Music & Video: Snatam Kaur Khalsa
Ivan M. Granger April 30th, 2008
This lovely video was recommended by Cinza. Moving meditative kirtan in the Sikh tradition by Snatam Kaur Khalsa. From a London performance. A nice pairing with Guru Nanak’s poem…
Archive for April, 2008
Guru Nanak - Ek Omkar
Ivan M. Granger April 30th, 2008
Ek Omkar
by Guru Nanak
English version by John Stratton Hawley and Mark Juergensmeyer
1
Omkar
True name
Person who creates
Beyond fear and opposition
A form beyond time
Unborn, self-born
The guru’s grace.
Repeat this.
The ancient truth, ageless truth
Is also, now, truth.
And Nanak says,
It will always be truth.
— from Songs of the Saints of India, Translated by John Stratton Hawley / Translated by Mark Juergensmeyer
/ Photo by Koshyk /
Those first lines, “1 Omkar” or “Ek Omkar” are the opening lines of the Sikh holy book, the Adi Granth Sahib. “Ek Omkar” forms a primary mantra and a core statement of belief for the Sikh faith.
Omkar is the fundamental sound “OM” that permeates and underlies all of existence. Omkar is understood as God or the “true name” of God. Omkar is the sound or vibration of God through which creation comes into existence (what, in Christian theology, would be called The Word). Thus Guru Nanak refers to Omkar as the “Person who creates.”
“Ek Omkar” is read to mean “God is One,” and since all of creation is the result of Omkar’s vibration of manifestation, all of creation similarly is One in God. “Ek Omkar” is an assertion of supreme inclusivity and sacred unity.
Video: From Me to WE and Beyond
Ivan M. Granger April 28th, 2008
I thought this beautiful video was worth sharing. A collage of thoughts and images as a reminder that we can choose the world we live in and the way we live in the world.
Produced by the Surprise Foundation
Music by Ottmar Liebert
Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi - I believe in the religion
Ivan M. Granger April 28th, 2008
I believe in the religion
by Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi
English version by Maurice Gloton
I believe in the religion
Of Love
Whatever direction its caravans may take,
For love is my religion and my faith.
— from Perfect Harmony: (Calligrapher’s Notebooks) , by Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi
/ Photo by bachmont /
This short verse says so much with its few words. Like the caravan it mentions, if we follow it we are led into wide open lands as yet undreamed of…
This selection is an excerpt from Ibn ‘Arabi’s long poem The Interpreter of Desires. The Interpreter of Desires is a multi-layered love poem that, like the Song of Songs in the Bible and many of the courtly love songs of the Troubadours, reveals itself to ultimately be an exploration of the soul’s yearning for God. It is a tale of a holy pilgrimage to Mecca, in which the hero meets a young Persian woman of pure beauty named Nizham (Harmony). This encounter with such a perfect embodiment of harmony inspires an ardent quest that becomes a quest for the True Beloved, for God.
|
Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi
Spain (1165 - 1240) Timeline |
Antonio Machado - Songs
Ivan M. Granger April 25th, 2008
Songs
by Antonio Machado
English version by Ivan Granger
I
Against the flowering mountain,
the wide sea surges.
The comb of my honeybees
has gathered grains of salt.
II
Against the black water.
Scent of sea and jasmine.
Malaga night.
III
Spring has come.
No one knows what has happened.
IV
Spring has come.
White hallelujahs
from the brambles in flower!
V
Full moon, full moon,
so pregnant, so round.
This serene March night,
honeycomb of light
carved by white bees!
VI
Castille night;
the song is said,
or, better, unsaid.
When all sleep
I’ll go to the window.
VII
Sing, sing in clear rhyme,
the almond’s green arm
and the river’s double willow.
Sing of the motled oak,
the branch the ax cut,
and the flower no one sees.
Of the garden pear’s
white flower, the peach tree’s
rosy blossom.
And this perfume
the wet wind plucked
from the blossoming beans.
VIII
The fountain and the four
acacias aflower
in the plaza.
The sun burns no more.
Twilight bliss!
Sing, nightingale.
This is the hour
of my heart.
IX
White lodge,
traveler’s cell,
with my shadow!
X
The Roman waterway,
– sings a voice from my homeland –
and the love we have for each other,
little one, what strength!
XI
With words of love
a bit of exaggeration
just feels right.
XII
In Santo Domingo,
the high mass.
Even though they call me
heretic and Mason,
praying with you,
what devotion!
XIII
Celebrations in the green pasture
– fife and drum.
With his flower-draped crook
and golden sandals a shepherd came.
Down from the mountain I came,
only to dance with her;
to the mountain I’ll return.
Among the bower
there is a nightingale;
it sings of night and of day,
it sings of the moon and the sun.
Husky from song:
to the garden goes the girl
and a rose she will cut.
Between the black oaks,
there is a fountain of stone,
and a clay pitcher
that is never full.
By the oak wood,
with the white moon,
she will return.
XIV
With you in Valonsadero,
Feast of San Juan,
morning in the Argentine plain,
on the other side of the sea.
Keep faith in me,
that I will return.
Tomorrow I’ll be the wind upon the plain
and my heart itself will go
to the banks of the High Douro.
XV
While you are dancing in a circle,
girls, sing:
The fields are already green,
April in his splendor has come.
At the riverbank,
near the black oaks,
his silver sandals
we’ve seen shine.
The fields are already green,
April in his splendor has come.
/ Photo by Francois Schnell /
Here is a translation I did of one of Antonio Machado’s poems.
As with most of his poetry, the land itself is his primary subject. For Machado, the countryside is always alive, still, very present, awakening a deeper, but somewhat melancholy awareness of all that is.
All of mysticism comes down to this…
Ivan M. Granger April 23rd, 2008
All of mysticism comes down to this:
to recognize
what is already
and always there.
Hildegard von Bingen - Antiphon for Patriarchs and Prophets
Ivan M. Granger April 23rd, 2008
O spectabiles viri / Antiphon for Patriarchs and Prophets
by Hildegard of Bingen
English version by Barbara Newman
Spectacular men! you see
with the spirit’s eyes,
piercing the veil.
In a luminous shade you proclaim
a sharp living brightness
that buds from a branch
that blossomed alone
when the radical light took root.
Holy ones of old! you foretold
deliverance for the souls
of exiles
slumped in the dead lands.
Like wheels you
spun round in wonder as you spoke
of the mysterious mountain
at the brink of heaven
that stills many waters, sailing
over the waves.
And a shining lamp
burned in the midst of you!
Pointing,
he runs to the mountain.
— from Symphonia: A Critical Edition of the Symphonia armonie celstium revelationum, by Hildegard of Bingen / Translated by Barbara Newman
/ Photo by Wolfgang Staudt /
A few thoughts –
Spectacular men! you see
with the spirit’s eyes,
piercing the veil.
That taunting veil of surface seeming. It both hides and it reveals. It dances and teases the senses. But there is a point at which we must learn to see through its gauzy fabric.
In a luminous shade…
I’ve spoken often of the radiance experienced by many mystics in deep contemplation (”And a shining lamp / burned in the midst of you!”), but I like the way Hildegard von Bingen pairs that luminosity with “shade.” Continue Reading »
Health, Suffering, and Spirit
Ivan M. Granger April 22nd, 2008
Since sending out my message about my health over the weekend, several people have written me to tell me their own stories of dealing with chronic illness, — some with significantly more debilitating symptoms than my own – and the often problematic journey to health or freedom from pain. The will and heart people show in the unseen struggles of daily life continually nudge me to view every person’s experiences with the deepest respect.
Those stories, along with my own situation, have naturally inspired some contemplation on questions of disease, suffering, healing, and spirituality… Continue Reading »
Ivan M. Granger - Every Shaped Thing
Ivan M. Granger April 21st, 2008
Every Shaped Thing
by Ivan M. Granger
Sighing,
every shaped thing
turns
heavenward.
Your altar
cannot seat
the thousand thousand
idols.
Holding them,
what do you have?
Each gilded god
says:
“I am
impoverished
by the sun.
I can only
point
up.”
/ Photo by wjmarnoch /
The sky, this past weekend, was clear, with that crystalline sharp blue hovering over the Flatirons. I sat outside, feeling the sun on my face and arms, watching the branches with their shy spring buds dancing lazily in the breeze, listening to the birds singing to the day. I didn’t do much, didn’t think much, just let the life of the world lay its healing touch on me…
–
I wrote this poem when I lived on the island of Maui years ago. I was standing outside with a scattered forest of eucalyptus and wattle trees in front of me, with Haleakala volcano to my back. I was standing there in a state of deep meditation, when I opened my eyes — and I just saw how everything is reaching, turning, pointing heavenward. The material world, when objectified becomes a confusing tangle of desire objects; but when seen truly, quietly, it acts as a great signpost guiding us, pointing out the direction.
All of creation — every person, every thing, even every idea, “every shaped thing” — is just a reflection of the divine radiance present everywhere.
Whenever we desire a thing… or person or experience, we artificially deify it, the desire and mental fixation becoming a low form of worship. Continue Reading »
Use everything…
Ivan M. Granger April 21st, 2008
Use everything:
Joy, fear, success, suffering.
A seeker hasn’t the luxury
to waste life in pursuit
of easy, grand experiences.
Ivan’s Health
Ivan M. Granger April 19th, 2008
About a month ago, I was diagnosed with a metabolic disorder that periodically causes profound fatigue, mild tremors in the arms, sometimes irregular heartbeat. These are symptoms I’ve had on and off throughout my life, but in recent weeks they’ve been so severe that I finally sought a medical diagnosis. Because of the severity of my symptoms recently, I’ve been unable to fully support myself and my family through my day job as a computer programmer. As someone who is self-employed (as well as a spiritual seeker and sometimes poet who doesn’t fit well into societal structures) I have no health insurance to cover my medical expenses or lost wages.
For that reason I am reaching out to you, the Poetry Chaikhana community, for help.
First, let me acknowledge all of you who have already sent contributions to the Poetry Chaikhana. Knowing that no donation is ever required, I am always humbled by and deeply appreciative of every contribution.
I also recognize that I am not the only one with financial challenges, so please don’t ever feel you need to send anything you can’t truly afford. A small amount – from many people – is immensely helpful. Many contributions from many people makes the Poetry Chaikhana a community project, maintained by many helping hands.
If you find inspiration and meaning in the Poetry Chaikhana poems and commentary, and if you can afford to do so, please consider making a donation. You can click one of the donation buttons below to contribute online through PayPal, or you can mail a check or money order to:
Poetry Chaikhana
PO Box 2320
Boulder, CO 80306
The amount is always up to you, and it is not a requirement, just a request.
Of course, I welcome all of your prayers and supportive thoughts. That too is a valuable offering.
Thank you so much.
Ivan
A Blessing for One Who is Exhausted
by John O’Donohue
When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic,
Time takes on the strain until it breaks;
Then all the unattended stress falls in
On the mind like an endless, increasing weight,
The light in the mind becomes dim.
Things you could take in your stride before
Now become laborsome events of will.
Weariness invades your spirit.
Gravity begins falling inside you,
Dragging down every bone.
The ride you never valued has gone out.
And you are marooned on unsure ground.
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push yourself back to life.
You have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken for the race of days.
At first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.
You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.
— from To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings, by John O’Donohue
Judah Halevi - Lord, Where Shall I Find You?
Ivan M. Granger April 18th, 2008
Lord, Where Shall I Find You?
by Judah Halevi
English version by T. Carmi
Lord, where shall I find You? Your
place is lofty and secret. And where
shall I not find You? The whole earth is
full of Your glory!
You are found in man’s innermost
heart, yet You fixed earth’s boundaries.
You are a strong tower for those who
are near, and the trust of those who are
far. You are enthroned on the cherubim,
yet You dwell in the heights of heaven.
You are praised by Your hosts,
but even their praise is not worthy of
You. The sphere of heaven cannot
contain You; how much less the
chambers of the Temple!
Even when You rise above Your hosts
on a throne, high and exalted, You are
nearer to them than their own bodies
and souls. Their mouths attest that they
have no Maker except You. Who shall
not fear You? All bear the yoke of Your
kingdom. And who shall not call to You?
It is You who give them their food.
I have sought to come near You, I have
called to You with all my heart; and
when I went out towards You, I found
You coming towards me. I look upon
Your wondrous power and awe. Who
can say that he has not seen You? The
heavens and their legions proclaim
Your dread — without a sound.
— from The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse, Edited by T. Carmi
/ Photo by Nicholas_T /
And where
shall I not find You? The whole earth is
full of Your glory!
Something by the Jewish poet Judah Halevi in honor of the beginning of Passover…
when I went out towards You, I found
You coming towards me…
| Judah Halevi |
Sultan Bahu - I knew God well when love flashed before me
Ivan M. Granger April 16th, 2008
I knew God well when love flashed before me.
by Sultan Bahu
English version by Jamal Elias
I knew God well when love flashed before me.
It gives me strength by night and day, and shows what lies ahead.
In me are flames, in me is fuel, in me is smoke.
I only found my Beloved, Bahu, when love made me aware.
— from Death Before Dying: Sufi Poetry of Sultan Bahu, by Sultan Bahu / Translated by Jamal Elias
I knew God well when love flashed before me.
I don’t know that I have much to add to today’s poem. The lines themselves, repeated, become kindling in the mind…
In me are flames, in me is fuel, in me is smoke.
|
Sultan Bahu
Pakistan/India (1628 - 1691) Timeline |
Come unarmed…
Ivan M. Granger April 16th, 2008
Come to that confrontation
with yourself on all sides.
Come unarmed.
The secret: Embrace everything you find.
Music & Video: Manose
Ivan M. Granger April 16th, 2008
Manose is a world-famous flute player from Nepal. Soaring notes carry you to a land of flowering mountain fields and clear skies.
This video is a nice sampler of his music and bright personality.
Manose
Suskera Solo Bamboo Flute
“Offering three mesmerizing pieces for solo bamboo flute, each based on a different Indian scale, this leads the listener deeper into a mood of serenity.”
Georg Feuerstein - Odin’s Ordeal
Ivan M. Granger April 14th, 2008
Odin’s Ordeal
by Georg Feuerstein
Nine days.
Nine nights.
Speared by his own hand,
he hung silently
on the tree at world’s end.
The cosmic winds were tearing
furiously at his bones.
His mind was spread out infinitely
in the reliquary of time.
He waited breathlessly,
every fiber surrendered,
every flickering thought
hovering in the nowhere
of the ever-present moment.
He, single-eyed Odin,
waited dispassionately
for death to end
and new knowledge to burgeon.
All was as it will be.
— from Transparent Leaves from the Tree of Life: Metaphysical Poems, by Georg Feuerstein
/ Photo by schizoform /
I like the way this poem shows the confluence of esoteric themes in Norse, Christian, and Yogic traditions.
The Odin myth-story has several striking parallels with the Gospel stories of Christ. Odin is crucified on a tree. He is “speared.” He is hung for nine days, a tripling of the three days of Christ’s entombment and journey in the realms of death.
Subscribe (