Listening

Whispers on the whistling wind
and rustlings in the reeds
sing to me a song of sighs
and daring, dashing deeds.

The clamours of the closing clouds
now make the mountains moan
while frightening, flashing lightning leaps
in throngs ’round thunder’s throne.

But bedrock balanced on the brae
sits still in stately stone,
watching worlds winging by,
not lonely but alone.

Eitherwhere

If I’m not in this place,
I might be in another,
so Eitherwhere’s your ace
to save you lots of bother.

I might be in or out,
I might be here or there,
and yet without a doubt,
you know I’m Eitherwhere.

Everywhere I’ve been
and anywhere I go,
it seems I’m always in
some Eitherwhere, and so

if you’ve looked all around
and also in the square,
you know I will be found,
since you’ve tried Eitherwhere.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, Part XXXIV

11:14-34

And thus Arjuna, wonderstruck, beheld
A vision of the Lord unparalleled,
The hairs upon his arms stood up in awe,
E’en as his heart beyond his bosom swelled.

A million suns could not produce that Light
Which in Its divine glory blessed his sight,
And every atom of creation now
His soul traversed in instantaneous flight.

And in each planet, star and galaxy,
Each particle that is, was, or will be,
The Lord of All was gazing back at him
In neverending love and ecstasy.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, Part XXXIII

11:2-4
Arjuna said, “O Krishna, Lotus Eyes!
Through Your teachings into bliss I rise,
And yet I long to see You as Your Self—
That boundless Truth behind Your worldly guise.”

11:5-7
The Lord replied, “Arjuna now behold,
As multifarious forms I will unfold
Of worlds and wonders hitherto unknown,
All held within My form of joy untold.”

11:8
“Yet mortal eyes cannot this vision see,
And so, Arjuna, dearest devotee,
For this boon I grant you sight Divine!
Open your inner eye and gaze on Me!”

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, Part XXXII

10:12-18
Arjuna asked of Krishna, “Dearest Lord,
How can Your qualities be ever scored?
How may I come to know You as You are,
And in what forms and aspects best adored?”

10:20
The Lord replied, “O Conqueror of Sleep,
In all created beings I dwell deep
Within their hearts. I their existence sow,
Provide for, nourish, tend and reap.”

10:21-42
“Among celestial orbs, I am the Sun,
The Ganges in each sacred river’s run,
Of things unmoving, Himalayas I,
And true beginning of each thing begun.

“The highest and the best in everything,
The sight in both the seeing and unseeing.
All creation is sustained with but
The smallest piece of My essential being.”

What's Wrong with the Music?

Too fast a waltz? Switch to Viennese.
Too slow instead? A cross-step suits it well.
And if it isn’t either one of these,
a rotary, or box-step should be swell.
Do slow and heavy backbeats make you blue?
Try nightclub two-step there, instead of swing.
You’ll find there’s always something you can do
to anything the DJ cares to bring.
So take the music as your guide—you’ll find
there’s nothing wrong with anything you hear,
and with Life’s melody become entwined,
trusting that He who sings it holds you dear.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, Part XXXI

5:13
The soul that dwells within and can maintain
Control of senses, faculties and brain,
Over the body’s city of nine gates
Secure in bliss forevermore shall reign.

5:29
He will find peace who knows Me as the One
To Whom devotion’s many streamlets run.
All offerings and sacrifices I
Receive, the dearest Friend of everyone.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, Part XXX

15:1
The great Ashvatta tree, so say the wise,
Has limbs below and branches in the skies;
Its leaves are made of holy Vedic hymns;
From knowing it, true wisdom may arise.

15:2
Yet, guna-born, by senses fed and held,
This tree by worldly means cannot be felled.
Its roots extend into this world, and thus
To action, good or bad, we are compelled.

15:3-4
Only the sage, by non-attachment pure,
Can fell this tree whose roots will else endure,
And, finding refuge in its Source beyond,
May thus his true security ensure.

Order of Operations

Parentheses, exponents, multiplication,
     division, addition, subtraction;
Passivity, exclusion, mentation,
     discussion, accord, satisfaction;
Power, extremism, mastery,
     diplomacy, amity, safety;
Poetry, expression, mystery,
     discovery, ascension, samadhi.

April Fools

April fools
but May sees through it;
June has tools,
but July will do it;
August the crown
that September wears;
October frowns,
while November swears;
December ends,
so January may start;
and February tends
to March’s heart.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, Part XXIX

3:10
From the Divine seek all that you desire,
And offer up your energy entire
Into that Source from which all power comes,
To find there all your heart will e’er require.

3:14-15
All creatures live by food, by rain, by sun,
And so since the Beginning they have done.
Trace back this power of Life within yourself!
Complete the ring that makes Creation one!

3:36
Arjuna asked: What is that fearsome power
That plagues mankind from birth to final hour,
Impels us to do wrong against our will,
And all our good intentions does devour?

3:37
Desire it is, the Lord Krishna replied,
And anger at desire unsatisfied—
Desire and anger, those twin enemies,
Keep mankind’s will unto delusion tied.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, Part XXVIII

1:20
Arjuna, who has tamed the monkey mind,
Whose spine straight as an arrow is aligned,
Then called upon his Divine charioteer,
A call of love uplifted and refined.

1:21-23
O Changeless Krishna! come and ride with me
Between the armies, where we thus may see
What foes these are with whom I must contend,
Who take sides with delusion willingly.

1:26-27
And there upon the battlefield appeared
Before their eyes a host of soldiers tiered,
Of cousins, uncles, brothers, teachers, friends,
Who with familial love had been revered.

1:33-34
For even so are each of us at war
Within ourselves, with conflicts by the score,
The light and dark opposing qualities
Entangled in our egos heretofore.

1:47
At this Arjuna set aside his bow,
His head and heart awhirl with doubt and woe.
My Lord, You know I cannot fight my kin,
No matter if whole worlds they overthrow!

2:2-3
Krishna replied: Is this how courage dies?
What warrior’s words are these that agonize!
Cast off such weakness! Lift your heart in strength!
Arjuna, Scorcher of All Foes, arise!

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, Part XXVII

1:1
The blind mind called: Sanjaya, come to me,
So that through introspection I may see
What on the battlefield of righteousness
This day befell, and what the outcome be.

1:10
Sanjaya told of countless troops arrayed,
Delusions endless, ready to invade.
Against them all, the forces of the Light,
Though few in number, stand up unafraid.

1:12-14
Then both the armies let their conches sing,
Their soldiers all to courage summoning.
On one side all the clamors of the world,
The other inner strength inspiring.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, part XXVI

18:46-47
Perfection is attained when, from the heart,
One offers up his own especial art—
O, better death in dharma of one’s own,
Than playing with success another’s part!

18:49
Each one I will in victory enthrone
Who, unattached, knows nothing as his own,
Who reigns triumphant from his highest Self,
From whom all lesser, base desires have flown.

18:63
And now that Wisdom, sacred, secret, true,
My devotee, has been revealed to you,
Reflect on it, absorb it in your soul,
And, going forth, do as you feel to do.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, part XXV

18:37
What seems like poison first, yet proves to be
The sweetest nectar of the Living Tree,
Is sattwic happiness and leads to Bliss
Through clear perception of the Self in Me.

18:38
Rajasic are those pleasures which arise
Through senses and the objects that they prize.
Like nectar first, like poison in the end,
These traitors are avoided by the wise.

18:39
That “happiness,” so called, which most offends
Is that which all the fire of Life expends.
Unconscious, drunk, unkempt—in such
Tamasic stupor it begins and ends.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, part XXIV

17:1
Arjuna asked: Of those who set aside
Those rules and laws by scripture codified,
Yet with devotion make their sacrifice,
What is their worship—false, or sanctified?

17:2
The Blessed Lord said: Here the only test
Is in the quality of faith expressed,
Rajasic, sattwic or tamasic rites
Are to their own degrees both judged and blessed.

17:11
A sacrifice to God is ne’er in vain
If done without desire for private gain,
But offered up with love and firm belief—
This one from Me all blessings shall obtain.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, part XXIII

16:21
From these three: anger, lust and greed for gain,
Man in his own self-interest should abstain.
Destroying happiness of soul in all,
These certain paths to hell are paved with pain.

16:23
That one who, by desires ego-driven,
Ignores the holy texts to all men given,
Finds neither happiness nor peace of mind,
And from his sacred Goal is fully riven.

16:24
So take true scriptures, therefore, as your guide,
And with them keep your consciousness allied.
Intuitively understand their laws,
And find your life with wisdom fortified.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, part XXII

16:1-3
The Blessed Lord said: Gentle, modest, kind,
Pure of heart, of even-keeled mind,
Steadfast of purpose, fearless, radiant—
These are the traits of one to God inclined.

16:4
Vainglory, self-conceit and arrogance,
Wrathfulness and restless ignorance,
All these, O Pandava, identify
Those in whose nature all the demons dance.

16:5
All qualities Divine to freedom lead,
Demonic ones continued bondage breed.
Fear not, Arjuna—you have long refined
Such qualities that soon will see you freed!

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, part XXI

15:16
All things created are impermanent,
Destruction-bound, that none can circumvent.
Yet Cosmic Consciousness immortal is—
Naught else but these, Creation’s fundament.

15:17
However, there exists another One,
Beyond these two, beyond the stars and sun,
Yet permeating all Creation’s realms—
Supreme sustaining Self, the Unbegun.

15:19
O he from whom has all delusion flown,
Who fills his heart and mind with Me alone,
And knows Me as the Being beyond all,
That one knows all there is that can be known.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, part XX

14:5
O Mighty-armed Arjuna, those which bind
The everlasting soul to earthly grind,
Are three essential blended qualities
Of Sattwa, Rajas, Tamas, here outlined.

14:6
O Sinless One, of all these gunas three,
Sattwa brings wisdom and vitality,
Yet still results in bondage of the soul,
Though the attachments be of high degree.

14:7
The quality of Rajas is imbued
With passions by desires and whims accrued,
And thus it binds one through intensity
Of expectations, restlessness of mood.

14:8
And last, Creation’s darkest attribute
Of Tamas is the one that will pollute
All noble thoughts with sloth and ignorance,
And all high aspirations will refute.