Re: Teddy

Sundeep Dougal (holden@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in)
Tue, 12 Aug 1997 08:03:52 +0500 (GMT+0500) 

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WARNING: A bit of a pedantic ramble, so skip those who despise such
efforts.. 
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>>I would love to discuss "Teddy" if anyone is interested.  Although I 
>>love the Glass family, I also love this precocious, Vedantist boy with
>>slightly crossed eyes.
 
Laura, I wanted to read Teddy once again before replying to your mail, but
am not sure whether I am qualified even now to discuss it.  I still do not
see Teddy as "Vedantist," despite the direct references. Sure, there are
references to believing in reincarnation, the fact that he is pre-scient
and so on and
 
>>*  Pouring g-d into g-d
 
is definitely as good an Advaitic concept as any, but then there are more
Zen references in this than in any other story per word (infact, per se).
Two haikus. Plus the allusions to the "sound of a tree falling" and
"butterfly dreaming" Zen koans.
 
Sure, it is the most overtly *religious* or *mystical* story but it is
more unitary in approach in terms of alluding to the concepts of, atleast,
Christianity, Buddism and Vedantism. The chronology suggests this to be
soon after the time when JDS begins to attend the Ramamkrishna Center at
NY, and it seems to have all the zeal of a new convert. Which is not to
suggest that a new convert cannot be a "true"  believer, but my opinion on
this is that Teddy only has the tip of the iceberg. Vedantism really
starts gushing out in Zooey, S:AI and Hapworth.  By S:AI he's ofcourse
manifestly angry at the iconization of Zen by the pop culture and is
dissocaiting himself from it in favour of Tao; and by Hapworth, Advaita
Vedanta is major. 
 
Infact, while reading Vivekananda, for which thanks are due largely to
JDS, (I only had a cursory acquaintance with his writings before I came
across JDS. I am sure my fascination with almost all the JDS work grew
because of the allusions to Vedanta and stuff, which in true recursiveness
fuelled the interest in Vednata, and on and on..) I was struck by the
parallels between the "pouring god into god" and how apparently
Vivekananda himself got converted to Advaita (non-duality) from his
hitherto held beliefs in Brahmo Smaj, which teaches a theistic philosophy,
while eating: 
 
"[...] I sat down to take my meal, but found that everthing -- the
food, the plate, the person who served, and even myself -- was nothing
but That [Brahman]..." Vivekananda, Collected Works, Vol I, Pg 96
 
But overall, IMHO, despite Teddy bursting at the seems with more direct
Vedantic concepts, it is equally influenced by Buddhism. Even the views on
education, resonate as they do with the Vedantic "Know Thyself," they also
echo the "Buddha Mind", which is ofcourse inevitable, considering that
Buddhist thought is an evolution of the Vedic...Heck, this post really
seems, even to me as an exercise in pedantry in its nit-picking, as all
the subsequent Glass stories also are as imbued with other religious
philosophies. But my point I wanted to highlight here was that in Teddy,
Zen thought is almost equally as predominat as Advaitic Vedantic, whereas
in the Glass menagerie, it is the latter that is the unifying thread.
 
I learnt recently from either the Alsen or the Kurien book [thanks,
Will!] that there exists a PhD. dissertation by one Sumitra Panicker
which deals with the Eastern Influences on Teddy and Glass stories. I'd
love to read it some day. Univ. of Texas at Austin, again. I'd post up
the references when I check them.
 
O!, what a ramble,
sonny
 
P.S. 
>>*  how likely is it that a pool would be drained while in transit
 
Are you presupposing that the plug would open into the Ocean?


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Sundeep Dougal (Sonny, to friends) Holden Caulfield, New Delhi, INDIA 
http://www.thepentagon.com/holden