In days long ago; days displaced from this modern world and all of its occupations, there were deities and beliefs based on observable basic human behaviors. There were gods and goddesses, in Egypt and prior, who helped human beings born blind to their human powers. We were born spiritually as helpless newborn babes embedded as we were in the business of physically growing. These deities helped people navigate themselves to fulfilling lives. One of these helpers was the Anubis who would, upon death weigh a persons heart for a valued measure of their lives. This was a job of judgement that was much later relegated to an Anglo idea of Saint Peter. Upon death, Anubis would weigh a person's heart against the truth (being the weight of the feather) of how a person lived. It wasn't a judgement that people feared, it was a goal to fulfill.
Living life honestly has never been an easy task. We are all weighted and navigating secrets we blindly manufacture to try to survive. In days less modern it was recognized that our lives were a gift granted to us and an obvious goal was to grow and develop. We face more complex realities now that are built upon these misunderstood ideas that we have let grow out of proportion. Still the basics remain within our hearts that are chained to this life in this dimension. When we recognize our dishonesties and self-deceptions, we can own them and, in the height of irony, they consequently then disperse. It is then that these weights in our hearts fall away as Hafiz describes.
Thank you for listening.
Video: Forrest Gump. I'm of the opinion that many people completely missed the point of this film and the power within its design but that is not surprising given that the American public does not look at things in general with depth or with their hearts and they expect something more ravishing and seductive at every turn. I was torn between whether to share the opening scene or this closing scene of the film. I opted for the end. In the opening, a feather falls from the sky in a dance to the the gorgeous composition by Alan Sivestri. It falls at the feet of Forrest Gump as he is waiting for a bus. He picks up the feather and places it in his favorite book from his childhood, in his suitcase, Curious George. You can see the scene here. I'll leave you with this poignant closing scene. And, seriously, the most miraculous things can happen at bus stops, airports and train stations when we are making any transitions...and not just in films but in real life.
The original post in this series of poems by Hafiz can be found here.
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz and translated by Daniel Ladinsky can be purchased here.