DISCOVERING GIBRAN
02.22.05 (1:38 am) [edit]
[b]I have discovered the works of the Lebanese poet Khalil Jibran[/b] about two years ago while I was in Manila, traipsing along within the nifty caverns of Robinson’s Malate, killing time and having a whole weekend to spare. I noticed a bookstore and I immediately went through the entrance. Whenever I am in a bookstore or in a library, my juices run like wild horses and I feel like a fish in my own ocean. Books are the staple of my soul and you could say my life would not have been as sublime if I was without them.
My first Gibran book was [b]“The Garden of My Father and Mother” [/b]while the next one was [b]“The Prophet” [/b]. The minute I first paged through his poetry, I felt immediately an elevation of the mind and soul as if the words he spoke where the ones I have craved. As if Khalil knew everything about me and he knew my soul like the palms of his hands. This may sound self-indulgent but forgive me for this one instance.
I may infringe on some copyrights but I could not help but present to you one of the chapters in Gibran’s “The Prophet”. This is Chapter 17. Here it is:
[i]
[b]THEN said a teacher, Speak to us of Teaching.
And he said;
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm, nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.
And even as each one of you stands alone in God’s knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.[/b][/i]
[b]This is the poet’s mind,[/b] complex yet subtle like a calm ocean slowly swept by a gentle wind, under a full moon and silent weather. Khalil Gibran believes that the astronomer, the musician and the scientists could not conduct you thither. We must all stand in God’s knowledge although we stand in the knowledge of God in our own distinct ways.
Many speak highly of Gibran and speak of him like he belongs to some and not to many. Gibran is a man of great spiritual gift and he stands alone in his knowledge of the existence of man and of God, he is unparalleled in this manner.
My first Gibran book was [b]“The Garden of My Father and Mother” [/b]while the next one was [b]“The Prophet” [/b]. The minute I first paged through his poetry, I felt immediately an elevation of the mind and soul as if the words he spoke where the ones I have craved. As if Khalil knew everything about me and he knew my soul like the palms of his hands. This may sound self-indulgent but forgive me for this one instance.
I may infringe on some copyrights but I could not help but present to you one of the chapters in Gibran’s “The Prophet”. This is Chapter 17. Here it is:
[i]
[b]THEN said a teacher, Speak to us of Teaching.
And he said;
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm, nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.
And even as each one of you stands alone in God’s knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.[/b][/i]
[b]This is the poet’s mind,[/b] complex yet subtle like a calm ocean slowly swept by a gentle wind, under a full moon and silent weather. Khalil Gibran believes that the astronomer, the musician and the scientists could not conduct you thither. We must all stand in God’s knowledge although we stand in the knowledge of God in our own distinct ways.
Many speak highly of Gibran and speak of him like he belongs to some and not to many. Gibran is a man of great spiritual gift and he stands alone in his knowledge of the existence of man and of God, he is unparalleled in this manner.