Ancient Wisdom Revisited: Shelley - Ozymandias

“Sic transit gloria mundi,” "thus passes the glory of the world," is an expression containing a timeless message carrying the wisdom and weight of centuries. In a world that praises greatness and success, strong leaders, powerful nations, impressive buildings, unlimited extravagance, they invite us to live more humbly, remembering that we leave this world carrying as little as we did when we came into it.

Background music: deep-meditation-192828 by Roman Dudchyk.
Photo by László Glatz

Transcript

Dear friends,

Sic transit gloria mundi.

Thus passes the glory of the world.

This Latin expression contains a timeless message and one that is appropriate for our time.

The phrase was first used at the coronation of Pope Alexander V in Pisa on the 7th of July 1409 and the practice continued up to the 1960s.

During the ceremony,

A monk would approach the Pope three times holding a burning flax torch and say Pater sancti,

Sic transit gloria mundi.

Holy Father,

Thus passes the glory of the world.

This served to remind the Pope of the ephemeral nature of earthly honours and power even,

As he assumed,

The most exalted position in the Church.

These words carry the wisdom and the weight of centuries.

In a world that praises greatness and success,

Strong leaders,

Powerful nations,

Impressive buildings,

Unlimited extravagance,

They invite us to see more clearly,

To live more humbly.

They remind us that we leave this world carrying as little as we did when we came into it.

The poet Shelley issues a caution about the false promise of earthly power.

I met a traveller from an antique land who said,

Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert.

Near them,

On the sand,

Half sunk,

A shattered visage lies whose frown and wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command tell that its sculptor well those passions read which yet survive,

Stamped on these lifeless things.

And on the pedestal these words appear,

My name is Ozymandias,

King of Kings,

Look on my works,

Ye mighty,

And despair.

Nothing beside remains.

Round the decay of that colossal wreck,

Boundless and bare,

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Ozymandias.

A two centuries old lesson for our time from the poet Shelley.

Its message,

Even the mightiest fall,

The most glorious cities and powers,

The pomp and circumstance of empires,

The self-importance,

The self-confident utterings,

All are swallowed by the relentless passage of time.

The Voyager 1 spacecraft was launched by NASA in 1977.

On Valentine's Day,

The 14th of February 1990,

It sent back a photograph of a tiny dot suspended in a sunbeam.

This was planet Earth as it appeared from a distance of 3.

7 billion miles,

6 billion kilometres.

The photograph inspired the popular astronomer Carl Sagan to produce a book entitled Pale Blue Dot.

In the book,

He eloquently describes our planet as a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.

He refers to the fact that every human being who has ever been born has lived out their lives on this tiny planet which is the home of all of us.

Here lived a variety of people whom he describes including,

As he put it,

Every young couple in love,

Every mother and father,

Every teacher of morals,

Every corrupt politician,

Every superstar,

Every supreme leader,

Every saint and sinner in the history of our species.

He refers to the cruelties which we have inflicted on one another in our leader's pursuit of power.

The pale blue dot reminds us of the futility of conquest and the absurdity of drawing lines on this fragile outpost of life that we are privileged to inhabit.

Thus passes the glory of the world.

But ours is not,

In Rumi's words,

A caravan of despair.

Sikh Transit Gloria Monday is an invitation to practice wisdom.

It's a call to each of us to live lives which are worthy of humanity.

It's a reminder that this too shall pass,

And too soon.

So don't let us waste our lives in the empty pursuit of things which have no lasting value.

A life which Pope John Paul II described as the empty pursuit of mere material possessions.

Instead,

Let us dedicate ourselves to the doing of good,

Building bridges,

Knocking down walls,

Bringing an end to discrimination on any grounds,

Treating all people equally,

Remembering that underneath our differences we are all basically the same.

We are all warmed by the same sun.

We all face the fact that our time here is limited.

Our task must be that of improving the lot of our fellow travellers as we move along this amazing road of life.

And since all things pass,

Let us pay more attention to real treasures that are beyond monetary value.

People,

Family,

Friends,

Companions on life's journey.

A kind word costs nothing.

It's so easy to offer a helping hand.

And we must never forget to pay attention to the beauty of the world around us,

The gift of each new day,

The first light of dawn,

The last glow of the setting sun,

And always paying attention to the experiences in between these two daily events.

Our monuments will crumble in time,

But our lives lived in love will have an influence that extends beyond our limited time here.

Eventually all our names will be forgotten,

But the love which we have shared will echo on and on,

And it will light up each of the lives that our words and our actions have touched.

A closing prayer.

Eternal Spirit,

You who were before time began,

You who will remain when stars have burned out,

When empires have turned to dust,

Teach us to care for one another as we walk lightly on the good earth.

May we never lose our humanity in the pursuit of power.

May we never mistake noise for truth.

Let us not cling to what fades,

Titles,

Monuments,

So-called victories.

Let us cling instead to what endures,

Kindness shared,

Justice done,

Peace pursued.

Remind us that we live on a pale blue dot,

Spaceship earth as it has been described,

Spinning silently in the vastness and darkness of space.

Remind us that every kind deed makes a difference,

Echoing through time and space and bringing about consequences beyond our imagination.

Remind us that once our names are forgotten,

And they will be forgotten sooner than we think,

Still our love will go on and on.

Namaste.

Reviews

This really touched me indescribably, Tony. Thank you. I appreciate all of your content and you and I spend mornings together. You are my favorite teacher on insight timer.

Thank you for being so well read and introducing me to books & authors that are new to me. I love how this brought in history too.

Thank you! 🌟🙏🏻

Namaste.

Good morning Tony 🌞, excellent perspective to enter our days, valuing kindness justice and peace. Blessings to you 💫

Tony, thanks for these thoughts. I wonder, our names will be forgotten and probably soon, but on love goes on and on...How? How does our love go on and on?

Thank you for this. Your voice and your message always speak straight to my heart.

Thank you for the reminder of what is important and what is not! Namaste 🙏

So beautiful and meaningful. I wish everyone on the blue dot could hear and learn from it. Thanks for sharing Tony 🙏🏻

Amazing Tony,. This really gave me the fresh perspective I need

What a beautiful meditation Tony. So much good in this. I love the reference to the blue dot. 🔵
We all need to show more caring and kindness to one another. But that shouldn’t have to be something we have to be reminded of doing, it should just be who we are. Taking care of our blue dot and everything within it should be an honor and privilege.
I also loved the reference to we go out of this world with as little as we came in.
Material things really are just things. You heart and actions and kindness really is all that we really need. Thank you Tony. 🙏🏻💕

Thank you for sharing these moments with us. It's important to have the reminder that we all occupy this pale blue dot for such a cosmically short time. Thank you again. Namaste

Tony, what beautifully written inspirational words to remind us and guide us to live an intentional life by using our time on this blue dot for acts of kindness, justice and peace. These, more than possessions, power and mindless pleasures, is how our love will live on and on. Ever grateful for your wisdom...Namaste...🕊️😌🕊️

Thank you Tony . Your words are beautiful and full of hope . All that matters is love ! Grateful !

A truly inspirational meditation. Thank you teacher Tony! 🙏❤️🙏❗️

Wow!!! Love the message and the many lessons in this. Thank you 🙏🏻

Beautiful wisdom and humility, real wealth. Fantastic talk on our time on the pale blue dot.. 💙

Imagining ourselves aboard our tiny pale-blue ship, spinning through space... it's humbling and makes us want to focus on what's essential 🩵