I went through some discount books at the store, the other day. All books were $1!!! I subscribe to the philosophy that "She who dies with the most books wins." So $1 books is the kind of salvation I can't pass up.
Well, of course I found some. One of them was a copy of Bhagavad Gita! Now, I know that Bhagavad Gita is considered scripture by Hindus worldwide, but I've never actually read any of it! I have read the Koran, enjoyed Khalil Gibran's The Prophet, and felt that I would be remiss - a criminal - if I didn't buy this book too! So I did, I brought it home, and I began to thumb through it.
I found a beautiful thing in it! (Many, but one in particular that made me ponder.) What struck me about this passage was the familiarity it held, for me, as a Mormon.
As a Mormon, I have learned and similarly taught others about there being three degrees of glory, in Heaven. I find comfort in this doctrine! These "degrees" are all kingdoms of glory - a sign of a loving God. It makes eternity not so black and white, Heaven or Hell. There is room made for varying degrees of goodness.
In Chapter 14 of the Bhagavad Gita, we see a familiar vein. The Bhagavad Gita teaches that there are three "modes" of material nature, modes which "condition" living entities in their presence. Basically, this concept means that all living people are conditioned to one of three modes. They become and live in one of these three states. These three modes, or states of being, will dictate their futures upon their deaths. Three degrees of glory? I thought so.
I enjoyed reading of these three modes. In degree from lowest to highest:
Ignorance, Passion, & Goodness.
I've pondered on these three modes. I've pondered on which level I find myself living. Bhagavad Gita lists how these modes or ways of being are born, or how people come to be in the stage they are, and also lists the results of these modes - madness, fruits of action, happiness. While I have my disagreements with many aspects of the book, and all the parallels drawn, there are aspects and points made that I have found great value in.
Doctrine and Covenants 88:118 states: "Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith."
What are these best books? Answers have differed and varied on the matter. What is "best?" What is "wisdom?" Do they really want us to teach out of "every" good book we find wisdom in, or is there a standard of what is "best enough" to teach out of?
My son, Dexter, is a huge fan of the Dr. Seuss book "I Wish that I Had Duck Feet." After about the 500th read, I noticed something beautiful from this children's book. Big Bill Brown is the book's antagonist. As our main character takes upon himself many animal traits, such as duck feet, a whale spout, deer horns, a long long tail, we see him frequently describe how his having these animal traits will affect Big Bill Brown.
Big Bill Brown can't wear as many hats as our protagonist could, with deer horns. With a whale spout, our protagonist could play Big Bill Brown "off his feet" in a game of tennis. With a long, long tail, Big Bill Brown might tie our protagonist in a tree, which would be unfortunate indeed. But, with an elephant trunk, he could, in retribution, sneeze, and blow Big Bill Brown down.
In the end, our hero deduces that none of these animal traits are just right for him, due to unfortunate consequences of each, so, naturally, he should just have ALL the traits together, and be a Which-What-Who. By having all these animal properties, though, he concludes that he would be a freak of nature, (my words), and would be thrown in a cage like an animal. The beautiful touching part I noticed?
Big Bill Brown is there. And he is sad to see our protagonist caged too.
Similarly, I once heard a man pull wisdom, in a podcast, out of the Stephen King book "It."
"It" is about an evil spirit demon "thing" that preys on small children, killing them in terrible ways, specific to their own individual fears, if I'm remembering correctly. (I tried to watch the movie. I did not like it. I have a hard time with Stephen King and what he does with child characters, as well as general horror/gore.)
In the book "It," a group of children do their best to hunt down the monster It, and try to kill it. They almost succeed, and swear to each other that if It comes back again, they will reunite and take down the monster again! They apparently succeeded in getting rid of it for 27 years, when one of the characters, Mike, now 27 years older than his childhood self, notices the same strange happenings and murders of children starting to occur again.
In pondering on how his calling his old childhood friends will be received, he writes,
"How much will they believe? Enough to end this horror once and for all, or only enough to get them killed? They are being called. I know that much. Each murder in this news cycle has been a call. We almost killed It twice, and in the end, we drove It deep in Its warren tunnels of stinking rooms under the city. But I think It knows another secret. Although It may be immortal, or almost so, we are not. It had only to wait until the act of faith which made us potential monster killers, as well as sources of power, had become impossible. 27 years. Perhaps a period of sleep for It - as short and refreshing as an afternoon nap would be for us. And when It awakes, It is the same. But a third of our lives has gone by. Our perspectives have narrowed. Our faith in the magic, which makes magic possible, has worn off, like the shine on a new pair of shoes after a hard days walking."
The dedication of this book, written by Stephen King to his own children reads: "Kids, fiction is the truth inside the lie, and the truth of this fiction is simple enough: the magic exists."
The podcaster concluded: "When I read the dedication, it resonated with me. And one of the reasons it resonated with me was because it so perfectly described why it is that I have come to the point in my life, where I can consider the Book of Mormon to be scripture, without considering it to be historical. I can consider the Book of Mormon to be true without considering it to have actually happened in real time and space, with real characters playing out real events in real history. And that's one of the things that's so wonderful about this quote, is that it recognizes that truth can be told inside of a lie."
That hit me HARD. It was beautiful, and was something I absolutely needed to hear! Stephen King's "It" helped inspire me to continue to see the Book of Mormon as scripture.
Take THAT. Best books? Words of wisdom?
It was for me. Yup. Creepy clown with a red balloon? The Book of Mormon is scripture. Joseph Smith Jr was inspired by God.
The best books might teach you about mindfulness, they might teach about the Zoroastrian fundamentals of "good thoughts, good words, good deeds." The best books might show you a hero who, despite no one believing in a danger he knew he saw, was able to defeat that danger, He Who Must Not Be Named, by trusting in faithful friends and the right old man's advice. He leaned on and relied on the works of others who had gone on and died trying to combat this same evil before him. (Harry Potter. I'm talking about Harry Potter.) There are things we can learn from the best books.
What books are you learning from today?
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