Charles Cameron, a contributor to this weblog, and an early guest on our podcast has died after an illness. I do not know any details (I saw a Facebook post), but I felt that it was important to mention his passing since his contribution to this forum was appreciated, and from what I knew of him he seemed a man with a great heart and boundless curiosity.
Death is inevitable, and a part of life. We too shall pass in our own time. All we can hope for in this one life is to leave memories that honor what we stood for after we leave.
Yes, he used to write well and think out of the box . RIP cameron
I am sorry to hear this sad news. I remember when Charles first time came here and published his text. I sent him my comment and he replied (bellow). He was a very interesting man, I haven’t met many similar to him in my life. Instead of me writing about him, let him talk about himself.
R.I.P Charles, Бог да ти душу прости. Амен.
Charles Cameron about himself:
“I’ve mostly been blogging at Zenpundit.com, a strategy & creativity focused site where I’m managing editor, and am honoured and delighted to have been invited to contribute here at BrownPundits. My degree is in Theology (Christian) from Oxford, I’m interested in religions generally and apocalyptic weirdness and religiously oriented violence in particular, but ah, music is like a breath of fresh air after that, and my love of Bach has translated into an inquiry: How can we hold contrasting concepts and worldviews in mind at the same time, the way Bach’ hold contrasting melodies together in musical counterpoint? This is obviously a useful trait to develop in social setting, for diplomats, intelligence analysts and national security wonks — and for anyone interested in a sophisticated understanding of our complex world. My own approach to the mapping of simultaneous but contrasting ideas is based in my understanding of Hermann Hesse’s great game, described in his Nobel-winning novel The Glass Bead Game. I hope to begin my posting here by introducing Hesse’s Game, and my own attempt to make it playable — on a napkin in a cafe, preferably, with dappled sunshine, a cool breeze, and a curious , open mind..”
“Contemplating the weave of the world”
MAY 12, 2019 AT 3:36 AM
Thanks for your challenge. I am not really brown, but you can consider me as a brown’s cousin. I’ll try to be the briefest possible. What is this about? About the concept of concepts? In search of essence? It seems we are striving toward the God and his (her/its) super-super concept. AT much lower level some are trying to persuade us that they are messengers of the super-super concept (Vatican, Rothschilds through US policies, House of Lords…). Not only messengers, they try to convince us that their concept of exceptionality is divine and that all means should be used to be enforced. They create and enforce for us concepts of our past (history), presence and future. The concept of our past is a foundation stone of our future.
Do you consider that the concept of our past is intentionally deformed by intermediaries for very mundane practical purposes? Thinking people can go some way through the fog and layers after layers of concepts but for the rest is everything pretty clear and doubtless. I am trying here to clarify at least one dubious concept of our common past but even among thinking people it is very difficult undertaking. Txs, may come with more.
PS…Ocean is a good metaphor for conceptualization. I spend every day couple hours (at weekends more) sitting 5 meters from the ocean trying to clarify and interweave my own concepts. Cheers.
1. Charles Cameron
MAY 12, 2019 AT 7:33 PM
Milan:
When I was a boy, history was the Kings and Queens of England, and geography was the map of the British empire and its trade routes and goods (bauxite?what the hell was that?). I failed to be interested, until Leakey’s brother taught me some cultural anthropology, introducing me to the Venus of Willendorf and onwards..
I cut through as much fog as I can for my own information, but what I’m concentrating on in these posts is Hermann Hesse’s Glass Bead Game, as described in his book, not the general past, present or future. The Game is about the great thoughts — whether verbal, musical, artistic, mathematical, etc, and how they interrelate.
Beyond that, my focus will zoom in on my own playable variant on Hesse’s game, in the hopes that some here may be interested in playing a round or two. This first post provided some very general context — I’ll get more specific as we go along.
May you soul rest in Peace.
Om Shanti.
A rest note in the Ainulindalë.
My deep sadness and condolences. I had many offline exchanges with him. He will be missed. And he will always be here (in the memories of those who were touched by him; and in the memories of those who were touched by those touched by him.)
Cheers. Walk heavens path in places unknown.
Thank you for this timely post. He was a most interesting man. I only met him twice (both times for Laotian lunch near Sacramento) and both times we talked for hours about his everything from Islamic history to Indian gurus and Native American shamans. He had a deep and sympathetic interest in all serious religious people, the kind who are sincerely trying to find something.. Rest in peace.
🙁
RIP. A life well lived.
Very sorry to hear this.
He had very interesting views and posts. Glad to have been introduced to his posts and thoughts through BP.