Bob Dylan wrote a song called Subterranean Homesick Blues in 1965. Now I knew that song way back when, but I really hadn’t thought of it or listened to it in many years. A few days ago, iTunes created a playlist from the songs in my iTunes library and Subterranean Homesick Blues showed up on the playlist and I became reacquainted with this song.
One particular line jumped out from all the others as I listened to it and for some reason it has been stuck in my head ever since. The line is “…You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows…” Well, isn’t that true?
We have ceded our personal power to experts of all kinds and we do it every day. Do you listen to the weather forecast on TV or do you stick you head out the door to see which way the wind blows? Does the priest know your soul better than you know your own? Does the doctor know your body better than you? Does your investment banker know your needs more intimately than you?
Think about this for just a minute. I have been thinking about that line for days now and I think it is very profound when taken from the perspective of our own power, knowledge, or intuition. So many times, I turn to my doctor to tell that I have a cold and that I need to rest. My body told me that, but I didn’t hear. It takes my doctor to tell me what I already knew.
I suppose that the roots of this are in my past. I have struggled with insecurity for years. As a child, I had no personal power. Children generally have no personal power. In a healthy and nurturing environment, as children mature and grow they attain increasing amounts of say so over their personal being. However, in unhealthy atmosphere a child ‘complies to survive’ and never is fully actualized. Complying becomes a way of life. We rely on the priest to save our soul, the banker to tell us what to do with our money, the doctor to keep us healthy and the weatherman to tell us which way the wind blows.
Take back your personal power. Look within and find the answers, they are there all ready, just look and see them.
I traveled all the way to India to meet God. I felt that if I were in a place surrounded by spirit, doing spiritual things, meditating, going to Darshan and sitting on a marble floor for hours at a time, I would meet God face to face. I didn’t meet God, I didn’t have a great spiritual awakening. What I got was a sore back from sitting on the temple floor for hours at a time. It was a little disappointing… until I heard Subterranean Homesick Blues. I don’t need the weatherman to tell which way the wind blows, all I need do is to open the door and look for myself.
All I need do is to look within and God is there. God has always been there. God is my granddaughter’s laugh, in my dog’s eyes, in the clouds, the trees and anything else that I could possibly see. I don’t need a priest, guru, book or anything else. Perhaps a little guidance from a learned source is all I need.
Sometimes I come to a spot on the road that branches off in different directions and I am unsure of which path to follow. In those times, perhaps, a teacher or advisor would be helpful. We all need a little help occasionally. But, no one needs to tell me which path to follow in the end. What I truly need is to listen within my myself, breathe and sense my way, to feel the way. All paths lead to the same place in the end; it is the journey that changes. So, ultimately it doesn’t really make a difference which path I take. I will get there eventually. I will find my way home. I don’t need a weatherman to tell me which way the wind blows.
One particular line jumped out from all the others as I listened to it and for some reason it has been stuck in my head ever since. The line is “…You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows…” Well, isn’t that true?
We have ceded our personal power to experts of all kinds and we do it every day. Do you listen to the weather forecast on TV or do you stick you head out the door to see which way the wind blows? Does the priest know your soul better than you know your own? Does the doctor know your body better than you? Does your investment banker know your needs more intimately than you?
Think about this for just a minute. I have been thinking about that line for days now and I think it is very profound when taken from the perspective of our own power, knowledge, or intuition. So many times, I turn to my doctor to tell that I have a cold and that I need to rest. My body told me that, but I didn’t hear. It takes my doctor to tell me what I already knew.
I suppose that the roots of this are in my past. I have struggled with insecurity for years. As a child, I had no personal power. Children generally have no personal power. In a healthy and nurturing environment, as children mature and grow they attain increasing amounts of say so over their personal being. However, in unhealthy atmosphere a child ‘complies to survive’ and never is fully actualized. Complying becomes a way of life. We rely on the priest to save our soul, the banker to tell us what to do with our money, the doctor to keep us healthy and the weatherman to tell us which way the wind blows.
Take back your personal power. Look within and find the answers, they are there all ready, just look and see them.
I traveled all the way to India to meet God. I felt that if I were in a place surrounded by spirit, doing spiritual things, meditating, going to Darshan and sitting on a marble floor for hours at a time, I would meet God face to face. I didn’t meet God, I didn’t have a great spiritual awakening. What I got was a sore back from sitting on the temple floor for hours at a time. It was a little disappointing… until I heard Subterranean Homesick Blues. I don’t need the weatherman to tell which way the wind blows, all I need do is to open the door and look for myself.
All I need do is to look within and God is there. God has always been there. God is my granddaughter’s laugh, in my dog’s eyes, in the clouds, the trees and anything else that I could possibly see. I don’t need a priest, guru, book or anything else. Perhaps a little guidance from a learned source is all I need.
Sometimes I come to a spot on the road that branches off in different directions and I am unsure of which path to follow. In those times, perhaps, a teacher or advisor would be helpful. We all need a little help occasionally. But, no one needs to tell me which path to follow in the end. What I truly need is to listen within my myself, breathe and sense my way, to feel the way. All paths lead to the same place in the end; it is the journey that changes. So, ultimately it doesn’t really make a difference which path I take. I will get there eventually. I will find my way home. I don’t need a weatherman to tell me which way the wind blows.
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