Welcome to the series of guided meditations on the book of poetry,
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran.
During this series we'll be beginning and ending our meditation practice with insights and excerpts from this masterpiece of poetry.
This small book is full of profound wisdom from the Sufi spiritual tradition which may guide us on our path to living a virtuous,
Loving life.
Associating our meditation with this poetry can help us to deepen our understanding and appreciation of this traditional wisdom and infuse it into our daily lives.
In this short story,
A prophet,
Al-Mustafa,
Is departing from the city he has lived in for 12 years and as a gesture of farewell he offers his wisdom to his fellow citizens of the city of Orphalese.
The prophet's opening statement is a sermon on the topic of love in which he gives us an insight on the profundity and mightiness of what love really is.
Whereas we might think of love as something that is given to us by a specific person,
We understand through the words of the prophet that love is an almighty force of which we can not direct the course but only have the humility to yield to and let it direct our course.
We are told that the heights of love joy are only matched by the sorrow of its loss.
Much like a tree simultaneously grows deeper roots as it ascends into the sky.
It is a force that requires of us that we be willing to be completely transformed and let go of anything that we might be grasping onto.
Our meditation today will be aimed at creating a quiet inner space from which we'll be calling upon memories of love's presence and absence.
So as to get an embodied understanding of love before reading the chapter from the prophet.
Start by finding a comfortable position,
Sitting or lying down,
And simply make sure that the front of your body remains open to receive the full range of your breath.
Before closing your eyes allow your gaze to soften and become aware of the space around you.
Take a deep breath in through your nostrils that opens your chest and inflates your body.
And gently release it through your mouth.
With each new exhale,
Let your shoulders fall naturally to your sides and the muscles in your face to soften.
As if your entire body was exhaling with your breath.
And coming into an attitude of relaxed awareness.
If you haven't already,
You can now close your eyes and let go of anything that you might be experiencing.
If you haven't already,
You can now close your eyes and your mouth.
And turn your attention inwards by letting your breath find its natural rhythm.
Now bring your attention to the area where you feel your breath the clearest.
And make an intention to use this sensation as an anchor to come back to the present moment.
So that each time you notice your mind has wandered,
You can gently bring it back to the sensations in this area.
So if you notice your mind gets carried away by thoughts,
Simply observe the thought on your mind and gently release it like a cloud passing by,
Coming back to the anchor of your breath.
Follow your breathing with patience from the moment the air first enters your body to the moment where it leaves it completely.
Now bring to mind a memory of feeling love.
A treasured moment with someone precious in your life.
As if you were reliving the experience of love with them.
Perhaps in the form of a gentle touch of a loving gaze or of a kind gesture.
Allow your mind to settle on a memory of feeling love and to add as much detail and color as you want to this picture.
And with each new inhale,
Call into your body the sensations of feeling love.
Noticing what happens in the area of your face,
Of your chest,
In the rhythm of your breath.
Now bring to mind an area in your life where you may feel that you're lacking this quality of love.
Perhaps a moment when you tend to feel a sense of separateness,
Of fear or unworthiness,
Or perhaps a tendency to be at war with yourself,
To give yourself a hard time.
Notice what thoughts may arise in the moment when you're feeling like you're lacking love.
And with curiosity,
Feel the energy of your body and your body's energy.
And with curiosity,
Feel into your body this difficult feeling that arises when you feel unloved.
Noticing what happens in your face,
In your throat,
In your chest and belly.
With each breath,
Allow space for these sensations to be seen.
And if they could talk,
Hear what these sensations would tell you.
Perhaps even letting them be expressed in your face and your posture.
And see if you can bring some tenderness and understanding to this difficult feeling you may be feeling.
Perhaps saying to this part of you that is experiencing difficulty,
I see you,
I'm here for you.
Or by gently placing your hand on your heart and calling on a quality of love and friendliness for yourself.
The love you would give to your own inner child.
And allow yourself to be bathed in this love.
Once again,
Noticing your body as you allow love to flow through you.
And notice the love that you feel in your body as you allow love to flow through you.
Once again,
Noticing your body as you allow love to flow through you.
I'm now going to read you the passage on love from the book The Prophet.
So relaxing your attention on your breath,
Simply allow yourself to feel into the words being said and notice how they resonate within your body.
Then said Almitra,
Speak to us of love.
And he raised his head and looked upon the people and there fell a stillness upon them.
And with a great voice he said,
When love beckons to you,
Follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you,
Yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you,
And when he speaks to you,
Believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams,
As the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you,
So shall he crucify you,
And he will be your guide.
For even as love crowns you,
So shall he crucify you,
Even as he is for your growth,
So is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging hands.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked,
He sifts you to free you from your husks,
He grinds you to whiteness,
He kneads you until you are pliant,
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire that you may be a part of.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart,
And in that knowledge become a fragment of life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then you may be a part of your heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh but not all of your laughter,
And weep but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself,
And takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses naught,
Nor would it be possessed,
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say,
God is in my heart,
But rather I am in the heart of God.
And think not you can direct the course of love,
For love,
If it finds you worthy,
Directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself,
But if you love and must needs have desires,
Let these be your desires,
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody into the night,
To know the pain of too much tenderness,
To be wounded by your own understanding of love,
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving,
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy,
To return home at eventide with gratitude,
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart,
And a song of praise upon your lips.
I hope you enjoyed this meditation and this poem.
What I particularly love about this passage is how well it captures the paradox of wanting the experience of love.
On the one hand,
Gibran and his prophet suggest that love is something essentially out of our control,
That we can only yield to and let it direct our course,
And on the other hand,
This poem suggests that if we do have an active desire to love,
That there are small and simple habits that we can adopt to move towards it,
To welcome and understand the pain of love,
To give thanks for the love we received during the day,
And to send out good wishes to our beloved.
I'll see you tomorrow for a new meditation with wisdom from the prophet.
