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Writer's pictureCile

Episode Two Hundred Forty Two, Act Great



The choices that we make that do not turn out as we expect can bring shocking events to our door. Once that door flies open the suffering rushes in and sets up housekeeping.


This statement by Hafiz, "...act great..." reminds me of a hiking safety protocol. On the grim chance a person runs into a predator - a bear or a cougar, for instance - while hiking it is counseled that one should resist the impulse to run. One is advised to wave one's arms frantically and shout at the beast. Not many of us are going to remember to do such a thing in a clutch but we are surely going to brood about the incident until the mind can come up with some kind of preventive plan for the heartbreaking or scary thing to never happen again. This is what the mind does. That is its job until it is trained to work with the body in the spirit of adventure and in tandem rather than in containment and fear. Our minds untrained are wardens.


But, of course, Hafiz is a Sufi Master who has divinity on speed dial. He shares the wise advice to dig deeper when we are in our cups and be of service to others. This is acting great. Generating benevolence and kindness is a balm to our own troubles, it is true.


Those of us in the modern world as we make our way through these troubled times - many of us still tending to traumas - cannot reach down any farther than we already are without disappearing altogether. Until we are seated in our own sovereignty, what we see is the devil at our door wanting to cut us down to size. We, too, need to act great; especially in moments when we do not feel great. We must remember that we are great even if not feeling it in that minute. To have our sense of greatness when we need it, we need to cultivate our sense of it in ourselves daily so it is there when we need it and we are able to say: "Not today, Satan (or your demon of choice)!" when appropriate. There is no spare time in a life to entertain forgetting how great we are as we work bringing more of our true natures forward.


Thank you for listening.



Video: Whenever I think of greatness in the context of the mind working with the body as creature in a life, I think of Stoffel. He is not a human being. Stoffel is a honey badger. He's not just any honey badger, he's a GREAT honey badger. He knows he has greatness and he knows how to use it! Stoffel does not waste time with regrets and trying to dodge his intentions. He figures out how to overcome. Stoffel is a legend. When ever I feel trapped in some old idea of myself and I need to act great and I really don't feel great, I think , "What would Stoffel do?" I may not be able to act divine in a pinch but I can be clever.




The original post in this series of poems by Hafiz (including an addendum regarding the authenticity of these poems) can be found here. Also, my thoughts on this series a year into these poems, HERE.


The Gift: Poems by Hafiz and translated by Daniel Ladinsky can be purchased here.


My book can be purchased HERE. E-book HERE. The Season Two blogcasts with audio excerpts from my book begin HERE: in Behind The Lines. This reading of the book excerpts in a mixed media format is Season Two of this blog. These recorded excerpts are outside the chronological order in which the book was written. Podcasts with audio only beginning with episode 22 can be found HERE.

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