Notes: Khalil Gibran On Self-Knowledge.

Just posting some excerpts from this passage in the book.

Rather than posting the entire section.

This part of The Prophet is short and sweet.

It’s very straight-forward so, a need for an analysis isn’t need.

I think you should self analyze and see how it pertains to you,

Anyways, Here are some excerpts:

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.
But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge.

……

The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;

……

Say not, “I have found the truth,”
but rather, “I have found a truth.”
Say not, “I have found the path of the soul.”
Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.”

Kahlil Gibran on Religion.

And an old priest said, Speak to us of Religion.

And he (The Prophet) said:

Have I spoken this day of aught else?
Is not religion all deeds and all reflection,
And that which is neither deed nor reflection, but a wonder and a surprise ever springing in the soul, even while the hands hew the stone or tend the loom?
Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations?
Who can spread his hours before him, saying, “This for God and this for myself; This for my soul, and this other for my body?”
All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self.
He who wears his morality but as his best garment were better naked.
The wind and the sun will tear no holes in his skin.
And he who defines his conduct by ethics imprisons his song-bird in a cage.
The freest song comes not through bars and wires.
And he to whom worshiping is a window, to open but also to shut, has not yet visited the house of his soul whose windows are from dawn to dawn.


Your daily life is your temple and your religion.
Whenever you enter into it take with you your all.
Take the plough and the forge and the mallet and the lute,
The things you have fashioned in necessity or for delight.
For in revery you cannot rise above your achievements nor fall lower than your failures.
And take with you all men:
For in adoration you cannot fly higher than their hopes nor humble yourself lower than their despair.


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.
And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain.
You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees.

1st Post in what seems like forever…

I’m nearly halfway through The Prophet…

I’ll type up some analysis’s when I get a chance to gather my thoughts…

Hopefully this weekend.

Definition of a ‘Hater’ by Maya Angelou

A hater is someone who is jealous and envious and spends all
their time trying to make you look small so they can look tall.
They are very negative people to say the least. Nothing is ever
good enough! When you make your mark, you will always attract some
haters…That’s why you have to be careful with whom you share your
blessings and your dreams, because some folk can’t handle seeing you
blessed…

It’s dangerous to be like somebody else…

If God wanted you to be like somebody else, He would have given
you what He gave them! Right? You never know what people have gone
through to get what they have.

The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but
they don’t know my story… If the grass looks greener on the other side
of the fence, you can rest assured that the water bill is higher there
too!

We’ve all got some haters among us!  People envy you because you can:

Have a relationship with God
Light up a room when you walk in
Start your own business
Tell a man / woman to hit the curb (if he / she isn’t about the right thing)
Raise your children without both parents being in the home

Haters can’t stand to see you happy, Haters will never want to
see you succeed, Haters never want you to get the victory, most of our
haters are people who are supposed to be on our side. How do you handle
your undercover haters?

You can handle these haters by:

1. Knowing who you are & who your true friends are *(VERY IMPORTANT!!)
   
   
2. Having a purpose to your life? Purpose does not mean having a job. You can have a job and still be unfulfilled. A purpose is having a clear sense of what God has called you to be. Your purpose is not defined by what others think about you.
   
   
3. By remembering what you have is by divine prerogative and not human manipulation. Fulfill your dreams!

You only have one life to live…when it’s your time to leave this earth,
you ‘want’ to be able to say, ‘I’ve lived my life and fulfilled
‘my’ dreams,… Now I’m ready to go HOME! When God gives you favor, you can
tell your haters, Don’t look at me…Look at Who is in charge of me…’

Maya Angelou

*Updated my list somewhat…

January: The Dead Emcee Scrolls - Saul Williams

February: The Prophet/The Vision: Reflections on the Way of the Soul - Khalil Gibran

March: The Idiot - Fyodor M Dostoevsky

April: Yes Man - Danny Wallace

May: I Am Not Sidney Portiere - Percival Everett

June: 1984 - George Orwell

July: Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

August: Said the Shotgun to the Head/SHE - Saul Williams

September: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz

October: The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

November: Letters To a Younger Brother – Hill Harper

December: The Ecstatic - Victor D Lavalle

Honorable Mention
(To be read throughout the year):

How To Eat To Live – Elijah Muhammad

Notes.From.The.Underground!

The Dead Emcee Scrolls: The Lost Teachings of Hip-Hop

by Saul Williams

*My Words*

As a book of poetry I find that it’s easier to just present what I’m reading word for word, and leave interpretation up to who’s ever reading this. Whereas if I was reading a novel, I would give you an entire “rundown”…But I still like to include my interpretation sometimes as well…But generally I believe that the text speaks for itself.

Anyways…these are some passages that stuck out to me…

Section: Seven Mountains: Journal Excerpts 1994 - 2001

*1999

As the rockets’ red
Glare in your eyes
Will you look down
Or glare back
As The one
Who Defies?

___________

I was born at 12:30 in the morning. By 1AM I was certain I would not remember much of my past. By 1:40 I had forgotten my name. By 2:12 the ancients had bid me farewell. By 2:30 I had swallowed a foreign brand. By 2:40 I had begun to hallucinate. It’s all coming back to me. I met my parents’ spirit guides at 4:30. It was they who told me of the sun….By 6:17 I had decided what I wanted to be….

*You have to read the book to get the rest* ;)

___________

I love English. Through it’s dissection a million things are under/over-stood.

___________

*2000

Mental states
Have physical boundaries…

___________

What has become
Of my simple truths?

They have become
Complex lies.

___________

Like I said, these are just parts that stuck out to me. They are a combination of truths and ideas that resonate with me. There’s no need to overthink them, take them as they are.

I’ve only got one more section.

Then I’ll back track, scan through the book one more time, and see if there’s anything I missed.

The Box Syndrome.

resunsaysdope:

You live in a box.

Your house, your rooms, your bed, etc.

You leave that box, and get in another box (your car or public transportation).

You go to work/school…and your office/classroom = a box.

Then the process repeats in reverse.

Wrapping up The Dead Emcee Scrolls…

I’m thinking of making a video giving my final verdict on the book, and reading parts I like, recommendations, and etc…

Didn’t have an opportunity to read today…

I’m close to the end of The Dead Emcee scrolls.

Probably 10 to 15 pages left…

Gearing up for 1984 for February,

And Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet should be in my mailbox any day now….

Note.

The books I chose to read aren’t only for enjoyment.

I chose to read the books on my list to better myself mentally.

It’s my responsibility to take what I’ve learned and translate it into action.

Hip-Hop: The Co-Dead Language.

Excerpts taken from The Dead Emcee Scrolls: The Lost Teachings Of Hip-Hop.

Written by Saul Williams.

This might be my favorite section of the book, so I want to share (Even though I know how people love to avoid “words” here):

__________________________________________

The history of the African American population is a page torn from precolonial African history books and pasted into scrapbooks of the new world….

….When a people are cut off from their language, their culture, their, religion, and traditions they are forced to adopt, adapt and forge new ground over old wounds. Much has been said about the dangers of stripping people of their roots…..In some cases, when people are freed from their past they are given an opportunity to start anew.

Hip-Hop, like it’s African American creators, is born from this newfound independence. It is our generations opportunity to start from scratch.

…It samples the past, while at the same time re-ordering it and declassifying it’s hidden roots.

What if youth are misguided into believing that money is the ultimate power or that vulnerability is weakness?

While an Emcee may see displaying…vulnerability as a weakness, a poet will often see the ability to display vulnerability as a strength. It is when the careful balance between the two is found that hip-hop is at it’s most powerful.

At what point does hip-hop reflect more of it’s American birthplace than it’s African roots?

At what point does the power of hip-hop begin to work against itself?

__________________________________________

Pick up this book, it’s very good!