Subject: Re: An ocean full of bocce balls
From: Jim Rovira (jrovira@drew.edu)
Date: Thu May 02 2002 - 19:01:04 EDT
Not sure exactly how it works out in Buddhism, but in the vedas I think
the lowest level is the level of interest in sheer physical pleasure.
Then family, then community, then transcendence. We're not discouraged
from fully entering into each of the levels -- heck, there's a whole
manual for sex :) -- but when we do we'll find that each one is lacking,
and we'll want to move on. I think I've read something similar in
buddhist literature, but it's been far too long for me to remember.
These categories are so broad, of course, that any character can be
placed into them without having to even make a connection between the
author and Eastern thought.
The feeling I get from Seymour is that he developed to a point, then his
development was halted because he became entangled in other things.
It's just too hard not to identify him with the Bananafish. Teddy talks
about this too -- when I first read Teddy, I thought he was a
reincarnation of Seymour, and was referring to a past life of his
(Teddy's) in some of his lines. Seems like when I mentioned that idea
years ago people here convincingly pointed out how problematic that idea
was, but don't remember the details.
Jim
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