Ming the Mechanic:
The One Thing You Must Do
The NewsLog of Flemming Funch
 The One Thing You Must Do2006-06-28 14:49
12 comments
by Flemming Funch


There is one thing in this world you must never forget to do. Human beings come into this world to do particular work. That work is their purpose, and each is specific to the person. If you forget everything else and not this, there's nothing to worry about. If you remember everything else and forget your true work, then you will have done nothing with your life.

- Jelalludin Rumi, from "The One Thing You Must Do",
The Soul of Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks



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12 comments

28 Jun 2006 @ 16:50 by Ed Dawson @66.245.207.76 : The one thing
This is a restatement, said much clearer than the original, of Aleister Crowley's "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law".

In terms of GPM phenomena, this is basically saying that you need to find, acknowledge and express your top "actual goal".

Said in the terms of Ifa, it is stating that a person should do their odu ori (life odu), to which I also want to add one should also do one's orisha path odu as well.

Lots of different ways of saying the same thing, and it's all true.
cheers
Ed  

28 Jun 2006 @ 18:20 by vaxen : Actually...
it had nothing to do with the good frater, Ed, as he simply borrowed it, as did others of his wanton ilk, from the good Saint Augustine of Hippo.

"Let the King Enjoy His Own Again." --- Jacobite Anthem

Of course most often the good Francois Rabelais gets blamed, cf. "Gargantua & Pantagruel," but we know the truth...

Coca Cola; Ce la de mucho mas...

When Sir Francis became Chancellor, one of his first actions was to tax cider. This led to the circulation of rhyme, saying:

"Dashwood shall pour from a communion cup / libations to the goddess without eyes / and hot or not in cider and excise".

This was a pointed reference to the goddess Angerona.

"Fay ce que voudras." --- You know who.

The Friars of Wycombe wore white druidic-style hooded robes with silver badges inscribed with the motto 'Love & Friendship'.


Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

A HYMN TO THE MOON.

Written in July, in an arbour.

Thou silver deity of secret night,

Direct my footsteps through the woodland shade;
Thou conscious witness of unknown delight,
The Lover's guardian, and the Muse's aid!
By thy pale beams I solitary rove,
To thee my tender grief confide;
Serenely sweet you gild the silent grove,
My friend, my goddess, and my guide.

E'en thee, fair queen, from thy amazing height,
The charms of young Endymion drew;
Veil'd with the mantle of concealing night;
With all thy greatness and thy coldness too.

TRANSLATED BY HERSELF:

Della notte serena argentea Diva,
Testimon' fido de' piaceri ignoti:
Custode degli amanti e delle Muse
Fautrice, reggi me ne'boschi oscuri.
Da' toui pallidi rai scorto io camino
Su la terra, ed a te svelo i piu cupi
Pensieri. Ah indora il tacitorno bosco,
Dolcemente serena amica mia,
E mia guida, e mia Dea. Bella reina,
Te dalla tua prodigiosa altezza
Il lusinghiero Endimione attrasse,
Del velo ingombra della notte oscura,
Della tua ampiezza in onta e del tuo gelo.



http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/montagu.html  

28 Jun 2006 @ 18:23 by jstarrs : Anyway...
..Crowley's last words were "I am perplexed.."
Go figure.  

28 Jun 2006 @ 18:32 by Hanae @69.33.46.10 : You have a source inside you

"You have a source inside you

, a cool spring that sometimes

stops flowing, frozen

or clogged with silt. Spirit

is the art of making what’s

blocked start moving again."

[Jelalludin Rumi]

Those lines from Jelalludin Rumi, too, speak of essentially the same thing as the passage quoted above by Flemming, but I like them better because I find them less confining - less open to misuse and possible limited interpretation - Rumi was very much about openness.

"Human beings come into this world to do particular work."

What does it mean?

Do we come into this world to do a particular work?

We don't know that. Or we do, depending on what is being meant by it — the interpretation does vary depending on one's beliefs about such matters as "soul," "anatta," etc.

This line is oftentimes interpreted very literally as meaning some sort of "a contract" that we (our individual "selves," or "soul" or "over-soul," etc, depending on one's beliefs) signed before we were sent into the world, each one of us with a very specific purpose, a given mission that we accepted and agreed to carry-out in our life-time (or in many life times for those who subscribe to the notion of Metempsychoses.)

Another simpler way (a purer way - i.e. uncontaminated by beliefs or religion) of looking at it is to just read it as meaning that LIFE HAS PURPOSE, and as a result of it, so do we, each and every one of us – just because of that! Regardless of what one’s belief might be about soul or no soul, self or no self, God or no God. Lliving that purpose to its utmost, that spark of life we each embody and carry and manifest, each one of us, according to our own specificities, is part of Life and part of Life’s purpose. "That work is our purpose," – as Life’s creation and Life’s co-creators – "and each is specific to the person," because we all are unique expression of life’s diversity.


"There’s courage involved if you want

to become truth. There is a broken-

open place in a lover. Where are

those qualities of bravery and sharp

compassion in this group? What’s the

use of old and frozen thought? I want

a howling hurt. This is not a treasury

where gold is stored; this is for copper.

We alchemists look for talent that

can heat up and change. Lukewarm

won’t do. Halfhearted holding back,

well-enough getting by? Not here."

[Jelalludin Rumi]  

28 Jun 2006 @ 18:55 by Ed Dawson @66.245.207.76 : Reply to James
Ideally you should discover your own purpose. I found mine "to know truth" (path odu: okanran'fun). Or if you are lazy, pressed for time or otherwise in need of assistance a skilled babalawo like our Max Sandor (sandorian grove page) can divine it, and indicate it, for you for a fee. He is exceptionally skilled at this.

A person will have anywhere from 3 to almost 30 of these goals on them. They are very important to find, acknowledge and discharge.
cheers
Ed  

28 Jun 2006 @ 19:56 by Hanae @69.33.46.10 : Or one can, instead, take Rumi's advice

and LOOK WIDER AND FARTHER:


"You are the truth

from foot to brow. Now,

what else would you like to know?"


[Jelalludin Rumi]




An ant hurries along a threshing floor with its wheat grain,

moving between huge stacks

of wheat, not knowing the abundance all around. It thinks its

one grain is all there is to

love. So we choose a tiny seed to be devoted to. This body,

one path or one teacher. Look

wider and farther. The essence of every human being can see,

and what that essence-eye takes

in, the being becomes. Saturn. Solomon! The ocean pours

through a jar, and you might say it

swims inside the fish!"


[Jelalludin Rumi]
 

28 Jun 2006 @ 22:42 by Hanae @69.33.46.10 : Counselors, Witchdoctors and Prostitutes

I don't think that Flemming really intended the quote he posted to be about counseling or to be interpreted as meaning that there is that one thing, like some kind of a spiritual or psychological blue-print, that one was programmed to follow in this life, and that if one doesn't know what his or her specific "blue-print" is, then - GASP! - one better find out what it is and "get back with the program" OR ELSE seek psychological or spiritual counseling. But, since the topic came up, I'll just say that there is, of course, a lot to be said for human guidance in periods of psychological/spiritual need, or emotional stress. Historically it has been the work of priests, shrinks, witch-doctors, and, yes, even prostitutes (who have been documented, on occasions, to fulfill that role for those clients who just want to go upstairs with them because "they want to talk.")

Caution must be applied, however, when embarking on such a journey, especially if one, as it is often the case, happens to be vulnerable, or emotionally or spiritually wounded, or disoriented, at the time. Successful guidance whether it be the work of a shrink, shaman or witch-doctor, requires the alert, well-planned participation of both seeker and counselor. And just as education, under special conditions, can degenerate into coercive taming, so counseling can degenerate into the imposition of the counselor's will on the seeker.

Hence Rumi's words of caution:

"When actions come from another section, the feeling

disappears. Don’t let

others lead you. They may be blind or, worse, vultures."

[Jelalludin Rumi]

The counselor himself need not even be conscious that this is happening. The misuse of counseling may show itself in the patient's submission to the doctor's point of view or in the patient's development of excessive dependency on his counselor. Such a dependency, and even increased dependency need, may extend not only far beyond the usual limits, but may continue even after the seeker-counselor relationship has run its course.

DISCLAIMER 1: It has been my experience that one must step on eggs when posting on NCN, so let me hasten to add that the choice of the quote on this comment ("They may be blind or, worse, vultures,") especially the last part, is not intended to imply anything about the present company on this thread, or about any specific member of NCN engaged in counseling, or about the person whose name was mentioned explicitly elsewhere on this thread. As I do not know the person whose name came up, it is therefore IN NO WAY the intent of this comment to form any judgment about the said person or his practice, nor would it have been the purpose of this comment either had the person been known to me.

DISCLAIMER 2: This comment is not intended to suggest that counselors are prostitutes. This is a pretty messed-up world we live in, with lot of physical, psychological, emotional abuses and dysfunctional behaviors of all kinds, and counselors fill in a much needed - often underappreciated - role in our Society.

DISCLAIMER 3: The word witch-doctor is not used in this comment in a derogatory manner.  

29 Jun 2006 @ 01:45 by ming : What to do
To me it is sort of an affirmation that we're all unique and we're all needed for something. We're all facets of the whole, and we need all the facets. So, if we don't add our unique piece of the puzzle into the game, it is a bit of a waste. Not something to stress out about. But a guideline, pointing out that the purpose of life is not to somehow match up to some perceived standard that others seem to live by. But, rather, we need to find our own unique work. And looking for and finding that will probably be significant source of joy in life. Happiness is when we do what we're here to do. And when we know what we're here to do. Which will come from inside, and nobody can really tell us, because they're not here to do the exact same thing. And I don't think it is written in advance either. It is something to discover.  

29 Jun 2006 @ 02:21 by Hanae @68.164.61.194 : Yes...

...And I believe that this is how Rumi meant, too!  

29 Jun 2006 @ 02:57 by Hanae @68.164.61.194 : We're all unique
and we're all needed for something.

This is true of mankind but it is also true of all life. Paul Watson (of Eco Action) reports that a reporter in California told him once that "all the redwoods in California are not worth the life on one human being." What incredible arrogance." The systematic extinction of so many species on Earth by primates "who have molded themselves into divine legends in their own mind."

LIFE! "How wonderful to be able to tap into this power and use it to create positive change," says Kytka Hilmar-Jezek (no one special AND yet, by Rumi's standard, someone very special too, someone uniquely herself, like you and me, or anyone else, here at NCN and everywhere else in the world and on the web. I just googled {link:http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/mission.htm|her blog} at random)

There are a lot of people like her out there.

They do not all believe in the same thing but they all agree on one point:

They believe like Kytka that "one person can and does make a difference and the seed of potential for the 'one person' is in each and every one of us."

"I AM that one person. YOU are that one person..."

 

30 Jun 2006 @ 03:22 by taranga @80.168.175.133 : here is a simple thing you must do
share the delight in this stunning bit of engineering design [sorry Ming maybe this should be moved to technology] - it ilustrates that at least Thomas Heatherwick seems to have found one of his tasks;

http://www.thomasheatherwick.com/projects_rolling_2.asp

If ever you are in London have a look at some of his other creations. There are plans for a double [with a central pier] rolling bridge across the Thames!

Parenting children/grandchildren often feels like 'particular work that can make a difference'  

3 Jul 2006 @ 20:25 by Ed Dawson @66.245.205.22 : Saint Augustine?
I didn't realize that Crowley had "borrowed" it, thanks! :)

Which Augustine is that? Would that be the Augustine who railed against the Gnostics?
cheers
Ed  

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2009-10-27 23:59: Compassion Exercise
2009-10-26 23:48: The power of appreciation
2008-02-21 13:04: A Samurai’s Creed
2008-02-20 15:38: Experiencing
2007-11-07 00:50: Say what you feel
2007-11-06 23:38: Steve Habib Rose
2007-06-21 19:16: How does one have a blogversation?
2007-06-20 21:53: Self-portraits
2007-06-15 16:26: Life instructions


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