On Death - by Kahlil Gibran - read by Dr Ian Ellis-Jones

“On Death.” Written by Kahlil Gibran and read by Dr Ian Ellis-Jones. This piece comes from Gibran’s book The Prophet (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923). All rights reserved.
Recorded in The Bluegum Chapel at William Coles Funerals, Belconnen, ACT, Australia on May 30, 2024 at the funeral of my aunt, Patricia Marilyn June Matthews (1927-2024). Special thanks are due to attnd. live streaming, Canberra, ACT, Australia, and to Nicholas Redmond, Live Streaming Specialist and Sound Editor, for the live recording from which this excerpt has come.
Kahlil Gibran [Gibran Khalil Gibran] (1883-1931) was a Lebanese-American writer, poet, visual artist, mystic and spiritual philosopher. He is best known as the author of The Prophet, which was first published in the United States in 1923 and has since become one of the best-selling books of all time, having been translated into more than 100 languages.
Dr Ian Ellis-Jones (born 1955) is an Australian academic, lawyer and published author. He has also worked for many years as a minister and teacher of New Thought, mindfulness and meditation and he regularly gives talks and lectures to community groups and other organisations on philosophy, practical psychology, religion and spirituality. The author of several books, his most recent book is Making Australia Positive (2023), which is both a history of New Thought in Australia and a dual biography of two great Australian New Thought leaders of yesteryear, namely, Grace M. Aguilar and Veni Cooper-Mathieson.
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ON DEATH
by Kahlil Gibran
Then Almitra spoke, saying, We would ask now of Death.
And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the
mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the
body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before
the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of
the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides,
that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

[@drianej]

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[@atiger4716]

Thanks very much for bringing this beautiful piece of wisdom, really appreciate ❤

[@drianej]

You are so welcome--and I appreciate your kind words. All the very best!

[@phoenixtimes2]

In an often bankrupt spiritual landscape, how wonderful of you to bring these treasures… Thank you!

[@drianej]

You are so very kind. Many thanks for your interest and support-and a sincere God bless you!