Phillip Mann – writer, teacher and theatre director

I want to begin with a rather special poem, one which means a great deal to me and which I used to introduce WULFSYARN – A Mosaic. The poem was composed by the Greek poet Konstantin P Kavafi (1863-1933) and the version I wish to share with you is a recension composed after puzzling over the poem for a long time and considering various translations of it.

‘Che fece…il gran rifiuto’

For some people there comes a day
when they must declare the great YES
or the great NO. He who has the YES
ready within him is clear, and saying it

moves forward in honour to fulfilment.
He who refuses, does not regret. Asked again,
he would still say NO, and that NO, the right NO,
condemns him for the rest of his days.

The title comes from Dante’s Inferno.

Kavafi in a few words has managed to say something very perceptive about the crises and successes which Life presents. One of the great enigmas of life is that sometimes we do not know YES from NO. Affirmation is not enough. The YES must come from the core of our being, just as assuredly as the NO, all too easily, does.

And of course, the YES does not always lead to happiness, but perhaps to something deeper. I am thinking of Oedipus.  For though he is innocent and sought to avoid his fate, he nevertheless accepts his guilt when the truth concerning the man whom he killed at the place where three roads meet and the woman whom he subsequently married, is revealed.

It was thoughts such as these which led me to choose this the poem to introduce Wulfsyarn, for the book is about a man who was profoundly ignorant of his own nature and the result was calamity.

In these days when we have acquired a deep distrust of politicians, having seen for ourselves the ways in which many, having achieved responsible status, are prepared to milk the system to their own advantage, while others, heedless or ignorant of the corrosive effects of power, are prepared to declare war… in these days we may well look for those leaders who, having a deep perception, are able to move forward ‘in honour to fulfilment’ as Kavafi says and which may require them to say “Mea culpa” and so put an end to lies and obfuscation.

While I can not claim to be a Buddhist, I am reminded of the first time I saw the Dalai Lama and felt something akin to recognition accompanied by an awareness that I was in the presence of an honest man. I felt safe. Later, talking this over with others who had been present at the Wellington Town Hall, I found that they had a similar reaction.

Returning to Kavafi’s poem for a moment, I feel that it directs us back to something very ancient: to a time when distinctions were clearer, when polarities were more evident and everything was simpler. Today we are more aware of the different shades of grey which accompany every action and decision. Writing, whether it makes us laugh or cry or leads us to swim in alien seas, is a bringing-to-order, a clarification of experience. To put that another way: it seems to me that writing does not provide answers to questions, for that would be propaganda, but it does help us ask the right questions and understand better the distinction between YES and NO.

What’s New on the Site?

I have added a new page which I have called Drama Studies. This is mainly for those who studied Drama with me at Victoria University and the New Zealand Drama School, but of course anyone else is welcome to browse and to use the exercises that I describe.

Just a word of caution for those who may be coming to these things for the first time. Drama exercises are not games. The emotions they evoke are genuine, albeit transitory. They can touch deep recesses in our being, and so one has to be careful.  The golden rule is always to bring an exercise to a proper closure, and to return to the present with an awareness and an understanding of the journey that has been taken. Treat the imagination with deep respect, for it is one of our most powerful faculties. And of course, ENJOY the adventure.

I will gradually add more exercises.

I have also begun to add some short stories and a few more poems. See The Hero and The Trumpet from Tales from the Out of Time Café.

Other Books

If you are looking for a book which reveals the belief patterns of bygone civilizations such as Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and explores their relevance to today, then look no further than The Future of the Ancient World: essays on the history of consciousness by Jeremy Naydler (Inner Traditions 2009) It is simply superb. Each essay is complete in its self, but each is also a distinct tile in a complex and fascinating mosaic.

In the introduction Naydler states “ …today’s ‘common sense’ view of the world in which what is real is equated with what has material existence and is therefore best known and understood through the  methods of contemporary materialistic science, is a narrow and sadly reduced view of the world compared to that of the ancients.” In the essays that follow he reveals this ancient consciousness in all its splendour, emphasizing the supreme value which it placed on maintaining close and personal contact with the spirit world… that is the world beyond  our immediate senses, a world without which we are incomplete.

This is not a religious book in a specific, programmatic sense, nor does it preach. It does, however, seek to awaken, and its concern is with consciousness on all levels.

To gain some idea of Jeremy Naydler’s technique we need look no further than chapter two, The Heart of the Lily, in which he focuses on our changing perception of the plant world, contrasting “the ancient awareness of the lily as bearer of symbolic meanings, with the modern scientific awareness of the lily as no more than the physical organism whose structure is determined by its specific DNA.”

After exploring the iconography of the lily in different ancient civilizations and showing how it was it was an important part of their spiritual awareness, he reaches an important conclusion. Though our contemporary world-view may impose certain boundaries on our understanding, we do, nevertheless, have the freedom to cross those boundaries and by so doing arrive at a very different kind of knowing; one in which the perceiver “travels into the interior of the perceived. This interior realm is ultimately transcendent of an individual’s subjectivity. … it is rather the divine ground where subject and object meet. And surely it is here, if anywhere, that we reach the heart of the lily.” (The italics are mine.)

The book also presents interesting and challenging insights into ancient Egyptian religion. The writing is graceful and lucid. The ideas are exciting and important. This is one of the most compelling books I have read for a long time. I can almost guarantee that after reading it you will look at the world through brighter eyes…. And you will want to know more.

And Finally

Here’s a little puzzle I use in The Disestablishment of Paradise. For those of you who like such things, have a go. There is no trickery. It is pure logic. I give you twelve small balls which appear identical, and I give you a perfect balance with which to weigh them against one another. I tell you that one of the balls is slightly heavier or slightly lighter than the others. You are allowed three weighings only, and at the end of the third weighing you must be able to show which ball is the odd one out and whether it is lighter or heavier. Good luck.