May the long time sun shine upon you
all love surround you
and the pure light within you
guide your way home
In writing another article, I thought of this verse and it seemed appropriate. However, when I looked up its source, I found another curious mis-attribution.
The verse is often referred to as an Irish blessing or a Sikh or Kundalini closing prayer.
It’s actually from the closing section of the long A Very Cellular Song by The Incredible String Band. The song is a mixture of parts that include an ode to an amoeba (hence the title) that was written by Mike Heron (a Scot) in 1967. The verse was played as a closing ditty at their live gigs in the late ’60’s. (They also played at Woodstock but refused to play in the rain Friday night with the other folkies. They where rescheduled the next day with the rockers prior to Canned Heat so where not filmed)
Yogi Bhajan came to the west in 1968. One day when he arrived at an event, students performed the verse for him and he asked them to continue. Then he asked them to play it after classes. It became a tradition to close classes, then practices with it. Thus was born the Yogic “tradition.”
Here is the original:
A Very Cellular Song (about 10.5 min into the song)
I like the kirtan version better. 🙂
More on the song and yogic connection
Beautiful verse even if the author saw it as just a trip.
Davidya
Summer 1969 when YB arrived in LA. Late 1968 he was in Toronto, no “May the Longtime Sun’ then.
Hi John
The article didn’t specify when or where this happened. I imagine it would have taken time to propagate and may have depended on the presence of the performers.
But the source got lost in the process. Most refer to it as a kundalini closing prayer or similar. I thought the backstory interesting.
Thanks for commenting.
Thank you, and the final verse would be, respectfully and gently,
“then, do something about it”
🙂
(laughs) like, have a trip, man.
The band lived together with their partners in a communal farmhouse. Heron said he never met anyone from the kundalini group.
…meaning that once the grace of God has filled us, we act. 🙂
Right – my comment went in another direction. But yeah, the light wants to move. So filled with it, we’re inspired and flow.
There is a vakya which goes “Yah Suryam Soham eva cha” – I don’t know the source. I think it means that the “consciousness which is the sun is the same as (or one with that which I am” – I am not an expert translator so this may need fixing.
I would read this something like “I am Surya like the sun, we are one.”
Understand that Surya is a deva who expresses the physical sun. One with the sun but not exactly the same thing. But if you are one with Surya, you are also one with the sun.
This also makes more sense of things like Jyotish. The sun itself doesn’t have an influence on your career but the law of nature does as it’s in everything.
Good to see Mike Heron and the Incredible String Band getting credit for some beautiful words that have been taken up by others.
Yes, I’m surprised by what comes up sometimes in researching things. Lot’s of quotes sites are full of misattributions.