Spoiler alert! Plot details of the Harry Potter books are revealed here.
Great books are about us, the marvellous and mysterious miracle that every human being is. Their characters and stories affect us endlessly. Their pages are like a mirror - they open one's eyes to his or her inner universe and reflect what we have inside us. In the stillness that comes from reading them we connect with our own essence. JK Rowling's books are definitely like that.
Several years ago when the Deathly Hallows came out I wrote an essay about the Harry Potter series in Russian, my native tongue. There, I said that for me Harry's story was a path to myself. Now I can add that it was just the beginning of that road.
In my quest for the meaning of it all I asked myself some of the important questions like "Who am I?", "What am I here for?", "Why is the world the way it is?", "Why will I die and what happens after death?". It is possible, of course, that there is no meaning at all and that we are just a bundle of evolved accidental atoms interacting with each other trying to live just another day. Yet, the answers have been coming, and I've realised I have known them all along. Bedtime, children's stories, not unlike the tales of Beedle the Bard for Harry, Ron and Hermione, have been pointing at the truth from the very start of that journey. I am now returning to the beginning, seeing it through different eyes.
A fairy tale is a fair, honest telling. Though It only alludes to what is with metaphors and symbols, we still recognize the truth when we hear it. Stories have knowledge. JK Rowling's writing talent is one of the explanations why the books about Harry are so popular. I believe the real reason why so many people (and I personally) feel such a deep and meaningful connection with them is because intuitively we feel that the truth in them is the truth about each and every one of us. What I've realised is that Harry's battle with Voldemort is an ongoing war taking place within us this very moment.
This discovery has been quite powerful. It now seems so straightforward and logical that I wonder why I never thought of it earlier. In my quest for answers to the questions there has been both theory and practice. I've been reading a variety of books, including scientific, religious, psychological, philosophical, historical texts and fiction. I have also been practicing some of the things that I read, heard or found out about otherwise. The spiritual teacher of the west Eckhart Tolle opened my eyes to "the power of now"; the "father of motivation" and author Wayne Dyer introduced me to meditation, the ancient eastern way of knowing oneself by means of quieting the mind. I followed my intuition, experimented with sleep deprivation and fasting, dived into the magic of music and hitchhiked thousands of kilometers for people or places that I felt might have what I was looking for. Each encounter has been a teacher to learn from. People, books and experiences are still adding to the puzzle of life, for which I am really thankful.
A turning point in my search was the Lotus Flower, a spiritual practice about overcoming negativity and about Love that awakens the soul. Besides the fact that it has brought more positiveness to my own life, the practice has also given me a new perspective of some of the symbols in the books. While rereading the Philosopher's Stone some time ago I noticed there was a "lily" there - Harry's mother, whose Love saved Harry from death. Love is at the heart of this ancient practice, too, and Buddha is said to have reached enlightenment through the Love of Lotus, thus ending the cycle of rebirths, which for the eastern mind would mean conquering death. This is when jigsaw fell into place! To me the parallel was obvious - lilies and lotuses whose Love survives death...
I explored more symbols in the story synchronising them with what I found out.
At the core of JK Rowling's novel is the conflict between Harry and Voldemort. The division between good and evil, black and white, light and shadow is very distinct in the books. Harry's world of friendship, love, bravery and honesty is opposed to Voldemort's world of fear, cowardice and lies. What Harry's story has reminded me of is the story of the soul trying to awaken, trying to win over the negativity. The more I thought about this, the more it made sense.
The practice of the Lotus mentions the duality inside the human being that manifests as positive and negative thoughts that try to win over our attention. The outer duality is much easier to notice - there is night and day, female and male, plus and minus, etc. Just like there is light and darkness outside, there is light and darkness within us - the different kinds of thoughts and emotions that are known as the positive ones, or constructive, like kindness, gratitude, joy and love; and the negative ones, or destructive, for instance, hate, anger, depression and fear. For me, the new point here was that they seemed to be acting on their own accord, trying to capture my attention.
While thoughts are its manifestation, the duality itself is that of the divine, or spiritual, and the human, or animal nature. On the one hand, we are biological species with basic physiological needs. The psychologist Abraham Maslow defines them as breathing, food, water, sex, sleep and some others. On the other hand, we are more than just biorobots. Eric Fromm believes that self-awareness, man's consciousness of himself, is what distinguishes man from animals. We can think rationally, we can love and be aware of that. Though science has currently not proven the existence of the soul, this invisible formless part of human being, the spiritual dimension in us is very likely to exist. It is mentioned in ancient texts and myths, religions speak of it, too. What is more, I believe it can be felt.
The soul is said to be the true self, while our dark side is sometimes called the false self, or the ego. According to the theory of reincarnation, between births, the soul travels to different bodies, forgetting about itself and its past lives for a while, just like we forget about ourselves when we get immersed into an interesting book or a video game. It identifies itself with the external, the form - not unlike we "become" characters in a story or a film. The soul needs these travels - lives - to get the relevant experience in order to evolve. During life, it can awaken, be conscious of itself. True, unselfish love is said to awaken the soul. Man's animal nature, the set of basic instincts plus the ego, and matter, the world around us, do their best to prevent that from happening. That is their purpose; thus, at the same time they are both a hindrance and a teacher.
Let's go back to the symbols in the Harry Potter books. Voldemort's name translates from French as "fleeing from death". The ego is sometimes referred to as the small, illusory "self" that is afraid to die; the soul, on the other hand, knows it is immortal and that death is only a door. It is when we identify ourselves not with the limitless dimension inside us, but only with our bodies, social roles and statuses that we believe the ego's illusions and we are afraid, too. "It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more." Voldemort's wish to conquer death is a good example what monsters can be born out of the desire to live in the body forever. After all, death is part of the existence. The Tales of Beedle the Bard illustrate it well. So if Voldemort's name alludes to the ego, Harry's alludes to the soul. There is a mantra "Hare Krishna" in Sanskrit, an Indo-European language like English. "Hare" can be translated as "he who removes illusion". It is the soul, the power of Love that is said to remove the illusion of the ego.
The plot of the story is mostly set in Hogwarts, which is a school. It is highly symbolic as life itself is said to be a great school where we learn the art of being Human, that is kind, loving and honest beings despite the situation. Life is a school where circumstances are tests that reveal us and where death may be the final exam. If we pass it, we move forward; if we fail, another "year", another life is there to repeat the lessons. Man's conscious choice is a crucial element in this school. JK Rowling said that one of the main themes in the tales is "the choice between what is right and what is easy". Love is never easy and it takes courage. It is easier to hit back than to forgive; it is more difficult to step over our fears, our want for more, anger or pride, which are all manifestations of ego. Though just like the basic instincts negative thoughts seem to be hardwired into the body, the darkness exists only if we let it to.
"Neither can live while the other survives". Harry and Voldemort's prophecy is also true for the spiritual and the animal inside the human being. They are in constant confrontation. Negativity wants to survive, it uses every possibility and our every weakness. Dumbledore once commented just how strong it is, "It is important to fight and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay though never quite eradicated."
The way the Dark Lord tried to conquer death is particularly interesting. He intended to split his soul in seven parts. Seven is an important number: there are seven wonders of the world, seven virtues, seven deadly sins, etc. What if the ego disguises in us through those seven sins? Remember how Voldemort hid his Horcruxes in his favourite places? I think this might be Rowling's advice to us where to look for the Horcruxes of the ego in ourselves: in the things and places we lay particular importance or feel attached to.
My favourite parts in the story are the brilliant illustrations that love wins. With Dementors and Boggarts the author demonstrates how to fight negativity. When we laugh at our fears we realise they are less real. Force and darkness doesn't work against Dementors. You can scare them away by switching your attention to something positive, to the feeling of Love. The practice of the Lotus speaks of that, too. It is a great reminder that negativity cannot be forced away with negativity, that it needs something positive to be driven away, like a Patronus. Also, love cannot be forced, and Rowling reminds us beautifully what monsters can be born when it is forced: Voldemort was born because his mother brewed a love potion for his father... But, again, the choice is ours to make for Love to win. Had Lily not cast herself over Harry, there wouldn't have been a loving sacrifice. If we believe the illusions of negativity, we lose the loved ones, we suffer. Harry believed that Voldemort was torturing Sirius in the hall of Prophecy, and so he lost his Godfather... Another moment illustrating that "Love conquers all" is when Harry does not use the killing spell against Voldemort to protect the people he loves.
I don't know if Jo included all those symbols on purpose, like the lily flower and the seven Horcruxes, like Harry's and Voldemort's names, to name but a few. I can only hope to ask her one day personally. It is clear though that Jo's venture down the classics corridor at the age of 18 got her the symbols which invite us to explore the worlds within and outside.
For me, Harry's story summarises beautifully my spiritual search and the purpose of any true teaching or spiritual path - to become a Man, a loving, kind and empathising being. Negativity lurks around the corner, but it turns out the "bad" stuff is necessary for us to become better beings. Whenever I think that Harry's books actually describe what is happening inside us, I remember Harry's question to Dumbledore at the end of Deathly Hallows, "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”" "“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”" It was a sad feeling when the series ended, but it seems that Harry's story goes on, within us. And until we find his Horcruxes in ourselves and destroy them with the light of our attention, Voldemort is alive.
Great books are about us, the marvellous and mysterious miracle that every human being is. Their characters and stories affect us endlessly. Their pages are like a mirror - they open one's eyes to his or her inner universe and reflect what we have inside us. In the stillness that comes from reading them we connect with our own essence. JK Rowling's books are definitely like that.
Several years ago when the Deathly Hallows came out I wrote an essay about the Harry Potter series in Russian, my native tongue. There, I said that for me Harry's story was a path to myself. Now I can add that it was just the beginning of that road.
In my quest for the meaning of it all I asked myself some of the important questions like "Who am I?", "What am I here for?", "Why is the world the way it is?", "Why will I die and what happens after death?". It is possible, of course, that there is no meaning at all and that we are just a bundle of evolved accidental atoms interacting with each other trying to live just another day. Yet, the answers have been coming, and I've realised I have known them all along. Bedtime, children's stories, not unlike the tales of Beedle the Bard for Harry, Ron and Hermione, have been pointing at the truth from the very start of that journey. I am now returning to the beginning, seeing it through different eyes.
A fairy tale is a fair, honest telling. Though It only alludes to what is with metaphors and symbols, we still recognize the truth when we hear it. Stories have knowledge. JK Rowling's writing talent is one of the explanations why the books about Harry are so popular. I believe the real reason why so many people (and I personally) feel such a deep and meaningful connection with them is because intuitively we feel that the truth in them is the truth about each and every one of us. What I've realised is that Harry's battle with Voldemort is an ongoing war taking place within us this very moment.
This discovery has been quite powerful. It now seems so straightforward and logical that I wonder why I never thought of it earlier. In my quest for answers to the questions there has been both theory and practice. I've been reading a variety of books, including scientific, religious, psychological, philosophical, historical texts and fiction. I have also been practicing some of the things that I read, heard or found out about otherwise. The spiritual teacher of the west Eckhart Tolle opened my eyes to "the power of now"; the "father of motivation" and author Wayne Dyer introduced me to meditation, the ancient eastern way of knowing oneself by means of quieting the mind. I followed my intuition, experimented with sleep deprivation and fasting, dived into the magic of music and hitchhiked thousands of kilometers for people or places that I felt might have what I was looking for. Each encounter has been a teacher to learn from. People, books and experiences are still adding to the puzzle of life, for which I am really thankful.
A turning point in my search was the Lotus Flower, a spiritual practice about overcoming negativity and about Love that awakens the soul. Besides the fact that it has brought more positiveness to my own life, the practice has also given me a new perspective of some of the symbols in the books. While rereading the Philosopher's Stone some time ago I noticed there was a "lily" there - Harry's mother, whose Love saved Harry from death. Love is at the heart of this ancient practice, too, and Buddha is said to have reached enlightenment through the Love of Lotus, thus ending the cycle of rebirths, which for the eastern mind would mean conquering death. This is when jigsaw fell into place! To me the parallel was obvious - lilies and lotuses whose Love survives death...
I explored more symbols in the story synchronising them with what I found out.
At the core of JK Rowling's novel is the conflict between Harry and Voldemort. The division between good and evil, black and white, light and shadow is very distinct in the books. Harry's world of friendship, love, bravery and honesty is opposed to Voldemort's world of fear, cowardice and lies. What Harry's story has reminded me of is the story of the soul trying to awaken, trying to win over the negativity. The more I thought about this, the more it made sense.
The practice of the Lotus mentions the duality inside the human being that manifests as positive and negative thoughts that try to win over our attention. The outer duality is much easier to notice - there is night and day, female and male, plus and minus, etc. Just like there is light and darkness outside, there is light and darkness within us - the different kinds of thoughts and emotions that are known as the positive ones, or constructive, like kindness, gratitude, joy and love; and the negative ones, or destructive, for instance, hate, anger, depression and fear. For me, the new point here was that they seemed to be acting on their own accord, trying to capture my attention.
While thoughts are its manifestation, the duality itself is that of the divine, or spiritual, and the human, or animal nature. On the one hand, we are biological species with basic physiological needs. The psychologist Abraham Maslow defines them as breathing, food, water, sex, sleep and some others. On the other hand, we are more than just biorobots. Eric Fromm believes that self-awareness, man's consciousness of himself, is what distinguishes man from animals. We can think rationally, we can love and be aware of that. Though science has currently not proven the existence of the soul, this invisible formless part of human being, the spiritual dimension in us is very likely to exist. It is mentioned in ancient texts and myths, religions speak of it, too. What is more, I believe it can be felt.
The soul is said to be the true self, while our dark side is sometimes called the false self, or the ego. According to the theory of reincarnation, between births, the soul travels to different bodies, forgetting about itself and its past lives for a while, just like we forget about ourselves when we get immersed into an interesting book or a video game. It identifies itself with the external, the form - not unlike we "become" characters in a story or a film. The soul needs these travels - lives - to get the relevant experience in order to evolve. During life, it can awaken, be conscious of itself. True, unselfish love is said to awaken the soul. Man's animal nature, the set of basic instincts plus the ego, and matter, the world around us, do their best to prevent that from happening. That is their purpose; thus, at the same time they are both a hindrance and a teacher.
Let's go back to the symbols in the Harry Potter books. Voldemort's name translates from French as "fleeing from death". The ego is sometimes referred to as the small, illusory "self" that is afraid to die; the soul, on the other hand, knows it is immortal and that death is only a door. It is when we identify ourselves not with the limitless dimension inside us, but only with our bodies, social roles and statuses that we believe the ego's illusions and we are afraid, too. "It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more." Voldemort's wish to conquer death is a good example what monsters can be born out of the desire to live in the body forever. After all, death is part of the existence. The Tales of Beedle the Bard illustrate it well. So if Voldemort's name alludes to the ego, Harry's alludes to the soul. There is a mantra "Hare Krishna" in Sanskrit, an Indo-European language like English. "Hare" can be translated as "he who removes illusion". It is the soul, the power of Love that is said to remove the illusion of the ego.
The plot of the story is mostly set in Hogwarts, which is a school. It is highly symbolic as life itself is said to be a great school where we learn the art of being Human, that is kind, loving and honest beings despite the situation. Life is a school where circumstances are tests that reveal us and where death may be the final exam. If we pass it, we move forward; if we fail, another "year", another life is there to repeat the lessons. Man's conscious choice is a crucial element in this school. JK Rowling said that one of the main themes in the tales is "the choice between what is right and what is easy". Love is never easy and it takes courage. It is easier to hit back than to forgive; it is more difficult to step over our fears, our want for more, anger or pride, which are all manifestations of ego. Though just like the basic instincts negative thoughts seem to be hardwired into the body, the darkness exists only if we let it to.
"Neither can live while the other survives". Harry and Voldemort's prophecy is also true for the spiritual and the animal inside the human being. They are in constant confrontation. Negativity wants to survive, it uses every possibility and our every weakness. Dumbledore once commented just how strong it is, "It is important to fight and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay though never quite eradicated."
The way the Dark Lord tried to conquer death is particularly interesting. He intended to split his soul in seven parts. Seven is an important number: there are seven wonders of the world, seven virtues, seven deadly sins, etc. What if the ego disguises in us through those seven sins? Remember how Voldemort hid his Horcruxes in his favourite places? I think this might be Rowling's advice to us where to look for the Horcruxes of the ego in ourselves: in the things and places we lay particular importance or feel attached to.
My favourite parts in the story are the brilliant illustrations that love wins. With Dementors and Boggarts the author demonstrates how to fight negativity. When we laugh at our fears we realise they are less real. Force and darkness doesn't work against Dementors. You can scare them away by switching your attention to something positive, to the feeling of Love. The practice of the Lotus speaks of that, too. It is a great reminder that negativity cannot be forced away with negativity, that it needs something positive to be driven away, like a Patronus. Also, love cannot be forced, and Rowling reminds us beautifully what monsters can be born when it is forced: Voldemort was born because his mother brewed a love potion for his father... But, again, the choice is ours to make for Love to win. Had Lily not cast herself over Harry, there wouldn't have been a loving sacrifice. If we believe the illusions of negativity, we lose the loved ones, we suffer. Harry believed that Voldemort was torturing Sirius in the hall of Prophecy, and so he lost his Godfather... Another moment illustrating that "Love conquers all" is when Harry does not use the killing spell against Voldemort to protect the people he loves.
I don't know if Jo included all those symbols on purpose, like the lily flower and the seven Horcruxes, like Harry's and Voldemort's names, to name but a few. I can only hope to ask her one day personally. It is clear though that Jo's venture down the classics corridor at the age of 18 got her the symbols which invite us to explore the worlds within and outside.
For me, Harry's story summarises beautifully my spiritual search and the purpose of any true teaching or spiritual path - to become a Man, a loving, kind and empathising being. Negativity lurks around the corner, but it turns out the "bad" stuff is necessary for us to become better beings. Whenever I think that Harry's books actually describe what is happening inside us, I remember Harry's question to Dumbledore at the end of Deathly Hallows, "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”" "“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”" It was a sad feeling when the series ended, but it seems that Harry's story goes on, within us. And until we find his Horcruxes in ourselves and destroy them with the light of our attention, Voldemort is alive.
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