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3/29/2008

Carmen, a Gipsy Passion


Last night I went to see the Opera "Carmen" from Bizet in the Plaza La Paz ("Peace") which most resembles the Coliseum in Seville, with its Roman arcs and giant sculptures, on a night where many were rather trembling in fear of the "Day of the Combatant" which is supposedly followed by violent acts and manifestations of the most irrational ones, leaving this day as the Day of the Delinquents, not combatants. But the only act that we actually witnessed to be violent was the final one, when Carmen's lover inserts a knife on her back and she dies. There, I already told you the end. I didn't want to be a spoiler, but it was already written in her name. Carmen comes from "Carma" which means Fate, a destiny, or more specifically a deed from the acts one committed, i.e. cause/effect into action. Although I think we must fear more the intra-family violence then any other manifestation because it comes from a place of power. And that's when I think of the manifestations that are now in Tibet. They weren't supposed to be violent, since the Dalai Lama, himself a Nobel Prize of Peace, has to be such a noble price for peace, when he represents the non-violence manifestation and yet he's in the epicentre (doesn't matter how much he says he doesn't support the violence of his people) of that same violence he so much fought to avert. But when we arrive to a place where negotiations cannot be done verbally, it's when we must not fear but act (with no violence, of course) and that's why it hurts so much to see so many violent acts being done to people who should supposedly be living in freedom and in peace. And I mean that to all of us. When a simple act turns into violence? It's when we cannot wear the other's shoe, when we disagree with the other's position in the world, and that's when it's vital to communicate. And that is what I am afraid the people from Tibet were lacking of: Dia-log, which comes from the Latin word "dia" meaning "two" who log, talk to each other also dialogue means "words across," i.e., spoken with someone else. Enough of being silent monks. Forget about the three "no see, no hear, no talk" monkeys. Let's speak up. We have no idea of what they've been dealing with every day. It's rather ironic that in a modern world like ours, where communication is the first priority, there seems to have so little of that. It's time to open up and speak from the heart, from the Art, and I mean from the non-violence act of standing up, resolve the conflicts by facing each other's eyes, not from above or below, but as equal, not out of fear but from a place in the heart where love resides. There we may end up all the conflicts in a huge embrace. And now I just visualize the entire planet receiving that affectionate love:)(Here below brief moments captured by my old camera from last night gala open to all public)











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