Reason and Passion
And the Priestess spoke again and said: 'Speak to us of Reason and Passion.'
And he answered saying: Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against passion and your appetite. Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody. But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?
Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.
For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion; that it may sing; And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.
I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house. Surely you would not honour one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both.
Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows - then let your heart say in silence, 'God rests in reason.'
And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky, - then let your heart say in awe, 'God moves in passion.'
And since you are a breath In God's sphere, and a leaf in God's forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion.
Kahlil Gibran
7 comments:
You chose the piece which most closely sums up the core philosophy of the work, balancing passion and reason, the poetry itself always tends towards passion but in a disciplined, ornate, formal, gentlemanly way. It's a work which will continue to breath into the world forever.
its one of my favourite poems, I like the way it stresses that All aspects of ourselves have a place, and i have always identified with almarita :)
I didn't know this before so thanks for introducing me to it, it's beautifully done.....thought and expression.
Jo, I love Kahil Kibran...he is one of my favourite writers, his words ARE so beautifully done, and i always get a differant meaning each time I read them
Seems like the right ingredients for a big BANG to me... so which tends to be the initiator - the firing mechanism?
Reason, or Passion?
Our is it just the 'container' we carry them around in??? A good explosion needs all the right ingredients to be well contained, to make it all the more spectacular eh?!
Is it simply just us???
I think it is simply just us Belli....and remember, the more oxygen, the bigger the bang.
Ahhhh - O2... where would we be without it...? Ummmm... bugger!!!
;-)
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