Nude Drawings on the Cover of Dr. Dahesh's Books

[Darrick Evenson]

When I first began to study Daheshism I was a little shocked by the photos of nude women (from the 1930s) and drawings of nudity on the cover of some of Dr. Dahesh's books. I didn't expect that. However, I'm glad about it now. After all, God created Adam and Eve to live in the Garden nude, and "they were not ashamed". Dr. Dahesh spoke of the Paradise-planets as places were sex continues; which is certainly better than the "Christian" version of heaven whereas sexless angels sing songs to God for all eternity, with the only other thing to do is to look down between their feet and see all non-christians burning in Hell.

Mormons also believe that in the "Celestial Kingdom" (celestial is Latin for "heavenly") men and women enjoy each other sexually. According to Dr. Brax (in the 5th Letter) Joseph Smith was a "Divine Guide". Joseph Smith was the founder of the Mormon Church.

[Mario]

Let's "ask" Doctor Dahesh...

Darrick,

Firstly, let me start with a (I hope) a literal translation of what the Doctor himself wrote about Marriage and Sex in particular:

The last paragraph and line of his 9 page essay entitled "Marriage" on page 81 of his book "Broken Heart" says:

" And the for the last time I affirm that marriage is despicable and not a blessing as they claimed or claim to be."

(And I thank you for for your thoughtful consideration of my valiant—but perhaps feeble—attempt to translate words which are, as of 06/13/2006, still unavailable to the English-Speaking public. )

This is a very, very, very, long discussion... But I wanted to balance things out by quoting the Doctor himself (again, to the best of my abilities) that way we stop and reflect on that issue.

Before anyone assumes I am claiming that the Doctor called for Celibacy, STOP! The Doctor never said "do not get married." Again, that is a big subject and we probably should open a whole forum for it.

For now:

In others "worlds," "Sex" is a whole different "experience."

On EARTH, or in this DIMENSION/IlLUSION etc. we call EARTH, where the "spiritual" ranking is situated between "Heaven" and "Hell," sex has a whole different set of ramifications and consequences. Case in point, Adam and Eve were not supposed to make love or engage in the sexual act. That was their TEST. They failed the TEST and that's why we are here. (I am simplifying a LOT).

I'll stop here... for now.

As for the book I used (source http://www.daheshheritage.org/welcome.htm)

The Broken Heart (Al Qalb al-Muhattam)
It is a collection of prose and rhymed poems which Dr. Dahesh had composed during the years 1934 and 1935. It may be defined as the book of "spiritual alienation," as this theme echoes in most of its subjects: the insignificance and transience of earthly life, the revolt against corrupt practices of this world, the author's fleeing city life into nature, and his longing to death, the world of the spirit, the world of knowledge, freedom, and happiness. In this book, we find hints to an ordeal experienced by the author which made him lose faith in friendship and left its darkened shadow over some later works.

6 colors, 87 art plates, size 24 x 17 cm, 1984 368pp. $ 35
ISBN 0-935359-710* Al Qalb al-Muhattam

[Sandrine]

Nudity is Purity

We will face God with the splendor of our absolute Nudity.
Nude and fragile, that is what we are in front of God.
Divine Beauty is a symbol of the spiritual elevation that needs to be reached.
No more lies, no more artifices, no way out, no pretension: Just the perfection of The Unconditional Beauty, as a reflect of a pure soul.
Nudity is a paradoxical appeal to the spiritual heights … far above the flesh.
A perfect body is a ray from The Lights of God.
Nudity moves us away from vanity.

[Mario]

Hi Sandrine,

Darrick's intitial thread (http://www.daheshville.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24) seems to have opened up an important argument. Thank you for this eloquent passage.

Just so that the uninitiated doesn't misconstrue your words (or that of Doctor Dahesh's propensity to feature "the nude" ) can you perhaps clarify the context as well as comment on... say...nude beaches versus a life drawing class. In other words, if "Nudity is Purity" then why wear clothes (and let's assume for a moment that there are no public decency laws)

Another point I would like you address is this: What do you consider to be a "Perfect Body?"

Thank you for your consideration of my inquiry.

Mario

[Darrick Evenson]

Naturism and Nudity in Art

I've been on both sides of the "nudity" argument. I was a Mormon for 15 years, and had Mormon roommates. Mormons are supposed to remain totally celebate outside of marriage. For Mormons, even having a piece of nude art is considered VERY sinful!!! Yet, every Mormon male I knew on a personal level had a quite extensive sex life (not me....which is because of a combination of my own standards and perhaps because no gorgeous young thang ever really tempted me...not that I wouldn't BE tempted...they just didn't fancy me). Most Mormons seem to think "God can't see me in the dark" and that as long as they think they are hiding their sex life, it's ok. That's really the attitude of most single Mormons I knew.

Later, after leaving the Church, I went to several "Naturist" camps and I enjoyed it. I knew that simple nudity did not encourage promiscuity.

The fact is Dr. Dahesh had books published with nude women on them, and paintings with nude men and women. He never paraded around nude in his house in front of guests (as far as I know), but he did seem to approve of nudity in art.

So, what is the "Daheshist standard" regarding nudity. Ok in art but not at naturist camps, or beaches in France and Denmark? To American Mormons, to be nude in front of their children is considered pedophilia, yet Swedish Mormon families often get nude together in their sauna and think nothing of it. In many Arab countries, a woman who hasn't covered his face is nude. So, culture changes. What does the Law of God say? Damned if I know. The earliest Christians were baptized in the nude; a sign they were being "born again" like babies. Nobody thought anything of it.

Did Dr. Dahesh say anything about nudity? Probably not. But, he had nude art, and there are photos of nude women on some of his books.

Hi Sandrine,

Darrick's intitial thread (http://www.daheshville.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24) seems to have opened up an important argument. Thank you for this eloquent passage.

Just so that the uninitiated doesn't misconstrue your words (or that of Doctor Dahesh's propensity to feature "the nude" ) can you perhaps clarify the context as well as comment on... say...nude beaches versus a life drawing class. In other words, if "Nudity is Purity" then why wear clothes (and let's assume for a moment that there are no public decency laws)

Another point I would like you address is this: What do you consider to be a "Perfect Body?"

Thank you for your consideration of my inquiry.

Mario

[Sandrine]

Hi Sandrine,

Darrick's intitial thread (http://www.daheshville.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24) seems to have opened up an important argument. Thank you for this eloquent passage.

Just so that the uninitiated doesn't misconstrue your words (or that of Doctor Dahesh's propensity to feature "the nude" ) can you perhaps clarify the context as well as comment on... say...nude beaches versus a life drawing class. In other words, if "Nudity is Purity" then why wear clothes (and let's assume for a moment that there are no public decency laws)

Another point I would like you address is this: What do you consider to be a "Perfect Body?"

Thank you for your consideration of my inquiry.

Mario

Dear Mario,

You are using Dialectics … which is very good

Mentioning “A perfect body ” … I was referring to the Academic Art that the Doctor collected.
You know : “mythical themes” – where sumptuous goddesses are just metaphors …
Do you see any ugliness when you are referring to God, paradise, spiritual worlds ?

Sandrine

[Mario]

"Cheeseburger in Paradise"

Dear Mario,

You are using Dialectics … which is very good

Mentioning “A perfect body ” … I was referring to the Academic Art that the Doctor collected.
You know : “mythical themes” – where sumptuous goddesses are just metaphors …
Do you see any ugliness when you are referring to God, paradise, spiritual worlds ?

Sandrine

Sandrine,

Firstly, you give me far too much credit! I had to look up "Dialectics" in the dictionary!
Secondly, I agree with you totally. Personally, I sometimes see paradise in a big, fat, juicy cheesebuger (which would be totally offensive to a vegetarian—and I am sure we'll have a thread on that as well...in other words, "killing" in order to eat.) But, seriously, the images that we see featured in Dahesh's book, in particular those showing nudity are (and I will add my voice to yours) a metaphor (to quote you exactly) of worlds we can only hope to attain.

Mario

[Mario]

Pandora, where ARE YOU?!

Darrick,

I am going to need a lot of time to address the "issues" you raised in the reply above.

I will start with a very short statement: Doctor Dahesh, was adamanent about decorum.

One Daheshist once told me that the Doctor saw him sitting with his legs spread wide open. You know what happened? The Doctor got so upset he threw him out of the room. Later, he called him back and talked calmly to him, like a father to his son. The Doctor calmly expressed certain views on the way a young man should behave, then they chatted about current news...

When he was incarcerated (and here I am referring to the Doctor's own writings) he was in a police car. He noticed that the policeman was gawking at a woman. That infuriated him immensely.

During his forced exile (after after a month in jail, fresh out of being physically tortured) he found himself at a remote village waiting for some Armenian Lord to speak with him. He was waiting on the balcony, when the Lord's daughter sits and strikes a conversation with Dahesh, whose clothes were torn, and... wait until you read about the ordeal he endured...anyway, the woman asks the Doctor, "So, are you married?"

The prophet was greatly annoyed at the question (which obviously seemed out of place and intrusive) and he politely replied "I am sorry Miss, I don't discuss such private matters."

And, the worst thing that you could do is use his house as a dating room—especially behind his back.

Yes, you would often hear people laughing and engaging in spirited conversations at the Doctor's house. But there was nevertheless a deep sense of respect and decorum, especially when referring to certain subjects.

Bottom line, if he ever caught anyone being vulgar, that was it... Why? Because he cared so much about you and your spiritual advancement. After all, you, Hussein, Sandrine, David, and all the thousands of Daheshists are part of his "spiritual pool." In other words, we all form a bigger "consciousness." Like stocks and bonds, our collective behavior will ultimately affect the future of the "company."

That is why, for example, during the war, he began to suffer one horrible accident after the other: to divert harm from us. But there was price to pay. I should know. Many a nights I tucked him in his bed as he was moaning from pain.

As for being a naturalist. Good for anyone who likes this lifestyle. But that is NOT a Daheshist lifestyle. And, there is NO way you can convince a naturalist of that... But, does that mean the Naturalist is "Going to Hell?" I am not quoting you, rather bringing up another nuance...

I have one Daheshist who once told me he was waiting for the Doctor in the car. So he decided to put on Rock Music. The Doctor showed up and (allegedly) commented "Is this the kind of music you listen to??" So, according to that Daheshist, Rock music was bad.

I am sure it is if someone who never listens to it, does not appreciate music at fundamental level, and simply hangs on to the words... Of course... out of the context of MUSIC, Rock Music is often about sex. But there are also other aspects, such as freedom of speech, self expression in general... Well, in my case, I LOVED Rock music ever since I could remember, and before I could even understand what (for example) Led Zeppelin really meant... In MY case, music flows in my veins. Yet, in my family, and as a child, I was forbidden from playing an instrument (the reason for that is outside the scope of this essay) and I had to listen to the Beatles in hiding. There were so many rules of conduct laid on me by "the gate keepers" that by the time I found myself face to face with Dahesh, I was too afraid to speak, lest I say the wrong thing... Years would pass and, for some reason, I found myself alone with Dahesh for long periods of time. Suddenly, the young boy who was too afraid to even imagine being granted a visit, is now a "gate keeper."

Most anyone who needed to contact Dahesh, had to contact me. Including my former "gate keepers"... I am not bragging, I assure you, I am merely showing how unreal the whole thing was. In fact, in my youth, I never dared call the HOUSE and speak to the Doctor. I was too afraid of what I might say. And, until his death, I never, once, called him to say "Hello, how are you doing?" I guess you can't always totally shake some fears or feelings of unworthiness. Mind you, we even spent 21 days together, in my NYC apartment. One might argue we WERE close. But, I never, ever, lost that sense of AWE. But, there is a LOT I would do differently, now that I am close to being 50 years old.

He saw me play guitar. But I had my headphones on. He would work in the master bedroom, while I studied in my room, and sometimes, I would put some TV on. Not too loudly, as not to bother him. When did he EVER come out and say to me? "What are you watching" or "what are you playing?"

The reason, I think, was because I understood and respected certain boundaries. One time I crossed a boundary, but I felt extremely ashamed. So I saw him in a dream. In the dream, he said to me "I know what you are thinking. But I forgive you because I know your intentions are good."

So, my point, a little bit of "self-imposed shame" never hurts. Case in point, if would never, ever, dream, of having my stereo on when he entered the room. After all, he was a Prophet.

And, incidentally, he knew I used attend Life Drawing Classes. Today, I am known as the creator of the Virtual Pose ® series. Do you think, I would allow ANYONE to make an offbeat comment to any model that enters the sanctity of the studio?

To be continued, I am sure!

And now, I will listen to my favorite album "Everyone Loves a Happy Ending" by Tears for Fears!

Mario

[Johnson]

Beautifully said Mario. I don't recall if it was you or your brother that once relayed to me a statement made by Dr. Dahesh addressing why the female form was represented in many of the illustrations in his books. It seemed the images had more to do with being used because they were the images that WE could relate to as representing the concepts of love and beauty and bliss.

The "women" in the illustrations really are more allegories to the beauty of the concepts that were trying to be conveyed as opposed to being just pictures of beautiful "women" for visuals' sake.

What other imagery can be used in our lives to represent love, beauty and bliss and higher worlds? ...other than these representations and the beauty of nature?

[Mario]

"Love and Marriage"

Thank you David and likewise. It's very possible that both my brother and I mentioned it to you on separate occasions. What I remember is him saying "anybody who thinks I am referring to an actual woman, doesn't get it" (particularly with regard to his prose). We can only imagine what he truly meant. And, for the record, those of us who lived around him were privy to his private life, and basically... he had none. Sure, many women did fall in love with him and had it in their minds that THEY were going to be HIS wife, but soon enough, and after they "got it" and "snapped out of it" realised that he was here only to be our prophet and teacher. I tell you, the human "drive" knows no boundaries, especially "age." There was even one instance when the young daughter of a rather well known Daheshist man came to visit him as he was staying with me. He was—basically, and practically—near exhaustion from the pain (and I don't remember if it was before or after the heart attack he suffered while he and I were in a NYC taxi, on Broadway, in the middle of rush hour traffic) anyway, I could faintly hear a conversation coming from the bedroom (where, again, he lay sick and in extreme pain)... but of course, I didn't know what was being said, and the door remained open. Then the Doctor calls me in (perhaps to fetch the young lady—who by the way I knew reasonably well—a cup of tea) It is at that point I hear the conversation and, I swear David, I rolled my eyes. I cannot divulge the actual content (well, not while I am alive, anyway) but I remember saying to myself "am I dreaming?" It was both sad and comical. She, like many others before her, fell in love with him, and he was, slowly (for a lack of better term) "deprogramming her" ... But to the unitiated, it might have sounded as if he was promising her marriage... That's why I suppose, not everyone was privy to this sort of "intimate" perspective. Nor, for example, to the fact, he never showered.

Read that again. Doctor Dahesh never showered. Well, I heard once per 6 years. And still, he smelt like a rose. He rarely drank water either.

And he transpired a lot. But, he was always clean. He had that "squeaky" shine look to him. Perhaps that is why he stayed with me 3 weeks on end. So that I can, when writing about him, bear witness to the fact he was not 100% "human." His "humanity" on the other hand, was way over the scale.

Oh, as for the young lady. Years later, I heard she fell in love with a man and then married.

[Darrick Evenson]

So, did Doctor Dahesh address the subject of nudism or nudity or did he leave that to the conscience of each individual?

[Mario]

So, did Doctor Dahesh address the subject of nudism or nudity or did he leave that to the conscience of each individual?

The one comment I heard him make about nudity and that still sticks in my mind, pertains to him seeing a person (it might have been in either Paris or London...not sure) who walked around, in plain daylight, wearing a "transparent" suit...and I mean "transparent"... some sort of "plastic?"... not sure... anyway...you could see everything. All I remember is him saying something along the lines of "Believe me, I am not making this up. I couldn't believe my eyes..." or something to that effect.

[zionic]

Another point I would like you address is this: What do you consider to be a "Perfect Body?"



Mario

Eva Longoria. Elle McPherson.

[Sandrine]

It's strange to see you coming back to this post Zionic because I was just thinking about it this morning ...

" What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful that the garment with which it is clothed? " – Michelangelo

[Sandrine]

Khalil Gibran about Nudity ...

Khalil Gibran is known to be the forerunner to Doctor Dahesh as John the Baptist was to Jesust Christ.

Gibran was not only a writer, or a painter or a sage.

He became a spiritual teacher who simplifies life and brings it back to its natural purity and his studio became the mecca of countless people who yearn to free themselves from the bonds of society.

Many of his paintings portrayed nudity/naked body and these are the real incentive to bring people back to their simple, essential selves. His works has been shown in exhibitions alongside those of Bonnard, Carrière, Cézanne and Pissarro. Although highly acclaimed, many galleries were reluctant to display his work on the grounds of excessive nudity and modernism.

In his famous book "The Prophet" , Khalil Gibran said beautiful words about the symbolism of nudity :

"Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.

And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy, you may find in them a harness and a drain.

Would that you could meet the sun and the wind with more of your body and less of your raiment."

******

The Madman was his first book in English. He has long been fascinated by the Lebanese treatment of people deemed to be mad, in which madness is seen as the result of demonic possession and treatment is left to the church... It is this method of treatment that provides the foundation for the book and the chapters of "The Madman".

Here is an excerpt from this book that I find appropriate to the subject of this post …


Kahlil Gibran : THE MADMAN - His Parables and Poems(1918)

Greater Sea

My soul and I went to the great sea to bathe. And when we reached the shore, we went about looking for a hidden and lonely place.

But as we walked, we saw a man sitting on a grey rock taking pinches of salt from a bag and throwing them into the sea.

"This is the pessimist", said my soul, "Let us leave this place. We cannot bathe here".

We walked on until we reached an inlet. There we saw, standing on a white rock, a man holding a bejeweled box, from which he took sugar and threw it into the sea.

"And this is the optimist", said my soul, "And he too must not see our naked bodies".

Further on we walked. And on a beach we saw a man picking up dead fish and tenderly putting them back into the water.

"And we cannot bathe before him", said my soul. "He is the humane philanthropist".

And we passed on.

Then we came where we saw a man tracing his shadow on the sand. Great waves came and erased it. But he went on tracing it again and again.

"He is the mystic", said my soul, "Let us leave him".

And we walked on, till in a quiet cover we saw a man scooping up the foam and putting it into an alabaster bowl.

"He is the idealist", said my soul, "Surely he must not see our nudity".

And on we walked. Suddenly we heard a voice crying, "This is the sea. This is the deep sea. This is the vast and mighty sea". And when we reached the voice it was a man whose back was turned to the sea, and at his ear he held a shell, listening to its murmur.

And my soul said, "Let us pass on. He is the realist, who turns his back on the whole he cannot grasp, and busies himself with a fragment".

So we passed on. And in a weedy place among the rocks was a man with his head buried in the sand. And I said to my soul, "We can bath here, for he cannot see us".

"Nay", said my soul, "For he is the most deadly of them all. He is the puritan".
Then a great sadness came over the face of my soul, and into her voice.

"Let us go hence", she said, "For there is no lonely, hidden place where we can bathe. I would not have this wind lift my golden hair, or bare my white bosom in this air, or let the light disclose my sacred nakedness".

Then we left that sea to seek the Greater Sea.