Letter # 10: "Expecto Patronus"

"Expecto Patronus" is a phrase that you might not be familiar with but millions of children are. Despite the protests of some fundamentalists, I remain in awe of JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter novels. With her deep knowledge of languages, cultures, literature and mythology, she has caught the imagination of many by her credible creation of a world of wizards, who live in a dimension parallel to us ordinary folks, who are called "muggles" in her novels. Harry Potter is the hero - a boy wizard who has low self-esteem, having been battered by life and losses and evil forces. He slowly discovers his powers, the greatest of which is an ability to summon a protective force by uttering the magic spell "Expecto Patronus". He learns this power through practice. When he utters the words a silver stag appears out of his magic wand to protect him. However, his powers occasionally fail him, especially when he's wearing a chain around his neck which harbours a piece of the evil soul of Voldemort, the personified epitomy of evil. We "muggles" are often weighed down by the "evil chains" of the daily struggle. Can we learn to summon a "Patronus"? Do we muggles have the ability to use such a magic spell? I propose that we can. I often ponder Maharaj-ji Tarlochan Das's message that we must do naam simran. What is that you might ask? Naam is the name of God or the Word (John 1.1) Simran is the constant mental repetiition of that name. For Buddhists this could take the form of meditating on the concept "Not this Not that", which helps to find the Soul by analysis, as first described in Srimad Bhagavatum Canto 7, Text 23, written more than 5,000 years ago. For Christians this could take the form of the Lord's prayer: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..." Matthew 6.8. Notice how name or Naam also comes up in this Biblical verse. For lovers of the Vedas: in Bhagavad Gita 9.17, Lord Krishna says: "Pitaham (the father) asya (I am) jagato (of the world) ..." The whole verse is translated by Srila Prabhupada as: "I am the father of the universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable om. I am also the Rg, Sama and the Yajur Vedas" Now let me analyse this positive "magical incantation" of Harry Potter - Expecto Patronus:"Expecto" is from the Latin expectare: "await, hope," "Patronus" is from L. patronus "defender, protector, advocate. Go work the magic.


God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.

I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety, and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.

Jas Bhopal
Copyright© 2007
“Practicing goodwill makes for a good life."
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References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" as translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN 0-89213-268-X; The Srimad Bhagavatum as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN0-89213-259-0; "I Am That. Talks With Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj” ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.