Saturday, March 04, 2006
Ivan Granger Describes the "Celestial Drink"
I have often quoted the poems which Ivan Granger prints on his site (www.poetry-chaikhana.com). This site is dedicated to sacred poetry, as is Ivan himself, both as compiler and poet.
In the following moving account, he describes his deep initiation into sacred consciousness, a state which included tasting what is sometimes called "amrita," the nectar-like substance which flows in the throat of many dedicated mystics. Thank you, Ivan, for sharing with us this intimate and most profound experience.
As I was considering how to begin our exploration of the Celestial Drink, it occurred to me that I needed to find a way to convey that this is not merely some poetic metaphor. It is real, and available to you.
As long as the discussion remains safely in the intellect, the taste of wine never touches our lips -- and who wants somber sobriety when the wine pours so freely?
Academics and literary critics are better equipped than I to give you a standard history of how wine and drink images are used in the great writings of the world. Instead, let's you and I speak in shared whispers, as mystics, passing the cup quietly between us. Let us share the true taste and not simply the description...
***
You know, my Friends, how long since in my House
For a new Marriage I did make Carouse:
Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed,
And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse.
For "Is" and "Is-not" though with Rule and Line,
And "Up-and-down" without, I could define,
I yet in all I only cared to know,
Was never deep in anything but -- Wine.
And lately, by the Tavern Door agape,
Came stealing through the Dusk an Angel Shape
Bearing a Vessel on his Shoulder; and
He bid me taste of it; and 'twas -- the Grape!
The Grape that can with Logic absolute
The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects confute:
The subtle Alchemist that in a Trice
Life's leaden Metal into Gold transmute.
- Omar Khayyam (1048 - 1131)
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, translated by Edward FitzGerald
***
The language of a sacred drink, a secret drink that imparts wisdom and bliss appears in the writings and songs of initiates throughout the world -- wine, amrita, ambrosia, dew, tea, elixir, virgin's milk. But what do all of these mean?
To help us know what we're really talking about before we dive more deeply into the poetry, I thought I would start today be sharing some of my first encounter with this heavenly drink.
The above quatrains by Omar Khayyam opened up a world of beauty to me in mystical poetry that I hadn't recognized before. But my appreciation and understanding was confined to the intellect -- old barren Reason. At that point it was beautiful and inspiring poetry to me, but that was all... and it wasn't really enough.
A deeper understanding didn't come to me until several years later when I first started slipping into bliss, and I found that the "wine" of the mystics was real!
Several years ago I was going through a quiet crisis. I had just left the spiritual path I had been following intensely for more than a decade. At that time I was living on Maui, meditating and praying, eating a very pure (maybe overly pure) diet, fasting a lot -- and suddenly I had no framework for all of these practices. I had lost my spiritual orientation. Christmas came in the midst of this psychic collapse, followed quickly by New Years. A few days later, in early January -- POW -- I was catapaulted into an ecstatic stillness. Perhaps what surprised me the most was that I realized I had been in that state always, I just hadn't noticed it. I saw that everyone is always in that state, they just have to settle into themselves enough to recognize it.
And -- accompanying this bliss was a sense of a subtle liquid-like substance descending through the head and down the back of the throat. It felt like I was drinking something, something utterly pure and nourishing, satisfying a soul hunger I didn't even know was there until it began to be properly fed. This drink has an ethereal sweetness on the tongue that can't easily be described. Drinking it, my heart grew warm and expanded until it felt to me as if the entire Universe was held in my heart. Everthing and everyone was alive inside my heart.
My body was so overwhelmed by this experience that it began to tremble at points, not like a seizure, but like the surging of a powerful wave that can't be resisted. And who would want to resist it. The joy was all-consuming! My eyes were closed and I have no doubt that a silly grin was plastered crookedly across my face. Anyone watching me would have thought I was drunk!
The intensity of that initial "taste" subsided slightly as a resumed my normal activities, but the flavor has remained with me...
(I want to give a quick disclaimer: By sharing this, I don't want to suggest that I think I am "advanced" or "perfect" or anything like that. My wife can all too easily attest to my humanness and imperfections. Like you, I am on a journey. I share this special part of my journey in the hopes that it can open a doorway for you too, one that leads to the Tavern.)
***
Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a voice within the Tavern cry,
"Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry."
- Omar Khayyam (1048 - 1131)
copyright, Ivan Granger
In the following moving account, he describes his deep initiation into sacred consciousness, a state which included tasting what is sometimes called "amrita," the nectar-like substance which flows in the throat of many dedicated mystics. Thank you, Ivan, for sharing with us this intimate and most profound experience.
As I was considering how to begin our exploration of the Celestial Drink, it occurred to me that I needed to find a way to convey that this is not merely some poetic metaphor. It is real, and available to you.
As long as the discussion remains safely in the intellect, the taste of wine never touches our lips -- and who wants somber sobriety when the wine pours so freely?
Academics and literary critics are better equipped than I to give you a standard history of how wine and drink images are used in the great writings of the world. Instead, let's you and I speak in shared whispers, as mystics, passing the cup quietly between us. Let us share the true taste and not simply the description...
***
You know, my Friends, how long since in my House
For a new Marriage I did make Carouse:
Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed,
And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse.
For "Is" and "Is-not" though with Rule and Line,
And "Up-and-down" without, I could define,
I yet in all I only cared to know,
Was never deep in anything but -- Wine.
And lately, by the Tavern Door agape,
Came stealing through the Dusk an Angel Shape
Bearing a Vessel on his Shoulder; and
He bid me taste of it; and 'twas -- the Grape!
The Grape that can with Logic absolute
The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects confute:
The subtle Alchemist that in a Trice
Life's leaden Metal into Gold transmute.
- Omar Khayyam (1048 - 1131)
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, translated by Edward FitzGerald
***
The language of a sacred drink, a secret drink that imparts wisdom and bliss appears in the writings and songs of initiates throughout the world -- wine, amrita, ambrosia, dew, tea, elixir, virgin's milk. But what do all of these mean?
To help us know what we're really talking about before we dive more deeply into the poetry, I thought I would start today be sharing some of my first encounter with this heavenly drink.
The above quatrains by Omar Khayyam opened up a world of beauty to me in mystical poetry that I hadn't recognized before. But my appreciation and understanding was confined to the intellect -- old barren Reason. At that point it was beautiful and inspiring poetry to me, but that was all... and it wasn't really enough.
A deeper understanding didn't come to me until several years later when I first started slipping into bliss, and I found that the "wine" of the mystics was real!
Several years ago I was going through a quiet crisis. I had just left the spiritual path I had been following intensely for more than a decade. At that time I was living on Maui, meditating and praying, eating a very pure (maybe overly pure) diet, fasting a lot -- and suddenly I had no framework for all of these practices. I had lost my spiritual orientation. Christmas came in the midst of this psychic collapse, followed quickly by New Years. A few days later, in early January -- POW -- I was catapaulted into an ecstatic stillness. Perhaps what surprised me the most was that I realized I had been in that state always, I just hadn't noticed it. I saw that everyone is always in that state, they just have to settle into themselves enough to recognize it.
And -- accompanying this bliss was a sense of a subtle liquid-like substance descending through the head and down the back of the throat. It felt like I was drinking something, something utterly pure and nourishing, satisfying a soul hunger I didn't even know was there until it began to be properly fed. This drink has an ethereal sweetness on the tongue that can't easily be described. Drinking it, my heart grew warm and expanded until it felt to me as if the entire Universe was held in my heart. Everthing and everyone was alive inside my heart.
My body was so overwhelmed by this experience that it began to tremble at points, not like a seizure, but like the surging of a powerful wave that can't be resisted. And who would want to resist it. The joy was all-consuming! My eyes were closed and I have no doubt that a silly grin was plastered crookedly across my face. Anyone watching me would have thought I was drunk!
The intensity of that initial "taste" subsided slightly as a resumed my normal activities, but the flavor has remained with me...
(I want to give a quick disclaimer: By sharing this, I don't want to suggest that I think I am "advanced" or "perfect" or anything like that. My wife can all too easily attest to my humanness and imperfections. Like you, I am on a journey. I share this special part of my journey in the hopes that it can open a doorway for you too, one that leads to the Tavern.)
***
Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a voice within the Tavern cry,
"Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry."
- Omar Khayyam (1048 - 1131)
copyright, Ivan Granger
