A question from 'The Prophet'

From the Gibran quote:

"And if you would know God be not therefore a solver of riddles.

Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children."

Unfortunately you have to be a solver of riddles to try to understand someone who speaks in riddles. I think it is as much an exercise in finding meaning inside oneself through the imagination plus ingenuity, as it is understanding eternal wisdom teachings.

In this case I do get exactly what he meant. The thing is that it's not about intellect, more intuition. I feel the answer rather than work it out. Maybe I'm fooling myself, but reading Gibran gives me a deep feeling of......something I can't describe, but his huge popularity means that many others feel it too. If it was not genuine, I don't think he'd be as popular as he has been.

I've just read the post you made about 'the ego' ( #18) and the likes it received. Such popular posts often resonate deeply with people, thus gaining lots of likes. They may not be 'the truth', but they have an effect, which often we find difficult to put into words.

From the Gibran quote:

"And if you would know God be not therefore a solver of riddles.

Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children."

Unfortunately you have to be a solver of riddles to try to understand someone who speaks in riddles. I think it is as much an exercise in finding meaning inside oneself through the imagination plus ingenuity, as it is understanding eternal wisdom teachings.

Feel free to ignore me, but for some reason this keeps reminding me of William Blake:

The Vision of Christ that thou dost see
Is my vision’s greatest enemy.
Thine has a great hook nose like thine;
Mine has a snub nose like to mine.
Thine is the Friend of all Mankind;
Mine speaks in parables to the blind.

Feel free to ignore me, but for some reason this keeps reminding me of William Blake:

Google tells me Gibran and Blake have often been compared, and Gibran has been called "the 20th century Blake":
http://www.almohajer.com/articles/gibran...redemption

Google tells me Gibran and Blake have often been compared, and Gibran has been called "the 20th century Blake":
http://www.almohajer.com/articles/gibran...redemption

Are you a fan of reincarnation? 

There was 56 years between the death of Blake and the birth of Gibran. Possibly there was time for another incarnation in-between these two. 

Are you a fan of reincarnation? 

There was 56 years between the death of Blake and the birth of Gibran. Possibly there was time for another incarnation in-between these two. 

I'm not really a fan of reincarnation. But I see Gibran also drew and painted, and I think his visual art is obviously heavily influenced by Blake's:

I'm not really a fan of reincarnation. But I see Gibran also drew and painted, and I think his visual art is obviously heavily influenced by Blake's:

Maybe you should look deeper into it. I'm not saying that these two individuals were the same 'soul', or whatever our eternal consciousness is, but it's a possibility.

Where do you stand on things Chris? You don't seem to have introduced yourself to the forum. It would only be good manners to do so, don't you agree? I'm rather offended! 

Maybe you should look deeper into it. I'm not saying that these two individuals were the same 'soul', or whatever our eternal consciousness is, but it's a possibility.

Where do you stand on things Chris? You don't seem to have introduced yourself to the forum. It would only be good manners to do so, don't you agree? I'm rather offended! 

On psi I stand somewhere in the middle on the sceptic/believer spectrum, with an inclination towards belief.

On survival and reincarnation I'm more of a sceptic.

On psi I stand somewhere in the middle on the sceptic/believer spectrum, with an inclination towards belief.

On survival and reincarnation I'm more of a sceptic.

Thanks for that.

The line: 'And he who defines his conduct by ethics imprisons his song-bird in a cage.' 

Is the one which bothers me. 

Here's one dictionary definition of ethics:

the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.:

medical ethics; Christian ethics.

This can be contrasted with morality, which can be regarded not so much as a collection of externally developed rules, but as more inherent to true human nature.

Maybe he's saying that one shouldn't rely on rules learnt from others - parents and society, etc., but rather on an internal sense of right and wrong; that only by doing that can one hope to develop true and unerring goodness to guide one's actions.