Feb. 22nd 2008

A letter from Hiren B. Mistry - Stephen Lewis Secondary School

By: Hiren B. Mistry

Scott:

We arrived home by 11:30pm.

Today, my students claimed they couldn't fall asleep easily last night. Not because they were spooked-- rather because they were so excited and stimulated.

I taught religion first thing this morning, and the conversations that began in the lobby at intermission and continued on the bus all the way home, spilled over into 1st period. I shelved the planned lesson, and just let the students stay in the moment.

So what I mean to say is, thank-you, once again.

To say that last night was enjoyable, is an understatement. In many ways you gave these students one of the most memorable nights of their lives.

For one thing, the novelty of attending a play downtown was something to be excited about. The atmosphere and intimacy of the Diesel Playhouse just enhanced the experience.

My students were so excited to be social--sitting, talking, enjoying each other in the lounge (at tables with candles, and a bar nearby!), and excited in anticipation of what was to come.

And then your performance!

You stimulated their senses, challenged their minds, and the result was truly alchemic.

They returned home, as transformed individuals.

How long this feeling lasts, is not as important as the muscle memory you have helped to embed. You have planted a seed. And with the help of the course I teach, one hopes that they continue to explore the wonder that exists in the world, and beyond.

You would also be happy to know that my students spent more time talking about their own experience of the numinous, rather than trying to dissect the technicalities of your performance.

They have the experience of wonder right within their family histories and traditions. But, they haven't had the licence to talk about these ideas before. So it was wonderful today to hear my students rediscovering these stories-- of miracles, spirits-- and discuss the value of reading human behaviour. One girl talked at length about her grandfather in Pakistan who was a master at reading people. And so we talk about the social significance too of opening up our right hemisphere.

You can see, you left us with a lot to ponder.

Your final Q & A was a perfect end to the evening. You helped contextualize, historically, the purpose of wonder in an age of technological explicitness. There is much more to discuss.

Your performance, for me, was another part of a puzzle piece that has come together-- a confirmation of ideas I have been contemplating about the human need to transcend the sensory world, the fall out when sources of transcendence erode, and the ways in which we attempt to recover the transcendent, even when all hope seems to be lost.

P.D Ouspensky was a turn of the century Russia physicist and spiritualist, who wrote "A new Model of the Universe". He addressed the ridiculousness of contemplating creation-- or even existence-- in only 3 dimensions. The new model he proposes is truly astounding, and mirrors what you said about multiple dimensions intersecting.

Another fellow--Louis Dupre wrote a book called "Passage to Modernity" in 1994, I believe, that races the "onto-theological breakdown' of western cosmology. Detailed and heady, but a fantastic history of the impact of rationalism, science and industrialism on the transcendent universe of the Western world-- and the transcendent crisis of the 20th Century.

Which of course leads me to further appreciate the work of you and your grandfather. Your work speaks to those for whom the transcend less universe is not enough--stifling even. But for many, there is no transcendent cultural strand to rediscover within their family history.

But your show, opens that possibility again. It gives people a licence to explore a universe that they thought was all but closed to them.

I will pause here. But, initially, I wanted to thank you and the entire staff for a truly memorable, experience.

Kind regards,
Hiren B. Mistry
Global Studies, Dept Head
Stephen Lewis Secondary School
3675 Thomas St.
Mississauga, Ontario
L5M 7E6