Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

- John Donne

Aspire...

This last Friday evening was spent most beautifully, the arrival of spring in the bay area being only the start of a blissful arrangement of events this entire weekend. A beautiful walk at the foothills around campus was folloowed by a most enlivening disussion with my SG. One of the many insightful threads we followed, I shall touch upon here.

What we wish to become requires some knowledge as to what is worth becoming. That presents a loopy problem. Take heart, there is a solution. A sincere desire to elevate oneself from whatever state one is in presently is the most important step in the process of elevation itself. That desire is what allows one to see opportunities for growth and seek them fervently in every step forward. It is the desire that brings courage to to set fear aside and face every new trial. It is the desire that allows the mind to soak in the knowledge that each new trial contains, hidden beneath its wrappers. And so, you see, the desire to learn brings knowledge to the desirous. Indeed, the goal enables the process. And the world conspires in it.

In this the month of sacrifice, of shedding our lower selves for the higher, in dissolving our attachment to identity for unity, of firmly choosing the right path at forks where the choice is clear, the ascent steep and road unpaved...may we set ourselves only the most lofty of ideals, may we only aspire to give more than we receive, may we desire most fervently to be tested by fire and strengthened thereby.

And, so I share these words of Rumi that struck a chord deep within.

--

Make real the sublime words of the Prophet:

"We are the last and the foremost."

The fresh and perfect fruit is the last thing to come into existence

For although the fruit is the last thing to come into existence,

It is, in fact, the first, for it was the goal.

--

An excerpt from 'Heroes'

Anyone, to the degree of his enlightenment,

sees as much as he has polished himself.

The more he polishes, the more he sees,

the more visible do the forms become.

If you say purity is by the grace of God,

this success in polishing is also through that Generosity.

That work and prayer is in proportion to the yearning:

People have nothing but what they have striven for.

--

With will, fire becomes sweet water;

and without will, even water becomes fire.

One, One, One

The lamps are different.

But the Light is the same.

So many garish lamps in the dying brain's lamp shop,

Forget about them.

Concentrate on essence, concentrate on Light.

In lucid bliss, calmly smoking off its own hold fire,

The Light streams toward you from all things,

All people, all possible permutations of good,evil, thought, passion.

The lamps are different,

But the Light is the same.

One matter, one energy, one Light, one Light-mind,

Endlessly emanating all things.

One turning and burning diamond,

One, one, one.

Ground yourself, strip yourself down,

To blind loving silence.

Stay there, until you see

You are gazing at the Light

With its own ageless eyes.

- Rumi

(translated by Andrew Harvey)

A gem from Rumi...

quite literally :)
In this the month of sacrifice, of putting others above ourselves, in letting dharma win over pettiness, in elevating our spirits from its lower self to the higher, in suffering for good, in enduring for wisdom and understanding....this poem teaches a most beautiful lesson on what it means to be selfless and detached.
In light of tonight's Ruhi section on kindness, on achieveing unity, in understanding what it means to let one's heart burn with loving-kindness for everyone that might pass one's way, I share this Ruby with you, so you may drink in its beauty as I do and savor the full potence of its meaning as it sinks in word by word....

--

The Ruby

At breakfast tea a beloved asked her lover,

"Who do you love more, yourself or me?"

"From my head to my foot I have become you.

Nothing remains of me but my name.

You have your wish. Only you exist.

I've disappeared like a drop of vinegar in the ocean of honey."

A stone has become a ruby,

is filled with the qualities of the sun.

No stoniness remains in it.

If it loves itself, it is loving the sun.

And if it loves the sun, it loves itself.

There is no difference between these two loves.

Before the stone becomes the ruby it is its own enemy.

Not one but two exist.

The stone is dark and blind to daylight.

If it loves itself, it is unfaithful: it intensely resists the sun.

If it says "I," it is all darkness.

A pharaoh claims divinity and is brought down.

Hallaj says the same and is saved.

One I is cursed, another I is blessed.

One I is a stone, another a crystal.

One an enemy of the light, the other a reflector of it.

In its inmost consciousness, not through a doctrine,

it is one with the light.

Work on your stony qualities

and become resplendent like the ruby.

Practice self-denial and accept difficulty.

Always see infinite life in letting the self die.

Your stoniness will decrease; your ruby nature will grow.

The signs of self-existence will leave your body,

and ecstasy will take you over.

Become all hearing like an ear and gain a ruby earring.

Dig a well in the earth of this body,

or even before the well is dug,

let God draw the water up.

Be always at work scraping the dirt from the well.

To everyone who suffers,

perseverance brings good fortune.

The Prophet has said that each prostration of prayer

is a knock on heaven's door.

When anyone continues to knock,

felicity shows its smiling face.

The light which shines in the eye

is really the light of the heart.

The light which fills the heart

is the light of God, which is pure

and separate from the light of intellect and sense.

- Rumi

(translated by Kabir Helminski)

--

Beannacht
("Blessing")

On the day when

the weight deadens

on your shoulders

and you stumble,

may the clay dance

to balance you.

And when your eyes

freeze behindthe grey window

and the ghost of loss

gets in to you,

may a flock of colours,

indigo, red, green,

and azure blue

come to awaken in you

a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays

in the currach of thought

and a stain of ocean

blackens beneath you,

may there come across the waters

a path of yellow moonlight

to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,

may the clarity of light be yours,

may the fluency of the ocean be yours,

may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow

wind work these words

of love around you,

an invisible cloak

to mind your life.

-John O'Donohue

Kurai Ondrum Illai

rAgam: rAgamAlikA
tALam: Adi
Composer: Rajaji
Language: Tamil

Pallavi
Shiva Ranjani
22 KharaharapriyA janya
Aa: S R2 G2 P D2 S
Av: S D2 P G2 R2 S

kuRai onRum illai maRaiMoorththi kaNNA
kuRai onRum illai kaNNA
kuRai onRum illai GOvinthA

Anupallavi
Shiva Ranjani

kaNNukku theriyAmal niRkinRAy kaNNA
kaNNukku TheriyAmal ninRAlum enakku
kuRai onRum illai maRaiMoorththi kaNNA

CharaNam 1
Shiva Ranjani

VEndiyathai thanNthida VEnkaTEsan enRirukka

VEndiyathu VERillai maRaiMoorththi kaNNA
maNivaNNA malaiappA GOvinthA GOvinthA

CharaNam 2
KApi
22 KharaharapriyA janya
Aa: S R2 M1 P N3 S
Av: S N2 D2 N2 P M1 G2 R2 S

thiraiyin pin niRkinRAy kaNNA - unnai
maRai Othum NYAniyar mattuME kANpArenRAlum
kuRai onRum enakkillai kaNNA

CharaNam 3
KApi

kunRin MEl kallAki niRkinRa varathA
kuRai onRum illai maRaiMoorththi kaNNA
maNivaNNA malaiappA GOvinthA GOvinthA

CharaNam 4
Sindhu Bhairavi
10 nATakapriyA janya
Aa: S R2 G2 M1 G2 P D1 N2 S
Av: N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S N2 S

kalinNALukkiranNgi kallilE iRangi
nilaiyAga KOvilil niRkinRAy KEsavA

CharaNam 5
Sindhu Bhairavi

yAthum maRukkAtha malaiyappA - un mArbil
Ethum thara niRkum karuNai kadal annai
enRum irunthida Ethu kuRai enakku
onRum kuRai illai maRaiMoorththi kaNNA
maNivaNNA malaiappA GOvinthA GOvinthA

For March

The thought for the month is:

'May I be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in myself.'