Vasilios Theodorakis – An Online Author

theodorakis.org is a digital repository of all my written work (in text and podcast formats)…

August 28, 2007

Fountain Of Youth

Filed under: Prose — Vasilios Theodorakis @ 3:50 pm

I have a number of aquaintances who go through the motions of talking about mortality – which I suppose is better than no discussion of the topic at all. The problem is, as soon as I walk away from that ‘metaphorical table’, they go back to living lives based on the illusion that they will always have their looks, will always have their youth and will never get sick and die. So much for depth, and so much for personal evolution.

Death is just an interesting dinner table topic to many of these people – nothing more. The cult of ‘Ego’ and ‘Eternal Youth’ reigns supreme, and after that chardonnay washes down that expensive dinner, all thoughts of one’s place in the world are restored to ‘Normal’. They of course, will read this fragment of prose and think I am talking about someone else, but then again, that’s the way it should be – I expect…

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007

August 27, 2007

About The Audio Versions Of Poems

Filed under: General — Vasilios Theodorakis @ 7:45 pm

As you read through the verse that’s appearing on the site, you’ll find a link to an audio version of each poem just before the copyright declaration. At this stage, all recordings are available as MP3 files and should be playable on equipment like iPods, computers, etc. At a later date, special poems will be available as advanced (multimedia) podcasts in M4A form.

The format of every recording is as follows: spoken track, background track and copyright notice at the end of each recording. Each anthology of poems will have a different backing track, and ungrouped poems from the last four years, will initially be released without such a track. The backing track is associated with the anthology’s theme. Being an MP3 file, title and author information should also be viewable on people’s MP3 equipment or computers.

You can download the audio version of each poem by right clicking your mouse and selecting ‘save target as…’ (Windows) or ‘save link…’/’download linked file…’ (Mac) from the displayed menu. This will allow you to archive a copy to your desktop or harddrive. Once I’ve uploaded more material, I will also be adding the site’s RSS feed to podcast services like iTunes etc, which should make it easier to locate and obtain audio copies of poems.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – August 2007

August 24, 2007

What Does Selfless Service Really Mean?

Filed under: Culture And Society — Vasilios Theodorakis @ 6:00 pm

People often miss the point of their ‘Judaeo-Christian faith’ especially in regards to ‘selfless service’. We ignore what our belief systems tell us to do and instead do what makes us feel ‘warm and fuzzy’. In the end, free will (for better or worse) ensures we all ‘believe’ what we want to believe, even within our own religion’s framework. And even if, believing it means we’re prepared to die to prove the world is flat.

Though we all do this (to some extent), all that really counts is what we “know to be true”, i.e. that which exists beyond belief and which presents itself “after the dark night of the soul” (after your Faith has been destroyed by doubt and reconstructed using material that you “know to be true”). Let me put it another way – to quote Seth in the movie “City of Angels” – ‘some things are true whether you believe in them or not’. The problem is, we often ignore what we “know to be true”.

For example, you can construct as many layers as you want to hide the facts, but reality and existence are not changed by those layers. Just look at all the misery in people’s lives, even though they’ve constructed and surrounded themselves with layers we now know as lifestyles! One can choose to live such lifestyles, or one can choose not to live such lifestyles – its up to the individual – the principle behind it is still the same – free will. What doesn’t change however is that the “lifestyle” doesn’t alter a person’s underlying reality.

A friend of mine, recently raised the fact that she knows her ‘ego wants it (life) to be more sensational and more exotic’, so she’s making decisions accordingly. “The ego wants it (life) to be more sensational and more exotic…”? What path have we convinced ourselves to trundle down? Is she for example, about to make decisions that will lead her into “selfless service” or into “having an adventure and feeling good about herself”! What I don’t understand is this, if one REALLY wants to work with the needy, what’s wrong with helping the poorer Indigenous Communities in one’s own country. I can count on one hand the number of schools that teach children their Indigenous Language and English, their Culture and Mainstream Culture, etc. especially in countries like Australia. Few here, want to work with or even respect this country’s original people. No one wants to LEARN their language, and it continues to be an indictment on this nation as to how many Indigenous Australians are not treated as equals!

We should be ensuring that our decisions (regarding selfless service) are part of the solution, not part of the problem. I’m sick and tired of “community workers” going into other contexts across the globe (i.e. other countries), perpetuating the colonialist model of the 19 Century, setting themselves up as the experts and teaching the “locals” how good things can be. I’ve been through this again and again with misdirected social workers and I can’t stand the outcome – both the inflated egos and the downtrodden locals. If one wants to go down this path – no one can really stop them, but they shouldn’t expect others to support an action that patronises another group of people. This approach has already been perpetuated by far too many Westerners. If one ignores history, because they think its boring, one risks making the same mistakes again and again.

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007

August 23, 2007

Waiting For A Sign

Filed under: Religion And Theology — Vasilios Theodorakis @ 8:00 pm

Somehow, I don’t think life is about what God can do for us (i.e. nudge us, tell us what to do, give us a sign), its about what we can do for Him and creation, without expecting anything in return. Its the privileged who’ve really gotten this concept back to front. To quote an old friend – “We have nice things because we deserve them. We’ve paid our dues and God’s rewarding us. Its a sign!” If this was true, what did the poor plebs in the third world do to deserve their plight. Go easy with the “God will guide me” and “My blessings are a sign” bit (its only one step away from believing we are “worthy”) – none of us are really that important – we’re all just a heart beat away from becoming worm fodder – literally. That puts us right up there with the garden variety “fallen leaf” which is decomposing beautifully in the compost bin.

The best any of us can do (as most religions tell us), is to sit still (stay put), know what we are good at and use that in service without any expectation of reward (or revelation). To think we are being rewarded (and important enough to be guided) is the complete opposite of our call to (humble) service. I can’t imagine the Theotokos was into what she could get out of the deal – who in their right mind would hand over their “will” completely – she of course could and did – it was her gift to humanity, her LEGACY to the future, her attempt at Theosis (which is yet to be matched). There was the initial confusion (of pregnancy) of course and then a lifetime of follow through based on her gifts. And yes, many (of the rest) of us lead a lifetime of confusion, before there’s a follow through based on our gifts. But at least some of us, find ourselves walking into the stable at the 11th hour! So if we’re advised by our religion to sit still – it means to sit still! One could spend the rest of one’s life galavanting around the world, but that’s just another form of running from a commitment to service!

Take responsibility for where things are at, then make the most of what you can do. Waiting for signs is more about ego and our interpretation of reality than about reality itself i.e. Intrinsic Truth is always right before our eyes, no matter which direction we turn our faces (even when we turn our faces away from God) – there are no need for signs. Life is the sign, breath is its proof – all we need to do is open our eyes…

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007

Is Christianity Still At Its Beginning?

Filed under: Religion And Theology — Vasilios Theodorakis @ 7:00 pm

If humanity doesn’t destroy itself (through its love and systemic desire for war), I think we’ll find we’re only at the start of Christianity’s history. My hope is that there are (at least) ten’s of thousands of years ahead of us. Every time I raise this idea with Christians, people get very upset. So many people, are so used to believing the world will end within their own lifetime, that a more positive approach, is too difficult to fathom. What a miserably negative group we’ve become!

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007

One Truth

Filed under: Religion And Theology — Vasilios Theodorakis @ 6:00 pm

What ever religion we follow – there is still only one Truth. All Mysticism and Spirituality is only a different (better or worse) interpretation of that Truth. You could sift through a thousand religions, but you would still end up looking at the same reality, only through different people’s eyes.

I continue to view reality through Trinitarian (Orthodox Christian) eyes, though its highly unfashionable and often gets me into trouble.

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007

Signs

Filed under: Quotes — Vasilios Theodorakis @ 12:13 pm

There are no need for signs. Life is the sign, breath is its proof – all we need to do is open our eyes.

Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2007

August 19, 2007

Welcome – Finally :)

Filed under: General — Vasilios Theodorakis @ 9:00 pm

Its taken so long for this site to launch that I was certain I had become trapped in a time loop. :) But finally, its here – a clean design, a few old poems and lots more verse, commentaries and stories to be added in the coming months (and years). Many of the static pages you currently see on the site, still need content transferred into them, but this will happen very soon.

Also, please keep in mind that my work will not necessarily appear at the start of the blog as each piece will be accurately date stamped e.g. 20 August 1991, in order to authentically highlight when it was written. This means that a new release will not necessarily appear as the latest posting, but will show up within the site. You’ll need to make use of the RSS feed (from the site) to know where and in which time period the new piece has appeared.

And finally, thank you to friends and family who’ve unconditionally supported and encouraged the creation of this site to promote my poetry (and other writing). A special thank you to my wife Helen, who harrassed me daily (for almost ten years) to begin releasing my work publicly. Helen – I’m sorry its taken this long, but better late than never. :)

So, I thank you all again for your patience, and hope the material you find on this website proves worthy of your belief in it, and in me.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – August 2007

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