Siege Perilous
“Pursuit of truth” may be a misnomer; a more appropriate term might be disrobement or unveiling. The very act, or concept, of “seeking” might further obfuscate the reality; simply letting go of what is false may be sufficient. Perhaps Truth, simply, is concealed by our own wrong-thinking, false desires, crude perceptions, and fearful clinging. In other words, I’m referring to sin and ignorance - nothing more, nothing less.
What are you, essentially, behind the curtain of mental ideations and swirling emotions? Beyond the abstractions, the rationalizations, the positionalities, the posturing and peacocking, the initialisms, the partisanship, the attacking, the defending, the theories, and rules, and the doctrines?
Who is the Wizard of Oz?
What are you, when you stand ideologically naked, exposed to the elements and the vastness of the cosmos? To be as an infant, clean and meek, and clothed in humility.
Beyond sympathy, beyond antipathy; free of hope, free of fear.
When we consider the Grail myths as a contemplative or psychospiritual treatise, much can be gleaned. The Grail is often depicted as a living symbol of the highest Truth, the Absolute; the Lord and the Grail are one.
For the sake of this article, I’m particularly interested in considering the Galahad-Percival cycle, a recurring motif throughout British and Germanic renditions. The two knights are somewhat interchangeable, as both follow a similar path of purification – from doubt and sorrow, to perfect humility and service.
They venture to the ends of the earth, and beyond, in search of the Grail. They search the highest peaks and the lowest valleys, the courts of kings and the realms of pagan clans, encountering torment, temptation, and travail.
The process, finally, brings the knights to a place of total surrender. They lay down their weapons and bear witness to the glory of the Grail – joining in communion with their beloved Lord, so they might serve Him without regard for self.
In the cycle of both knights, the key to salvation, to ultimate catharsis and steadfast service, is perfect humility and surrender.
Having seen the Grail, they are set ablaze with the Spirit, riding into the furthest lands and fighting with inspired valor; it never leaves their side. They are bound no longer to the temporal, fleeting world of men – nonetheless, they act as perfect servants within it, with unmatched prowess and just, loving detachment.
Their service is to the Kingdom and the King alone – so that He might be glorified and their brother might be saved.
From The Idylls of the King:
“I, Galahad, saw the Grail,
The Holy Grail, descend upon the shrine:
I saw the fiery face as of a child
That smote itself into the bread, and went;
And hither am I come; and never yet
Hath what thy sister taught me first to see,
This Holy Thing, failed from my side, nor come
Covered, but moving with me night and day,
Fainter by day, but always in the night
Blood-red, and sliding down the blackened marsh
Blood-red, and on the naked mountain top
Blood-red, and in the sleeping mere below
Blood-red. And in the strength of this I rode,
Shattering all evil customs everywhere,
And past through Pagan realms, and made them mine,
And clashed with Pagan hordes, and bore them down,
And broke through all, and in the strength of this
Come victor. But my time is hard at hand,
And hence I go; and one will crown me king
Far in the spiritual city; and come thou, too,
For thou shalt see the vision when I go.”
That we might tread the path of humility is my hope for us all.
