SO WHAT

This and  that 

Full of fancy!  

I am great;  I think !

I am the best;  I know ! 

I stand above all;  I feel !

Suddenly!   

In the last moment 

As he draws his  certain sword

 Death says! 

So what!!

I AND ME

Up the hill

Down the river

Struggling to break free

Alas!

I still follows  me! 

THE MIGHTY VICE

Enthroned between two worlds

The world of past and the world future

One of  which no longer exists!

And the other, which  is yet to come

Caught in the cycle of endless suffering!  

Affirming and denying!

Seeking and forsaking!

Encased by illusion!

 Enslaved by mortal fear!  

Grasping for identity;  clinging for security!

Easy to be hurt;  and eager to be gratified!

The ever elusive! The ever deceptive!  

The one and only! The Only vice !

Oh mighty Ego!

When will “I”  let you go ?

LEAKY PAIL

A leaky pail of water

Venturing into this desert of life!

Slowly and steadily I keep dripping!

Not knowing my final destination!

Knowing only my empty destiny

No water shall reach its home!

And all pails shall ultimately run dry!

Why is it still; I selfishly try to hoard water?

If only!

If only I could stop and share!

Let the thirsty souls drink!

And rejuvenate the dying!

Will not my pail be lighter?

Will not many ephemeral lives be brighter?

When the water runs dry and my pail is empty

Tell me! Oh Foolish mind

How will ‘I” alone leave a trace?

SELF LESS BUTTERFLY

A long slumber it has been

Chained to my own secretions!  

A cocoon of habits!

A pupa of conditioning!

But now I've finally blossomed!

My shell of conceit has been shed 

And colours of love fill my new form

My wings are crisp and new

And nectar and pollen fill the morning air

In this blissful new life of enlightenment

Let me fly away to freedom!

NASCENT BLOSSOM

In the preciousness of the moment

The nascent bud blossoms

The conceited heart opens

And the fountain of love overflows

In this precious moment

“I” finally cease

LIGHT OF UNDERSTANDING

In the freshness of the morning, I become sunshine

In the darkness of the night, I shine as the moon

In spring of hope, I blossom in every tree

In autumn of acceptance, I get blown away

This is the light of my understanding

This is the light that has made me free!

Faraway in an unknown land

My sentient consciousness still thrives

As the tiger lurking in the mangrove forest

As the deer by the river ready to flee

As the hidden hunter, seeking both their precious hides

My struggling sentience, lives and strives!  

In the concrete jungle of a forgotten ghetto

I take the suffering form, of every human soul

The homeless cripple begging by the road

The corrupt official bending the rule

The penniless mother weeping over her starving child

The cold blooded man guiltless after murder

I am each; I am them all!

This is light of my understanding

This is the light that has made me free

Empathy takes every form; and compassion fills every soul

And when consciousness flows out of the shell of the ego

You too friend can break free!

NARROW ME

In the comfortable corner of my embracing couch

Relaxing, reposing and rejoicing!  

I curiously wonder!  How long can this ignorant bliss last!

Trapped in the invisible net of my prejudice

Lost within the shadows of my own perception

How will I ever see, the magical magnificence of the morning sunshine?

With feeble eyes that only sees what’s in its mind

Hearing only those words which please the ear   

Believing blindly what " I " egocentrically choose

With Pleistocene senses and a selfish single-minded simplex brain

 Biased and incapable; to cope in the modern web of information

Seeking empty solace, in joining hands with those who agree

Yet claiming the unattainable trophy of the golden truth

Tell me! Oh mind making "me" !

How much narrower can my perspective be!

How much smaller can my bubble world get!  

CAUSERIE

Sitting blindfolded on the other side of the stone wall!

Can you see me walking beneath the moonlight?

Can you see the secrets hidden in my heart!

Yet; beyond opaque walls; you claim to see with clarity!

Speculation and conjecture! Illusion and delusion! 

Fanciful intentions and controversial deeds! You claim you see me do!

But tell me dear friend! Why must there be all this chaffer!

Can mere speculation reveal the face of truth?

Can mere conjecture, lead you to another man’s heart!

While blindfolded from reality; living in an ivory tower of your pointless ego!

What else will be left for you; but loneliness!

When love breaks the wall; and compassion reveals its inner soul

You too will see the garden of wisdom!

You too will walk in the blissful moonlight! 

Till then friend! Be mindful of your causerie!

BAKER'S PRIDE

The aroma of freshly baked cake fills the evening air

The crispy smell of caramel as it forms the crust!

The rising dough! The mystical flavors!

The softness! The sweetness!

The tantalizing taste!

Oh! How dainty is my cake!

How dainty is the cake of my very own making!

As the softness melts in my mouth and the ecstasy overflows

As the wonderful taste seeps in; and invokes a feeling of pride

I pause a moment, and gently wonder

Did I strive in the vast fields of wheat, where once mighty forests stood?

Did I pollinate the vanilla flowers; and harvest its sapid pods

Did I churn the creamy butter, from the deprived milk of some miserable calf?

Did I lay the eggs, of those unborn chicks that ended up in the bowl?

Did I make the motherly oven!  Did I mastermind the canonical recipe?

Yet, having done none of these; I proudly call it my cake!

What of mine did I bake; to take all this credit?

Except for time and intention, what more did I contribute?

 Now as the exalted taste of cake merges with my new found insight

Humility is born and pride melts away; as I finally see , the whole universe, hidden within this cake!

THE STEERING COMMITTEE

I am your leader, the big black one says

Armored with knowledge and wisdom

I have mastered the ultimate skill, and mentored all you weaker ones

And I am still in command !

I am the one, solely capable of steering!

So this committee is nothing without me!

Listen to me you fools; and keep going straight!

Why must we fall into your treacherous trap again; says the red one!

You are too selfish and narrow minded, to lead us!

While your myopic vision cannot see beyond the shadow of the chin

My vision extends to even where your dreams cannot reach

Unlike you, I am a creature who practises what I preach

So senile friend, there are no takers for the follies you teach

The path ahead to me is crystal clear

A turn to the left here, and a right down the corner

The future my way is a lot more greener!

But, captain failure!  Look where your wretched egoism has lead

You kept going when we pleaded you to stop

And now the oasis of opportunity has gone away

You did not heed to the needs, and climbed up he wrong dunes

And here we are now stranded, and lost under the hot desert sun!

It’s high time now for you to step down, and let me save all of us!

So forth, the two ants of the steering committee argue!

Sitting on top of the hairy hump of an dromedary camel, as they discuss, plan and think they control

As the oblivious camel strolls across the vast desert on its way home!

HIDING FROM

Smile; a veil that hides your heart

Eyes; a shield that hides your soul

Pride; a wall, you hide your wounds

Pomp; the fort, you hide your ignorance

Pleasure; the fruit that hides your delusion

Hope; the cloud that hides your fears

Self; the lie that hides the truth

Oh! Tell me dear friend!

What is that, you are hiding from? 

THE MAST OF PRIDE

The mast of pride; now lies scattered on the ocean floor

His bloating corpse; now washed ashore

The headless captain; his brains soaked in gin

Sailing his ship of ego; riding the winds of sin

Seeking the land of glory; in his voyage of self conceit

 It  all seems hunky dory

But until the rock of truth strikes in

Now, as the  water fills his empty deck

And truth makes his ego crack

His self made crown, comes tumbling down

As he struggles to breathe, while his soul does drown

Now lost in the depths of emptiness

With no life left, even to feel his own loneliness

Rotting by the eddies in the ocean floor

His ego and soul lost to nothingness

What more use, can his life be  

Than to feed the hunger of some poor osedax worm!

MARINATED FOR THE RAVEN

Oh starving raven waiting for this very day

As you esuriently peck on the reddened flesh off my rotting carcass

How do you put up with its rancid taste?

Is my flesh not bitter, with hatred for the people I didn’t care about?

Is it not sour with desire, for things I still craved?

Is it not hot with anger for the people who came in my way?

Is it still slimy with my covert selfishness hidden by my overt smile?

Is it not salty with my pointless pride?

Oh raving raven is there still enough love to make it sweet

As all my pomp and glory is now heaped up as meat

Oh feathered brother!  How could you relish what you eat!

STRANGER WITHIN

A stranger within has woken

A stranger within wonders

One more cloud in the cold winter sky

Emotions and thoughts; feeling and action

Which one is left; which one, when I am gone?

Which one is the stranger within?  

LOVE SAID TO ME

On a day the mind is calm and clear; as calm and clear as the pristine summer skies

The glowing  sunshine of happiness said to me; Come join me for eternity

The receding clouds of sadness said to me; I must let you go

The calm ocean of compassion said to me: I am there with you

The limitless universe of love said to me.; I am nothing but you

But yet the deluded mirage of my ego pleads to me; don’t ever let me go

Tell me dear soul; what should I do? 

EMPYREAL MANIFESTATION

Oh empyreal one; of mystery and awe!

                                                                                 

I have been longing for even  a glimpse of  your shadow

I have traveled the seven seas, and scaled up mighty mountains

Yet, I find you no where, in the world outside!

Oh mysterious one!

How can I seek you, when you are hidden!

Hidden behind my thoughts, and blinded eyes!

Hidden to foolish woes and cries!

Lost in this futile search for your external presence

My fatigued eyes close, and my lonesome heart sinks

With dawning humility, my pointless ego finally shrinks

And at this very moment!

You manifest your mysterious self!

My enlightened senses turn inward

Inward to the beauty of this wondrous manifestation

And in this light of your manifest formlessness 

How can I not, but see you in everything!

Everything in the universe outside! 

As my inner eyes finally open!

Finally open,  to the dawn of the inner light!

When the sun doesn’t shine and the moon doesn’t rise

When there is darkness everywhere

This inner light is that, which forever shines

Shining and manifesting as your magnificence

Shining and manifesting as your presence

Oh empyreal one; of mystery and awe

Make me a manifestation of you!

AMAZING MAIZE

Kernels of sweet gold,and blades so green!

King of the grasses you always been!

Oh! Amazing maize! How mighty you seem!

Plains and mountains, you've spread your seed

Taming the farmer, to help you breed

                                                              

Forming bread, milk and eggs; and miserable meat

You feed my flesh, with all I eat

From plastics and fuel; to candy and clothes

You build them all,  from  thin air!

Oh amazing maze !!


Domesticator of  the human race! 

How splendid  is thy kernelled face !

                                      

THE MAN IN THE MIRROR

Can you see the man in the mirror!

 

Can you see him, without his name!

Can you see his tricks and games!

Can you see his pride and fame!

When you see the man in the mirror

Can you look; can you see?

Beyond silvered illusions, of ego so vain

It’s a tinted window, not a mirror plain

Beyond pompous images of egoistic self-reflection

See the true world of infinite perfection

Beyond Mountains and valleys of paradoxical reality

See fountains of love, and streams of non-duality

When u see the man in the mirror

Can you look; can you see?

There is no man, there is no mirror

It’s just Love that lasts forever!!

HANDS OF WISDOM

Two hands and a single mind

Friends forever of the uneven kind

For the right hand writes, many a song and poetry

While the left is sidelined in the shadow of, right’s artistic mastery

Yet, the right hand claims no pride; and the left fields no jealousy

The left doesn’t crib; and right doesn’t brag egotic supremacy

And often times, during chores of hammering in a nail

The right hand slips and smashes the left’s unfortunate, little finger's nail

The guilty right, drops the hammer and soothes the left in undivided compassion

 Even so, the left doesn’t grab the hammer   , to smash back in retaliation

 Thus is the unity of two hands, in ego-less collaboration

Thus is the wisdom of nondiscrimination; of self less love; life's only salvation