SAGE ROUNDELS

PRELUDE

A ROUNDEL is wrought as a ring or a starbright sphere,
With craft of delight and with cunning of sound unsought,
That the heart of the hearer may smile if to pleasure his ear
A roundel is wrought.
Its jewel of music is carven of all or of aught –
Love, laughter, or mourning – rememberance of rapture
or fear –
That fancy may fashion to hang in the ear of thought.
As a bird’s quick song runs round, and the hearts in us hear –
Pause answers to pause, and again the same strain caught,
So moves the device whence, round as a pearl or tear,
A roundel is wrought.

[Algernon Swinburne]

Roar from the Roof Tops

ALL is very well! to unfold exactly as it should,
Let it roar from the roof tops, all bold seekers tell,
That power which knows the way is truly good,
All is very well!
To rouse sad sleeper from his dream – ring the bell
Of Truth; All is One, non dual! For aeons stood
This beacon lamp to light our gloomy shaded dell.
As green willows grow so sweet in silent woods,
Foolish fear ends. Firm faith tolls the death knell
Of ignorance, for all to wake, who wish they could.
All is very well!

Dive Deep

WHO truly am I? The profoundest question isWho,
Am I? The ultimate, most urgent quest, before I die.
How sad to fly from the body in doubt: who are you?
Who, truly am I?
It’s indeed an easy task to turn and look; a true
Yearning to learn the wherefore, whether, what for, and why
Of I. To dive deep into the heart is our Master’s clue
To live, and be wholly free from dismal care and sigh,
In the Self, of boundless bliss, celestial saphire blue,
Who, truly am I?

Golden Key

FEEL ‘I am awareness’, absolute, pure, ever free
From strife. Let your skiff’s white sail unfurl to bless;
Be kissed by the soft breeze of love, on the open sea,
Feel ‘I am awareness’.
Unattached to mind or body, our life is choiceless,
Free as an auburn autumn leaf which tumbling from the tree,
Is blown by the breath of breeze and rests effortless.
To sip love’s flowering scent like a bumble bee,
In the radiant rose garden of essential beingness;
That, for you, dear friend, is the golden master key.
Feel ‘I am awareness’.

Divine Mercy

“LOVE they neighbour as thy Self”, the holy shepherd said,
Therefore open your heart to love, suffer all who labour
On their way. Raise weighty, anxious burdens from
their head;
Love they neighbour.
With genial gentle mien and mild behaviour,
Be a calm blue oasis among the firey rocks of red,
Salve the souls of men and women as did our Saviour.
Dissolve all foolish fanciful fear and dark dire dread,
Don’t deny a broken beggar your generous favour,
So help to raise your brother Lazarus from the dead,
Love they neighbour.

Rosary of Rubies

HUMILITY fair is to Virtue as a silver thread
Is to a treasured rosary of rubies for soulful prayer;
Undo the thread, the blood red gems will all have fled;
Humility fair.
Only a prig with arrogant pride and pomp would dare
To enter an inner sanctum wearing shoes of lead,
So modesty and self effacement are real virtues rare.
TheGreat Prophet of Allah,Mohammed, in his Koran said,
“Who owns a single rice grain of an arrogant air
Will fall from paradise, and must be seen as of the dead!”
Humility fair.

Hush

TO STILL your mental play is real service to the Sage;
Be ego-free, pursue a heart-filled, virtuous way.
Wisdom is, dear ardent child of this current age,
To still your mental play.
A peaceful disposition welcomes each auspicious day;
It’s foolish to react with over elation or with rage;
See each stage of life as God’s predetermined fray.
If you need to toil to earn a decent living wage,
Be unattached, enjoy this teaching’s Truth, I say
Be quiet, calm the breath, take hold and then engage
To still your mental play.

Argosy

SIT IN SILENCE, rest at peace in tranquil solitude,
Let all the world’s wordy hurdy-gurdy cease.
Then seek the stillness of the Self in plenitude;
Sit in silence rest at peace.
Jason sailed over saphire seas of Ancient Greece,
Aloneness vast, his own shining spatial latitude,
To find his symbol of the Self, the Golden Fleece.
If you maintain a sober solitary attitude,
Joy will gradually grow, and not decrease;
Discover a real increase in truth, no pious platitude.
Sit in silence rest at peace.

Amiability

REST with spiritual souls, better with them relate,
Than with headstrong folk, whose rampant lives are poles,
Apart from your predetermined pilgrim’s fate.
Rest with spiritual souls.
If you mix too much with those chasing different goals,
‘Twill drag you down, dulling your elevated state,
Leaving you fireless by a grate of smouldering coals.
So again, the Awakened Sage must reiterate,
Make sure your spate of Self awareness calmly rolls;
Your days be wisely spent, then surrendered, wait…
Rest with spiritual souls.

Satsang

SEEK ‘SATSANG’ in the Self with others: what delight
Is greater than to sit with one’s sisters and brothers
At the Master’s feet, and imbibe the silence of the night?
Seek ‘satsang’ in the Self with others.
How sad to watch the fate of one who never bothers
To rest in Oneness with is brothers. It is his right
To merge in blessed bliss, and be loving others.
The meaning of ‘satsang’ shines, and is ever bright:
In the Self, our wise and good companions are like mothers
Of Liberation, to speed us swiftly to the Light.
Seek ‘satsang’ in the Self with others.

* association with the wise and good.

Maya

SEE all as mind’s emanation, know this in the heart,
A projection on the screen of seeing, a sensation
Created by mental illusion, phantastic magical art.
See all as mind’s emanation.
Five senses combine in unanimous relation,
To reveal pictures appearing, but merely a part,
Of one whole divine, universal manifestation.
All we see is transient, perishing from the start,
Reality is ‘I Am That’, no configuration
Of mutable mind which backward and forwards darts.
See all as mind’s emanation.

Eternity

“I AM UNBORN; I don’t die. I don’t perish,”
said our Sage,
“As Eternal Self beyond this tearful mortal vale,
I don’t sustain a so-called ego, at any stage,
I AM unborn.”
In a thunder clap so loud, see forked lightening; hail
Rains to shower God’s Grace on our awakening age,
The command to ‘Self Enquire’ ever seeks theHoly Grail.
Let my maxims settle down deeply from this page,
On your own heart’s sacred leaves. How can you fail
To apprehend your own Truth, your veracity guage?
I AM unborn.

Divine Nihilism

BE EGOLESS: that false, notional phantom ghost,
‘Malade imaginaire’, thoughts afloat in air, are
groundless;
Nothing boasts an egotistic entity or cause; at the most
Be egoless.
If there isn’t an ego, it’s sacred ground and boundless,
You’ve mistaken your Self for a man, a head on a post,
Invented a burden for him to bear that’s spaceless.
Isn’t the concept of causation quite graceless?
Let’s instead raise our glasses, drink a hearty toast
To drown for ever that vile potion, quite tasteless.
Be egoless.

Not This Not That

SELF Realisation isn’t this, some goal to be attained,
Nor an empty vacuous frisson of mystical bliss,
Self Realisation isn’t some position to be maintained;
Self Realisation isn’t this.
Its not love of passionate possession sealed by a kiss,
Nor any conceptual notion, by the mind retained,
Nor’s Realisation a half baked theory wildly amiss.
It’s not righteous morality, chaste piety unstained,
Nor some state of mind you might wish to dismiss,
It’s not a god of clay to claim and be retained,
Self Realisation isn’t this.

Cut the Knot

THOU art all, they covenanted will be done, oh Lord,
Whatever befalls us beneath the high rising Sun,
We thank Thee, for They Grace in keeping to ThyWord.
Thou art all.
One loves One Omnipresent God; He is the only One:
Through prayer and worship we’re joined to Thee, towards
That grace, which links us to Thy Name, second to none.
One loves our Lord who wields an omnipotent sword,
“In the beginning was theWord”, so wrote Gospel John,
He sets one free and cuts the binding ganglion cord:
Thou art all.

Liberty Bell

BE carefree, in an effortless thought free state, dear friend;
Live released from rigid imprisoned mind; That’s the gate
To Liberty! From tiresome strife to gain all goals, the end.
Be carefree.
All tense struggle to reach an aim before it is too late
Creates conflict. To you, an urgent message I now send
Let go of imperious ways, just be quiet, and wait.
So through the golden gate to Freedom, gently wend,
Your tender path’s ‘not doing’, dwell in peace so great,
Rest and mend in a tranquil, unsought place, dear friend;
Be carefree.

Son et Lumiere

IF you dive,my dear, deeply into the Heart, the hidden cave,
You’ll see shining light, find silence and hear sounds, all alive.
These merciful Samaritans shall the weary pilgrim save,
If you dive.
In the shade of this cave, breaks the dawn of day to revive,
Poor zealous soul, drowning in a sensual tidal wave
On sad ego’s tempestuous ocean; you’ll now survive.
Sound follows light, their powers to heal shall stave
Fatigue, then the opening Heart will soon contrive
Your quick release, and ego’s watery waiting grave.
If you dive.

Drama in the Void

IN AN EMPTY theatre, nowconceive, it’s like the Void, all right.
At the close of the show, both audience and actors leave.
On emptiness then, brightly shines the theatre light.
In an empty theatre now conceive.
Lounging in a furnished room, what do I perceive?
The lamp’s turned off, that shone so very bright,
But my eye sees the Void, a wise Seer, please believe.
So after life’s play, falls the dark curtain of night,
See the Void; no light, nor wrong nor right, to relieve.
Enquire where’s the source of ‘I’ who owns this sight?
In an empty theatre now conceive.

Sage Epilogue

BE CONSCIOUSNESS awareness bliss, the Self’s expression,
Awaken to auspicious grace, receive her kiss,
Finish the folly forever of wallowing in depression.
Be consciousness awareness bliss.
Be certain now there’s no entity there left to miss;
There are no graded steps or levels in this ascension.
If you dream of some illusory gain, you’re sadly amiss.
Enjoy the nectarine bliss of your dedicated mission,
Please don’t take my words in any way remiss.
This stanza ends my runic Roundel composition.
Be consciousness awareness bliss!