Rain

I have been given
many blessings
in my life


Abundant Grace,
in many Myriad forms...


My Gratitude is overflowing

And yet,


I long for 
Liberation 
From this Play of Change

This mad world,
Of pleasure and pain.



You...

Lift up my soul
And Your Divine Light
Chases away the clouds,
that cover this
Mad Warrior's Heart.


So, I will  kneel here,
and rest my head in your arms tonight
Lay my sword and shield 
at your blessed feet.

Hold me close,
Beloved,  


For Tomorrow I will do battle

In a field

Where we once both danced
and laughed
 in
The pouring rain.




Narayan

Jnaneshwar

Those who have seen only me with their eyes,

Heard of only me with their ears,

Who have no thought except of me,

And extol me with their voices,

Who prostate themselves before me with their bodies,

Who know only me as their sacred books And recite their hymns only to reach me, Who worship me in every activity,

Who have studied my wisdom, who Inwardly and outwardly are satisfied by me And have come into existence solely for my sake,

Who are filled with passion, desiring me, Filled with love, loving me, and who, Fascinated by their attraction to me, Forget the world-

These men certainly have become united with me.

Jnaneshwar

Muse

She  bathed in the warm sunlight,
reflecting deeply as she watched the dark clouds passing overhead 
not realizing that she herself had actually become the perfect Muse, 
a guiding spirit, 
a source of inspiration, 
and a divine poet ...

Narayan

Whispers in the Dark

I had a dream last night,

As I fell asleep,
Looking at the clear dark sky,

The stars began  whirling, 
dancing

The Moon  began to whisper,

As she brushed against my cheek,

"I AM ... what you seek",

"I AM ... what you seek."


As she lifted me higher
into an eternal, cool night sky,
I beheld her beauty,
Silver Rays filled my being 
And pulled me into  light. 

I flew ,
Above fields, 
 streams,
 and Bays.



Then,
Just before I woke up laughing...


She whispered, 

"Know that I AM with you,
Know that You are Free...
Know that I AM with you,

Know that You are Free"

Narayan

 

 

"Those who love you know your song, and they sing it to you when you have forgotten its vibration. Those who love you do not care about the dark and ugly things you sometimes become. They hear the beauty of your song. They remember your light and know the sweetness within you".

Takatoka

When the mind sheds it's desires, 

it feels the sweetness of peace and bliss descend over it,

as if it were the lustrous moon in the heavens.

Yoga Vashishta

Less is ............MORE

Hafiz came over last night,
while you were napping...

We

 danced 

Under a big Mango tree.
As I was twirling ecstatically ,

He said,

"Crazy Boy!"

"SIMPLIFY!!!"

"Less is  MORE "!!!

"Less  Desire,
Less Worry,

Less  Attachment,
Less  Possessions"

MORE

Freedom,

MORE

Light,

MORE

LOVE !!!



As I spun around to Thank him...
Hafiz took a Ripe Mango 
And hit me,
right between the eyes...
Boom!

When I woke up this morning,
in the gentle rain
under that Old Mango Tree

Hafiz had already left,

He had left me 
sleeping soundly
in the cool mud,
covered in sweet mango juice...

One of his wild ducks was still

 nibbling nectar off of my left ear...

"Hey YOU Crazy Duck", I yelled
  "I need that Ear!"

As I rubbed the bruise between my eyes

I realized 

I had

Never 

Slept better.... 

Narayan

       

                                                  



            

Your Shape of Laughter

Let my words become like a skilled 

Potter's hands,

Quieting,

Smoothing your life

With their knowledge,

Reaching into your tender core

And spreading you out like the morning

That leaps from the sun's amused wink

Onto hills, brows and the backs of so many

Beautiful laboring beasts.

God's duty is to make perfect

All your movements of mind, of limb,

And your ascending shape of laughter.

Watch the way my hands dance

With their diamond-edged brilliance

Cutting you open with music,

Reaching into your heart

And spilling the night sky-jar you carry

That is always full of giggling planets and stars.

My words are a divine potter's wheel.

If you stay near me,

Please stay near to me -

And Hafiz will spin you into
LOVE.


Hafiz

Oh Death, 

Take away this body if you please, I care not. 

I have enough bodies to use. 

I can wear those silver threads, 
the beams of the Moon and I live.

I can roam as a divine minstrel putting on the guise of hilly streams and mountain brooks. 

I can dance in the waves of the sea. 

I am the breeze that proudly walks and I am the wind inebriated. 

All these shapes of mine are wandering shapes of change. 

I came down from yonder hills, raised the dead, awakened the sleeping, unveiled the fair faces of some and wiped away the tears of a few weeping ones. 

The banyan and the rose both I saw and I comforted them.

I touched this, I touched that,

I doff my hat and off I am. 

Here I go, 
There I go , 
None can find me.


Swami Rama Tirtha
Poem found on
Swami Ram Tirtha's desk
Written just before leaving for his last morning bath in the Ganges
Taking Final Samadhi in 1906 at the age of 33 yrs.

That Sounds Wonderful

Good Poetry

Makes a beautiful naked woman

Materialize from 

Words,

Who then says,

With a sword precariously waving

In her hands,

"If you look at my loins

I will cut off your head,

And reach down and grab your spirit

By it's private parts,

And carry you off to heaven

Squealing in joy."

Hafiz says,

"That sounds wonderful, just 

Wonderful.

Someone please-start writing

Some great

Lines."

Hafiz

Rain

I ran in the rain
Down to the mango grove tonight
Where we used to twirl together
And you had already left.
All that remained
were your footprints
Still fresh in the hardened mud
Of those favorite stomping grounds.
There were still a few ducks
Resting under
Our favorite Mango tree,
The One
Where I  found you
Lost in ecstasy.
The ducks were very clear
Tonight
when I asked why you had left,
Despite the quick retreat,
They said you were still dancing
as you went away
and you were soft and gentle when you said,
"I have many important things to do for now,
but tell him I'll be back someday soon."
Then,

You kissed each one
upon their heads
and  climbed onto
a fortunate tree,
embraced the bark
for quite some time and
then smiled and said
Goodbye with great affection,
before twirling off
in your sweet new found direction.
I wish I was there
when you had left
to gently take the leaves
out from your hair,
and say a long goodbye.
(And to tell you how much you  mean to me).
Of course I know
you are always here,
right within my heart
and I trust the ducks
when they say you are still twirling.

So,  
Dear One,
I bow my head
to your muddy feet, 
and hope someday,
we can dance together
again

in the mud and rain.




Narayan

The Gift

Our Union is like this:

You feel cold

So I reach for a blanket to cover 

Our shivering feet.

A hunger comes into your body

So I run to my garden

And start digging Sweet Potatoes

You ask for words of comfort and guidance,

I quickly kneel at your side offering you

This poem

As a Gift.

You ache with loneliness one night 

So much you weep

And I say,

Here's a rope,

Tie it around me, 

Hafiz

Will be your companion

For Life.

Hafiz

Just For You

Last night,
under the  moonlight
I built a swing,
Just for You

for you to Meditate,

and Sway...
in your own Joy

I built a swing,
Just for You,

right by the Ocean                  

for you to stretch

and twist

and look at her in all her beauty
even while hanging

 upsided

           n

           w

           o

     ; D

  

I built a swing
Just for you

next to the stars  *  *  *  *   *   *   *

so they can            *     *    *   *   *

get tangled

in your hair ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~*

Of course, later I would carefully brush them all out


and watch them fly away,                               *        *            *

back to all their very important spots               


in the sky...                                        

I built a swing
Just for YOU

right over puddles

for stomping

and jumping

and some serious splashing

Last night,

I built a swing
just for You

right on a soft sandy beach 

so you can stick your toes

in the warmth and sunlight

after you wake from a deep lazy nap
to twirl and sing

and do that strange dance
that you always love to do,

I built a swing
Just FOR YOU....
under a great big Mango tree
where her fruit is so sweet
it  falls dripping
right into your hands


Last Night,
I built a swing
Just for You,

so you can  R  E   L  A  X 
for awhile

and forget about

this illusion,

and everything
in it,

except YOU... 




Last Night,

I built a    Swing...