VIVEK

VIVEK is re-posted from Zack Wolk’s channel and used without permission. It was recorded in 2006 by Wolk and Brian Lott (teenagers then), who chanced upon a man, pregnant with wisdom, on 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, California. 

Vivek is vibrant simply because he lives life like there is no tomorrow, simply because he loves his enemies as passionately as he does his friends, simply because he has reconciled with the ideology of Passing, simply because death for him is no longer ‘conceptual’ but a ‘reality’, simply because death is the elephant in the room and it is black, it is blue, and it is beautiful. 

In retrospect, Wolk said, "We were looking for interesting Street performers to share with our TCTV audience when we encountered Vivek. Nobody is aware of his heritage, career history, child history or anything like that - what we are sure of is that this man is Enlightened, I have quoted Vivek dozens if not hundreds of times since meeting him, the nature of this video is that Brian and I were just kids fucking with a homeless person. However, his words, being captured on video has given us the great fortunate opportunity to re-visit the experience, and I've gone back several times to interact with this supernatural force... he has changed most people that think about what he's trying to communicate rather than writing him off in the first instant … I have forgiven myself - it's all the people seeing this video for the first time whose initial reaction is to talk shit. I'm sorry you think we attempting to clown the homeless - you just don't understand the humor. It's also not funny and not worth mocking the actual message of Vivek's. Both Brian and I are young in this video and we've each watched it about 100x - that's what makes Vivek an excellent teacher - his power.” quote unquote.

Words - Tommy Peters

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