Guiding Question: Who am I? From whence have I come? What do I seek?
Before one begins a quest, there is a time of “initiation.”
This is a time of self-reflection determining the character of the initiate,
his/her goals and the challenges of the task ahead. Galahad is initiated
by his father, Lancelot, into knighthood through the ritual of keeping
vigil in a chapel in the presence of God.
One is tempted, while reading The Quest of the
Holy Grail, to identify with a particular character from the story.
The author of the Quest made his hero, Galahad, into such a perfect
representation of the Christ of the "Second Coming" (somewhat bold for
the time), that it may be difficult to identify with such a hero.
Galahad's faith in God (and himself) is so perfect that he overcomes every
obstacle with the self-assurance that the challenge was made for him alone
as a test by which he might prove the power of his faith.
Most of us are more tentative, less self convinced,
and therefore other principle characters may prove more accessible.
One might compare the various knights to different types of learners on
a quest of their own. Perceval, for example, might be the student
who went from high school through his/her undergraduate program straight
into graduate school. S/he is young, emotional, in pursuit of educational
goals with great passion and sincerity. Everything blocking this
student's progress seems insurmountable, yet s/he reaches the goal through
sincerity and sage advice from elders. Bors, however, has more of the critical
thinking skills of the returning student than does Perceval. He is
more autonomous and steers a relatively straight course toward the goal
through a successful combination of faith and reason. Lancelot has all
the qualities of a successful "quester," if he were not so easily distracted
by his "significant other." Gawain, who was often portrayed as a popular
hero in the Arthurian romances, is presented here, however, as an example
of how NOT to be. He has no faith at all. He is the first to
make a vow to seek the Grail, but regrets it later after being told by
hermits that he has no chance of increasing his honor (which for him means
“honor in the eyes of his peers”). Thus Gawain is the student who
seeks his goal without any thought toward his/her personal growth, or
greater service to others. He will make many mistakes due mostly
to insincerity (in contrast to Perceval) and a lack of spiritual insight.
Gawain can be thought of as one guided by reason without faith who will
only learn the hard way that reason without faith is not necessarily wisdom.
In order to parallel the initiation we are allowed
to experience through Galahad, we will read a collection of notes from
various ancient texts which were as well concerned with initiations
into matters of faith throughout different times and cultures. The Eleusinian
mysteries of ancient Greece were based on initiation rituals, and, as one
of the cults which formed the basis of religious faith of the Greeks, has
remained one of the great mysteries of the ancient world. I the Bhagavad
Gita, which is a relatively short excerpt from the massive epic, Mahabharata
of Indian Hinduism, Arjuna, a Prince, is initiated by his childhood friend
and charioteer, Krishna. Krishna will prove to be in fact a manifestation
of the Godhead in Hinduism, Vishnu. Before the events described in
the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna and his brothers were cheated out of their
kingdom, and even their wife, whom they shared. They were to return
their thrones after 13 years of exile, but they were not allowed their
rightful places when that time came. This resulted in a large-scale civil
war.
Arjuna has his charioteer and friend, Krishna, drive
him between the lines of battle, and, when he recognizes many of his uncles
and cousins on the side of the enemy, he refuses to continue the war, thinking
it better to lose his kingdom than to fight his own family. Krishna
reveals himself as an incarnation of Vishnu, and initiates Arjuna into
the law of Karma, as well as love, in an effort to convince Arjuna of the
impermanence of physical reality and the immortality of the soul.
Arjuna is persuaded to pursue his destiny and fight to reclaim his kingdom.
The Bhagavad Gita is a very concise outline
of a major part of the Hindu cosmology and describes the transmigration
of souls and the soul’s relationship to the body. This theme will
be echoed in Plato’s Phaedrus, which will be studied during Week
3. The Bhagavad Gita , like the Grail, also gives several
examples of different spiritual paths which may be taken respective
to each individual’s nature. Every path one chooses often is mixed
with the qualities of another. In general, in the West, since the celebration
in Eleusis of the mysteries of the Goddess Persephone and Demeter, there
has been a Quest for reason, developing the path that the Hindus would
call Jnana-Yoga: the path of spiritual realization through a speculative
philosophical search for truth.
This week's texts are an initiation that may help us re-evaluate
our own values and explore the various means by which we attempt to achieve
personal goals; for we too are engaged in active life, interacting with
others, finding ourselves in often competitive situations. Thus we
too are warriors seeking wisdom in ancient texts which speak to our own
struggles.
Required Reading: "Week 1" in the Study Guide; The Quest of the Holy Grail (1225), pp. 31-53; Notes on the Eleusinian Mysteries; BhagavadGita (100-300 BC).
Homework:
1) Answer the following questions (common to practically every Arthurian
tale): Who am I? From whence have I come? What do I seek?
Limit your combined answers to 1-3 pages and paste it in the conference
area.
2) You are also required to make regular entries in the online journal
which show your reflections on the reading and the ways the reading may
apply to you personally.