The Prophet

I discovered the book "The Prophet" by Kahil Gibran,my sophomore year in college.  Even at the grand old age of of nineteen I knew that this book contained the wisdom needed to live a full life.  As Almustafa, The Chosen, takes leave of the city of Orphalease his final words are, "A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me", I knew I was hooked.  For nearly fifty years I have reread this book as a source of guidance and wisdom through life.

And as Almitra, the seeress, words released The Prophet she asks him to speak to those who are gathered there of Love, and so his first discourse begins..... 

As a young woman in college this was perhaps the most important passage for me.  It was a passage that was often used at a candle passing when a house member would announce her pinning or engagement.  In subsequent years the entire book took on meaning in my life, but this was the first passage that The Prophet spoke to those gathered that day, and it spoke to my young  heart.

In my youth it meant to me the perfect romantic love I would hope for; in later years, as I matured, it became the archetype of unconditional love.  Through this love I could learn the secrets of my own heart and in knowing that I would become a fragment of life's heart.  This journey, as I have learned, is fraught with pain, but also brings incredible joy.

The Prophet spoke of Love, Marriage, Children, Joy & Sorrow, Reason & Passion, Teaching, Friendship, Beauty, Religion, and Death, to mention a few chapters.   All manner of living and life are addressed in this little book.  It was published in 1923.  My copy was the seventy-ninth printing in May, 1967; and many more printings have followed.

 

It gave me wisdom for marriage; "make not a bond of your love, fill each others cup but drink not from one cup".  Raising my children I remembered and often repeated, "Your children are not your children.  They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself...they come through you but not from you, and though they are with you yet they belong not to you"....

"Joy is your sorrow unmasked....The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain."  Those words gave me strength and courage at times of sorrow and loss and allowed me to bear with grace the pain that opened me to recurring joy in my life.   Joy and sorrow reflect my capacity to accept life's teachings, and I find that both do exist simultaneously in my life.  In moments of my deepest sorrow joy exists, and in the joyful moments sorrow is quietly perceived. 

This book prepares me for each day of life.  Unknowing to my nineteen-year-old conscious mind it introduced me to the state of non-duality.  It assisted me in navigating the waters of young adulthood and to find safe havens when the journey grew to difficult.  Reading and recalling passages from this book gave me understanding, insights, and awareness into a view of life I had not been exposed to. 

And at the end of that day Almitra asks The Prophet to speak of death.  He said, "You would know the secret of death; how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?"  The Prophet tells his listeners/readers that only when we embrace the opposite of what we seek will we truly be free

The Prophet offered me archetypical roles that continue to guide and influence my life decisions today.  I find knowledge in many books, writings, and discourses, but The Prophet holds wisdom in every page.  Our minds want knowledge, but wisdom is food for the soul.  Wisdom allows us to truly dance free..... through the universe.