The Yoga of The Prophet
08/11/08 18:26 Filed in: Philosophy | Poetry
This article is the first of a series of articles planned about classic works of literature and poetry; how the practice of classical yoga explains the fundamental human experience in relationship to how we can further our spiritual growth, recognize patterns that have existed in the minds of all humans throughout time, not just in India. It is the hope that by explaining works like The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Battlestar Galactica and others, I can highlight the underlying patterns prevalent and hopefully make Classical Yoga easier to understand and relate to.
In this edition: The Prophet.
This series of article posts focus on “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran and it’s relationship to the practice of real Classical Yoga. In successive posts, I will draw parallels between this classic work and the classical yogic practices, and link to some further explanations of how those work as well.
My focus here in the introduction is to talk about my experiences in learning this monumental and well-known and -loved work.
I recommend you purchase the cd version of this work in order to really understand what I am talking about.
An excellent lecture on the work is also available here by Bhagawan Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho, in XML. His comments I am sure will be more enlightening than mine.
Note: this link’s text is hard to read in my web browser, but it might be just me. Click here for the cleaner, but much, much shorter HTML version.
NOTE: I will put in the complete work from the book, bullet point the parts which are my comments, and italicize the parts that are in the music.
How I Came To Spiritual Life- Through the Eyes of Almustafa, The Chosen and the Beloved
When I was 10 years old, my mother one day walked into my room and handed me a vinyl record with a spooky and serious looking man on the front cover surrounded by a yellowed-parchment colored background.
She said “I think you’ll like it” and left. Little did I know that in the subsequent few years, this small interaction (and so MANY repeated listens) would forever change the face of my understanding of the world, spirituality in general, and my future yoga experience waiting for me 20 years later.
Throughout my time spent living (from August 2005 to January 2008) at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm, part of the worldwide International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, the Teacher Training Course there, and all of my subsequent research into Classical Yoga, I have been gradually relying on this musical rendition of the book for my sense of correctness of spirituality and using it as a sort of ‘Oracle’ toward making decisions in life and learning.
Richard Harris (the original Dumbledore in the first Harry Potter film, by the way), I have heard, had a personal mission to turn this classic book (I didn’t know it was a book until I was 30) into a musical work. He enlisted the legendary Arif Mardin (who died on June 25, 2006) to produce this work with him. Tony Levin, in one of his first professional gigs, was playing bass guitar.
I emailed Tony Levin years ago asking why there was no cd version of the record I had long since worn out (but still carried from move to move, the album cover). Very soon after this, my mom sent me the cd version, re-awakening my delight and reminded me that I had memorized the entire musical version as a child. To this day, I can still hear
Richard Harris reputedly had to personally track down more than 90 of the heirs to the legacy of Kahlil Gibran throughout the world, and get them ALL to unanimously authorize such a musical rendition of the book. He did so, and the world is a better place for it. I am very saddened that I will never get now to thank personally either Arif Mardin or Richard Harris himself for the gift they gave me in my life. I have, however, thanked my mother numerous times!
Like 2112 by Rush before it (in my discovery), it has a sweeping and epic flavor to it, although both works are markedly different in philosophy. Mostly spoken word, this Irish Elizabethan-trained actor’s inflections and dramatic flair added so much to my pre-teen life that I wasn’t able to fully appreciate until I began studying Classical Yoga as taught in the Saraswati lineage from Swami Sivananda and his disciples.
I have since branched out to understand Classical Yoga as a immense, indeed the largest, body of spiritual work available to mankind, but it is largely summarized by ‘The Prophet’ in Kahlil Gibran’s poetic words. To this end, we proceed...
In this edition: The Prophet.
This series of article posts focus on “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran and it’s relationship to the practice of real Classical Yoga. In successive posts, I will draw parallels between this classic work and the classical yogic practices, and link to some further explanations of how those work as well.
My focus here in the introduction is to talk about my experiences in learning this monumental and well-known and -loved work.
I recommend you purchase the cd version of this work in order to really understand what I am talking about.
An excellent lecture on the work is also available here by Bhagawan Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho, in XML. His comments I am sure will be more enlightening than mine.
Note: this link’s text is hard to read in my web browser, but it might be just me. Click here for the cleaner, but much, much shorter HTML version.
NOTE: I will put in the complete work from the book, bullet point the parts which are my comments, and italicize the parts that are in the music.
How I Came To Spiritual Life- Through the Eyes of Almustafa, The Chosen and the Beloved
When I was 10 years old, my mother one day walked into my room and handed me a vinyl record with a spooky and serious looking man on the front cover surrounded by a yellowed-parchment colored background.
She said “I think you’ll like it” and left. Little did I know that in the subsequent few years, this small interaction (and so MANY repeated listens) would forever change the face of my understanding of the world, spirituality in general, and my future yoga experience waiting for me 20 years later.
Throughout my time spent living (from August 2005 to January 2008) at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm, part of the worldwide International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, the Teacher Training Course there, and all of my subsequent research into Classical Yoga, I have been gradually relying on this musical rendition of the book for my sense of correctness of spirituality and using it as a sort of ‘Oracle’ toward making decisions in life and learning.
Richard Harris (the original Dumbledore in the first Harry Potter film, by the way), I have heard, had a personal mission to turn this classic book (I didn’t know it was a book until I was 30) into a musical work. He enlisted the legendary Arif Mardin (who died on June 25, 2006) to produce this work with him. Tony Levin, in one of his first professional gigs, was playing bass guitar.
I emailed Tony Levin years ago asking why there was no cd version of the record I had long since worn out (but still carried from move to move, the album cover). Very soon after this, my mom sent me the cd version, re-awakening my delight and reminded me that I had memorized the entire musical version as a child. To this day, I can still hear
Richard Harris reputedly had to personally track down more than 90 of the heirs to the legacy of Kahlil Gibran throughout the world, and get them ALL to unanimously authorize such a musical rendition of the book. He did so, and the world is a better place for it. I am very saddened that I will never get now to thank personally either Arif Mardin or Richard Harris himself for the gift they gave me in my life. I have, however, thanked my mother numerous times!
Like 2112 by Rush before it (in my discovery), it has a sweeping and epic flavor to it, although both works are markedly different in philosophy. Mostly spoken word, this Irish Elizabethan-trained actor’s inflections and dramatic flair added so much to my pre-teen life that I wasn’t able to fully appreciate until I began studying Classical Yoga as taught in the Saraswati lineage from Swami Sivananda and his disciples.
I have since branched out to understand Classical Yoga as a immense, indeed the largest, body of spiritual work available to mankind, but it is largely summarized by ‘The Prophet’ in Kahlil Gibran’s poetic words. To this end, we proceed...