The Gift by Hafiz

The sun
Won a beauty contest and became a jewel
Set upon God’s right hand.

The earth agreed to be a toe ring on the
Beloved’s foot
And has never regretted its decision.

The mountains got tired
Of sitting amongst a sleeping audience

And are now stretching their arms
Toward the Roof.

The clouds gave my soul an idea
So I pawned my gills
And rose like a winged diamond

Ever trying to be near
More love, more love
Like you.

The Mountain got tired of sitting
Amongst a snoring crowd inside of me
And rose like a rip sun
Into my eye.

My soul gave my heart a brilliant idea
So Hafiz is rising like a
Winged diamond.

[translation by Daniel Ladinsky]



A Prayer in the Jain Tradition

Highly auspicious are the adorable ones

And so are the emancipated;

The saints too are the auspicious ones

And so is the speech divine.

Best in the world are the adorable ones

And so are the emancipated;

The saints too are the best in the world,

And so is the speech divine.

Refuge do I take in the adorable ones.

And also in the emanicpated;

Saints are also the place of my refuge.

And so is the speech divine.

Thus do I pay homage and veneration

Unto the great Arihants every day

In devotion deep with the purity in mind,

In speech and in deed indeed.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, Who art in heaven,

Hallow’d be Thy Name

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil,

For Thine is the kingdom

And the power, and the glory, forever.

Amen.

Devi Suktam (from the Devi Mahatmya)

‘Devi’ is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘Goddess’. The Devi Mahatmya is a Hindu text that literally translates as the ‘Glory of the Goddess’. It is the celebration of feminine aspect of Divinity as the all-pervasive force that manifests through forms tangible and subtle, the Creator inseparable from Creation.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as the Power of Lord Vishnu. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as the Eternal Consciousness. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Intelligence. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who causes Sleep in all beings. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who causes Hunger in all beings. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as their Shadow. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who manifests as Energy in all beings. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who causes Thirst in all beings. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Forgiveness. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Genus. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Modesty. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Peace. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Faith. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Beauty. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Wealth. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Activity. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Memory. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Compassion. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Contentment. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as the Mother. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who abides in all beings as Delusion. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, the Ruler of all the elements and all the senses. Salutations to her, again and again.

Salutations to Devi, who pervades the whole Universe, and abides in all beings as the animating Consciousness. Salutations to her, again and again.

I am the Rose of Sharon (from the Song of Solomon)

I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys,

As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.

His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

Nirvana Shatkam by Adi Shankaracharya

Note: In Hinduism, Nirvana is the supreme state free from the individual suffering that is caused by identification with the Body-Mind-Intellect complex. Nirvana is the natural element of the Atman/Shiva. This  8^th. Century composition by Adi Shankacharya is alternately known as ‘Atma Shatkam’.

Neither Mind, nor Intellect; Neither Thought, nor cognizing Ego am I:

Neither am I the sense organs of Sight, Hearing, or Taste.

I am neither Sky nor Earth, neither Fire nor Wind:

I am Formless Bliss-Consciousness – I am Shiva, Shiva am I.

Neither animating Breath, nor the five-fold Vital Airs;

Neither the Five Organs nor the Five Sheaths;

Nor the faculties of speech, action or movement:

I am Formless Bliss-Consciousness – I am Shiva, Shiva am I.

I know neither aversion nor attachment, nor delusion,

I covet not, not do I have pride or envy:

Driven not by obligation, selfish urges, or desires, nor yearning for Liberation:

I am Formless Bliss-Consciousness – I am Shiva, Shiva am I.

I am beyond Virtue and Sin, as also Pleasure and Pain;

Needing no holy chants or sacred pilgrimages; neither scriptures nor rituals;

I am not the one who experiences, or that which is experienced, or the experiential:

I am Formless Bliss-Consciousness – I am Shiva, Shiva am I.

I know not Death, nor division of caste;

I have no father, nor mother, nor even birth;

Neither kin, nor friend, nor mentor, nor follower:

I am Formless Bliss-Consciousness – I am Shiva, Shiva am I.

I am without thought, without form;

I am all pervasive, beyond the reach of the senses

I am neither detachment, nor salvation, I am immeasurable:

I am Formless Bliss-Consciousness – I am Shiva, Shiva am I.

De Profundis – Out of the Depths (Psalm 130)

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;

Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to my voice in supplication:

If you, O Lord, mark iniquities,

Lord, who can stand?

But with you is forgiveness,

that you may be revered.

I trust in the Lord;

my soul trusts in his word.

My soul waits for the Lord,

more than sentinels wait for the dawn.

More than sentinels wait for the dawn,

let Israel wait for the Lord;

For with the Lord is kindness

and with him is plenteous redemption;

And he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.

Sufi Poetry

We are the guardians of His Beauty

We are the protectors
Of the Sun.

There is only one reason
We have followed God into this world:

To encourage laughter, freedom, dance
And love.

Let a noble cry inside of you speak to me
Saying,

"Hafiz,
Don't just sit there on the moon tonight
Doing nothing -

Help unfurl my heart into the Friend's Mind,
Help, Old Man, to heal my wounded wings!"

We are the companions of His Beauty
We are the guardians
Of Truth.

Every man, plant and creature in Existence,
Every woman, child, vein and note
Is a servant of our Beloved -

A harbinger of joy,
The harbinger of
Light.

Hafiz

The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson

I fled Him down the nights and down the days
I fled Him down the arches of the years
I fled Him down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind, and in the midst of tears
I hid from him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped and shot precipitated
Adown titanic glooms of chasme d hears
From those strong feet that followed, followed after
But with unhurrying chase and unperturbe d pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat, and a Voice beat,
More instant than the feet:
All things betray thee who betrayest me.

I pleaded, outlaw--wise by many a hearted casement,
curtained red, trellised with inter-twining charities,
For though I knew His love who followe d,
Yet was I sore adread, lest having Him,
I should have nought beside.
But if one little casement parted wide,
The gust of his approach would clash it to.
Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue.
Across the margent of the world I fled,
And troubled the gold gateways of the stars,
Smiting for shelter on their clange d bars,
Fretted to dulcet jars and silvern chatter
The pale ports of the moon.

I said to Dawn --- be sudden, to Eve --- be soon,
With thy young skiey blossoms heap me over
From this tremendous Lover.
Float thy vague veil about me lest He see.
I tempted all His servitors but to find
My own betrayal in their constancy,
In faith to Him, their fickleness to me,
Their traitorous trueness and their loyal deceit.
To all swift things for swiftness did I sue,
Clung to the whistling mane of every wind,
But whether they swept, smoothly fleet,
The long savannahs of the blue,
Or whether, thunder-driven,
They clanged His chariot thwart a heaven,
Plashy with flying lightnings round the spurn of their feet,
Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue.
Still with unhurrying chase and unperturbed pace
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
Came on the following feet, and a Voice above their beat:
Nought shelters thee who wilt not shelter Me.

I sought no more that after which I strayed
In face of Man or Maid.
But still within the little childrens' eyes
Seems something, something that replies,
They at least are for me, surely for me.
But just as their young eyes grew sudden fair,
With dawning answers there,
Their angel plucked them from me by the hair.
Come then, ye other children, Nature's
Share with me, said I, your delicate fellowship.
Let me greet you lip to lip,
Let me twine with you caresses,
Wantoning with our Lady Mother's vagrant tresses,
Banqueting with her in her wind walled palace,
Underneath her azured dai:s,
Quaffing, as your taintless way is,
From a chalice, lucent weeping out of the dayspring.

So it was done.
I in their delicate fellowship was one.
Drew the bolt of Nature's secrecies,
I knew all the swift importings on the wilful face of skies,
I knew how the clouds arise,
Spume d of the wild sea-snortings.
All that's born or dies,
Rose and drooped with,
Made them shapers of mine own moods, or wailful, or Divine.
With them joyed and was bereaven.
I was heavy with the Even,
when she lit her glimmering tapers round the day's dead sanctities.
I laughed in the morning's eyes.
I triumphed and I saddened with all weather,
Heaven and I wept together,
and its sweet tears were salt with mortal mine.
Against the red throb of its sunset heart,
I laid my own to beat
And share commingling heat.

But not by that, by that was eased my human smart.
In vain my tears were wet on Heaven's grey cheek.
For ah! we know what each other says,
these things and I; In sound I speak,
Their sound is but their stir, they speak by silences.
Nature, poor step-dame, cannot slake my drouth.
Let her, if she would owe me
Drop yon blue-bosomed veil of sky
And show me the breasts o' her tenderness.
Never did any milk of hers once bless my thirsting mouth.
Nigh and nigh draws the chase, with unperturbe d pace
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
And past those noise d feet, a Voice comes yet more fleet:
Lo, nought contentst thee who content'st nought Me.

Naked, I wait thy Love's uplifted stroke. My harness, piece by piece,
thou'st hewn from me
And smitten me to my knee,
I am defenceless, utterly.
I slept methinks, and awoke.
And slowly gazing, find me stripped in sleep.
In the rash lustihead of my young powers,
I shook the pillaring hours,
and pulled my life upon me.
Grimed with smears,
I stand amidst the dust o' the mounded years--
My mangled youth lies dead beneath the heap.
My days have crackled and gone up in smoke,
Have puffed and burst like sunstarts on a stream.
Yeah, faileth now even dream the dreamer
and the lute, the lutanist.
Even the linked fantasies in whose blossomy twist,
I swung the Earth, a trinket at my wrist,
Have yielded, cords of all too weak account,
For Earth, with heavy grief so overplussed.
Ah! is thy Love indeed a weed,
albeit an Amaranthine weed,
Suffering no flowers except its own to mount?
Ah! must, Designer Infinite,
Ah! must thou char the wood 'ere thou canst limn with it ?
My freshness spent its wavering shower i' the dust.
And now my heart is as a broken fount,
Wherein tear-drippings stagnate, spilt down ever
From the dank thoughts that shiver upon the sighful branches of my
mind.

Such is. What is to be ?
The pulp so bitter, how shall taste the rind ?
I dimly guess what Time in mists confounds,
Yet ever and anon, a trumpet sounds
From the hid battlements of Eternity.
Those shaken mists a space unsettle,
Then round the half-glimpse d turrets, slowly wash again.
But not 'ere Him who summoneth
I first have seen, enwound
With glooming robes purpureal; Cypress crowned.
His name I know, and what his trumpet saith.
Whether Man's Heart or Life it be that yield thee harvest,
Must thy harvest fields be dunged with rotten death ?

Now of that long pursuit,
Comes at hand the bruit.
That Voice is round me like a bursting Sea:
And is thy Earth so marred,
Shattered in shard on shard?
Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest me.
Strange, piteous, futile thing;
Wherefore should any set thee love apart?
Seeing none but I makes much of Naught (He said).
And human love needs human meriting ---
How hast thou merited,
Of all Man's clotted clay, the dingiest clot.
Alack! Thou knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou art.
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save me, save only me?
All which I took from thee, I did'st but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in my arms.
All which thy childs mistake fancies as lost,
I have stored for thee at Home.
Rise, clasp my hand, and come.
Halts by me that Footfall.
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
Ah, Fondest, Blindest, Weakest,
I am He whom thou seekest.
Thou dravest Love from thee who dravest Me.

A Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Prayer

Native American Prayer Song

Thanksgiving Address

GREETINGS TO THE NATURAL WORLD!

Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as People.

Now our minds are one.

We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our Mother, we send greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

We give thanks to all the Waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms - waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit of water.

Now our minds are one.

We turn our minds to all the Fish life in the water. They were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are grateful that we can still find pure water. So, we turn now to the Fish and send our greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn toward the vast fields of Plant life. As far as the eye can see, the Plants grow, working many wonders. They sustain many life forms. With our minds gathered together, we give thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life for many generations to come.

Now our minds are one.

With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, beans and berries have helped the people survive. Many other living things draw strength from them too. We gather all the Plant Foods together as one and send them a greeting and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn to all the Medicine herbs of the world. From the beginning, they were instructed to take away sickness. They are always waiting and ready to heal us. We are happy there are still among us those special few who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the Medicines and to the keepers of the Medicines.

Now our minds are one.

We gather our minds together to send greetings and thanks to all the Animal life in the world. They have many things to teach us as people. We see them near our homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we hope that it will always be so.

Now our minds are one.

We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The Earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many peoples of the world use a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the Tree life.

Now our minds are one.

We put our minds together as one and thank all the Birds who move and fly about over our heads. The Creator gave them beautiful songs. Each day they remind us to enjoy and appreciate life. The Eagle was chosen to be their leader. To all the Birds - from the smallest to the largest - we send our joyful greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

We are all thankful to the powers we know as the Four Winds. We hear their voices in the moving air as they refresh us and purify the air we breathe. They help to bring the change of seasons. From the four directions they come, bringing us messages and giving us strength. With one mind, we send our greetings and thanks to the Four Winds.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn to the west where our Grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, live. With lightning and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews life. We bring our minds together as one to send greetings and thanks to our Grandfathers, the Thunderers.

Now our minds are one.

We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun. Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a new day. He is the source of all the fires of life. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Brother, the Sun.

Now our minds are one.

We put our minds together and give thanks to our oldest grandmother, the Moon, who lights the night-time sky. She is the leader of women all over the world, and she governs the movement of the ocean tides. By her changing face we measure time, and it is the Moon who watches over the arrival of children here on Earth. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Grandmother, the Moon.

Now our minds are one.

We give thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewelry. We see them in the night, helping the Moon to light the darkness and bringing dew to the gardens and growing things. When we travel at night, they guide us home. With our minds gathered together as one, we send greetings and thanks to all the Stars.

Now our minds are one.

We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened Teachers who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live as people. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to these caring Teachers.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.

Now our minds are one.

We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. Of all the things we have named, it was not our intention to leave anything out. If something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way.

Now our minds are one.

Shinto Prayer for Peace

Although the people living

across the ocean
surrounding us, I believe,
are all our brothers and sisters,
why are there constant troubles in
this world?
Why do winds and waves rise in the
ocean surrounding us?
I only earnestly wish that the wind will
soon puff away all the clouds which are
hanging over the tops of the mountains.

Hymns of Guru Nanak

(from “Songs of the Gurus” by Khushwant Singh)

1.

By Him are all forms created,

By Him infused with life and blessed,

By him are some to excellence elated,

Others born lowly and depressed.

By His writ some have pleasure, others pain;

By His grace some are saved,

Others doomed to die, relive, and die again.

His will encompasseth all, there be none beside.

O Nanak, he who knows, hath no ego and no pride.

2.

Who has the power to praise His might?

Who has the measure of His bounty?

Of his portents who has the sight?

Who can value His virtue, His deeds, His charity?

Who has the knowledge of his wisdom,

Of his deep impenetrable thought?

How worship Him who creates life,

Then destroys,

And having destroyed doth recreate?

How worship him who appeareth far

Yet is ever present and proximate.

There is no end to his description,

Though the speakers and their speeches be legion.

He the Giver ever giveth,

We who receive grow weary,

On his bounty humanity liveth

From primal age to posterity.

3.

God is the Master, God is Truth,

His name spelleth love divine,

His Creatures ever cry: ‘O give, O give,’

He the bounteous doth never decline.

What then in offering shall we bring

That we may see his court above?

What then shall we say in speech

That hearing may evoke his love?

In the ambrosial hours of fragrant dawn

On truth and greatness ponder in meditation,

Though action determine how thou be born,

Through grace alone cometh salvation.

O Nanak, this need we know alone,

That God and Truth are two in one.

The Hidden Words (an excerpt) by Baha’u’llah (from Shoghi Effendi’s translation)

HE IS THE GLORY OF GLORIES

This is that which hath descended from the realm of glory, uttered by the tongue of power and might, and revealed unto the Prophets of old. We have taken the inner essence thereof and clothed it in the garment of brevity, as a token of grace unto the righteous, that they may stand faithful unto the Covenant of God, may fulfill in their lives His trust, and in the realm of spirit obtain the gem of Divine virtue.

1. O SON OF SPIRIT!

My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.

2. O SON OF SPIRIT!

The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.

3. O SON OF MAN!

Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty.

4. O SON OF MAN!

I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.

5. O SON OF BEING!

Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.

6. O SON OF BEING!

Thy Paradise is My love; thy heavenly home, reunion with Me. Enter therein and tarry not. This is that which hath been destined for thee in Our kingdom above and Our exalted dominion.

7. O SON OF MAN!

If thou lovest Me, turn away from thyself; and if thou seekest My pleasure, regard not thine own; that thou mayest die in Me and I may eternally live in thee.

8. O SON OF SPIRIT!

There is no peace for thee save by renouncing thyself and turning unto Me; for it behooveth thee to glory in My name, not in thine own; to put thy trust in Me and not in thyself, since I desire to be loved alone and above all that is.

9. O SON OF BEING!

My love is My stronghold; he that entereth therein is safe and secure, and he that turneth away shall surely stray and perish.

10. O SON OF UTTERANCE!

Thou art My stronghold; enter therein that thou mayest abide in safety. My love is in thee, know it, that thou mayest find Me near unto thee.

11. O SON OF BEING!

Thou art My lamp and My light is in thee. Get thou from it thy radiance and seek none other than Me. For I have created thee rich and have bountifully shed My favor upon thee.

12. O SON OF BEING!

With the hands of power I made thee and with the fingers of strength I created thee; and within thee have I placed the essence of My light. Be thou content with it and seek naught else, for My work is perfect and My command is binding. Question it not, nor have a doubt thereof.

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

from the “Kena Upanishad"

(from ‘The Upanishads’ by Eknath Easwaran)

“Who makes my mind think?
Who fills my body with vitality?
Who causes my tongue to speak? Who is that
Invisible one who sees through my eyes
And hears through my ears?”…..

Once upon a time the gods defeated
The demons; and though the victory
Was brought about through the power of Brahman,
The gods boasted, “Ours is the victory,
And ours the power and glory.”

Brahman saw their foolish pride and appeared
Before them. But they recognized him not.
They said to Agni, god of fire, “Find out
Who this mysterious being is.” “I will,”
Promised Agni and approached the being.

“Who are you?” asked the mysterious one.
“I am Agni, god of fire, known to all.”
“Are you powerful?” “I can burn all on earth.”
“Burn this:” and Brahman placed a straw in front.
The god of fire attacked the straw but failed
To burn it. Then he ran back to the gods
And confessed, “I have failed to discover
Who this mysterious being is.”
They said to Vayu, god of air, “Find out
Who this mysterious being is.” “I will,”
Promised Vayu and approached the being.
“Who are you?” asked the mysterious one.
“I am Vayu, god of air, king of space.”
“Are you powerful?” “I can blow all away.”
“Blow this away.” Brahman placed a straw in front.
The god of air attacked the straw, but failed
To move it. Then he ran back to the gods
And confessed, “I have failed to discover
Who this mysterious being is.”

They begged Indra, leader of gods, “Find out
Who this mysterious being is.” “I will,”
Promised Indra and approached the being,
Who disappeared instantly. In his place
appeared the lovely goddess of wisdom,
Uma, daughter of the Himalayas;
And Indra asked her, “Who was that being?”

Uma replied, “That was Brahman from whom
Comes all your power and glory.” The gods
Realized at last the Self is Brahman….

It is the power of Brahman that makes
The mind to think, desire and will.
Therefore
Use this power to meditate on Brahman.

He is the inmost Self of everyone;
He alone is worthy of all our love.
Meditate upon him in all.

Songs of Consciousness

The Inner Consciousness
By
Rumi

The inner consciousness
Of the saint
Is the true mosque
Where all should worship,
God lives there.


Between the Poles of the Conscious
By
Kabir

Between the poles of the conscious and the unconscious,
there has the mind made a swing:
Thereon hang all beings and all worlds,
and that swing never ceases its sway.

Millions of beings are there:
the sun and the moon in their courses are there:
Millions of ages pass, and the swing goes on.

All swing! the sky and the earth and the air and the water;
and the Lord Himself taking form:
And the sight of this has made Kabîr a servant.


Apocalypse
By
Sri Chinmoy

Within, without the cosmos wide am I;
In joyful sweep I loose forth and draw back all.
A birthless deathless Spirit that moves and is still
Ever abides within to hear my call.

I who create on earth my joys and doles
To fulfil my matchless quest in all my play,
I veil my face of truth with golden hues
And see the serpent night and python day.

A Consciousness Bliss I feel in each breath;
I am the self amorous child of the Sun.
At will I break and build my symbol sheath
And freely enjoy the world's unshadowed fun.