Soul Poems by Rumi

TWO POEMS BY RUMI




One Song


What is praised is one, so the praise is one too,
many jugs being poured 
into a huge basin. 
All religions, all this singing, one song.


The differences are just illusion and vanity. Sunlight looks slightly different on this wall
than it does on that wall and a lot different on this other one, but
it is still one light. We have borrowed these clothes, these time-and-space personalities,
from a light, and when we praise, we pour them back in.


-------------------------------------------------------




Four Interrupted Prayers




Four Indians enter a mosque and begin the prostrations.
Deep, sincere praying.


But a priest walks by, and one of the Indians, without thinking says, "Oh, are you going to give the call to prayer now? Is it time?"


The second Indian, under his breath, "You spoke. Now your prayers are invalid."


The third, "Uncle, don't scold him! You did the same thing. Correct yourself." 


The fourth, "Praise to God, I have not made the mistake of these three." 


So all four prayers are interrupted, with the three faultfinders being more at fault than the original speaker. 
Blessed is one who his weakness, and blessed is one who, when he sees a flaw in someone else , takes responsibility for it.
Because, half of any person is wrong and weak and off the path.
Half!
The other half is dancing and swimming and flying in the invisible joy. 
You have ten open sores on your head. Put what salve you have on yourself. And point out to everyone the disease you are.


That's part of getting well! When you lance yourself that way, you become more merciful and wiser. Even if you don't have a particular fault at the moment, you may soon be the one who makes some act notorious. 


Don't feel self-satisfied. Lucifer lived eons as a noble angel. Think what his name means now.
Don't try to be famous until your face is completely washed of any fear. If your beard hasn't grown out, don't joke about someone's smooth chin.


Consider how Satan swallowed soul poison, and be grateful that you taste only the sweetness of being warned.

Mercy

Where is the mercy I was promised?


Hear I cry and laugh
Laugh at my stupidity
How could it be , that I let my mind flee?
Still I'll tread steadily 
Will you wait for me?
You are miles ahead
I'm struggling to get out of bed
Remember what Gurudev said?


The snow is deep
inhalations burn but now it's my turn
My turn to hold Vasuki and churn
Churn out my desires and impurity
Are you still trying to get through to me?


Shiva don't throw the trident down
In this ocean of milk I'll drown 
Unless you save me...........


Is this the mercy I was promised?


I fall and cry out loud
No, I've been way too proud
Count myself out of the crowd
Read out loud and now I wear the shroud


Forgot the route back to the sky
that blissful sky where you'll go when you die
I let out a heavy sigh and you ask why


Why? Am I alive
or am I dead body decorated with jewels?
I'm only alive to those gross fools


Here I stand proud only to be brought down on my knees
Begging please, please, please


      Show me some mercy..........

Struggle

My head dunks underneath the water
Sound is absent...
I hold my breath as long as I can
The sun creates a beautiful seen on the waves...

My mind begins to wander
I try to search for my source of happiness
Is it there in my daughter's face?
Is it there in the laughter of my wife?
I witness my brothers and sisters struggling everyday

They struggle for their position and money
They struggle for a social life... They struggle for sex

Spiritual life is also a struggle...
The illusory potency is so strong and cruel
She presents the best offers possible only to blow you over like a twig in a hurricane
I have to admit that I flirt with her daily
Somehow by the devotees' insurmountable mercy I am still struggling

Let's go to the desert
The desert is actually in our hearts
Jesus went to the desert for forty nights and forty days
His heart was flooded by the pure waters of God's love
Flirting with maya is like putting a drop on the desert like soil of our hearts
We torture ourselves with a drop
When the ocean is there at any moment

Lust, anger and greed trample me when I should show restraint
I pray and curse my fickle mind
O Lord, what will You do with such a foolish person?

I struggle to chant Your holy names
My brother struggles for temporary sense gratification
So many people in anxiety and living with fear
I curse myself because I allow them to live this way
Why don't I struggle to help them?
Instead I criticize them to show how I'm better than them

Where is my humility?
Where is my compassion?
O Radha, You are the keeper of Krishna's heart
You give energy to the devotees
You are most merciful
When shall this fallen soul gain the most precious opportunity of serving the devotees of Your devotees?

Finally More Poems and Prayers

Got No Water by Matisyahu:

"You quench my thirsting soul and you fill my appetite
I give myself to you because you treat me right
Put my trust in the world and the world gets tight
Shift my trust to you it's like a crystal clear night
Expand in all directions get the sections to unite
Hashem's rays fire blaze light my way light of my life
And these days well wait no longer night
I´m reaching for my God like skyscrapers in the night
I said I know it's hard inside is empty galus (exile) cuts like a knife
Internalize torah vibes bound to feel alright

Chorus:
Whirlwind of praise from below to above
Take flight in the sky got wings like a dove,
We Soaring to shamayim (heaven) where the angels call in love
And the glory of Hashem fits like a glove

Hashem rules the world and Israel is his wife
Love you yes my God with all my heart my soul and my might
When I feel you by my side yes I'm flying like a kite
When I feel you by my side yes I'm soaring like a kite

You open up my eyes and give me sight
Super energized and everyday I feel you give me life
I seen the ways of the world intoxifying on pride
Young man don't you know drugs impurify your mind
When Israel left mitzrayim four fifths got left behind
If you got no water how you gonna survive
Roots lead you to the well springs so you could stay alive
Pharaoh claimed to be a God and claimed to make the Nile
A crocodile could smile and show his teeth
You could see beauty shining externally but that's the story of Greece
Inside America bleeds, Israel won't you get up from your knees
Its just lies in disguise Torah's truth won't you please alive
Given to the humble one on Mt. Sinai

Chorus

Shma Y'sroel, Hashem Elokainu, Hashem Echad
(Hear Israel, the lord is our God, the lord is one)

The world could just crumble to dust it's just us it's not two it's just one
The middle road called truth, Torah you sooth my brain bruise
Open up peruse with knowledge of God
And move up an arousal from below till the secrets start to ooze
Don't snooze it's pure light the most high wants us alive
What's the proof?
We got life!
Chabad philosophy that's the deepest well-spring
Gaining knowledge of God while your gaining money
Fill up yourself with the light of his majesty
In a world of separation that's the only way to be
It's time we leave we won't flee just walk out easily

If you got no water how you gonna survive

Chorus"

Excerpt from The Masnavi Book 4 by Rumi:
"He loved music because he heard in it a mysterious conversation. Voices singing, the low menace of the drum, clear flute and trumpet. Philosophers have said that we love music because it resembles the sphere sounds of union. We've been part of a harmony before, so these moments of treble and bass keep our remembering fresh. But how does this happen within these dense bodies full of forgetfulness and doubt and grieving? It's like water passing through us. It becomes acidic and bitter, but still still as urine it retains watery qualities. It will put out a fire! So there is this music flowing through our bodies that can dowse restlessness. Hearing the sound, we gather strength. Love kindles with melody. Music feeds a lover composure, and provides form for the imagination. Music breathes on personal fire and makes it keener."


Psalm 133:
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing- life forever more."


Third Eye by Tool:
"Dreaming of that face again. It's bright and blue and shimmering. Grinning wide and comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes. On my back and tumbling down that hole and back again rising upand wiping the webs and the dew from my withered eye. In Out In Out In Out A child's rhyme stuck in my head. It said that life is but a dream. I've spent so many years in question to find I've known this all along. "So good to see you. I've missed you so much. So glad it's over. I've missed you so much. Came out to watch you play. Why are you running?" Shrouding all the ground around me. Is this holy crow above me. Black as holes within a memory and blue as our new second sun. I stick my hand into his shadow to pull the pieces from the sand. Which I attempt to reassemble to see just who I might have been. I do not recognize the vessel, but the eyes seem so familiar. Like phosphorescent desert buttons singing one familiar song... "So good to see you. I've missed you so much. So glad it's over. I've missed you so much. Came out to watch you play. Why are you running away?" Prying open my third eye. So good to see you once again. I thought that you were hiding. And you thought that I had run away. Chasing the tail of dogma. I opened my eye and there we were. So good to see you once again I thought that you were hiding from me. And you thought that I had run away. Chasing a trail of smoke and reason. Prying open my third eye."


Here I sit pouring over transcendental literatures
My mind struggles to retain, as my intelligence struggles to apply
O Lord Krishna this world is full of struggling
By Your mercy I somehow strive
I am thankful to be alive...
I am grateful to be allowed the opportunity to know Your most intimate pastimes
Most grateful to be allowed to chant Your holy names
All of this is a gift from my Gurudeva whose humility and devotion is as deep as the ocean
I pray to you Srila Prabhupada!
You have relieved me from the burden of impersonalism
What will I do with these rare jewels?
Will I keep them on a shelf some place?
Sitting and staring at the ocean
The breeze surrounds me and lifts my spirits
Chanting as I watch the waves crash
I sincerely pray to pray sincerely...
Bal Gopal das writes this as he meditates on the lotus feet of His Holiness Radhanath Swami

Some Nice Poems

Self-Knowledge
"Know yourself-and is this the prime
And heaven-sprung adage of the olden time?-
Say, canst thou make thyself?-Learn first that trade;-
Haply thou mayst know what thyself had made.
What hast thou, Man, that thou dar'st call thine own?-
What is there in thee, Man that can be known?-
Dark fluxion, all unfixable by thought,
A phantom dim of past and future wrought,
Vain sister of the worm,-life, death, soul, clod-
Ignore thyself, and strive to know thy God!
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge


"My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your word.
I have declared my ways, and You answered me; teach me Your statutes.
Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.
My soul melts from heaviness; strengthen me according to Your word.
Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously.
I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgements I have laid before me.
I cling to your testimonies; O Lord, do not put me to shame!
I will run the course of Your commandments, for You shall enlarge my heart."
-Psalm 119 Daleth


"Look at this figure of a man on horseback,
his turban with gold thread,
striking a gallant pose, asking, "Where is death? Show me!"
He seems powerful, but he's a fake.
Death attacks from six sides. Hello, jackass. Where's your magnetism now, the famous temperament?
The jokes you told, the carpets you gave relatives?
It's not enough to spend your life turning bread into dung.
We are pawing through manure to find pearls.
There are people with the light of God on them.
Serve those.
Don't trivialize any suffering. I say this to myself.
I am that mounted man, his illusion. How long shall I keep pointing to others?
Shams of Tabriz is a fountain. We wash in the water of his eyes."
-Rumi


"The dust from the lotus feet of pure devotees gives rise to devotional service, and service to the devotees is itself the supreme perfection and the root of the tender creeper of divine love.

With great care I observe holy days like Ekadasi and Janmastami, for they are the mother of devotion. And with the greatest reverence and love i choose as my dwelling place the transcendental abode of Sri Krishna.

In the company of loving devotees I will visit all those places where my Lord Gaurasundara traveled and performed His pastimes.

My mind always begs to hear the music of the mridanga, and my heart dances in ecstasy whenever i hear the kind of kirtana established by Lord Gaudacandra.

I feel supreme bliss when i behold the Deity forms of the divine couple, Sri Sri Radha and Krishna, and I conquer all worldly illusions by honoring the Lord's prasadam.

Everyday Goloka Vrndavana appears in my home when I see Lord Hari being worshiped there. My joy knows no bounds when I see the Ganges, a river of nectar emanating from the Lord's feet.

THe sight of the tulasi plant soothes my soul, for I know she gives pleasure to Lord Krishna. I feel that my life has been fulfilled when I honor saka, a green leafy vegetable preparation that is a favorite of Lord Caitanya's.

Whatever Bhaktivinoda obtains that furthers devotional service to Sri Krishna he accepts every day with greatest joy."
-Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Mercy From Guru

Through the mercy of my spiritual master, I have been able to take a deep look at my life. I can now see that I am very much attached to this body and the senses. When one is too much absorbed in the body and sense gratification, one is very far from the Lord. The proof of spiritual advancement is freedom from materialism. This is a very basic understanding that is talked about in all of the great religions.

In Chapter 2 of Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna makes it very clear that one who is bewildered by sense enjoyment and the opulences of this world can not enter deeply into samadhi (devotional service to the Lord.) The first instruction in the science of self realization is that we are not this body. We are spirit souls.

I have to constantly adjust my consciousness by asking myself, how deep do I really understand these spiritual truths? Do I focus more on my material designations or put myself first as a servant of God. For three days in a row, I listened to a class by His Holiness Radhanath Swami where he talked about the miracles that took place in his life. I have been dwelling on how intense his determination was to reach God. He cried and prayed to the Lord with such sincerity. I then look at my life and see how I'm so distracted by the things of this world. I'm trapped in false sense of comfort that keeps me from crying out to the Lord.

But, by associating more and more with Krishna through the scriptures and the Holy Name and my guru through his lectures, slowly I'm seeing what I must do to be properly situated as a lover of God. Not in a theoretical way but in the most practical terms.

Bhajahu Re Mana Sri Nanda-nandana

This is a song sung by the great poet Govinda das Kaviraja.


"O mind, just worship the lotus feet of the son of Nanda, which make one fearless. Having obtained this rare human birth, cross over this ocean of worldly existence by associating with saintly persons.

"Day and night I remain sleepless, suffering heat and cold, wind and rain. For a bit of flickering happiness I have served wicked and miserly men.

"What assurance of real happiness is there in all one's wealth, youth, sons, and relatives? This life totters like a drop of water on a lotus petal; therefore you should always worship the lotus feet of lord Hari.

"Govinda das longs to hear the glories of Lord Hari, chant His glories, constantly remember Him, offer Him prayers, serve His lotus feet, become His servant, worship Him, serve Him as a friend, and completely offer Him his very self."

Sri Lalita-Pranama-Stotra: Bowing Down to Sri Lalita

This is a poem written by Srila Rupa Goswami. In this poem he describes the glories of Srimati Radharani's closest friend. My wife is named after her. Lalita means "one who plays." My wife's full name is Lalita Sundari devi dasi or "the servant of beautiful Lalita."


Verse 1
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, who worships the perspiration from Sri Sri Radha-Mukunda's lotus feet, and who, out of great love, is very bold and arrogant.

Verse 2
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, the beauty of whose face rebukes the full moon's splendor, whose eyes are like the lovely eyes of a frightened doe, and who is famous for artistically decorating Srimati Radharani.

Verse 3
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, whose transcendental form is gracefully dressed with a bodice, ornaments, and silk garments wonderfully colorful as the tail of a jubilantly dancing peacock, and whose fair complexion rebukes the splendor of gorocana.

Verse 4
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, who gives the following instruction. "Radha, please hear these beneficial words: Be contrary with the rogue who is the prince of Vraja. O dishonored one, do not become gentle and submissive for Your own doing."

Verse 5
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, who, seeing Him even slightly cheat Sri Radha, with reddened eyes shames the prince of Vraja with a flood of words.

Verse 6
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, who is the abode where the queen of the gopas places her love, who is the teacher of the arts of friendship to her friends, and who considers Sri Sri Radha-Krishna as dear as life.

Verse 7
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, all of whose desires became at once completely fulfilled when She saw in Vraja the path of Sri Radha blocked by a certain person.

Verse 8
I offer my respectful obeisances to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, who is the first of Radha's friends in Gokula, and for whom the meeting of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna is the greatest of jubilant festivals.

Verse 9
Srimati Radharani, the splendid desire vine in the family of King Vrsabhanu, lovingly accepts among Her own associates a person who happily and with pure vision reads these eight verses describing the charming virtues of Sri Lalita.

Surrender

The greatest benediction in life is to be able to perform devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By performing devotional service, one purifies the senses and destroys the false designations that the false ego identifies with. This service disentangles the soul from matter.
In my devotional life, because I am inattentive, i see the service that I perform as just another activity I must get through so that I am able to do what I want to do. It has taken me millions of lifetimes to be able to perform this service, yet, I rush to do something my mind tricks me into believing is more important.
Surrender.... What does that word mean in this situation?
I can surrender my body without surrendering my mind. If I fail to surrender both, then I am not surrendered, simple...

This morning while chanting Hare Krishna, I meditated on how Srila Prabhupada stated: "The chanting is a spiritual call for the Lord and His internal energy Hara, to give protection to the conditioned soul." I started praying to Sri-Sri-Radha-Krishna to engage me in Their service. But then my mind added, "But not so much service because I'm already doing so much." What a foolish thing to add?!
This proves that I have no love. If I had love for God then I would have prayed: "Give me service until I'm completely immersed, so I have no spare time to waste on material activities."
Rather than fully surrender, I want to surrender at my own convenience. If I have to exert myself or suffer, then I don't want to surrender.

Jesus Christ knew that he was going to be crucified. in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed in a very particular way. He said, "Lord, if this cup can be taken away then allow it to pass from me. But let your will be done, not my will." Jesus was completely surrendered. He didn't want anything for himself. He only wanted what the Lord desired, even if that meant he would have to suffer.
A prayer that I chant at the end of my japa is the last verse of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's Sikshastakam: "Let Krishna tightly embrace this maidservant, who has fallen at His lotus feet, or let Him trample me, or break my heart by never being visible to me. He is a debauchee after all, and can do whatever He likes. But He is the Lord of my heart and no one else."
Lord Caitanya is praying in the mood of Srimati Radharani. Sri Radhika only wants Krishna to have pleasure, even if that means that She might have to suffer.
So, surrendering is true love. It's like a parent who serves the child even if that parent has to struggle more. And the parent might not get anything back in the future. But Krishna is so kind that when one surrenders to Him than Krishna wants to serve that person.
I must focus on what surrender really means. Not a surrender out of fear, defeat or duty. A deep surrender that is unmotivated and uninterrupted.
A surrender out of love...

Temptations

My temptations have turned into habits
I am like a pig rolling into stool
Drowning in my own bad habits I forget why I struggled
Like climbing a tree only to fall and break my leg
How will I climb up again with an injured leg?

Struggling then giving in to temporary pleasures that only distract
The wedding party forgot to pull up the anchor
All night long the boatman rowed
When morning came the party found they had not moved
They asked him what had happened... He rowed all night without making progress...

Music, pictures and videos fill my head for future meditations
Meditations that bring about fear and frustration
I put the obstacles on the path and then complain about them later on
Am I that self-destructive or is this an exaggeration?
One who is in illusion will never admit that he's in illusion

Do I write this for others to applaud my introspection or do I write this for purification?
Will you accept my faults and forgive my trespasses?
O Gurudeva hearing you pray to Srila Rupa Manjari breaks my heart and yet I keep from crashing to the ground
O Lord of the Gopis, will You take from me these distractions or will I remain far from Your lotus feet?
The perfection is found in the dust of Srila Rupa Manjari's lotus feet.............................................
Yet, I cover myself with the donkey urine of fault-finding............

Conditons

I have the choice to either approach God with love or fear. Many mainstream religions promote this fear of God. Fear God so that you'll follow the rules and then achieve a paradise. Fear of God also comes in handy when people in power need to achieve a nefarious plan and of course, when people are afraid, they perform acts which otherwise they would not do.
I want love of God. But what is love of God? Today I read something that made me want to cry, but because my heart is made of stone, the tears did not come. In the Ramayan, the Lord descends as Lord Ramacandra. Lord Ram plays the part of a human. His father Dasarath longed for a successor in his kingdom, but was unable to produce a child. Finally, after performing a great sacrifice, he had four sons who are the incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Ram was the eldest and most virtuous in every way. The Lord revealed Himself as the perfect human being.
The time came to make Ram Prince Regent. Due to the Demigods intervention and Kaikeyi"s (one of the queens of Dasarath) polluted desire, Ram was to be sent to the forest for fourteen years. He would wear bark from trees, eat roots and fruits and turn His beautiful hair into dreadlocks. Ram, being the perfect son, graciously left so that his father would not have to fight Kaikeyi and perhaps lose his reputation.
Before leaving, Ram went to His mother and received permission to leave. He next went to His wife named Sita. He told her that He was being banished to the forest. She should stay at the palace and serve Ram's parents.
After hearing from her husband, Sita spoke: "I am enjoined by ancient religious codes to enter the forest along with You, dearest Ram. I cannot possibly remain in Ayodhya. If You leave today for the forest, I shall walk before You, clearing away the sharp grasses and thorns on the path."
Lord Ram told Sita of the dangers of going to live in the forest. Snakes, tigers, scarce food, hard living, etc. He wanted her to be happy at the palace. She could only think of serving Ram and nothing else. No matter the conditions.
This is real love of God. Love is UNCONDITIONAL! In this material world, love is conditional, which makes it lust rather than love. Lust is about you giving me pleasure, i give you pleasure and when something gets in the way of our pleasure we end our deal and move on. Love of God is so elevated that the servant of God does not think about the conditions. That devotee loves God and serves God no matter what's happening. Sita could have stayed in the palace waiting for Ram to return and then served Him at the palace, but she wanted to be with Ram and serve Him even if it meant suffering in the forest with nothing!
The gopis also display this same unconditional love. When Krishna had a fever, Narada Muni traveled around the universe searching for a devotee who give their foot dust to cure Krishna. Krishna told Narada that that was the only remedy. He went everywhere and couldn't find one devotee who would put their dust on Krishna's head. You see this is a great offense, we want to have the dust of Krishna, but to put our dust on His head would be sinful. Narada approached the gopis. Immediately they started scraping their feet to get the dust. Narada asked, "Aren't you afraid you'll have to suffer in hell?"
They replied,"Then let us suffer. We only want Krishna to be better so if we have to suffer then let us suffer. We only want Krishna to be happy."
I look at my comfortable life and realize that I have yet to achieve any love for God. I want to serve but if the conditions aren't right then I shrink back into the palace waiting so I have the chance to serve God without compromising my sense gratification. I pray for the mercy of my Guru and the devotees so that I may one day become unconditional..............

Prayers To Be Absorbed In Spiritual Love

"Oh Allah!
I am Your servant,
son of Your male servant,
and son of Your female servant;
my forehead is in Your Hand;
Your judgement is exact;
Your decision about me is just;
I ask You by every name of Yours which You have called Yourself,
or revealed in a book of Yours,
or taught to any of Your servants,
or reserved within Your unrevealed knowledge,
to make the Qu'ran a spring to my heart,
a light in my chest,
that it removes my sadness,
and erase my anguish."
-Prophet Muhammad

"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that i may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console,
not so much to be understood as to understand,
not so much to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying that we awake to eternal life."
-Saint Francis


"Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this one-pointed mind,
Your life will bring heaven to earth."
-The Buddha


"I will make a bed of the reddish lotus flower petals and request the young Divine Couple to come and sit. The enchanting lotus faces of Shyama, who resembles a blue sapphire, and Radha, who resembles gold, are decorated with sandalwood paste.

"O Queen of my life, Shri Radha, when will You show compassion on me so that Your on order I will bring varieties of flowers and hear Your sweet conversations.

"I will make vermillion with musk and decorate Your foreheads, and smear sandalwood on Your bodies. I will make garlands of malati flowers and adorn them on Your necks, and then I will drive away the bees.

"When will Lalita give me a camara to gently fan away the perspiration from Their bodies and watch Them with jubilation?

"Narottama das desires to drink the sweet nectar of service to Their lotus feet. When will that day come that I will only see Their Lordships and nothing else?" -Narottama das Thakur, Prarthana 50