Thursday 31 October 2013

THE ARCH USURER

THE ARCH USURPER

To claim I am the sole doer all alone,
Is the cardinal crime of woman and man;
It means that ego's usurped God's throne.
To be free of this grave sin, if we can,
Surrender ego mind at His lotus feet,
Then Self Enquire with all of one's might.
This way we'll become whole and complete,
Revealing Self source of truth and light.

The Universe is held in Brahman's arms,
In joyful bliss of sat chit ananada,
Devotees are blest by Bhagavan's charms,
Inside our hearts dwells Great Lord Ramana.
Let him take over our whole burden of life,
This way we end all mental stress and strife.

AJ

Wednesday 30 October 2013

CONCERTO GROSSO

CONCERTO GROSSO

Lantern, screen and slides, that  flow
Are emanations from the senses and the mind.
The show you’re watching is a shadow play,
In each human’s will, a spool unwinds his day.
 
As knowers of the Real, you’re like the blind.
So stop reacting! There’s a much wiser way;
In your blissful, Conscious Self, be still and stay!
 
All objects are soap bubbles in the mind,
Each being’s driven by One Almighty God!;
He causes clouds to weep and mountains nod.
 
Consciousness strives through senses five to find
The magic of a dream fit to trick the blind.
 
For each instrumental part unwinds
Through assonant chords and dissonant notes.
 
The whole concerto grosso together floats,
Performing ethereal music of the spheres,
For the lone enjoyment of  His celestial ears.
 
Yet we’re more than piano rolls of sound,
We flow from continuo, a monochord profound,
Played by a virtuoso, improvising with cosmic force,
From the vast silence of His infinite resource.
 
This life of ours is a bewildering dance
Whirled by a wild Dervish God divine,
Drunk on vintage Dionysian wine,
Wildly turning, nothing left to chance.
Upon the mellow pipes of circumstance.
 
He choreographs a play of space and time,
Every glance upon Earth’s stage is His rhyme.
 
Universes glide through His mystic stance.
With rolling drums of thunder, mark His stamp;
(SOUND THUNDER)
In symphony of spheres, hear His tune.
Effulgent Sun shines as a beacon lamp,
His finger ever points towards the silver Moon.
 
He’s the Alone, whereby all things are done;
Divine dancer, dancing, and the dance are one.
 

Sunday 27 October 2013

BRIDAL MARRIAGE SONNET

BRIDAL MARRIAGE SONNET

The King's daughter glows all radiant within,
Her shining raiment's raised from purest gold,
She surrenders to her gracious God of old.
She lives without a hint of guilt or sin,
She's triumphant, certain always to win
The fight to save world's sleeping frenzied fold.
She's well beyond all reproach, and so we're told
Her voice is still heard within world's dreadful din.

An aspiring pilgrim prayed for her to wed,
To share Oneness by the sacred marriage bed,
A celibate marriage of which the mystics sing
Consecrated with a fiery ruby ring.
She consented if first he Realised Self,
And freed himself from demon egotistic elf.

Wednesday 23 October 2013

TIGER'S JAWS

TIGERS JAWS

Guru Tiger is grimly made of love that's tough,
He plans to chew up ego's mind in time,
His ways are hard, steep, firm and sometimes rough,
He cleans and purifies one's mind from crime
Of 'Doership' and arrogant belief.
He roasts us in his burning sacred fire,
But grants His Grace as blessing of relief,
Until he completes his task He'll never tire.

We should enjoy dear Guru Tiger's ride,
Keeping a sense of humour close by side.
He'll lead us in the Heart there to abide,
Wiping away all tears which grace has dried.
We need faith in Guru Tiger's loving claws,
He munches up bad ego in his champing jaws.

Tuesday 22 October 2013

GOD'S HANDWRITING

GOD'S HANDWRITING

Nature's beauty is God's own hand writing ,
Himalayan mountains capped with snow,
A cobalt sky lit up by lightening,
Blue bells in a rose garden grown in a row.
Beauty's our steppingstone to dearest Divine.
Dawn's crimson splendour fills us with awe,
We pray to the Lord, come closer be mine,
His diamond lit night sky opens the door.

Monday 21 October 2013

IN PRAISE OF SRI BHAGAVAN RAMANA MAHARSHI

Boundless Bliss flooded the Heart of Beauteous Mother Earth,
A Sage came as Ramana to save us, he took a human birth. 

Because the Lord of Mercy whose days on Arunachala Hill
Led a life of glory that ever shines and clears away all ill,
By his Great Realisation of that Everlasting Truth,
Revealed by Lord Krishna in his Bhagavad Gita forsooth:
Like Dakshinamurti in Samahdi was shown to man by Shiva,
An emblem of silence, revealed to Great Sage Sanaka.

He's the revered Enlightened Master and gracious guide
Of all learned scholars with Ganapati at his side.
He's possessed of all the highest virtues known to man,
His Radiant effulgence is manfully clad in body's plan
Of material sheaths, when weaved together make five in sum.
Behind dark worldly clouds he shines, a brilliant blazing Sun!

He's perfect as the ruler over those five senses so unruly,
He sees only merits in others, so clearly and so truly,
He ever abides in the blessed blissfulness of peace,
In his Being, pernicious poisoned passions have long ceased.
He lives only on the free offerings of caring devotees,
He dwells as an ascetic on hill slopes, ever there to please.

His Heart is proof against sharp barbs of carnal desire,
He's the living embodiment of Lord Agni's sacred fire!
He's devoted his days to teaching Knowledge of Jnana,
He's crossed the stormy ocean of dreaded Samsara.
He uses his hands soft as a lotus to serve as a bowl,
Fear ends for souls taking refuge in Him to make themselves whole.

At his feet, by his intensive and most powerful gaze
His auspicious presence is felt as a fierce fiery blaze.
He crushes the load of devotee's dark misery to dust,
And scatters it along with latent tendencies of lust.
He's a safe haven of protection, security and peace,
His brightness of light chases away sorrow with ease.

His virtues are mirrored in rocks, streams and leaves,
His wise truthful words calm any soul who grieves.
He's never over elated by praise nor depressed by blame.
He's foremost among all Sages, world famous his name!
He's relentlessly cut off all despicable ego-minds,
He's overthrown all inner enemies that mankind finds,

Greed, anger, lust, jealousy, pride and infatuation.
He's immersed in a flood of blissful sublimation,
He's climbed the peak of mountainous transcendental height,
Through his own vision he's seen Divinity's dazzling light,
Well-nigh impossible for poor suffering ignorant others,
He's free from arrogance; he feels all men are brothers.

In ancient times he pierced Krauncha Hill like Skanda,
To forego joys of being fondled by his mother Uma,
That he might be reborn in human form as Sri Ramana,
To shatter dense spiritual darkness of Earth's samsara.
As an ascetic wearing only a clean loin cloth of white,
He rode on the back of a Celestial Peacock, fan-tail so bright.

He's now descended as a humble soul on dear mother earth,
To reign over the world, a Master unique in human birth.
Salutations to that One who transcends all attributes,
The celibate, with human skills and talents most astute.
The master and slayer of dark diabolical Taraka,
An emblem of man's dark ignorance, an arrogant asura.

There's no divine peacock that can bear one of his ilk,
No Ganges he can bathe in, no nectar of mother's milk
From the breasts of Goddess Parvati, no celestial choir
Of vina players to sing and gently wile away each hour.
Oh great pounder of Krauncha Hill! how do you still abide
On sacred heights of Arunachala, evermore to reside?

He's a God divine but sports only a single face,
He left his fond Mother Parvati's sacred place.
He doesn't wield a silver spear in his nimble hand,
He takes human form to deceive this sleeping land,
He hasn't celestial armies marching for him there,
Enough of this mask by which you bewitch the unaware!

But how will you escape your brother Ganapati's sight?
Some worship you as best among Realised Rishi's bright,
Some as a Jnani, Great Guru of Gurus, beyond compare,
Others as an humble ascetic, wise, comely and fair.
But all of them prostrate before your sacred lotus feet,
Yet only two or three see you as Skanda, a God who's complete.

You explained the significance of Aum to Great Lord Brahma,
You spoke to tell Truth to your father, sacred Lord Shiva.
You've kindly become the teacher of your elder brother
Ganapati, to whom you're beloved as his mother.
Subrahmanya you've outstripped your elders by such merit,
For generations to come, much sage wisdom they'll inherit!

The seat of honour reserved for those of most worth,
Once enjoyed by Great Sage Vyasa of high noble birth,
Later by dispeller of darkness saintly Lord Shankara,
Now awaits you, the Master Sage, Great Lord Ramana!
Commander in Chief of the Celestial Army's plan,
You've now come to planet Earth embodied as man.

Now when righteousness and religion seem at an end,
When all worlds are driven mad around sanity's bend,
And wretched scholars have lost sight of Ultimate Truth,
Disputing polemics; when even God's Existence forsooth
Is disputed, who else can be our safe haven and refuge?
Oh Skanda born on Earth as man, save us from such deluge!

Though dispassion's crucial, can you withhold your grace replete?
Though effortlessness is desired, must worship of your holy Feet
Be condemned? Though desire's wholly contemptible for you,
Would that cause you to cease from guarding your Sadhaks true?
Oh Skanda hidden in a handsome body with a human mask,
Why do you still bide your time? I most respectfully ask

Away with empty dispute, discourse and discussion vain,
Righteousness! no longer need you weak or limp so maim,
Bewilderment and confusion will be wiped from the world,
Good shall flourish everywhere and Truth be unfurled!
Because our Lord, foremost of Guru's, the son of Parvati
Was once incarnate on Earth with his brother Ganapati.

Oh mankind, revere this brother of Ganapati, the Master
Who's came In bodily form for now and for ever after.
The Self, pervading the microcosm and the macrocosm,
Who is behind the souls of all, model of perfect altruism.
Source of the ego in which all weird difference is lost,
Who drags his children to Moksha regardless of cost.

Hail Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, Universal Master!
Dispeller of misery from this sad world ever after,
Who chases away darkness from his dear devotees,
As Pure Eternal Consciousness ever ready to please,
Abiding in the Heart, blazing bright within and without,
Bereft of the least trace of ignorance, with none left to doubt.

Self's the transcendental Truth that's underlying
The world and beyond, there can be no denying.
Oh Ramana, pray turn your gracious glance my way,
So that I may be eternally blest, forever on this day.
Oh Bhagavan, you're the JAGADGuru of all mankind,
Your boundless Heart knows no differences, so I find.

Troubled world, egotism and God are now all observed,
As one transcendental Reality by virtue of your word.
The recalcitrant wicked ego has been struck down to die,
I now exist as that One Reality which isn't apart from `I'.
By your Grace our Hearts readily realise the Divine Self,
Hidden within the perverted mind, that vile demonic elf.

Blessedness isn't a virtue for you, oh Prince of Sages!
Its natural in your shining Heart you've known for ages,
Oh Spotless Being your form blazes with effulgent light,
Infinite is your penetrating gaze, so brilliant and bright.
Oh Lord your egotistic mind has vanished in your Heart,
You dwell in Eternal Sat Chit Ananda, never to depart!

You're the acknowledged chief among ascetics severe,
You've been deputed to roast Souls for the Lord WHO is near,
You chop up egos and well season them for tasty food.
I worship and revere you, who does each deed for good.
You pierce through our ignorance dwelling in the heart,
By virtue of your Grace, and piercing glance you will to impart.

You're beatific, but your poor devotees are of little worth,
Thrown headlong into a sea of uncertain death and rebirth,
Being drowned in their worldly desires without respite,
And falling endlessly exhausted every noon and night.
They reach for the two lily flowers afloat in mid- sea,
And clutch for safety at your lotus feet most earnestly.

Merciful Lord, grant the poor refugees your gaze to save;
You're so fearless, all powerful, grave, strong and brave.
If unsuckled by his mother, what's a babe's sad fate?
Where's safety for sheep when their good shepherd's irate?
Where's help for the soul pitched against God's mighty wrath?
How will ignorant ones conquer mind, as flame is to moth?

Master! Why not save the devotees pining at your feet?
Perfect peace spreads when you shower nectar so sweet,
By the lucid lunar-like smile that shines on your face,
Your steady gazing eyes grant incomparable grace,
Oh Lord, your pearl of silence is a gift of priceless worth,
It's unparalleled , oh Bhagavan, on this poor planet Earth.

The light of Parvati shines through your penetrating eyes,
Dispelling ignorant darkness that clouds the mind's skies.
Your face gleams with the grace and brilliance of Lakshmi,
Your words contain the secretive lore of Goddess Saraswati,
Preceptor of the worlds, Sri Bhagavan Ramana the Great,
How can mere mortals praise the glory of your Realised state?

Good fortune visited the Red Mountain Arunachala,
For having sheltered Great Sages in the past, oh Ramana,
But now has grown unique because you've chosen this hill,
Among many sacred places, there for your mission to fulfil.
Boundless bliss has flooded the Heart of BEAUTEOUS Mother Earth,
A Sage came as Ramana to save us, he took a human birth!

*A free versification of the English prose translation from the Sanskrit,
of `The Forty Verses in Praise of Sri Ramana by Ganapati Muni'.
Alan Jacobs
__._,_.___

Friday 18 October 2013

SURRENDER

SURRENDER

Let badly battered ego raise its tattered flag,
The standard of surrender which it will drag
Relunctantly 'till Self Enquiry makes it fall,
To usher in true happiness once and for all.
Then we'll hoist that demons standard at half mast,
Ever to leave us at long last at last at last,
The joyful flag of Liberation waves and rules,
Freedom at last, no longer ego's flag meant for fools.

Thursday 17 October 2013

JOY RIDE

JOY RIDE

Joyous jubilation is the jester's song,
Sweet tonic to right all doleful wrong.
From the heart it rings a cheerful chime,
And rescues mind from dull despondent time.
So roar from the roof tops with all ones might,
God's reigns from heaven and all is all right!
Bury sad melancholy in a deep black hole,
And much sooner we'll save poor wretched soul.

Laughter makes us loose all worry and care,
So unbutton our coats and let down our hair!
'Row row row the boat gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily for life is but a dream'!
So the message for each golden girl and boy,
Is find true love and laughter in warm hearts of joy'

Wednesday 16 October 2013

SAGE WISDOM

REYNARD NICHOLSON'S TRANSLATION OF RUMI'S MATHNAWI IS IN PROSE. I HAVE ATTEMPTED A FEW VERSIFICATIONS IN IAMBIC PENTAMETERS. HERE IS ONE.

             SAGE WISDOM

Whoever's in love with the material world
Is fast asleep to the spiritual world.
This mundane love is far worse than sleep.
When our soul’s asleep to God, it’s a door
Closing, to prevent the entry of His grace.
All day we suffer from a host of fantasies,
Thoughts of loss, gain or degeneration.
For the Soul there is neither joy nor peace,
Nor a way of progression heavenwards.
The sleeper has his hope in each vain fancy
And converses idly with these foolish voices.

The bird of the soul flies cheerily on high,
While its shadow is speeding upon Earth,
Some fools hasten to chase their  shadow
And rushing hurriedly become exhausted,
Not understanding that it’s a reflection,
Nor knowing from where it originates.

They vainly shoot arrows at this phantom,
His quiver soon empties from the long quest.
The contents of his worried life become a void,
Time passes in chasing after this grey shadow.
But when God’s shadow becomes a nurse maid,
It saves him from fantasies and illusion.
God’s shadow is the true servant of God.

Dead to this  world yet living through Him.
Take hold of His hem quickly so your skirt
May also be saved at the end of your days.
Never enter this dark valley of the shadow
Without a guide who’s a true son of God.
Desert the grey shadow, gain the bright Sun
Hold the hem of the orb of Shams Tabriz.

If you don’t know the way to the bridal feast
Enquire into God’s radiance named l’Haqq.
If envy grabs you by the throat on the way
It is Satan who reaches beyond all bounds.
Because from green envy he hates Adam
And he’s at constant war with happiness.

On the way there’s no harder bridge to cross.
Happy is he who hasn’t made envy his friend.
The body is a mansion packed full of hate,
The family and  servants are all tainted.
Yet Almighty God made the body to be pure
So sweep clean His house. The purified heart
Is a true treasure and Earth’s gold talisman.

If you indulge in guile, deceit and envy
Against one who’s without a hint of blame,
Then black stains swell up in your heart.
So rest as dust under the feet of a Sage
Amd scatter the dust on envy’s bald head.

Any fool who torments his body is unfit
For comprehending the spiritual life .
The nose catches fragrance leading to truth,
That scent is the God revealed religion.
If he’s whiffed this perfume with ingratitude,
It comes and destroys his organ of perception.

Give thanks! be a slave to those who are grateful,
Be in their presence as one truly steadfast.




 






 


Tuesday 15 October 2013

SPIRITUAL SECRET OF WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC


THE SECRET OF WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC
 
Alan Jacobs
    
In western classical music, the melodic harmonious scale discovered by the Pythagoreans called the diapason, musical scale, or octave, corresponds with the essential harmony inherent in the Soul of mankind.
Every note struck by a musical instrument touches its correspondence in the emotions of the soul, and when this is in harmony, evokes a feeling of delight and pleasurable contentment.
Each musical instrument sounds a different voice in this magnificent symphony.This is why Classical Music is healing and therapeutic. If there is too much dissonance it becomes disturbing.
One day while meditating upon the problem of harmony, Pythagoras chanced to pass a brazier's shop where workmen were pounding out a piece of metal upon an anvil. By noting the variances in pitch between the sounds made by large hammers and those made by smaller implements, and carefully estimating the harmonies and discords resulting from combinations of these sounds, he gained his first clue to the musical intervals of the diatonic scale. He entered the shop, and after carefully examining the tools and making mental note of their weights, returned to his own house and constructed an arm of wood so that it: extended out from the wall of his room. At regular intervals along this arm he attached four cords, all of like composition, size, and weight. To the first of these he attached a twelve-pound weight, to the second a nine-pound weight, to the third an eight-pound weight, and to the fourth a six-pound weight. These different weights corresponded to the sizes of the braziers' hammers.
P.D.Ouspensky notes in his book The Search For The Miraculous that if you divide 7 into 10 you arrive at the ratios of the musical scale which coincide with the construction of the Sufi Enneagram. (see Wikipaedia for notes on the Enneagram)
To a degree music is rooted in Nature, that is in bird song, the babbling brook, waves breaking on the sea shore, the rustle of leaves in trees, and certain animal sounds. In man, as part of nature there is the desire to dance and sing when happy.
The ancients believed that the movement of planets created a music of the spheres. Mystics like Kabir heard the 'unstruck music' deep in the spiritual heart; and heaven is often envisaged as a region where angels play musical instruments and sing.
Probably the most conspicuous ancient thought about music is the doctrine of ethos, which describes the effects of sound on human behaviour and therefore its moral influence. Aristotle, in his Politics, explains how the different kinds of music, imitating specific feelings (anger, kindness, love), can affect a human being with the same kind of feelings. Therefore, says Aristotle, someone who listens to the wrong kind of music will grow up to a bad person, and vice-versa. Consequently, Aristotle (and also Plato) recommended the right kind of music in the education of young citizens. The doctrine of Ethos describes the effects of music on the human soul.
Sacred Music lies in the holy melodies of plainsong and polyphony and to-day we have Church Music and the great Symphonic Masses. Oratorios and Requiems.
Atonality and excessive discordance without melody and harmony are disturbing to the Soul and are listened to with difficulty.
The composer Lawrence Ball has wriiten that any form of music can be used for meditation. The important thing is that it not disturb one's attention from becoming aware of itself. It establishes an "energy discussion" with the deep unarticulated realm of experience. If music can assist in taking a large percentage of attention off itself into the interior of the Self, then it can be particularly useful.
Schopenhauer one of the very few Philosophers who have written about the metaphysics of music says that melody is the soul of music. So melody pleases us greatly as it is soul speaking to soul.
 
In brief the musical tone scale discovered by the Pythagoreans conforms to an aesthetic reponse of the soul which we term harmony, and this is what music is, a pleasurable sensation caused by harmonious resonance in the soul of man.

SPORT

SPORT
 
God's out today!
Every bird sings his name,
Every tendril towards him yearns,
Each drop of morning dew
Reflects the ocean of his grandeur.
The curtain of blue has lifted
To reveal the glory of Sun resplendent.
Sometimes behind a gloomy cloud
He hides in mischief sulking.
But having glimpsed in undergrowth
The hem of his robe, I know
That he is somewhere about
And enjoying the play.

Look who just flew into the room
In food-moth form!
Searching for a flame
In which to be consumed.

Sometimes you wrap
Yourself in a cloak of pain
To chisel away at my basalt rock
An image of thy Name
Other days you send
A buttercup of nectar
For my bumble bee soul
To humbly sip

Monday 14 October 2013

DIVINE HARMONY

DIVINE HARMONY

Love's harmony dwells in sweet unstruck music,
Heard in the spiritual heart by all whose ears,
Are tuned into this subtle sacred angelic art,
And hear ethereal rhythms from galactic spheres,
There are no words to describe this awesome sound.
Once heard prison walls of selfishness all fall down,
And blissful inner feelings in unison resound
With holy joy, bestowing love's most precious crown. 

A deaf mute deprived of hearing and vocal speech,
Prayed to hear the magic of a chanting human voice.
God in His mercy which he always grants to each,
Cured his ailment so the poor man could now rejoice.
The highest form of music to him was then revealed,
By such harmony divine, his affliction was soon healed.