00

An analysis of the play by Goethe

This document was originally published in The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization, vol. 11. ed. Alfred Bates. London: Historical Publishing Company, 1906. pp. 41-49.

The principal contrast between the popular play and Goethe's Faust is that, in the former, love and enjoyment bring the hero to ruin, while, in the latter, love and activity are his salvation. All the essential elements of the composition are provided by the popular drama; the main difference made by Goethe is that he represents Faust as being at once inflamed by the sight of Helena at the imperial court, for the whole episode of Helena needed to be more compressed; and again, that Helena, instead of being put forward as a temptation of the Devil, is rather represented by Goethe as one of the objects which Faust, in his restless desires, demands from his evil companion. Mephisto chiefly shows himself as a tempter in the fourth act, when he offers the doctor a crown. In the popular drama Faust refuses it; with Goethe he accepts it, but this incident is charged with a fine moral import; Faust accepts the crown, not for the mere sake of possessing it, but to provide himself with a sphere of activity, and in the end his kingdom is his salvation.

The inner connection in the second part is not always quite clear, but we do not notice this when we see all the marvels spread before us. The effect of this second part is that of a phantasmagoria, and, as in an opera or fairy tale, the incredible and magic element makes us less strict in our demands for careful connection and development of the various parts. Each act and scene is most dramatically conceived, and it only needs abridgment to meet the requirements of the stage. While the first part is not divided into acts and scenes, in the second each division has its peculiar tone, and its definite close. We see here the hand of the stage-manager who knows how the multitude must be satisfied, charmed and held in suspense. The poet moves in a motley, fantastic world, in which figures of Classical and Christian religion, creatures of southern and northern superstition, are all mingled together.

Goethe's Faust savors throughout of the popular sphere in which the story first originated. Yet, in the third act, when Helena appears, the poet realizes somewhat of the grandeur of Greek tragedy. A prose scene in the first part, in which Faust has just heard of Gretchen's misery, and breaks into bitter execrations of Mephisto, shows the same forcible style as a Shakespearean drama, and sounds as if it might be from Schiller's Robbers. Passion is arrayed against passion, and the anger of the one side and the scorn of the other wax intense, with no sparing of coarse, strong language. The same overwhelming effect is produced by the scene in the cathedral, where Gretchen succumbs under the feeling of her guilt, and the horrible babel which stuns her. Very noticeable is the contrast offered by this scene to the earlier and more tender one, in which she prays to the Mater Dolorosa.

A few scenes of the first part are marked by a too close attention to detail, by coarseness, comicality, hostility toward clergy and church; in others we are reminded of poems like Prometheus or Ganymede, and are transported to higher spheres, above the level of earthly joys and earthly struggles. In one part a gentle naturalism holds sway; in another we breathe the idealism of Iphigenie. Sometimes naturalism and idealism are mingled or represented in the same scene in different persons. The two elements are united in the pathetic character of Gretchen, which is essentially a creation of Goethe's earlier manner, dating from the Frankfurt period of his life. He has never created anything more sublime than this ideal picture of innocence, simplicity, warmth and depth of affection; her maidenly reserve at the outset, the spirit of noble purity which breathes around her, her little world of domestic duties, the truly feminine instinct with which she tends her little sister, the natural grace with which she reveals her feelings, the naïve love of ornament natural to a girl of the people; then, the first shadows which fall on this transparent soul, the misgivings roused by Faust's bold address, the presentiment of danger and involuntary shudder felt at Mephisto's presence, her pious anxiety about the spiritual welfare of her lover, her devotion and utter self-surrender to him, her inability to refuse him anything, and, finally, all the fell consequence of her weakness--madness, prison, and death--a fearful transition from the idyllic to the tragical.

Still the charm of innocence clings to Gretchen in the midst of her guilt, and herein the poet shows his wonderful skill; for he does not try to veil or excuse her offense, and yet he fills us with that love of the heroine which purity alone can inspire. The halo of human forgiveness rests on the head of this good soul--as she is called in the second part--who only once erred, and hardly knew that she was erring. In Shakespeare's Ophelia we have the germ of Gretchen's character; only Gretchen rises above Ophelia. Most of the Gretchen scenes are somewhat ritualistic in treatment, not so forcible as the scene in the cathedral, and not so tender and affecting as her monologue. The mad scene in the prison is based upon an extravagant youthful sketch, which was toned down by the poet's maturer art.

Gretchen's female companions, her neighbor, Frau Marthe, and her contemporary Lieschen, are creations of Goethe's naturalistic period. So, too, is the famulus Wagner, the philistine counterpart of Faust, and akin to the old Hanswurst. But the first part was completed as far as possible in the style of Goethe's cultured realism, and in accordance with the typical method of his ripest art, as we find it in Hermann and Dorothea.

The "Prelude on the Stage" contrasts in a typical manner the poet's vocation and the actor's. The songs of the three archangels, which open the "Prologue in Heaven," are an attempt to picture to us the world under its eternal aspects. The suicide scene and the walk on Easter morning afford us typical pictures of human life. The fit of industry which follows, and the affair of the poodle are almost symbolically treated, and Mephisto's character is developed in accordance with the first outlines of it given in the prologue. The poet now aims at closer connection, more exact determination of time, and greater conciseness. Thus the scene in which Gretchen's brother appears and falls by Faust's hand is made to link directly to the Walpurgis-night. The latter was not completed, and the continuation of it afterward suggested by literary satire somewhat lowered this scene in the public estimation.

In the second part typical realism predominates exclusively; only that the realism disappears more and more, and the typical element alone remains, along with a wealth of allegory and personification. The emperor's court contains nothing but typical characters. Three strong men represent the army of spirits in the fourth act. Three penitent sinners from the New Testament stand by Gretchen's side, in order to give a typical aspect to an otherwise individualized picture of erring innocence. The figures, drawn either from ancient mythology, or, as in the Walpurgis-night, from the storehouse of Goethe's imagination, are made extraordinarily characteristic. A free, fine spirit of Romanticism breathes through the scene in the rocky caves of the Aegean sea, where the sirens repose on the cliffs in the moonshine, while Galatea appears in her shell-chariot, inflames the passion of Homunculus, and draws him to his death. A vein of spurious symbolism may, however, be noticed in the second part, in many utterances which would be appropriate enough if they came from Goethe's own lips, but are little consonant with the characters in whose mouth he puts them, and in which he either remains obscure or offends where his meaning is understood. The latter may be observed in the character of Euphorion, Faust and Helena's son, and intended as an impersonation of Byron. Nevertheless, when placed on the stage, Euphorion's graceful youth charms us, and his death affects us deeply.

There is a certain parallelism between the first and second parts. Notes struck in the one are repeated higher up the scale, as it were, in the other, as we should expect from a writer who sets himself to delineate types rather than particular people. Thus in the first part we have a German Walpurgis-night, in the second a classical one; Wagner, Faust's former servant, appears afterward as an independent scholar; an inquisitive student of the first part becomes an arrogant bachelor of arts in the second; Gretchen's wail of despair is turned into a prayer of joy. This parallelism is most observable in the case of Helena, who occupies the same leading position in the second part which Gretchen does in the first. It is not quite clearly brought out in the drama, but must have been a part of the poet's original plan, that the two sinning women should be Faust's good geniuses, who purify and save him from the power of the evil one. Only in the second part we are left to divine for ourselves that the passion with which Helena, like Gretchen, inspires him at first sight, gives way ultimately, like his passion for Gretchen, to nobler feelings. In the drama as it stands there is also considerable abruptness in the sudden transition from Faust as Helena's lover to Faust as the aspiring sovereign of lands wrested from the sea.

Helena stands in twofold contrast; first to the chorus and then to Phorkyas. Helena is the mistress, dignified in her bearing, self-possessed and calm, even in the presence of death; the chorus, on the other hand, is composed of serving women, whose demeanor is the exact opposite in everything. But though Helena can suffer death with placid dignity, the appearance of Phorkyas fills her with horror; for he represents the extreme of ugliness, as she of beauty. The two, in their opposition, are typical of the great contrast between the beautiful and the hideous which pervades creation. Beauty is everything with Helena; her beauty is her character and her faith. Phorkyas Mephisto, on the contrary, is physically and morally hideous, and delights in all malice and wickedness.

A third contrast may be noticed between Helena and Gretchen. The German burgher-maiden is all unconscious; the Greek goddess is throughout self-conscious; she knows her heart, and feels what is coming, and she acts not from impulse but with full reflection. We cannot believe that Goethe intended in Helena to show us beauty only from its evil side; he must also have meant to show us beauty as good, Helena proving a blessing to Faust. We may venture to surmise that the rousing of his creative activity was the legacy which Helena bequeathed to her northern friend.

Wilhelm Meister and Faust are two characters, who, from the emotional, speculative, critical or aesthetic life, pass, under the influence of denying spirits and ideal examples, to a life of useful labor. Both these figures accompanied the poet during the greater part of his life, and both are comparatively good pictures of himself. He was not able to give the last touches of his art to either of them, but Faust came nearer to perfection than Wilhelm Meister. The former represents the scientific, the latter the aesthetic tendency of Goethe's youth. Like Faust, Goethe had in vain sought satisfaction in all the departments of knowledge. Like Faust, he hoped for a short time to find a clue to the mysterious power which binds nature into one whole, in sciences which were of evil fame, in the writings of old chemists and alchemists. Like Faust, he harbored thoughts of suicide. Like Faust, he was not devoid of religious feelings, especially when engaged in contemplating nature as a whole. Like Faust, he had Mephistophelian friends--Merck and Herder, for instance--who made him conscious of his littleness, and thereby gave a stimulus to his efforts. Like Faust, he fell in love with a simple burgher-maiden, and as Gretchen was made miserable by Faust, so Friederike Brion was made miserable by Goethe, though not to such an extent. Like Faust, he always remained conscious of the right path, and though he often went astray, yet he always returned to it. Like Faust, he drew nigh to the Greek gods, and in communion with the immortal creations of Hellenic art and religion found the highest truths dawn upon him. Like Faust, he returned to his northern Fatherland, to a life of activity among his people.

Goethe's contact with the ancient world bore fruit in Germany, though in another sense than with Faust; he no longer found his vocation in political and social activity, but in science and poetry alone. Then, when a friend of equal intellectual rank inspired him with new joy in creation, Faust was among the first tasks that engrossed him. The classical Walpurgis-night, Helena, and the final studies which underlay the last developments of the poem, date from the period in which he practised his hand in Greek rhythms and revived the Greek gods in poetry.

Faust is not intended to resemble Goethe in all points, but he represents Goethe's views in all great questions--in the idea that man is meant to struggle, in the conviction of the salvation to be found in hard service, in the maxim which Faust utters when dying, as the last conclusion of wisdom: "He alone deserves liberty, like life, who daily must win it." Herein he was also in harmony with Schiller, whose Tell declares: "I only really enjoy my life when I win it every day afresh." Both in Wilhelm Meister and in Faust Goethe prizes activity for the common good more highly than the aesthetic and literary interests. Neither the poet, nor the actor, nor the speculative scholar, he seems to think, can attain in their own spheres to such lofty discernment and to such peace of conviction as the man of action. Thus Goethe recommended in poetry what he himself neglected to do in real life.

Article Source : http://www.theatrehistory.com/german/goethe012.html

Write and become immortal !

2008-02-02T00:59:00.000-08:00

It is said that writers are not normally graced by Wealth. " Those who are high up in society are intellectually poor and generally vulgar" declared Schopenhauer.

That may be true. Keats cried in agony

I fall upon the thorns of life
I bleed !

A writer may not be graced by Fortune. But Writing has its positive aspect. Look at Dante, who was a mendicant !

A mendicant, he ate the bitter bread of others
But repaid the meagre gifts
With immortality !

So with writing he repaid the meagre gifts with immortality !

It is said that the pen is mightier than the sword ! Did not Marx, Jesus, Aurobindo turn the course of history with their writings ?

Does not every language quote their poets ?

A writer writes his thoughts. On the Net he writes in blogs & sites. His ideas are passed on to posterity. By imparting his ideas to posterity, he becomes immortal !

So, take up the pen, write and become immortal !

Use the pen and get traffic !

2008-02-01T03:05:00.000-08:00

The question is How Writing can be used in Business ?

Yes, it can be. Like the gift of the gab, or the divine gift of articulate speech, writing can work wonders ?

But how? the question is asked. By Article Writing, which can explode your business !

The ultimate promotional tool is the e-article. If you can write well, you are bound to succeed on the Internet !

Write articles and submit them to the article directories. You can get a promotional list of article directories here
http://www.eastrovedica.com/html/articlesubmissioncenters.htm

Then what happens ? If you submit your articles, they will be downloaded by the e-publishers and the webmasters and published on their sites ! Your resource box and the links contained therein will pull hits to your sites and blogs !

Is Article Marketing the marma or rather the main secret weapon on the Internet ? Yes, it is ! Try it for yourself and you will be rewarded !

Bacon, the father of literature ?

2007-12-07T22:57:00.000-08:00

Shelley opined that Bacon was a poet ! Look at his poetic prose

" There is an abstruse astrologer that saith, were it not for two things, no human being would live.

First, the fixed stars ever maintain like distance from one another and never move furthur asunder and that the diurnal motion perpetually keepeth time ". How correct was Shelley. This is poetic prose at its best !

The Song of Myself by Walt Whitman

2007-11-27T01:17:00.001-08:00

How to earn revenue from writing !

2007-11-16T01:00:00.000-08:00

It is easy to become a writer, but difficult to make a living out of it !

This statement is true. Anyone can become a writer, but it is difficult to make a living with it.

Now with the rise of the World Wide Web, writers can earn money blogging and setting up websites. The Net is a written medium and hence a writer's Paradise.

You can sign up for blogger and create blogs. You know the statement " We are good at something", meaning that all are experts in some field or other.

So know your area of expertise and set up blogs. Sign up for Google Adsense and post Adsense ads on your blog. You can set up an umpteen no of blogs. These ads will fetch you revenue. I have 21 blogs and I am getting good revenue from them. I have 5 sites and I get good adrevenue from them also. This is how writing can be used for bringing home the bacon!

Not only Google Adsense ads but other ads you can put on the site. Adbrite ads is another source of revenue for me. Also other ads. There are many ads. PPC or Pay Per Click, PPL or Pay per Lead, or PPS, Pay per Sale. Shareasale.com, register.com, Amazon - all these can give you PPS or PPL ads.

Poetry Therapy

2007-02-17T23:00:00.000-08:00

It is Poetry Therapy which saved me. During all these years of tension and strife, Poetry alone gave me solace.

When I fell upon the thorns of Life and bled, Poesis saved me. It gave me comfort.

It gave Bliss as Wordsworth described it

With Bliss infeffable

I felt the sentiment of Being spread around

Over all that moveth and all that lieth still

It opened the gates to Heaven. No wonder one great author called it " The Healing Touch of Poetry "!

Shaw, the master Satirist !

2007-02-12T02:28:00.000-08:00

Shaw was influenced by Annie Besant and Henri Bergson. Bergson postulated the theory of L'Evolution Creatrice or Creative Evolution.

Everything is done by Creative Evolution and its errors are called the Problem of Evil.

"Shaw's seriousness and mock humour run into an incredible, inextricable melange ", remarked Aurobindo.

One of his best quotations

" This earth of ours is a place where the Fool flourishes, where the good and the wise are hated and persecuted, where men and women torment each other in the name of love; where children are enslaved in the name of parental duty and education, where the weak in body are poisoned and mutilated in the name of medical healing & where the weak in character are imprisoned in the name of justice. It is clear to me that this earth is hell and as the Indian revealed to me, we are here to expiate for crimes committed by us in a former existence.

Gems from the Poet-King, Bhartrihari

2007-02-11T05:35:00.000-08:00

With Night and Day as alternating pieces of dice,
On the Chess board of the world, Time plays human beings as pawns !

Poets Self Actualised are the truly triumphant
As their Fame-bodies knoweth no fear of disease or death

Those devoid of learning, penance, charity
Wisdom, character, qualities, Ethics
They burden mighty Mother Earth
As animals disguised as men!

Bhartrihari, The Master Poet !

2007-02-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

He was one of the greatest Sanskrit poets of all time. He was a philosopher-king turned renunciant ( (c. 450-510 CE?)

He dealt with Literature, Philosphy & the Arts.

Initially, it is Wealth that is recognised. Hence about Wealth he wrote

He who has wealth is deemed aristocratic
The scholar, the man who is indeed versatile
The philosopher, the leader and the guide
All qualities are based on Wealth !

A wealthy man without kids is not considered fortunate. Or Fortune is an invisible goddess which no wealth can court !

About Fortune he wrote

He who is fortunate is aristocratic
The scholar and the man versatile
The leader, guide and the tribal chief
For all qualities Fortune is the base !

Even then, it is not perfection. For we find that man's span is one hundred years, of which half is gone as night, half as boyhood and old age. The rest is accompanied by service, loss and pain.
Happiness, it seems, is elusive !

As he wrote

One hundred years: one half is stillness of the night,
and half again is gone in boyhood or old age.
In what is left, accompanied by illness, loss and pain,
pleasure is a water bubble, passing breath.

In other words, in contrast to the lives of miserable men, the immortalised poets are the most famous and victorious !

Victorius are the masters, the rasa-siddha poets
Whose body of fame has no fear of age or death.

The true Yogi, the Seer, the Psychic, the Sage is the most fortunate. We find parallel lines in another philosopher, Sankara.

He who recites the sacred syllable Om
He who visualises himsef as the Self Absolute
He who is happy with the Bliss of the Self
Fortune belongs to him; to none else, to none else

Vivekananda - The Cosmic Poet !

2007-02-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

Vivekananda was a genius, in whom intellectuality and divinity found the perfect blend.

In his poem ' The Hymn of Cosmic Consciousness " , he proclaims the transcendental experience he had.

" In the void of Mind involute

The fleeting Universe rises and floats

And sinks back in the current "I" "

He declared that all men are infinite and our journey on earth is to manifest that infinity.

He declared that it is a sin to call man a sinner.

He declared that by Vedas no books are meant. Kant's greatest achivement was that he found that Space, Time and Causality are modes of thought, but Vedanta, the Science of Being, knew this long ago and called it Maya.

The Universe is thought and Vedas are the words expressing that Thought !

Osho, the Mystic

2007-02-05T20:45:00.000-08:00

Osho was a genius, who was a philosophic rebel. The philosopher is a rebel, he is against the outworn fetishes of a purblind social system !

Osho said that both East and West are extremes. In the East sex is suppressed and in the West sex is free !

He advocated following none and in following one's own Conscience.

His excellent book " Be Still and Know " is an excellent treatise on Mysticism. He postulated a region called " No Mind ", the equivalent of Cosmic Consciousness of transcendental philosophy.

Robert Burns, Poet Laureate !

2007-02-05T02:46:00.001-08:00

This was another Poet Laureate who graced our Planet Earth, Robert Burns !

A Bard's Epitaph1786

Is there a whim-inspired fool,

Owre fast for thought, owre hot for rule,

Owre blate to seek, owre proud to snool,

Let him draw near;

And owre this grassy heap sing dool,

And drap a tear.

Is there a bard of rustic song,

Who, noteless, steals the crowds among,

That weekly this area throng,

O, pass not by!

But, with a frater-feeling strong,

Here, heave a sigh.

Is there a man, whose judgment clear

Can others teach the course to steer,

Yet runs, himself, life's mad career,

Wild as the wave,

Here pause-and, thro' the starting tear,

Survey this grave.

The poor inhabitant below

Was quick to learn the wise to know,

And keenly felt the friendly glow,

And softer flame;

But thoughtless follies laid him low,

And stain'd his name!

Reader, attend! whether thy soul

Soars fancy's flights beyond the pole,

Or darkling grubs this earthly hole,

In low pursuit:

Know, prudent, cautious, self-control

Is wisdom's root.

Rabindranath Tagore

2007-02-05T02:31:00.000-08:00

About Tagore, W B Yeats once said " There have been great poets, but none his equal "

Mind Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Aurobindo Ghosh

2007-02-05T01:20:00.000-08:00

" God descending into materiality is what we call humanity, with Matter as the lowest principle and Absolute Being as the highest " , wrote Aurobindo. He was also one of the greatest writers of all time. In his epic poem, " Savitri ", he depicts the victory of Mortality by Immortality or Self Actualisation.

Everything is done by the divine Conscious Force

A luminous heart of the Unknown is She
A power of Silence in the depths of God
She is the Force, the inevitable word,
The magnet of our difficult ascent,
The Sun from whom we kindle all our suns,
The Light that leans to us from the Unrealised vasts,
The Joy that beckons us from the impossible " ( Savitri)

It is said that at the time of samadhi, his body became golden !

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

2007-02-05T01:08:00.000-08:00

It is said that Germany's greatest poet studied Sanskrit to understand that master Epic Poem ' The Shakuntala ' by India's Shakespeare, Kalidasa. In Shakuntala, he glimpsed the absoluteness of poetry.

He was a true Yogi. He died like a Yogi, exclaiming " Light, light, more light ".

Like Milton and Dante, Goethe is classified with one central achievement, the Faust, a dramatic poem, which depicted the Titanic Man or the Master scholar, like Augustus Caesar, Prometheus, Mohammed, Goetz von Berlingen. Goethe drew his inspiration from the great representatives of the Nature Philosophy of the Renaissance - Campanella, Paracelsus & Giordano Bruno.

Dante's Divina Comedia

2007-02-05T01:05:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest writers of all time was Dante, who wrote the Divine Comedy. He recorded his psychologicl mystic experiences as journeys through the Inferno ( Hell ), Purgatorio ( purgatory ), & Final Beatitude ( Paradiso or Heaven ). The Divine Comedy is called Divine because of its superhuman beauty.

He was a scholar and astrologer. To Dante, Astrology was the noblest of all sciences.
. He drew a parallel between the seven revolving heavens and the seven liberal arts in his Convivio. He gave Grammar to Moon and Dialectic to Mercury. In Philosophy, he classified the seven reprehensible actions as the Seven Deadly Sins.

In his De Monarchia, he spoke about the One World Government. He declared that for World Peace to manifest, the best solution is the One Government. O happy race of men, heavenly peace on earth if all the hearts of men are ruled by the Love that rules Heaven !

Learning is the Mother of all Virtue !

2007-02-04T22:15:00.000-08:00

"Learning is the mother of all virtue" said Montaigne, the Sceptic.

The Bible says " Righteous heart seeketh knowledge ". Islam also gives priority to Learning " The ink of the scholar is greater than the blood of the martyr. He who reads is handsome in the sight of God " !

To Indians, Wisdom and He are synonyms. The distinction between knowledge and Wisdom is made. Knowledge is of things; Wisdom is about the Absolule alone !

Thou art Wisdom
Thy Form the fourfold Veds
Thou art the End of Wisdom !

Vidya sthwam
Vedaroopasthwam
Vedaneeyasthwmevacha !

The Jewish Kabbalah is another treatise on Wisdom. Albert Pyke remarked about the Kabbalah " One is stunned while entering the sanctuary of the Kabbalah, at finding the doctrine so simple, so logical and at the same time so absolute "

Kabbalah, Yoga, Zen, Gnosticism, Sufism - all these mystic schools are the figurative representatives of the royal Solomon and personify Wisdom !

Content which connects all !

2007-01-31T22:21:00.000-08:00

We are writing about Philosophy, the scientia scientiarum, or the Science of all sciences. Locke called Ontology the Philosophia Prima ( the First Science ) & Hobbes called Metaphysics the same. Wisdom is the content that connects the Cosmos, content which illumines as well as entertains. Wisdom is greater than riches, all things desirable are not comparable to Her !

Z Files, an instant success !

2007-01-31T21:36:00.000-08:00

The Z Files was well received and became an instant success. The first article which was published was my " Vedic Numerology I ", which was appreciated by the multitude.

I had also published articles by other authors. The subscriber base grew to the presesnt 40 K.

The Z Files is meant to be a New Age Encyclopaedia, sort of Occultopaedia

My Ezine, the Z Files

2007-01-31T09:21:00.000-08:00

My ezine, the Z Files, was launched in 1999 and now it has a large subscriber base of 40000 subscribers. I was a bit apprehensive about starting the ezine, but got excellent support from my cyber-friend, Dr Cheryl Golden, who said " This ezine is wonderful and full of ideas. I know it will be received well ". She was proved right as subscriptions galore were received via email.

My ezine is a virtual encyclopaedia dealing with the Occult, the psychic sciences. You can read all about Yoga, World Mysticism, Astrology, Numerology, Gemology, Pranic Therapy etc. Marketing is not excluded, as Marketing is defined as the lifeblood of any enterprise !

It was writing which saved me. There is a saying Vidya Rakshathi Rakshitha, meaning that Wisdom saves those who save Her !

My first article

2007-01-30T08:53:00.000-08:00

My first article was called " Vedic Numerology Lesson 1 ". Carl Stillman of www.accessnewage.com was the first person to publish my articles ! I was thrilled with joy when he said thank you for your articles.

I was unaware of this type of gaining exposure till I read some marketing experts who averred that writing is equal to free advertising. If my 3 sites are PR4, I attribute it to writing which brought immense traffic ( www.eastrovedica.com, www.articlewisdom.com & www.astrologiavedica.com )

So, dear friends, take up the pen and write !

Improve your writing skills by reading !

2007-01-29T07:16:00.000-08:00

Writing skills can be improved by reading.

Only Scholarship can give rise to both writing and speaking skills.

May I quote the great Longfellow

The scholar and the world, the endless strife
The discord in the harmonies of life
The love of learning, the sequestered nooks
And the sweet serenity of books
The market place, eager love for gain
Whose aim is vanity, whose end is pain !

How to Write a Better Weblog

2007-01-27T19:32:00.000-08:00

by Dennis A. Mahoney
Published in: Community, Writing | No discussion

There’s been a recent retread of the weblogging phenomenon following a few articles at PC Mag, Time, and The Morning News. After posting my own short list of things that ought to be banned from weblogs, I realized that a list of things to be encouraged would be more useful. Some people are new to weblogging. Others want to raise the bar. In the end, everybody wants better sites, and some of these suggestions might help.

The bulk of this advice focuses on writing, which is generally at the heart of weblogs. All of them are obvious yet often ignored, to the detriment of both the readers and the writers. They’re aimed at people trying to improve the general appeal of their weblogs, but folks writing privately for friends and family might also find them useful. We’ll begin with an example.

Professional vs. Amateur
The professional writer writes:

New York is magnificent in spring.

The amateur writer writes:

I know this is a cliché nowadays, especially after 9/11, but I live in New York, which is much cleaner and safer now because of Giuliani, who really ought to be president after handling the crisis so well, and I know I’ve had some issues in the past with the mayor’s handling of the NYPD in regard to African Americans and his war against art involving sacred religious icons and feces (hello!? freedom of expression!?), but when all is said and done, New York, as maybe the best example of the ‘melting pot’ etc. etc., is a great city, especially when it starts getting warmer and people go outside more, like around March or April.

The amateur reads the professional and cannot bear the understatement. The professional reads the amateur, gives up after the word “nowadays,” and decides that he/she has been video–gamed to idiocy; the amateurs are hopeless; this new wave will be the last.

Not true. Amateurs are writing as they’ve always written. Self-consciousness, self-doubt, awkwardness, and overcompensation are perennial hallmarks of the beginning writer. The reason today’s amateurs seem more profoundly un–profound could be a simple matter of exposure.

There used to be impenetrable gatekeepers. Now, CNN roundtables, documentaries, independent films, MTV, and the web—which has no gatekeepers in most countries—are broadcasting every poorly crafted phrase and half–cooked idea imaginable. Patience, readers. All is not lost.

Great writing can’t be taught, but atrocious writing is entirely preventable.

The Rules
There are, in fact, rules—even online. Rules are not restrictions. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, rhythm, focus, syntax, and structure aren’t especially romantic terms, until you get to know them. Writers want to make sense. They want to move the reader. It ain’t never gonna happen if you got busted paragraphs, mistaken punctuation and, bad rhythm, not to mention kreative spelling: see? Clarity is key. Learn the rules. Break ’em later.

The best rules can’t be stated, but you can learn them by reading excellent writing. Develop an ear. If you know what works, you’ll start to emulate it. Conversely, it’s good to study truly horrendous language, stuff that makes you embarrassed for those responsible. You’ll find yourself mortally afraid of—and automatically avoiding—the same mistakes in your own writing. Hemingway said, “The most essential gift for a good writer is a built–in shock–proof shit-detector.” (They’re cheap if you haven’t already got one.) This is especially important for web writers, most of whom are publishing without the benefit of editors.

Declarative sentences are good. Web readers demand pith.

Bold statements are dangerous, but they won’t kill you. Timidity will—or at least your traffic. Everyone has a hazy opinion or two. The writer’s goal is clarity. Vague feelings or ideas don’t have to be vaguely written. Imagine two sites with similar descriptions of an indescribable sensation. Which would you remember:

A: “Her physical affections made his world feel somehow different and indescribably alive.”

B: “She kissed him with her tongue until the leaves on the trees, the soles of his shoes, and even his thoughts, felt like happy tongues.”

First–person point of view is not the only point of view. I should be necessary, or else avoided. This is not to condemn first person, but to suggest that it needn’t be the default choice. If first-person perfectly suits your subject matter, use it. But maybe second– or third–person is more effective. Consider your options.

The advice “write only what you know” increases the likelihood that you will know the same things forever.

Offer Something New
And are you attempting to produce quality material, or just killing time? If you’re killing time, O.K., but don’t be startled when your audience is small and no one links to you. Instead of publishing disconnected diversions (by the way, look at this, check it out, here you go, really cool), connect the dots or offer a full opinion.

Better yet, take The Nick Hornby Challenge. In High Fidelity, the narrator is described as a professional critic. He’s good at it. Music criticism is what he does. Then he starts an independent label and produces a record made by a couple of talented, shoplifting skate punks in order to, as his girlfriend says, “put something new into the world.”

The web is a tremendous hodgepodge of media. There are sites about books, sites about music, and sites about sites. Plenty of weblogs center on consuming and critiquing other people’s work, and all this recycling and redistribution has its place—a very important place that we’ll make note of later on. But why not make something new? Instead of linking to a few articles every day, write one. Instead of showcasing and discussing the latest designs, design something. You’ve got this absolutely batty opportunity of instant global publishing. Publish! The world is your oyster!

Amuse Your Readers
If you want to share an anecdote or story from your life, pretend the readers weren’t there. Because they weren’t. “You had to be there” never makes a joke funny.

Readers crave your anecdotes and stories. They really do. So give ‘em the whole megillah. Instead of, “The party was a riot!” or “I’m depressed today,” carefully explain why. Elaborate. Parties and depression are perfectly good writing subjects. The Great Gatsby, for instance, has plenty of both.

Anything makes a good subject, as long as you take your time and crystallize the details, tying them together and actually telling a story, rather than offering a simple list of facts. Do readers really want to know how miserable you are? Yes. But they’re going to want details, the precise odor of your room, why you haven’t showered in a week, or how exactly somebody broke your heart. One–liners won’t suffice.

At the same time, you don’t want to over–explain yourself. Understatement can be thunderous, or humorous, or heartbreaking. Or all three.

Have a sense of humor. Everything is funny. Being gay is funny. Being straight is funny. Being American is funny. It’s OK to laugh at things. Making light of serious situations or emotions doesn’t have to be disrespectful or hurtful. And just because something is funny doesn’t mean it has to be light. Example: “When the kidnapper called the blind woman, he told her that she’d never see her son again.” Some of the best humor is heavy.

Being a writer is funny. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Have a thick skin. If your site gets singled out for attack by some malicious web devil, relax. You’ve gone public and you have to expect both rational and irrational criticism. Listen, people rag on Shakespeare all the time. If you’re a genuine talent, there’ll be plenty of people complimenting your efforts. If someone has a bona fide gripe with something you’ve produced, pay attention—it’s worth considering. If someone has a petty gripe or simply gets nasty, let it go. Get back to producing your site. If novelists spent their time responding to negative reviews, we’d be fresh out of novels.

Beyond Wired
One popular complaint about weblogs is that they all link to the same sites, over and over and over. Sometimes that’s true and sometimes it isn’t. But if you do find yourself linking to a Wired article that’s already been noted on ten other sites, you might consider finding something else.

Sharing great discoveries is largely why weblogging got so hot and sultry in the first place. Big, heavily funded sites weren’t acknowledging the grace notes and hidden talents of the web, so it was up to webloggers. For some webloggers, it still is. Wired doesn’t need your help as much as undiscovered sites, which may be offering equally good (or better) material.

Successful Weblogging
Producing a successful weblog, however you define that, is tough. Instead of money, fame, and Jacuzzis full of sexy nude readers, you’ll probably feel like you’re shouting in outer space. And you probably will be. In 1994, you could hook a thousand readers if you wrote about the mold underneath your refrigerator. Now, you’re lucky to get a hundred regulars, even if your work is excellent.

No matter what your audience size, you ought to write as if your readership consisted of paid subscribers whose subscriptions were perpetually about to expire. There’s no need to pander. Compel them to re–subscribe.

As the beginning of this article noted, a big audience isn’t everybody’s goal, and most of these suggestions are intended for people working to expand their readership. As for actually achieving that expansion, it’s back to the hard sell.

The days when simply having a website equated to visibility are over. The average person doesn’t even know to look for weblogs. When someone does, there’s an array of choices so endless that finding your site will largely be a stroke of luck.

Links and word of mouth can go a long way, but don’t expect a big following right off the bat. You might never get a following. More than ever, you’d better be doing this to satisfy yourself, because it could be your only reward. But if your goal is to satisfy readers, satisfying yourself is a good start.

Learn More
Related Topics: Community, Writing

About the Author
Dennis A. Mahoney writes daily at www.0format.com

Pen's might

2007-01-26T06:32:00.000-08:00

The pen is mightier than the sword. So true. Particularly in the Blogosphere, where the power of the pen is amplified by the keyword ! Writers have influenced history, more than the men of the sword. According to Indian philosphy, there is not a philosopher who is not a poet. Writing can survive the cosmological cycles.

Another verse says like this

A fool is respected only in his own house
A landlord only in his village
A king only in his kingdom
Whereas a writer is extolled everywhere !