Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Ode by William Wordsworth
Ode from Intimations of Immortality
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.
These famous lines from William Wordsworth, a romantic and a transcendentalist, express what many of us today believe: the soul is indeed immortal, it comes to earth wearing the clothing of our present "persona," then returns to Source when it leaves. Plato likewise believed that the soul existed before birth and again after death.
These famous lines from William Wordsworth, a romantic and a transcendentalist, express what many of us today believe: the soul is indeed immortal, it comes to earth wearing the clothing of our present "persona," then returns to Source when it leaves. Plato likewise believed that the soul existed before birth and again after death.
Interestingly, some believe that this "original soul" continues to operate from the higher realm to become the "spirit guide" of the little self that descends into our own being when we take on human form. Thus, while on earth, we are still part divine, part human.
I personally believe that when we undergo Kundalini awakening we reconnect more directly with this temporarily forgotten "higher self" and that we will be totally connected at the moment of death. Such remembrances also seem to occur during "peak experiences," wondrous moments when we feel lifted out of ourselves and into higher forms of consciousness.
(The picture of the new born on yesterday's post is a lovely illustration of Wordsworth's poem--this happy infant is clearly "trailing clouds of glory.")
