Soul Spring

 “Arise! Awake! Approach the wise and learn. Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path, so the wise say—hard to tread and difficult to cross.” – Katha Upanishad

Sometimes, a soul must face its worst fears in a terrifying dark night that seems like it will never end. Steeped in sorrow and regret, this seemingly unbearable torment can drive a human being to the very edge of madness or death.

In this impenetrable gloom, it is hard to still step forward bravely, with faith that the Light will somehow emerge.Fortunately, even the longest night must end with the rising of a new dawn.

"There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fount of action and joy.  It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being, welcoming me tenderly, saluting me with indescribable humility."  Thomas Merton

There is a spring that comes to the soul, a warm green flowering after the long, bleak cold of winter, an ecstatic explosion of sunshine and colour and joy.

Now the breeze feels like liquid happiness flowing warm upon the world and the fragrance of sat-chit-ananda is wafted gently upon the air. 

Here the voice of God speaks in the wind and the thunder, in rustling leaves and birdsong, in the murmur of the river and the ocean’s long sigh upon the shore.

Like an arrow released from a bow, the soul flies into freedom, into endless skies of unconditional, blissful love.

Like a mighty eagle soaring on the mountain wind, the soul celebrates its  awakening, its resurrection and renewal in the eternal now.

This alert awareness is original consciousness.

This freedom is perfect, infinite and unchanging .

This wholeness is absolute fulfilment and deep unshakable peace.

How good it feels to come home!

“Only when Self, the truth of love, is known, will the knot of all the problems in life be severed. Only when the pinnacle of love, supreme love or para-bhakti, is attained can even liberation be said to be attained. Love is verily the heart of all religions.” Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi

I Just Sit

 

“The heavy is the root of the light.
The still is the master of unrest.
Therefore the sage, traveling all day,
Does not lose sight of his baggage.
Though there are beautiful things to be seen,
He remains unattached and calm.
Why should the lord of ten thousand chariots act lightly in public?
To be light is to lose one's root.
To be restless is to lose one's control.” Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching.

I just sit.

Like ever-devoted Nandi at the feet of Lord Siva, I sit in single-minded surrender.

Like Siddhartha beneath the bodhi tree, with unshakable purpose, I sit.

Like an idol carved from monolithic stone, unmoved by sun or wind or rain,

I sit untouched by fear or need, attachment or greed, doubt or desire.

By the Guru’s grace, beyond time and space,

beyond waking and sleeping, beyond living and dying,

firm as a mountain, I sit on the lion-throne of Self in the blossoming lotus of the Heart.

Just sitting, here have I found perfect rest: in stillness, in silence, in bliss.

There is nothing to do, there is nowhere to go, the poise of jnana is just this!

Upon the rising of this sun, the mind dissolves like mist. 

Simply being is my true nature – nothing else can exist.

So,  quietly,  I just sit.

“Higher than quietude there is no achievement; higher than quietude there is no effort; higher than quietude there is no tapas; higher than quietude there is no deathless life.” Sri Ramana Maharishi

Familiar Stranger

 

O stranger with the far away gaze, greetings! ….have we met before?
Your reflection is familiar and I think I  know the contours of your smile.
Perhaps we met in another dimension, in a parallel universe or a dream?
Distant bells ring, ethereal voices sing as I begin to recognise the loving light in your eyes.
Perhaps, in another lifetime, we shared some simple joys -were we ever friends or lovers or family, did I know you as a little child?

Sometimes memory haunts me, a sound, a touch, a smell: do you feel it too?
Like a chord once played or a long-drawn note hanging tremulous upon the air;
Like the faint murmur of a beloved voice that is no longer there.
I cannot measure you with my mind, I do not know your name, 
and yet I feel a tremor in my heartbeat, a mysterious gladness in my soul.
Something at the bleeding edge of thought keeps reminding me of you,
Like a tantalising flash of déjà vu that almost reveals, but will not give up its secret.
Who are you? Do you know me? Together, are we whole?

Have we been travelling forever down the stream of time playing this recognition game?
Someday maybe I will remember everything, all our connections and shared moments,
the intricate steps and rythms of the dance that we designed.
Sometime, will you finally let me see?
Will you deign, at last, to reveal your secret?
How cleverly you play at being both you and me
in a blissful pirouette through  eternity!

“The nature of the wave is to move. The nature of the ocean is to remain motionless. If the wandering wave loves the ocean, it will lose its wave-form, subside,become motionless, drown into the ocean and thereby become the ocean itself. Likewise, if the jiva, the wandering mind, loves Siva, the Self, he will lose his jiva-nature, that is, the nature of moving and standing as a separate entity, dissolve in Siva and become Siva Himself.”

Sri Ramana Maharishi, Guru Vachaka Kovai

Sixty Six

 

“Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it?
I do not believe it can be done.
The universe is sacred.
You cannot improve it.
If you try to change it, you will ruin it.
If you try to hold it, you will lose it.
So sometimes things are ahead and sometimes they are behind;
Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily;
Sometimes there is strength and sometimes weakness;
Sometimes one is up and sometimes down.
Therefore the sage avoids extremes, excesses, and complacency.”
 Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

I am truly blessed and fortunate.

I have lived on this earth for three score and six years.

All my life, a benevolent power has guided and supported me, protected and comforted me.

A kind universe has always come to my aid in my hour of need.

Many wonderful beings have blessed me with their affection and their wisdom,

their kindness and laughter and love.

Great good fortune has been showered upon me.

Above all, by the compassionate grace of the Guru, I have found a deep and lasting peace.

My heart overflows with  joyous gratitude.

All around me, all is sacred, all is well.

“Heart, the Source, is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all. Heart, the supreme space, is never a  form, it is the light of Truth. The death of the mind drowned in the ocean of Self-Consciousness is the eternal silence. The real ‘I’ is the supreme Heart-Space which is the great ocean of bliss.” Sri Ramana Maharishi, Guru Vachaka Kovai