Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Ramakirshna––poem
Ramakrishna
How foolishly you try, O mind,
to know the nature of Reality.
You are searching in vain,
as a mad person seeks treasure
in a pitch-black, empty room.
God is known by ecstatic love,
there is no other adequate mode.
Truth is only experienced
by recognizing all as God,
never by discriminating neti, neti:
“This is not God. That is not God.”
Nor is God encountered
through Vedas, Tanstras,
or any system of philosophy.
The elixir of pure love
delights Divine Reality,
who dwells secretly and joyously
in this chamber of the human body.
For a single drop of pure love,
yogis meditate for ages.
When ecstatic love awakes,
Reality absorbs the soul.
~ Ramakrishna (1836 – 1886) (from Great Swan, Lex Hixon)
(Ramakrishna was a revered mystic,/ecstatic in nineteenth century India. His main attribute was his tendency to fall into ecstasy easily. He often had to rely on his disciples to support him even to cross the room.)
