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The Prophet: “Freedom” by Kahlil Gibran

Today’s Thought:

Our world needs vision; it needs visionaries. Why not you and yours?

Truly, Kahlil Gibran stands among the most intriguing voices ever to scratch words onto a page. His mystically beautiful and profoundly poetic prose burns to the very root of what it means to be human. He masterfully tackles issues we are all warned not to talk about and gently illuminates the darkness that separates the sides.

Gibran was born in Lebanon in 1883. In 1912, he moved to New York where he pursued his writing and art. Most consider The Prophet, published in 1923, to be his crowning achievement. The work is a series of 28 short essays depicting an unnamed prophet answering the peoples’ questions about important issues in life.

Gibran’s writings are noted for their intricate wording that invites the reader to ponder their deeper meaning and link the ideas to his or her own life. He died an untimely death in 1931, but his work remains popular and relevant in a modern world seeking answers.

Freedom is one of the 28 essays from The Prophet. Few concepts resonate as resolutely in our 21st century world as freedom. Peoples the world over living under dictators, theocracies, and other repressive regimes still fight for their freedom. Meanwhile, the people in “free nations” struggle against the onslaught of intrusive technologies and power hungry governments to keep their freedom from being swallowed whole.

Internally, we are constantly fighting our own personal battle against the impediments to freedom that we construct in our own lives.

Gibran offers gems that set you on the road to freedom. Read his writing through a couple of times as it always yields more than the first reading. Recognizing the chains, within and without, is the first step on the road to true freedom.

“Freedom”

And an orator said, “Speak to us of Freedom.”

And he (the prophet) answered: At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom, Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.

Aye, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.

And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment.

You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief, But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.

And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour?

In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle your eyes.

And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free? If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead.

You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them. And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.

For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride? And if it is a care you would cast off, that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.

And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared.

Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape.

These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling. And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light.

And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.

Follow your bliss. Experience your bliss. Become your bliss.

Ray

Ray Davis is the founder of The Affirmation Spot. He’s been studying and practicing personal development for 30 years. He’s also studied many of the world’s spiritual traditions and mythologies.

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Things I Learned from My Dog Part II – The Affirmation Spot for Friday February 8, 2008

Thank you for visiting The Affirmation Spot. Your comments on the blog or this article are always welcome. Please click here to share lessons learned from your pet.

What Ray’s reading right now:

The Power of Kindness: The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life

Be sure and visit the blog Saturday for our weekly Saturday poll. Last week’s poll asked, “What one thing would you do to make the world a better place?”

Mia is our beautiful three year-old black lab. She is doesn’t know it, at least I don’t think she does, but she is a master teacher on the subject of life – a kind of canine Confucius. You see, she lives her life the way many of us set out to live ours. She knows what she wants and she goes for it and she never gives up.

You can characterize this trait as persistance.

When Mia wants something she can be highly persistent. For instance, I rarely get to sleep in on weekends anymore. Mia usually makes sure I’m up no later than 7 a.m. She doesn’t have to go out she just wants me out of bed. She has a very subtle approach and a clear strategy. She doesn’t bark or run around the room.

No, Mia persists with kindness.

It usually starts with her getting up on the bed and finding a way to lay her head on my chest.This is usually enough to wake me up. Then the licking begins. She licks my hand until I sleepily hide it under the pillow. Mia persists. She inches up her way up so that she can lick my chin.I’ve always been a night owl. On nights when I don’t have to go into the office the next day, like Friday nights, I’m often up late reading or working. So, I’m pretty determined to sleep in until at least 8:00. Mia, however, has different plans.

She’s probably spotted squirrels out playing in her backyard. She is, afterall, the fiercest squirrel warrior in five counties. She wants me to get up and let her out. I want to sleep for a little longer.

Now she works her way up to my ear and starts licking. I’ve had enough and I tell her to go lay down. She complies, but she doesn’t give up. Mia persists. Usually, within five to 10 minutes, she’s back. She jumps up on the bed and plants herself on top of me with a sigh. She thinks she’s a lap dog even though she weighs 55+ pounds.

I hide my hands immediately. I mean I’m smarter than the dog, right? So, she starts with the chin and starts inching her way up until she’s licking me right on the face. Not one or two kisses, mind you, but a full barrage designed to end the stalemate.

Sometimes, depending on exactly how late I’ve been up the night before, this can go on for two or three cycles before I concede the point and get up and let her out. On the mornings this strategy doesn’t work, Mia has back up plans. Mia persists.

She waits until I’ve just dozed off again and then she sits at the edge of the bed and makes “crying sounds”. It’s like one of those alarm clocks that starts out low and grows louder until you turn it off. If this doesn’t work, Mia persists. If this strategy doesn’t work, she turns to her last hope – April. She starts bothering April. She’s not really trying to get April to get up. She just wants April to convince me to take her out. I usually don’t make it to 8:00.

Looked at in one way, not my tired early morning view, it’s all pretty humorous.

Persistence is one of those attributes that helps you go where you want to go in life. Unfortunately, you sometimes lose steam along the road to your dreams.

Here are Mia’s persistence tips:

Be clear on what you want in your mind.
Pursue your goal with all your might, but be kind. The world is full of mean people willing to succeed at the expense of others. Don’t be one of them.
Be patient. The first lick doesn’t always do the job.
Involve others and get their buy in to help you.
Have back up strategies. Sometimes Plan A fails. That doesn’t mean your goal or your dream must fail. Devise new ways of succeeding.
Never give up.
Enjoy life. Mia always does!

Be peaceful Be prosperous!

Ray

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Today’s Thought:

Our world needs vision; it needs visionaries. Why not you and yours?

Thank You for sharing this with a friend!

Thank You for sharing this with a friend!