Saturday, November 23, 2013

Among The Tombstones



When in London this September I visited Highgate Cemetery, the last resting place of some 170,000 people. Of course  the cemetery’s most famous grave is that of Karl Marx. But    Robert Cesar  Childers’ (died 1876) who compiled the first Pali English dictionary is there somewhere too although I could not find it.  Parts of the cemetery are well maintained but most if it is overgrown and rather spooky. While walking through an overgrown and dark section  my eye was caught by the word Nirvana on one of the partly obscured moss-covered tombstones. Perhaps Calbe Pink (died 1907) was an early Buddhist or Theosophist.



3 comments:

Sam Vega said...

Caleb Pink seems to have been some kind of mystically-inclined socialist who is virtually forgotten these days.
http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2004w51/msg00181.html

It might be that he was using "nirvana" as "paradise" or "peace".

Shravasti Dhammika said...

Dear Sam Vega, thanks for that interesting link about Mr. Pink. Perhaps it was his name that led to the habit of dubbing suspected communists as “pinks”.

Unknown said...

Hello!

We are currently preparing an exhibition about Karl Marx’ “Das Kapital” opening in September 2017 at the Museum der Arbeit (Museum of Work), Hamburg, Germany. This exhibition looks into the history and today’s relevance of the book as well as its impact on individuals and society.
For one section, we would like to present photographs, which show the present of Marx – including pictures of people who visit his grave.
I’ve found a picture of you and would like to ask, if it is okay to present this photo in a series of photos in a projection in the exhibition and in the exhibiton’s catalogue. And do you have the contact of the photographer, so I can ask for his permission, too? You would help me a lot, if you answer: sedef.karakan@museum-der-arbeit.de
Thank you and with best regards,
Sedef