A bit unexpected.

Since I'm stuck in the book world for the moment, I thought I'd write about my poor friends having to endure my obsessions with books. And as I said half of them are inflicted with such tendencies themselves, it's hardly an inconvenience for any of us.  Of course as this is LA population we're talking about, I've once or twice been asked if I'd read Kama Sutra. Only very close friends of mine, who can endure my dour look, have ever gone so far to tease me like that. And to their credit, I had tea in my hand at the point (don't worry if you don't understand why that matters). Of course, I pull their legs all the time too. Just in a very different manner, on very different topics. Half the problem though is, they find it hard to find anything to tease me about at all. Actually more like tease me satisfactorily about anything, without me having a retort.   

Now, the only way I would posses what I'd say is the selective western version of the book, is if it was given to me as a gift. For general information, most of you lot don't actually know what the original Veda (because it is an acclaimed Buddhist Veda) is about. Also, I reserve the right to throw certain books in cackling fire if I so wish because I doubt any of my friends are going to go hunt down an actual Sanskrit copy of the Veda. An original copy though, I would read. Not through and through, I doubt I've the stomach for that.
It's not an expected thing. Not of me anyway. It hardly seems like a me thing to do. But that's only because you've never looked beneath the surface. In this case, you've never looked beyond what the Veda supposedly is all about. Little did you know, that's just a minor part of it. Majority of it, the parts I would read, are the description of how to use a chisel, which chisel, what rock, how to sand, what brush, what colours and brush stroke ought to be used when creating Buddhist religious art. It's got details of what a statue of Buddha should look like, how to depict a stupa, other Buddhist symbols and all that. I've actually read bits and pieces of translations here and there in history books, but of course no one's thought of mass producing that part of the Veda.

While I'm informing you all on the matter anyway, I might add it was written centuries after Siddhartha Gautama Buddha lived. And if you read his history, and about things he stood for and philosophies he believed in, you'll realize he, himself would be against most of the Veda. My interest in the matter is simple as - I'm a student of art and history. And little did you know, it's a part of both. The book and it's applications have influenced art and architecture for a greater part of Southern Asia and it's Island for centuries. Did you know Pagodas are part of that influence?

And on the topic of books that have indelicate and racy matter; did you know the racist thing I've ever read is actually Bible. I'm not sure if bible trumps French history or French history trumps bible. Poor fictions would be eons behind history on the matter, or at least the fictions I read. History is way more gory, brutal and indelicate than fiction. Amusingly enough, somehow the old historians managed to write all that in the most monotonous way one could imagine. I wonder who ever did first decree that for one to keep an accurate record of history, one had to be dull. I mean I get epics can be hard to understand and follow but they do hold more truth. I miss the times where truth was more important than facts. After all, without Homer, Schliemann would have never found us Troy.