Vlastislav Matoušek:

Labyrinthus

for Vox Humana, durata ad lib., 2000

     Labyrinthus, i m the building with wandering corridors, the maze, specially the one of Crete (Prof. dra. Jos. Sedláček's  POCKET DICTIONARY latin-czech, 6th publishing. Třebíč in Moravia. The publisher Jindřich Lorenz, the bookseller. 1931.)

     Labyrinth, the maze.  Labyrinth used to be the name for the caves and mines  of the old Greeks, these branched into large number of corridors and passages,  quarries that served like prisons and as refuges from fugitives from this case.  .... The purpose of labyrinth is given in different ways, some use this word for a temple, others thought it to be a thomb and still others considered it to be a meeting place etc.  ..... Today the word  labyrinth is used in the sense of mixture, twisted mix, which we not understand anywhere. (Otto's  encyklopedia of general knowledge - part XV, Aion CS, Ltd., pg. 527-8)

Kóan:

Where and which way are leading the ways called Evangelia, Korán, Tao, Tóra, Popol Vuh, Védy, or Zen?

 

 

1.
Bismi llahi rrahmani rahimi
Qul huwa lláhu ahadun.

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Say: He is Allah, the One!

(Quaran, 112 sure)

2.
Tao šeng i, i šeng er, er šeng san, san šeng wan wu.
Wan wu fu jin er pao jang. Čchung čchi i wej che.
(Tao sheng yi, yi sheng er, er sheng san, san sheng wan wu.
Wan wu fu yin er pao yang. Chong qi yi wei he.)

 Tao gives birth to one.
 One gives birth to two.
Two give birth to three.
Three give birth to everything.

Everything is brought by Yin
and embraces Yang
and is fulfilled with the breath of Qi
engaged in Harmony.

 Lao´C: Tao te Ting (Lao-C', 42)

3.
 Bhútam bhavad bhavišjad iti sarvam ómkára éva.
Jat čánjat trikálátítam tat api ómkára éva.

 What has been, what is and what will be - all this is only the sound Om.
And what other there is beyond the three-fold time—that too is only the sound Om.

 (Atharva Véda, Mandukyopanishad)

4.
 Shida no ge
Myó tó rai myó to da, an tó rai an tó da,
Shi hó hachi men rai, sen pó da,
Ko kú rai, ren ga da.

If attacked from the light, I will strike back to the light.
 If attacked from the dark, I will strike back in the dark.
 If attacked from all four quarters, I will strike back as the whirlwind.
 If attacked from emptiness, I will lash out like a flail.
(Blasdel: Shakuhachi, pg. 98)

(Lin-či lü č. 47)

5.
Berešit, Šemot, Va-Jikra, Bemidbar, Dvarim.
Chamiša chumšej tora.

Genezis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numeri, Deuteronomium

Pentateuchus.

6.
Erant autem ibi lapideae hydriae sex positae secundum purificationem Judaeorum, capientes singulae metretas binas vel ternas. Dicit eis Jesus: Implete hydrias aqua. Et impleverunt eas usque et ad summum. Et dicit eis Jesus: Haurite nunc, et ferte architriclino. Et tulerunt.

     And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them: "Fill the waterpots with water!"  And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them: "Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast!" And they bare it. 

(Vulgata, Evang. Sec. Joannem II, 6,7,8)

7.
     Gucumatz, Feathered serpent was truly a marvelous king. For seven days he mounted to the skies and for seven days he went down into the underworld Xibalba; seven days he changed himself into a snake and really became a serpent; for seven days he changed himself into an eagle; for seven days he became a jaguar; and his appearance was really that of an eagle and a jaguar ...

Popol Vuh , 4th Book/IX
 (Popol Vuh. The Sacred Book of the Ancient Quiché Maya. English version by Delia Goetz and Sylvanus G. Morley, from the translation of Adrián Recinos. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1983 (twelfth printing), pp. 219-220 (part IV, chapter 9)).

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