January 14, 2010

When, again, the Waters were changed

Once upon a time, Khidr, the teacher of Moses,

Warned mankind that at a certain date, all water 

In the world not specifically hoarded, would disappear,

Replaced by water which would drive men mad.

Only one man listened.  He collected water, and stored it

In  a secure place.  On the appointed date, the waterfalls

Stopped, then resumed their flow.  The man went

To his retreat and drank only his preserved water.

After some days, lonely, he returned to his village,

And found that people had no memory either of what

Had happened, or of having been warned.  They were

Hostile, and he realized they thought that he was mad.

He returned to his retreat and drank his own water.

Finally, however, unable to bear the loneliness

This imposed on him, he took the decision to drink

The new water.  He drank and became like the rest. 

He forgot about his store of special water, and   

His fellows rejoiced that by some strange miracle,

A madman had been restored to sanity.¹

In the twenty-first century, the United States

Proudly vaunted to the world its own democracy,

Freedom, sense of justice, benevolence, and even

Its exceptional intent not to have an empire.

The children of light, it said, had been attacked

On 9/11, by occult, irrational forces of darkness bent

On its destruction.  Phoenix-like, it had risen from

The ashes, and would eventually triumph over evil.

It would use the opportunity, it said, to extend

The benefits of freedom, democracy, development,

Free markets, and free trade to every corner of the world.²

The terrorist threat was ubiquitous and without end.

Then, there was Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen,

More than 725 military bases across the globe, nuclear weapons,

“Smart bombs,” unmanned drones, secret prisons, torture,

Indefinite detention, a missile system, citizen surveillance.

There was a presumption of limitless economic growth,

Even though the planet was understood to be finite.

There were lies, violations of domestic and international law,

Support of repressive regimes, military defense of oil pipelines.

There was no count of enemy casualties, and even

The coffins of dead American soldiers were hidden

From the public.  “Shock and awe” over Baghdad

Seemed but another episode in a long running TV series.   

Some wondered whether the water

In the United States should be tested.

A Dervish Tale

Indian author Idries Shah (1924-1996) was a major contributor in the introduction of Sufism to the West.  In Tales of the Dervishes – teaching stories of the Sufi masters of the past thousand years (1967), Shah recounts the following story, entitled “When the Waters were changed”:

“Once upon a time, Khidr, the teacher of Moses, called upon mankind with a warning.  At a certain date, he said, all the water in the world which had not been specially hoarded, would disappear.  It would then be renewed, with different water, which would drive men mad.

Only one man listened to the meaning of this advice.  He collected water, and went to a secure place where he stored it, and waited for the water to change its character.

On the appointed date, the streams stopped running, the wells went dry, and the man who had listened, seeing this happening, went to his retreat and drank his preserved water.

When he saw, from his security, the waterfalls again beginning to flow, this man descended among the other sons of men.  He found that they were thinking and talking in an entirely different way from before; yet, they had no memory of what had happened, nor of having been warned.  When he tried to talk to them, he realized that they thought that he was mad, and they showed hostility or compassion, not understanding.

At first, he drank none of the new water, but went back to his concealment, to draw on his supplies, every day.  Finally, however, he took the decision to drink the new water because he could not bear the loneliness of living, behaving and thinking in a different way from everyone else.  He drank the new water, and became like the rest.  Then, he forgot all about his own store of special water, and his fellows began to look upon him as a madman who had miraculously been restored to sanity.”

References

1.         Shah, Idries. 1967. Tales of the Dervishes – teaching stories of the Sufi masters of the past thousands years. New York, N.Y.: Penguin/Compass.

Summarized in Francoise Hall, 2004. November 9 (1 page, unpublished).

The tale as recounted by Idries Shah is reproduced on page 3 of the present document.

2.         United States, Department of State, 2002. “The national Security Strategy of the United States.” September 17.

In its Introduction, the document proclaims:

Page 1:

“The great struggles of the twentieth century between liberty and totalitarianism ended with the decisive victory for the forces of freedom – and a single sustainable model for national success: freedom, democracy, and free enterprise.”

Page 2:

“The United States will use this moment of opportunity to extend the benefits of freedom across the globe.  We will actively work to bring the hope of democracy, development, free markets, and free trade to every corner of the world.”

The quotes are in Wolin, Sheldon S. 2008. Democracy Incorporated – managed democracy and the specter of inverted totalitarianism. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University. Pages 85 and 306.

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