Poetry Chaikhana Blog

Ivan Interviewed

Ivan M. Granger May 30th, 2008

If you’re interested in my thoughts on sacred poetry, how I ended up on this path, or if you’re just curious what my voice sounds like, you may want to listen to an interview I did recently with the Ecstatic Art & Theater Project. They are an excellent organization that explores and encourages the sacred/transcendent/ecstatic in art and theater.

Ecstatic Art & Theater Project

Online Newsletter focusing on sacred poetry.

Audio Interview (20 min).

I’d love to hear your comments on the interview, either via email or through the blog. So please let me know what you thought after listening.

Interviews , Ivan's Story , Poetry
Comments(5)

Hawaiian (Anonymous) - E ho mai

Ivan M. Granger May 30th, 2008

E ho mai
by Hawaiian (Anonymous)

E ho mai
Ka ike mai luna mai e

O na mea huna no eau
O na mele e

E ho mai
E ho mai
E ho mai

Grant us
knowledge from above,

All the wisdom
of the songs.

Grant,
Grant,
Grant us these things.

/ Photo by jaybergesen /

Years ago, I took a class on ho’oponopono. (If you sound it out slowly, it’s not the tounge-twister it first looks like.) Ho’oponopno means literally “to make things right, to return things to harmony.” It is a traditional healing method, but it isn’t focused on healing the body. Ho’oponopno is for healing relationships, families, communities.

As part of the class, I had to learn this chant. Hawaiian chant can be compared to Hindu Sanskrit mantra in that to truly say it properly can take a great deal of training. The inflections are important. The breath is important. Most of all, the sense of personal presence is important.

This Hawaiian chant must be said with force and with heart. It is a prayer, but it is not passive. It is a calling forth, a reaching out and a drawing in — of wisdom, of knowledge, of truth. It evokes in us pono, rightness.

Try sounding out the Hawaiian. Slowly at first, until the sounds become familiar. Then louder, with confidence. Say it over and over again. Imagine repeating this chant in a group. Let it ring through your body and your day!

Hawaiian (Anonymous)

Hawaii (17th Century) Timeline
Primal/Tribal/Shamanic

More poetry by Hawaiian (Anonymous)

Walt Whitman - Who goes there? (from Song of Myself)

Ivan M. Granger May 28th, 2008

[20] Who goes there? hankering, gross, mystical, nude; (from Song of Myself)
by Walt Whitman

Who goes there? hankering, gross, mystical, nude;
How is it I extract strength from the beef I eat?
What is a man anyhow? what am I? what are you?
All I mark as my own you shall offset it with your own,
Else it, were time lost listening to me.
I do not snivel that snivel the world over,
That months are vacuums and the ground but wallow and filth.
Whimpering and truckling fold with powders for invalids, conformity goes to the fourth-removed,
I wear my hat as I please indoors or out.
Why should I pray? why should I venerated and be ceremonious?
Having pried through the strata, analyzed to a hair, counseled with doctors and calculated close,
I find no sweeter fat than sticks to my own bones.
In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barleycorn less,
And the good or bad I say of myself I say of them.
I know I am solid and sound,
To me the converging objects of the universe perpetually flow,
All are written to me, and I must get what the writing means.
I know I am deathless,
I know this orbit of mine cannot be swept by a carpenter’s compass,
I know I shall not pass like a child’s carlacue cut with a burnt stick at night.
I know I am august,
I do not trouble my spirit to vindicate itself or be understood,
I see that the elementary laws never apologize,
(I reckon I behave no prouder than the level I plant my home by, after all.)
I exist as I am, that is enough,
If no other in the world be aware I sit content,
And if each and all be aware I sit content.
One world is aware and by far the largest to me, and that is myself,
And whether I come to my own today or in ten thousand or ten million years,
I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness I can wait.
My foothold is tenoned and mortised in granite,
I laugh at what you call dissolution,
And I know the amplitude of time.

— from Song of Myself, by Walt Whitman

/ Photo by MCS_flickr /

It’s been too long since we’ve had a selection by Walt Whitman. Every time I reread Song of Myself, I am carried away by the rolling tumult of existence — and how it all finally pours into oneself.

A few lines from this section that ring in my mind:

What is a man anyhow? what am I? what are you?

I find no sweeter fat than sticks to my own bones.

In all people I see myself…

I know I am solid and sound,
To me the converging objects of the universe perpetually flow,
All are written to me, and I must get what the writing means.

I know I am deathless,
I know this orbit of mine cannot be swept by a carpenter’s compass…

I exist as I am, that is enough…

I laugh at what you call dissolution,
And I know the amplitude of time.

Walt Whitman

US (1819 - 1892) Timeline
Secular or Eclectic : Transcendentalist

More poetry by Walt Whitman

The agitations of the mind…

Ivan M. Granger May 28th, 2008

The agitations of the mind
are addictive.
Break that addiction
and see what the still mind sees.

Rabindranath Tagore - Ever in my life have I sought thee with my songs (Gitanjali)

Ivan M. Granger May 23rd, 2008

(101) Ever in my life have I sought thee with my songs (from Gitanjali)
by Rabindranath Tagore

English version by Rabindranath Tagore

Ever in my life have I sought thee with my songs. It was they who led me from door to door, and with them have I felt about me, searching and touching my world.
It was my songs that taught me all the lessons I ever learnt; they showed me secret paths, they brought before my sight many a star on the horizon of my heart.
They guided me all the day long to the mysteries of the country of pleasure and pain, and, at last, to what palace gate have they brought me in the evening at the end of my journey?

— from Gitanjali, by Rabindranath Tagore

/ Photo by James Gordon /

I don’t know that there’s much commentary to add to this wonderful verse from Tagore’s Gitanjali. It suggests to me that poetry, the singing of songs, is a rich spiritual pathway in itself. The heightened observation, the dance of words, the flow of meaning behind the words, the flow of breath, the rhythm of the heart, and the soft silence beneath it all… We are carried door to door, guided to the mysteries, and, at last, to the palace gate…

Have a beautiful weekend!

Rabindranath Tagore

India (1861 - 1941) Timeline
Yoga / Hindu

More poetry by Rabindranath Tagore

Dogma

Ivan M. Granger May 23rd, 2008

Dogma is for those
who have tired
of the search.

Website is back up

Ivan M. Granger May 23rd, 2008

If you tried to visit this blog, or any part of the Poetry Chaikhana website Wednesday evening or Thursday morning — everything was down. My internet service provider, the folks who host the website, were hit by a Denial of Service attack. Basically, that means a hacker sent an automated stream of data to their servers, overwhelming them, and shutting their systems down.

Well, we’re back up, with new security in place that should minimize the possibility of that in the future…

Music & Video: Green Children

Ivan M. Granger May 22nd, 2008

A lovely video montage set to music. Produced by The Green Children Foundation which supports microcredit, education, and healthcare.

Music , Videos
Comments(0)

Abu-Said Abil-Kheir - Love Came

Ivan M. Granger May 21st, 2008

Love came
by Abu-Said Abil-Kheir

English version by Peter Lamborn Wilson and Nasrollah Pourjavady

Love came
      flowed like blood
      beneath skin, through veins
emptied me of my self
      filled me
      with the Beloved
till every limb
      every organ was seized
      and occupied
till only
      my name remains.
      the rest is It.

— from The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry, Translated by Peter Lamborn Wilson / Translated by Nasrollah Pourjavady

/ Photo by fazen /

I really like the visceral start to this poem.

Love came
flowed like blood
beneath skin, through veins

It’s so physical, even slightly disturbing. Sheikh Abu-Said Abil-Kheir wants to literally get under your skin with those opening lines.

Many… One

Ivan M. Granger May 21st, 2008

Many bodies,
Many objects,
Many thoughts,
Many experiences –
One Being.

Health Update

Ivan M. Granger May 16th, 2008

I’ve been getting several emails from people concerned about my health, asking for an update. My health has been up and down, but I think the trend is generally on the upswing and I seem to be out of the most critical state. I still haven’t been able to return to my work as a computer programmer, but I hope to resume limited hours in the next couple of weeks.

The question has also come up, If I’ve been unable to do even basic work lately, how have I managed to continue with the poetry emails? Truthfully, I don’t know. Composing these emails is the only thing I seem to have enough energy for. I guess it’s what I’m supposed to be doing.

Ramakrishna - Is there anyone in the universe

Ivan M. Granger May 16th, 2008

Is there anyone in the universe,
by Ramakrishna

English version by Lex Hixon

Is there anyone in the universe,
among heavenly or earthly beings,
who can understand what Kali is?
The systems of all traditions
are powerless to describe Her.
Is Mother a feminine being
or greater than Being itself?

Chanting Her transforming Name –
OM KALI OM KALI OM KALI,
empowers Lord Shiva,
Who is transcendent Knowledge,
to drink the negativity of all beings,
turning His Throat dark blue.
Without Her protection
such poison would be deadly,
even to the highest Divinity.

More than Creator and creation,
Mother is sheer Creativity
beyond the notion of duality.
Universe and Father-God
are thrilling glances
from Her seductive Eyes.
Always pregnant with ecstasy,
She gives birth to manifest Being
from Her Womb of primal Awareness,
nursing it tenderly at Her Breast,
then playfully consumes Her Child.
The world dissolves instantly
upon touching Her white Teeth,
attaining the realization
of Her brilliant Voidness.

The various Divine Forms
that manifest throughout history
take refuge at Her Lotus Feet.
The Essence of Divinity,
the Great Ground of Being,
lies in ecstatic absorption
beneath Her red-soled Feet.

Is Mother simply a Goddess?
Does She need a male consort
to protect or complete Her?
The cycle of birth and death
bows reverently before Her.
Is She simply naked
or is She naked Truth?
No veil can conceal Her.
Her naked radiance slays demons
not with weapons but with splendor.

If Mother is a conventional wife,
why is She dancing fiercely
on the breast of Shiva?
Her timeless play destroys
conventions and conceptions.
She is primal purity,
Her ecstatic lovers are purity.
Purity merges into purity,
with no remainder.

I am totally inebriated
by Her wine of timeless bliss.
The wine cup is Her Name –
OM KALI OM KALI OM KALI.
Those drunk on ordinary wine
assume I am one of them.

Not everyone will encounter
the dazzling darkness
called Goddess Kali.
Not everyone can consciously receive
the infinite treasure of Her Nature.
The foolish mind refuses
to perceive and accept
that She alone exists.
Even the noble Lord Shiva,
most enlightened of beings,
can barely catch a glimpse
of Her flashing crimson Feet.

The wealth of world-emperors
and the richness of Paradise
are but abject poverty
to those who meditate on Her.
To swim in a single Glance
from Her three Cosmic Eyes
is to be immersed
in an ocean of ecstasy.

Not even Shiva, prince of yogis,
can focus upon Her dancing Feet
without falling into trance.
Yet the worthless lover
who sings this mad song
aspires to conscious union with Her
during waking, dream, and deep sleep.

— from Great Swan: Meetings with Ramakrishna, by Lex Hixon

/ Photo by katmere /

I thought this poem would nicely round out our our week of celebrating the Great Mother, a poem dedicated to the Goddess Kali.

There is so much I could comment on here, but somehow it feels irreverent to add more words to Ramakrishna’s ecstatic outpouring.

I am totally inebriated
by Her wine of timeless bliss.

Ramakrishna

India (1836 - 1886) Timeline
Yoga / Hindu : Shakta (Goddess-oriented)

Don’t ask questions with simple answers…

Ivan M. Granger May 16th, 2008

Don’t ask questions
with simple answers.
Ask the questions
that bring you face-to-face with the Mystery.

Hildegard von Bingen - Alleluia-verse for the Virgin

Ivan M. Granger May 14th, 2008

O virga mediatrix / Alleluia-verse for the Virgin
by Hildegard of Bingen

English version by Barbara Newman

Alleluia! light
burst from your untouched
womb like a flower
on the farther side
of death. The world-tree
is blossoming. Two
realms become one.

— from Symphonia: A Critical Edition of the Symphonia armonie celstium revelationum, by Hildegard of Bingen / Translated by Barbara Newman

/ Photo by watchsmart /

Let’s continue this week’s exploration of the maternal aspect of the Divine, by contemplating the Christian image of the Virgin Mary.

Many westerners who were raised in the Christian tradition but who have gone on to explore other spiritual traditions often shy away from a figure like Mary. The emphasis on her virginity sounds to modern secular thinkers like questionable biology, and a religious disdain for normal human sexuality. Frequent references to her womb can, at times, sound as if religious thinkers only value women as vehicles through which children are born. Those notions are certainly serious social concerns, but we can understand this same imagery as carrying profound spiritual meaning, as well.

One way to understand the figure of Mary is that she represents the heart or the soul. Joseph represents the intellect. From this perspective, the gospel story of the virgin birth takes on ever deeper dimensions.

Ivan Health Update

Ivan M. Granger May 12th, 2008

My health hit a crisis state last week, and I was debating whether or not to check into a hospital. (Not something I was eager to do without medical insurance.) My body is finding its way out of that extreme state, but I haven’t been able to work much in the past week and a half. Your donations right now are a life-saver! I want you to know that your contributions are making a huge difference in helping me to weather this difficult time. Again, thank you, all!

And thank you also for the many, many kind emails and letters. I haven’t been able to respond to every message, but I am so touched by the community’s outpouring of care and support.

(Okay, ’nuff said for now. I don’t want to weigh the blog down with too much talk of this stuff…)

Chinook (Anonymous) - Teach us, and show us the Way

Ivan M. Granger May 12th, 2008

Teach us, and show us the Way
by Chinook (Anonymous)

We call upon the earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring
heights, its vitality and abundance of life, and together we ask that it

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the mountains, the Cascades and the Olympics, the high green
valleys and meadows filled with wild flowers, the snows that never melt, the
summits of intense silence, and we ask that they

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon, that flow in our
rivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields and we ask that they

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the land which grows our food, the nurturing soil, the fertile fields,
the abundant gardens and orchards, and we ask that they

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the forests, the great trees reaching strongly to the sky with earth in
their roots and the heavens in their branches, the fir and the pine and the
cedar, and we ask them to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the creatures of the fields and forests and the seas, our brothers and
sisters the wolves and deer, the eagle and dove, the great whales and the dolphin,
the beautiful Orca and salmon who share our Northwest home, and we ask them to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon all those who have lived on this earth, our ancestors and our friends,
who dreamed the best for future generations, and upon whose lives our lives are
built, and with thanksgiving, we call upon them to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred, the presence and power of
the Great Spirit of love and truth which flows through all the Universe, to be with
us to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

— from The Essential Mystics: Selections from the World’s Great Wisdom Traditions, Edited by Andrew Harvey

/ Photo by mudeth /

I took a slow walk in a field yesterday. The spring grasses were green and tall. The young leaves on the trees danced in the breeze. The late day sun lit the world with a golden glow.

Every day, in some way, is like that.

—

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, so I thought we’d celebrate the maternal aspect of the Divine this week. Let’s start with that most primal, tangible embodiment of the Great Mother — Mother Earth.

Teach us, and show us the Way…

Chinook (Anonymous)

US (18th Century) Timeline
Primal/Tribal/Shamanic : Native American