Finding My Howl

In "Finding Your Howl", a story by Jonathon Flaum, the remaining population of a species of wolves are raised in captivity in an effort to be protected, then their offspring are released into the wild to live.  The story focuses on one wolf named Mumon, who instinctually hunts for his food, but is overall unsatisfied and cannot seem to find his place in the world.  He is looking for his howl.  For some reason, he feels remorse for the deer he hunted for himself to eat and survive, despite the presence of a raven who also thrives off the kill.  When on the brink of death, staring into the barrel of a shotgun held by a farmer, Mumon had a spiritual experience involving tribal chants and dances.  He then came to, found that he was surrounded by his pack, howling at the moon.  He had then found his howl.


"Sojourn of Arjuna" by Béla Fleck & The Flecktones
So Arjuna and Krishna you know they're hanging out on the battlefield
Arjuna is like tired of war, he's trying to get out of this battle
so Krishna drops a little science on him, he says you know it's the way of
spiritual growth
a man must go forth from where he stands
he cannot jump to the absolute, he must evolve toward it (can you hear that)
Krishna says at any given moment in time we are what we are
Arjuna we have to accept the consequences of being ourselves
and only through this acceptance can we begin to evolve further
we may select the battleground but we cannot avoid the battle

so Krishna tells Arjuna it follows therefore that every action under certain
circumstances and for certain people may actually be a stepping stone to
spiritual growth

Arjuna is to do the best he knows
in order to pass beyond that best to better
how can we prescribe our neighbors to be perfect
when it is so hard to know our own heart
the pacifist must respect Arjuna
Arjuna must respect the pacifist.
both are going toward the same goal
if they are really sincere
there's an underlying solidarity between them
which can be expressed
each one follows without compromise the path upon which he finds himself
for we can only help others to do their duty
by doing what we ourselves believe to be right
it is the one supremely social act.

so Kirshna's reply to Arjuna occupies the rest of the story
it deals not only with Arjuna's immediate personal problem
but the whole nature of action
the meaning of life
and the aims for which man must struggle here on earth
at the end of the conversation Arjuna has changed his mind
he's ready to fight, he's ready to go ahead on
it is the way of spiritual growth
a man must go forward from where he stands
he cannot jump to the absolute
and the battle begins...




I have always felt that the lyrics to this song are very deep and loaded with thought provoking ideas.  In the first line, it is established that the two characters are "hanging out on the battlefield."  Based on the content of the rest of the song, I feel that the term "battlefield" might allude to the battlefield that we call life.  Nothing involving war or any literal battle is brought up for the rest of the story.  However, the lyrics deal with life and personal growth in a broad sense.  It suggests that throughout our lifetime we are always seeking emotional and spiritual growth and must harness our opportunities for such.  The lyrics state that "every action under certain circumstances and for certain people may actually be a stepping stone to spiritual growth."  This line speaks very strongly to me, as I have found truth in this before.  It implies that any kind of action or experience may make a person stronger, but it is up to the person to allow themselves to grow.
This reminds me of a time several years ago when I felt that I hit a peak in finding myself and establishing personal philosophies.  At summer camp, I had passed the age of being a camper and was ready to start transitioning into being a staff member.  During that transition year, we serve as staff in training.  This is a time when we are starting to see the innards of camp and how it functions as well as beginning to learn about how to lead a group of campers to having the best summers of their lives.  However, some responsibilities fall on us aside from shadowing and helping out staff with leading kids and running activities.  It is also our responsibility to set up and clean the dining hall as well as serve food to each table.  This is a huge part of the staff in training summer that I have found can really make or break one's experience.  Being thrown into these responsibilities with some of your closest friends from over the years really brings out everybody's true colors as everybody's relationships shift slightly from being purely social to now having to work together as a team.  Being in this situation of having to do some labor as far as distributing piles of plates, silverware, and food to dozens of tables serving hundreds of people, as well as cleaning up and taking out the trash after each meal really changed my perception on life a bit.  This is related to where the real shift took place, which was on a backpacking trip deep in the Allegheny woods of Pennsylvania.  Amidst a long hike through the woods, it occurred to me that if we feel things are getting tough, we must be emotionally strong and make the best of it, regardless of our situation or setting (such as being deep in the the forest).  I found that it is really not worth the trouble to get hung up about something and let it affect your emotions and especially those of the people around you.  Life tends to be much better when we are in a more positive mood from day to day, regardless of the things we have going on in our lives.  Everybody has their own set of issues and problems, but when life can be lived with pride and have everything taken in stride, the individuals quality of life will surely improve.
From that summer, I have been able to take away an outlook on life that still holds true from day to day.  It's not worth it to be upset over things.  Being happy is far more fun, exciting, and entertaining.  With that, as far as personal growth is concerned we may select the battleground but we cannot avoid the battle.