Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Search the Poetry Chaikhana site:

<<Previous Poem | View All Poems by Ram Tzu (Wayne Liquorman) |
You think of the Path by Ram Tzu (Wayne Liquorman) (1950 - ) Timeline Original Language English Yoga / Hindu : Advaita / Non-Dualist Secular or Eclectic Contemporary You think of the Path As a long arduous climb Up the mountain. You concede there may be Many paths But you're sure All have the same Exalted goal. Ram Tzu knows this... There ARE many Paths. Like streams They flow effortlessly (though not necessarily painlessly) Down the mountain. All disappear Into the desert sands below     -- from No Way: For the Spiritually ³Advanced², by Wayne Liquorman Amazon.com	Themes   Mountain   Water       Recommended Books No Way: For the Spiritually ³Advanced², by Wayne Liquorman
<<Previous Poem | More Poems by Ram Tzu (Wayne Liquorman) |

Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

Ramesh Balsekar died this past weekend, on September 27. He was a well-known as a spiritual teacher of Advaita Vedanta, the Hindu nondualist tradition. So I thought it might be appropriate to remember him through this poem by one of his best known Western students Wayne Liquorman (who sometimes writes under the pen name of Ram Tzu).

==

In this poem, why do you suppose Ram Tzu has reversed the traditional image of the spiritual journey, transforming it from a path (or many paths) that go up a mountain into many streams that flow down a mountain... and disappear into sands? What is he saying about effort and non-effort? What does the image of the streams disappearing into the sands say about his nondualist perspective?

A few questions to contemplate...

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.