Must The Rain Fall? Must Some Days Be Dark and Dreary?

The Rainy Day

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary.

It rains and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.

 

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary.

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,

But the hopes of youth fall thick to blast,

And the days are dark and dreary.

 

Be still, sad heart! And cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining.

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each Life some rain must fall.

Some days must be dark and dreary.

 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

I was reminded of this poem when Michael Singer used the infamous line in the below linked  podcast.  It also seemed to flow indirectly but somehow perfectly with what was on my mind after reading this line in living untethered. :

No matter how high you get, you can always get much higher. Don't believe those who say you cannot enjoy happiness unless you also know sadness. That is not true.  That is what Life is like if you are still blocked. page 192

Hmm! So would Singer say that Longfellow was still very blocked? 

Now, I am one of those people who believe in the  natural  balance of  10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows.  Of course, we are going to have dark and dreary days and we are going to have sunny days.  These days, this weather has nothing to do with us. (Singer, ironocally, often uses the analogy of  accepting and relaxing into the rainy day. ) The circumstances that enfold in front of us have little to do with us.  Now, Longfellow is quick to point out that rain comes into every Life...and depersonalizes its occurence when he says, "Into every Life some rain must fall" .  He is not blaming the rain for falling but he is blaming himself for reacting to his depression brought about by clinging to the"mouldering"  past. He is obviously experiencing a slump in energy at the time of writing the poem...a lower state. Then, when he recognizes what he is doing,  he reprimands himself by telling his heart  to stop whining and feeling sorry for itself. He reminds himself that the sun is still shining behind the cloud and that rainy and dark and dreary days are nothing personal.  This rain will fall in everyone's life at some point. Of course the rain also represents our less than positive emotional states that we , as humans, often experience. The sun, I see, as our higher Self . And that is always there. What seems to be a very depressing poem is actually a very uplifting and wise one, isn't it? 

So is Longfellow blocked?

Maybe but only temporarily...he is able to recognize so clearly his own reaction to life circumstance and then he is able to use positive thinking, and maybe mantra  "behind the clouds is the sun still shining"  and "thy fate is the common fate of all" ...to lift himself out of his reactivity.  A Buddhist might say he is using wise mind. But a yogi, like Singer, might argue that he is not fully evolved and consumed by the higher state yet because he still suffers from depression, clings to the  past  and the need for  hope. Right? But he is trying to get there, isn't he?   I think he is, in that poem,  where I am on this journey right now...knowing , understanding and trying to break through old habits of reactivity so he can experience the sun full time (even if the literal sun is covered by cloud) .  This begins with accepting what is as it is...the rain, the less than favorable emotions etc , the ten thousand sorrows and seeing the impersonal nature of it. 

Do Some Days Have To Be Dark and Dreary?

For the unevolved being maybe, but eventually, Singer reminds us, there will be no more dark and dreary days. 

We can go higher than this.  We can always go higher...but first we must recognize our tendency to react to life circumstance as if it is something personal, our tendency to to cling to the past, our tendency to allow this "me" we created to whine and complain about what is, and then we need to be willing to stop doing these things. We need to stop stuffing new samskaras on top of our old ones through our resistance of what is. Then and only then will we experience this: 

Once you are unblocked, you will notice that the energy is always beautiful. It is an ever-new rush of uplifting joy that raises your heart, your mind, and everything inside you. page 192 

I wonder if Longfellow ever reached that state of uplifting joy.  I hope he did.  I hope I do too.  I hope we all do.  

All is well in my world. 

Michael A. Singer ( 2022) living untethered. New Harbinger/Sounds True

Michael A. Singer ( February 6, 2023) Relaxing Your Inner Hands of Resistance. https://tou.org/talk-archive/