Poetry Chaikhana Blog

A mystic must be supremely pragmatic:
Use what works,
whatever opens the heart
and fires the spirit.

If you are not intensely dedicated
to a high ideal,
then comfort becomes your goal by default
and every difficulty becomes a crisis.

We become what we love.

Everything else is just movement.

We learn the way
by knowing our hearts.

Don’t resent the work.
It gives you the strength to stand
whole and silent
before the Mystery.

Like water, yield
and so find your destination.

To find its perfection
the soul must reveal
its imperfections.

You live in the most sacred place
in the universe:
right here,
right now.

Let that charged space
spark inside you and flash.

Whether our stories are epic or humble,
whether we live on the sharp edges or the flat plains,
we are all on an immense journey.

We don’t find gateways.
We ourselves open.

You have permission
to be rude
when protecting the vulnerable.

Language is the first tool wielded
and the last chain escaped.

The deepest mystery
is in the mirror.

Each day should be approached
with amazement, wonder, gratitude.
After all, what have you done
to earn the inconceivable gift of life?

The awakened heart
is the true church.

Love and compassion are effortless.
The soul is exhausted by the effort
to stop this natural outpouring
of the living heart.