I was privileged to visit the “Treasures Of Afganistan” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC yesterday. Such a rich display of the amazing cultural heritage of that country – the objects thousands of years old – a wonderful glimpse into the lives of the people of that time and place.
Of course, there was lots of gold stuff too, found in tombs: jewellery, vessels, adornments – even a gold crown.
For me though, the crown of the show was not made of gold. It was fashioned from words – a sign on the wall above one of the display cases. It read;
DELPHIC PRECEPTS
– As a child, learn good manners
– As a young man,learn to control your passions.
– In middle age, be just.
– In old age, give good advice.
– Then, die without regret.
I guess that I’m at the “giving good advice” stage. I pray I’m doing that, but not too much.
There’s a cat named Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (not the musician), who says about advice that it is the single commodity which is the most freely offered, but least accepted of all things. So the thing I gotta keep remembering I reckon, is to make certain it’s sought before I offer it.
Be kind to yourself.
Metta,
Michael
