“I am like thee, O, Night,
 dark and naked;
I walk on the flaming path
which is above my day-dreams,
and whenever my foot touches
earth a giant oak tree comes forth.”
Hi! This is Nideesh Vasu
and I read writings and poetry
from the great saints and sages
 from across time to help us introspect
where we are at in our
 lives at the moment
and to help us evolve
 and become better students,
better children, better parents,
better friends, better lovers,
 and better humans.
Welcome to a Stereo Tales Presentation.
You're listening to Sages and the Madman.
 with Nideesh Vasu.
Thank you for listening in to my podcast.
This is the last episode for this season.
The last episode where we'll read from
 Khalil Gibran’s ‘The Madman’.
Before that we'll take a look at the
 last few years of Gibran’s life.
We all know of Gibran’s masterpiece, The Prophet,
it was published in September 1923.
The earliest references
 to a mysterious prophet
were found in Mary Haskell’s journal from 1912.
Gibran worked on it from time to time
and had finished much of it by 1919.
It is believed, that he first wrote it in
 Arabic and then translated it into English
and, as with most of his English books,
Haskell acted as his editor for The Prophet as well.
In 1925 the poet Barbara Young
 became Gibran’s secretary.
Over the next 5 years,
Gibran was battling alcoholism and
becoming more of a recluse.
In 1931, his book,
 The Earth Gods, hit the shelves
and he finished a manuscript of what became
 “The Wanderer” shortly before his death
on April 10, 1931, he died from
 the cirrhosis of the liver.
His death set off a series of events
 that were quite as eventful as his life.
Hundreds of people attended his funeral
—far too many for all of them
 to get into the church.
To accommodate,
several memorial services
 had to be conducted over weeks.
His coffin was sent to Lebanon only in July
and because he was a
major Arabic literary figure,
the procession to Bisharri and the associated
 ceremonies were absurdly elaborate.
The other major factor was Gibran’s will.
As per his will, he wanted to be
 buried in his native village,
he left money and real estate to his sister.
He left his papers and the contents
 of his studio to Mary Haskell,
with a request that she send any materials
 she did not want to Bisharri;
he also left the royalties from
 his copyrights to the village.
At the studio Haskell found
her own correspondence with Gibran,
his other correspondences, her notebooks,
and Gibran’s manuscripts;
she locked them, sealed the studio
and relied on Barbara Young
to handle affairs in New York.
Now this was a huge shock for Young
as she had no idea of Haskell’s existence-
let alone the depth of their relationship.
Barbara Young was so jealous of Haskell
that she wanted to destroy Gibran’s letters,
especially the ones with Haskell.
Mary managed to prevent her
 from doing so but Young did destroy his
 other letters and correspondences.
The most serious problem concerned
Young’s handling of Gibran’s
 unpublished manuscripts.
Haskell had finished editing
 The Wanderer after Gibran’s death and
sent it to Young,
who undid the editing and published it as is,
claiming that Gibran came to her
in her dreams and asked her to do it.
And last but not the least
 of dramas that ensued,
concerned Gibran’s bequest
 of his royalties to his native village.
Sales of Gibran’s works were substantial
and because it wasn't clear
 how the village will distribute this money,
it created massive issues for decades in Bisharri,
dividing families and
 leading to at least two murders.
The Lebanese government finally had to step in
to restore peace and deal with the corruption
that was dissipating the funds.
Gibran's body was interred
 in Bsharri at the monastery
which was purchased by
 Mary Haskell and Mariana
which soon became a museum.
In 1950, Haskell donated her personal collection
of nearly one hundred
original works of art by Gibran
which is the largest public collection
of Gibran's visual art in the country.
Her donation made possible
the establishment of the Gibran Museum,
today the world's largest
public collection of his artwork.
In this episode we'll do a deep dive of
the poem ‘Night and the Madman’
from Khalil Gibran’s ‘The Madman’.
"I am like thee, O, Night, dark and naked;
I walk on the flaming path
which is above my day-dreams,
and whenever my foot touches earth
a giant oak tree comes forth.
“Nay, thou art not like me, O, Madman,
for thou still lookest backward
to see how large a foot-print
 thou leavest on the sand.”
“I am like thee, O, Night, silent and deep;
and in the heart of my loneliness
lies a Goddess in child-bed;
and in him who is being born
Heaven touches Hell.
“Nay, thou art not like me, O, Madman,
for thou shudderest yet before pain,
and the song of the abyss terrifies thee.”
“I am like thee, O, Night, wild and terrible;
for my ears are crowded with cries
of conquered nations and
 sighs for forgotten lands.”
“Nay, thou art not like me, O, Madman,
for thou still takest thy little-self for a comrade,
and with thy monster-self
thou canst not be friend.”
“I am like thee, O, Night, cruel and awful;
for my bosom is lit by burning ships at sea,
and my lips are wet with blood of slain warriors.”
“Nay, thou art not like me, O, Madman;
for the desire for a sister-spirit is yet upon thee,
and thou has not become a law unto thyself.”
“I am like thee, O, Night, joyous and glad;
for he who dwells in my shadow
is now drunk with virgin wine,
and she who follows me is sinning mirthfully.
“Nay, thou art not like me, O, Madman,
for thy soul is wrapped in the veil of seven folds
and thou holdest not thy heart in thine hand.”
“I am like thee, O, Night, patient and passionate;
for in my breast a thousand dead lovers
are buried in shrouds of withered kisses.”
“Yea, Madman, art thou like me?
Art thou like me?
And canst thou ride the tempest as a steed,
and grasp the lightning as a sword?”
“Like thee, O, Night, like thee, mighty and high,
and my throne is built upon heaps of fallen Gods;
and before me too pass the days
 to kiss the hem of my garment
but never to gaze at my face.”
"Art thou like me, child of my darkest heart?
And dost thou think my untamed thoughts
 and speak my vast language?”
“Yea, we are twin brothers, O, Night;
for thou revealest space and I reveal my soul.”
The Madman and the Night have a chat one time.
He compares himself to the Night
in all its aspects – dark and naked,
silent and deep, wild and terrible,
 cruel and awful,
joyous and glad, patient and passionate,
mighty and high.
Yet, the Night points out to the Madman
 where he falls short.
The Madman experiences the Universe
 and its creation in all its splendor
- the birth, death, pain, pleasure,
the conquered, the abandoned,
 the sins, sinners, love, lovers,
the weak, the strong, all the
fallen Gods from our lives.
He tells the Night about it and
reaffirms his like-ness to the Night.
The Night on the other hand
 says the Madman’s nowhere close.
The Madman is shown
how he still prides upon his
achievements and efforts,
he’s weak and terrified of pain,
how he’s not able to come to terms
 with his own selves in different forms,
how he’s weak before temptation
and has still no control over his desires,
how he’s still trapped in the body-form
locked in by the seven spiritual centres
and how he’s at the mercy of his own emotions.
The Night asks the Madman
if he can reign over the forces of Nature,
over tempests and lightning.
If the Madman knows and understands
 the deep knowledge and thoughts
 that the Night knows and thinks of.
The Madman responds
that he sits on a throne
made over heaps of fallen Gods.
These fallen gods the Madman refer to
 are all that the the Madman had
given undue importance in his life,
all that he idolized and worshiped and is done with.
Things that he realized is no longer important.
He too has lived a time where
 he sought to be respected
and loved externally,
a time where he didn’t look at himself,
where he didn't look within.
A time of ego and desire.
A time he’s passed through,
learned and overcome.
A phase he’s conquered.
He is now Mighty and High, like the Night.
In closing, the Madman says
 that the Night reveals all that is
external of itself,
in the space outside,
the ether where everything
 exists and takes form.
The Madman reveals all that is within,
his deepest self, his Soul.
The deeper he looks within,
the more expansive he finds his Soul.
Because the Soul is a spark
 of the larger Cosmic Consciousness,
which is eternal and endless.
On this inner journey he realises
that the external is a reflection of the internal.
Like twins, the same, yet different manifestations.
Are you aware of how your
 inner and outer worlds are in sync?
Are you on the journey the Madman has
 undertaken to become like the Night?
Mighty and Magnificient?
Do you feel disillusioned
by the triviality of the politics of the world,
of the wars nations undertake against each other?
Do you feel for those fallen
 to fulfill the egos of theirs leaders?
Do you feel you have
 control over your desires,
over temptations, of your physical needs?
Or do they control you?
Is your love transient,
or pure and everlasting?
Are you terrified of the unknown?
Are you spending time in meditation?
Are you spending time to
 introspect if you've changed
and transformed over time
or are you like a leaf
 ravaged by the storms of life?
I’d love to hear your take on this poem
and how you’ve connected
 with the Night and the Madman
or if you find parallels in your life.
Thank you for listening in to this
 last episode on Khalil Gibran’s ‘The Madman’.
We’ll be back next week with a new season,
reading and working with
 the works of another Sage.
Please take some time out to
 actively be kind to yourself,
to love yourself, to forgive yourself
and to be grateful to yourself
for having come so far.
Please send out love to the whole world
so that we may all transform in Love
during this time of great transition.
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