Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Two Poems by Kalidas
In the first of these moving poems,Kalidas (Lawrence Edwards) reminds us that compassion is the other face of bliss, and loving kindness the essential companion of joy. In the second, he describes the path of total immersion in love for the Divine.
I heard the cries of my Beloved outside my door this morning,
Throwing open the door there She stood, a little girl
Dripping the blood of violence, suffering and pain.
She entered our home to be embraced, washed clean with love and tears
I heard the cries of my Beloved outside my door this morning,
Throwing open the door there She stood, a young woman,
Starving, deprived, tortured, battered, bruised, with pleading eyes.
She entered our home to be fed, nurtured, listened to and looked at with loving tenderness.
I heard the cries of my Beloved outside my door this morning,
Throwing open the door there She was, an old woman,
Crumpled, abandoned, homeless, covered with the filth of human neglect.
She entered our home to be drawn out, to be held close and warmed, her life re-kindled, her gifts of wisdom to be appreciated.
Listen, listen, please listen for the cries of our Beloved.
We've been deaf for far too long.
If we listen and act we can restore Her gifts, Her Creation.
<< Om Kali Ma >>
What mind can possibly approach you,
Much less grasp you, my beloved Kali!
This ordinary mind longs for you to be simple,
Predictable, easily appreciated, a sweet divinity,
A demure goddess, lovely to look at, engendering kindness.
Instead you parade forth in gruesome reality,
Unabashed, you unleash your limitless creative power,
Thrilling the mind and body with overwhelming sensual delights,
Propelling the spirit into awe-inspiring transcendent domains and
Crushing us all in your jaws of time, decay and suffering.
You gave birth to ignorance and her offspring,
lacking this and wanting that, populate the universe.
Is there nothing you don't delight in creating?
How is this poor mind ever going to truly worship you?
I set out to circumambulate your divine form, to do puja to you,
But lifetimes of effort have left me gasping,
seeing your infinitude spread out in all directions,
my mind and heart quiver with
fear and adoration, longing for annihilation in you, my beloved.
You demand full and total sacrifice,
Not flower garlands and coins tossed at a statue,
Not merely lighting candles and prostrating piously,
Not sitting still as a corpse lost in the illusion of inside and outside,
No, you delight in swallowing all sense of separation,
Offer me your individuality you say,
Offer up your ego mind,
Offer up the waking, dream and deep sleep states!
This yoga is only for the insane
drunk on the nectar of Divine Love.
If you drink from the Holy Grail
You will drown in the end.
Copyright, Kalidas (Lawrence Edwards)
(to learn more about Lawrence Edwards, read his remarkable spiritual autobiography, The Soul's Journey: Guidance from the Divine Within and visit his website, www.thesoulsjourney.com )
I heard the cries of my Beloved outside my door this morning,
Throwing open the door there She stood, a little girl
Dripping the blood of violence, suffering and pain.
She entered our home to be embraced, washed clean with love and tears
I heard the cries of my Beloved outside my door this morning,
Throwing open the door there She stood, a young woman,
Starving, deprived, tortured, battered, bruised, with pleading eyes.
She entered our home to be fed, nurtured, listened to and looked at with loving tenderness.
I heard the cries of my Beloved outside my door this morning,
Throwing open the door there She was, an old woman,
Crumpled, abandoned, homeless, covered with the filth of human neglect.
She entered our home to be drawn out, to be held close and warmed, her life re-kindled, her gifts of wisdom to be appreciated.
Listen, listen, please listen for the cries of our Beloved.
We've been deaf for far too long.
If we listen and act we can restore Her gifts, Her Creation.
<< Om Kali Ma >>
What mind can possibly approach you,
Much less grasp you, my beloved Kali!
This ordinary mind longs for you to be simple,
Predictable, easily appreciated, a sweet divinity,
A demure goddess, lovely to look at, engendering kindness.
Instead you parade forth in gruesome reality,
Unabashed, you unleash your limitless creative power,
Thrilling the mind and body with overwhelming sensual delights,
Propelling the spirit into awe-inspiring transcendent domains and
Crushing us all in your jaws of time, decay and suffering.
You gave birth to ignorance and her offspring,
lacking this and wanting that, populate the universe.
Is there nothing you don't delight in creating?
How is this poor mind ever going to truly worship you?
I set out to circumambulate your divine form, to do puja to you,
But lifetimes of effort have left me gasping,
seeing your infinitude spread out in all directions,
my mind and heart quiver with
fear and adoration, longing for annihilation in you, my beloved.
You demand full and total sacrifice,
Not flower garlands and coins tossed at a statue,
Not merely lighting candles and prostrating piously,
Not sitting still as a corpse lost in the illusion of inside and outside,
No, you delight in swallowing all sense of separation,
Offer me your individuality you say,
Offer up your ego mind,
Offer up the waking, dream and deep sleep states!
This yoga is only for the insane
drunk on the nectar of Divine Love.
If you drink from the Holy Grail
You will drown in the end.
Copyright, Kalidas (Lawrence Edwards)
(to learn more about Lawrence Edwards, read his remarkable spiritual autobiography, The Soul's Journey: Guidance from the Divine Within and visit his website, www.thesoulsjourney.com )
