The Guest

I have discovered my deep deathless being:
Masked by my front of mind, immense, serene
It meets the world with an Immortal's seeing,
A god-spectator of the human scene.

No pain and sorrow of the heart and flesh
Can tread that pure and voiceless sanctuary.
Danger and fear, Fate's hounds, slipping their leash
Rend body and nerve, - the timeless Spirit is free.

Awake, God's ray and witness in my breast,
In the undying substance of my soul
Flamelike, inscrutable the almighty Guest.
Death nearer comes and Destiny takes her toll;

He hears the blows that shatter Nature's house:
Calm sits He, formidable, luminous.

--Sri Aurobindo

My Krishna is not Black

My Krishna is not black,
He is pure gold.
He Himself is woven
Into the universal Beauty, Light and Splendour.
He looks dark
Because I have spilled the ink
Of my mind on Him.
Otherwise, my Beloved is All-Light.
He created Light and Darkness,
He is within and without the Cosmos Vast.
With this knowledge,
I will have a new acquaintance
With the world at large.

-- Sri Chinmoy

Taking Leave of a Friend

blue mountains lie beyond the north wall;
round the city's eastern side flows the white river.
here we part, friend, once forever.
you go ten thousand miles drifting away
like an unrooted water-grass.
oh, the floating clouds and the thoughts of a wanderer!
oh, the sunset and the longing of an old friend!
we ride away from each other, waving our hands,
while our horses neigh softly, softly. . . . .

--Li Po

Radharani's face

Although the effulgence of the moon is brilliant initially at night,
in the daytime it fades away.
Similarly, although the lotus is beautiful during the daytime,
at night it closes.
But, O My friend,
the face of My most dear Srimati Radharani is always bright and beautiful,
both day and night
Therefore, to what can Her face be compared?

-(Vidagdha-madhava 5.20)


*Radharani is consort of Lord Krishna

Skylark

Skylark

sings all day,

and day not long enough.

-Basho

Mountain Drinking Song

To drown the ancient sorrows
we drank a hundred jugs of wine
there in the beautiful night.
We couldn’t go to bed with the moon so bright.

Then finally the wine overcame us
and we lay down on the empty mountain
the earth for a pillow,
and a blanket made of heaven.

--Li Po

Practice Meditation

You've got to practice meditation when you walk, stand, lie down, sit, and work,while washing your hands, washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, drinking tea,talking to friends, or whatever you are doing. When you are washing the dishes,washing the dishes must be the most important thing on your life. Just as when you are drinking tea, drinking tea must be the most important thing in your life.

- Thich Nat Hahn

Facing The Sun

When you stand with your back to the sun, your shadow is before you;
but when you turn and face the sun, then your shadow falls behind you.

-Hazrat Inayat Khan

Take me up higher and higher

Every wave of the sea, as it rises, seems to be stretching its hands upwards, as if to say, "Take me up higher and higher."

-Hazrat Inayat Khan

Know the Knower

With utmost devotion,
center on the two junctions of breath
and know the knower.

-Shiva Sutra

Renunciation

Cling to the One who clings to nothing;
And so clinging, cease to cling.

-from the poem 'Renunciation' by Tiruvalluvar
(a 7th century mystic from Southern India)

Sita Ram

There are some things I may not know
There are some places, dear Lord, I may not go.
But there's one thing of which I'm sure
My God is real for I can feel him in my soul.

And I have found a way to live in the presence of the Lord
And so in the Name...
Hare Ram, Ram, Ram, Sita Ram, Ram, Ram
Hare Ram, Ram, Ram, Sita Ram, Ram, Ram

--Krishna Das

In one salutation to thee, my God

In one salutation to thee, my God,
let all my senses spread out and touch this world at thy feet.
Like a rain-cloud of July hung low with its burden of unshed showers
let all my mind bend down at thy door in one salutation to thee.
Let all my songs gather together their diverse strains into a single current
and flow to a sea of silence in one salutation to thee.
Like a flock of homesick cranes flying night and day back to their mountain nests
let all my life take its voyage to its eternal home in one salutation to thee.

--From Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore

Unlimited Self

Once you have given up your limited self willingly to the Unlimited,
you will rejoice so much in that consciousness that you will not care to be small again.

--Hazrat Inayat Khan

Silent River

O my Beloved,

You are still the same

a dewdrop at dawn

a sweet zephyr at noon

and a silent river in lonely nights!

Light

I look behind and after

And find that all is right,

In my deepest sorrows

There is a soul of light.

--Swami Vivekananda (From a letter to Miss MacLeod, 26th December 1900)

Same Moon

Where are you hurrying to?

You will see

the same moon tonight

Wherever you go!

--Izumi Shikibu

True Aim of Life

The true aim of life is to find the Divine's Presence
deep inside oneself and to surrender to It so that It
takes the lead of the life, all the feelings and all the
actions of the body. This gives a true and lu-minous aim to existence.

-The Mother

Arunachala

I sought to devour Thee:
Come now and devour me,
Then there will be peace, Arunachala.

You bade me give all for you --
Take now the giver too,
Survive alone, Arunachala!

Let now the deception end.
There was no lover or friend
Apart from Thyself, Arunachala!

Now that at last I know
All this a magic show,
Let it dissolve in Thee, Arunachala!

--Arthur Osborne

This Dream

At the gates of my heart
I stand—a beggar
In the howling wind
Clad in rags of thought

Open my love, my King
Open the golden gate
Let Thy splendour stream forth
And flood with light

This shadow-world of sorrow
This face bereft of sight
These shadows of tomorrow
This dream

Mad dogs are at my throat
Shall I perish
A beggar at the gate
Of the King of Grace and Mercy
Is this to be my fate
This dream?

--Arthur Osborne