Mountain Air

Clouds in arms length
Sheds my heart of all fear
In the distance is God's breath
Inhale love... Inhale wisdom


Sunbeams warming
Snow seeks it's shelter in the shade
Chanting in the cool air

The mountain silence makes it easier to concentrate

Moving Water

A beautiful poem by Rumi:

"When you do things from your soul, you feel a moving in you, a joy.


When actions come from another section, the feeling disappears. Don't let others lead you.


They may be blind or, worse, vultures. Reach for the rope of God.


And what is that? Putting aside self-will. 
Because of willfulness people sit in jail, the trapped bird's wings are tied, fish sizzle in the skillet.


The anger of police is willfulness. You've seen a magistrate inflict visible punishment. 


Now see the invisible. If you could leave your selfishness, you would see how you've been torturing your soul. 


We are born and live inside black water in a well.


How could we know what an open field of sunlight is? Don't insist on going where you think you want to go. 


Ask the way to the spring. Your living pieces will form a harmony.


There is a moving palace that floats in the air with balconies and clear water flowing through, infinity everywhere, yet contained under a single tent."

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..........

A Nice Poem by Rumi

There are those who accept the law of Moses and not the grace and love of Jesus,
like the Jewish king who killed Christians. This is not seeing right. Moses is,
inside the soul of Jesus and Jesus is in the soul of Moses.
One era belonged to one;
then it was the other's turn, but they are one being. A teacher said to a slightly
cross-eyed student, "Hand me the glass bottle there."
"Which one?"
"There are not two."
"Don't scold me, teacher, but I see two."
"Smash one of them."
Of course, both were broken. This is how it is when we see through the
double vision of lust, anger, or some religious self-interest.
A bribed judge cannot distinguish the one who's been cruel from the victim.
A good prayer is, Lord, help us see both worlds as one.

My Discovery of Kabir

Poem by Kabir das:

1) Poet Kabir Das says, “When I was born, the world smiled and I cried. However, I will do such deeds that when I leave, I will be the one smiling and the world will be the one crying.” This life is like a very thin transparent shawl which should be drenched in the holy name of Lord Rama, the Reservoir of Pleasure.

2) The eight lotuses is the spinning wheel using the five earthly elements to make the chadar (the body). In nine or ten months, the chadar is completed; however, the fools will destroy it.

3) When the chadar is completed, it is sent to the dyer -rang rej-(the spiritual master) to color it. The dyer (the spiritual master) colored it as such that it is all red (the color of self-realization).

4) Do not have doubts or fears while wearing this chadar. It is only given to you for two days and it is temporary too. The foolish people do not understand the temporariness of this chadar, and they day by day destroy it.

5) Great devotees such as Dhruva Maharaja, Prahlad Maharaja, Sudama, and Śuka have worn this chadar as well as purified their chadars as well other chadars (souls). The servant, Kabir Dasa, is attempting to wear this chadar as given to him originally by his guru.

Kabir on the greatness of God:

"I have done nothing and nothing can I do,
this body is capable of nothing:
Whatever is done is the work of Hari,
It is He who made Kabir `Kabir'!


If I made the seven seas my ink
and the trees of the forest my pen,
If the whole expanse of earth were my paper,
still I could not write greatness of Ram!


Kabir, what good deed can you do,
if Ram comes not to your aid?
Since every branch you step upon
yields and gives way!"

On Haridas Samadhi [ A Saragrahi Vaishnava] by Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura

O! Born of Muslim parents, Haridas!
And trained in youth in Muslim creed,
Thy noble heart to Vaishnava truth did pass!-
Thy holy acts thy candor plead!

Is there a soul that cannot learn from thee
That man must give up sect for God?-
That thoughts of race and sect can ne'er agree
With what they call religion broad?

Thy love of God and brother soul alone
Bereft thyself of early friends,-
Thy softer feelings oft to kindness prone
Led on thyself for higher ends!!

I weep to read that Kazis and their men
Oft persecuted thee, alas!
But thou didst nobly pray for th' wicked then!
For thou wert Vaishnava Haridas!

And God is boundless grace to thee, O man!
United thee to one who came
To save the fallen souls from evil's plan
Of taking human souls to shame.

And he it was who led you all that came
For life eternal, -holy,-pure!
And gave you rest in Heaven's enduring name
And sacred blessings ever sure!

Thy body rests upon the sacred sands
Of Swargadwar near the sea,
Oh! Hundreds come to thee from distant lands
T' enjoy a holy, thrilling glee!

The waters roar and storming winds assail
Thy ears in vain, Ah! Vaishnava soul!
The charms of Brindaban thy heart regale,
Unknown the wheel of time doth roll!!

He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavas die
When thou art living in sound.
The Vaishnavas die to live and living try
To spread a holy life around!

Now let the candid man that seeks to live
Follow thy way on shores of time,
Then posterity sure to him will give
Like one song in simple rhyme!

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

Song of Offerings by Rabindranath Tagore

O now beneath your feet's dust let
My head kneel on the ground.
Yield up my arrogance to tears,
Let all my pride be drowned.
If glory to myself I offer
It is self-insult that I suffer-
And then I die within myself,
Turning around, around.
Yield up my arrogance to tears,
Let all my pride be drowned.


Let me not advertise myself
In various things I do-
But let my deeds fit your desire,
That your will may come through.
O for your true peace is my longing,
And your dear image's belonging.
Within my heart of lotus petal
May your shield be found.
Yield up my arrogance to tears,
Let all my pride be drowned.

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

I've Been Busy... Sorry For The Momentary Lapse Of Reason

" This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of the night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if the answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple "I must write," then build your life in accordance with this necessity." - Rainer Maria Rilke


"Know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but a spark of My splendor." - Lord Krishna in Ch. 10, text 41, Bhagavad-gita.



"Black then white are all i see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see.
as below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn beyond the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.

Black then white are all i see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see there is so much more and
beckons me to look thru to these infinite possibilities.
as below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn outside the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition leaving opportunities behind.
Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line.
Reaching out to embrace the random.
Reaching out to embrace whatever may come.

I embrace my desire to
I embrace my desire to
feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow
to feel inspired to fathom the power, to witness the beauty,
to bathe in the fountain,
to swing on the spiral
to swing on the spiral
to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human.

With my feet upon the ground I move myeslf between the sounds and open wide to suck it in.
I feel it move across my skin.
I'm reaching up and reaching out. I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.
what ever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going." - Lateralus, Tool


Change slicing through me one more time... Do I resist or allow myself to mold?
Forever finding feelings felt only in dreams during the day, I smile at the ability to smile
Focus on the feather of Brother Hawk trapped in a cage
Speaking softly still he will hear, and then bear the grudge

Resting my head on your shoulder
I witness beauty felt between husband and wife
Intimacy that keeps the world at our heels
Humbled by her gentle looks
I find myself discovering locked secrets and false ramblings of a boy that should be cast off the subtle body
Will her kiss send my tattered daydreams into the breeze...

Forgetting myself in moments of work
I return to a man...
He thinks about the changes in his life... He smiles
For this man knows that changes are natural...
Even the most horrible changes bring about a polished a stone

Stone melts in the midst of spiritual awakening... - Bal Gopal das

Symbols Splashed Over My Daily Life

Panting in the darkness from the object that never was
Painting pictures in your mind that you'll never be able to finish by hand
Newspapers scattered with headlines that challenges the qualities of humanity...
Humanity makes great use of pictures and sounds to produce emotions that you never wanted to deal with...
Exhausted from dismantling the confusion I created by identifying with that which is not
Turn up the volume and kiss the wind
Pick up the stone and touch the sky
Determined to love and be loved in a world full of suffering, yet you pull it off with a devilish grin that provokes strangers into fantasizing...
This girl cries when she doesn't get what she wants...
Focus... Pull... Push... He drags his daughter to the rainbow... She blows a kiss
She giggles as the sun tickles her face

When I assume a position of power, I'll see how helpless I really am
Filled with guilt and rotten guts from worrying too much
Bloated from greed and lust, tainted by the disease of pride...

Skip to the back of the room
She talks about conspiracies to those who don't want to listen
I whisper dirty secrets that float around with the fly
Our daughter picks up the mess and explains through practice that we should live like innocent children who are content, no, astonished at kitten rolling in the dirt...
When I'm older will I live in a state of constant emergency?

Poem By Ibn "Arabi

Gentle now, doves...
Don't add to your sighs
To my heartache

Gentle now,
Or your sad cooing
Will reveal the love I hide,
The sorrow I hide away

I echo back, in the evening
In the morning, echo
The longing of a lovesick lover,
The moaning of the lost.

In a grove of Ghada,
Spirits wrestled
Bending the limbs down over me
Passing me away

They brought yearning
Breaking of the heart
And other new twists of pain
Putting me through it...

Hour by hour
They circle my heart
In rapture, in love ache
And touch my pillars with a kiss

As the best of creation
Circled the Ka'aba
Which reason with its proofs
Called unworthy

He kissed the stone there
And was entrusted with the Word.
What is a house of stone
Compared to a man or woman...

A white blazed gazelle
Is an amazing sight.
Red-dye signaling
Eyelids hunting.

Pasture between breastbone
And innards.
Marvel,
A garden among the flames!

My heart can take on
Any form:
For gazelles, a meadow
A cloister for monks

For idols, sacred ground
Ka'aba for circling pilgrims,
The Tables of the Torah,
The Scrolls of the Qu'ran

I profess the religion of love
Wherever its caravan turns
Along the way-that is the belief,
The faith that I keep...


By Ibn' Arabi
Translated by Michael Sells

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............

Stop the Mind

My hands and feet are bound by ropes
ropes called passion, goodness and ignorance
My tongue is tied around gibberish
My eyes are blinded by the glow of the tv set
My computer gives me access to hold me tighter
Dear Lord how can I feel lighter?
Stop the mind, stop the blame
look within realize the game
Dancing in a circle chasing your tail
what you thought was heaven was actually hell
But now you can explain your word, or will you go off chasing imaginary birds?
Am I to blame for all this pain?
Am I to identify with this stain?
Stop the mind, stop the blame
Realize the highest goal
No action, no penance, no struggle, no fasting, no meditation, no prayer will help you
if it's not pleasing to the great souls around you...
Please the dog you please the master
Please the Lord's servants you'll get there faster.....
Stop the mind, am I to blame for the violence around me? Am I to blame for the lust around me? Am I to blame for the mistakes that I keep making because I'm too weak to fight my lower desires? Am I to blame for the actions of my brothers and sisters?

All that I see is a reflection of me
All that I see is a reflection of me
All that I see is a reflection of me
All that I see is a tainted reality
Until I'm free, I won't see the purity that surrounds me...
The most confidential knowledge is only given to those who are able to utter an honest prayer...
A humble prayer, so stop the mind and loosen the bind

The flower that you offer, the water that you drink, the sun that shines
if you don't remember the unconquerable, you'll soon sink... But the unconquerable can be conquered by love
Those who understand this have flown beyond all mundane knowledge... They have reached the highest peak on the spiritual mountain...
No one left to blame but myself as I contemplate the sense objects
Soon I'll be attached and with attachment comes lust... Becoming lusty means you'll soon become angry...
When anger hits, you'll be delusional
From this delusion the memory is bewildered
That's when the intelligence is lost
When intelligence lost, you fall down... This was explained by He who has no origin
to one who had no envy... I am envious and thus I am to blame...
This stupid false ego plays this game
This game of accept and reject but I must stand up and correct for those who can look within stand erect...
Darwin got it all wrong with his evolution song..
Reincarnate
This word seems to generate some kind of hate amongst those who take this body as all in all... Don't listen when they try to call, dialing numbers that are only theoretical... Be practical and use your logic...

Some say out of chaos comes order, but there's no disorder when you can actually see...
Nothing happens by accident
Our small brains try to piece together the plan
And we try to smash it when it doesn't go our way...
Yes, I'm to blame
Now I can switch it all around
Kneel to the ground
And pray because that's how we give way to He
who some call Yew ah
but who some call Ajita, the unconquerable...

Mindflow

My mind wants to flow, where should I go?
My heart breaks, where should the weeds grow?
The sun goes down, and I feel like a clown
identifying with too much emotions
bewildered by mundane commotions...
And finally I breathe a breath that only comes at sunrise after awaking from strange dreams....
In your eyes are streams of ancient language that only mystics in the Himalayas could understand.....

My mind wants to flow, where should I go?
The eagle takes down the crow, weeds grow
These thoughts I can't shake or throw, but I know
when the sun sets the stars will shine... Constellations, stories lost in our world of technology...
Computers, tvs, cell phones suck on our souls like vampires,
are you calling me a liar, like I just said when you have the proper desire you'll fly
Why are you afraid to die? Parts of God that are never separate... Only illusion separates
unity in diversity
to segregate is perversity