Books by Traumear

This is contemporary wisdom literature in verse. The main theme is the cooperation of gifted human nature with divine art. The reader is invited into the process of human development and evolution. The direction is from modern to contemporary and the treatment is conventional. In Book I, after the resurrected Muse reveals herself to the disenchanted Nabataea shepherd, the earlier life of the Shepherd is then described after the manner of a symbolic discovery tour through select aspects of western culture. In Book II the Shepherd and the Muse venture forth as committed companions and the nature of their humanity unfolds in an increasingly down-to-earth setting.

This is contemporary wisdom literature in verse. The main theme is the cooperation of gifted human nature with divine art. The reader is invited into the process of human development and evolution. The direction is from modern to contemporary and the treatment is conventional. In Book I, after the resurrected Muse reveals herself to the disenchanted Nabataea shepherd, the earlier life of the Shepherd is then described after the manner of a symbolic discovery tour through select aspects of western culture. In Book II the Shepherd and the Muse venture forth as committed companions and the nature of their humanity unfolds in an increasingly down-to-earth setting.

The first of these essays points out to us what happens when we go too far astray in the direction of the convenient status quo and how bouts of hysteria can then be understood as timely reminders of the need to return to creative thought and compassion. The second essay would teach us the sheer cost of force and advocates instead a familiarity with the spirit of comfort and learning.

This difficult but important contemporary didactic work replies to the following five questions: What is our body and how can we make use of it? Why and how are we tempted to make insufficient use of it? How does our body compare to our flesh? How do we use or abuse our body and can we own our flesh? How does carnal pain relate to our flesh?

111 short poems, thought-provoking, amusing, written during the year May 2016 - May 2017. Contemporary verse, not modern.

Thought-bites worth mulling over. Droplets of wisdom condensed from vision and dream during a life dedicated to the understanding of what it means to be a human being.

These are inspirations based on those Analects, or 'sayings' of Confucius of which they bear the number. I have used the translations by Arthur Waley. I have chosen only a few of those Analects that interested me from Books I to IV. There are XX books altogether, but sadly I soon ran out of inspiration - which does not imply that the rest are not worth reading. These pieces, as I present them here, are not translations or transcriptions but more or less what I would call transubstantiations. I do not mean: This is what the ancient Chinese sage or his disciples really said or meant but rather: This is how he might express his thought if he lived in the post modern or contemporary world, with access to what has become available in our time, not in terms of culture and civilization but of true knowledge, understanding and ethical spirit as I see it. Also, it makes little difference to me whether these sayings really stem from Confucius in person. What matters to me is the availability of substance.