Voided

[randy_byers]

There's a Buddhist temple in our neighborhood called Nalanda West. I can't look at it without thinking delenda est, as in Carthago delenda est. Hm, I always thought it meant "Carthage has been destroyed," but Wikipedia tells me it actually means "Carthage must be destroyed." Even better! Because what I got to thinking as I passed by the temple today is whether something Zen might be gleaned from my free association. I always thought "delenda" must at root mean something like "deleted" or "erased" or "made void." I'm sure the conjugation is wrong, but could we imagine a Roman Buddhist temple named Ego Delenda Est?

Comments

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I was just starting to see that connection as well -- between "future passive periphrastic" and the Mary Poppins tune. Yeah!