Competition.

Compete against 

what you accomplished 

and who you were yesterday. 

Now!!!! 

His One Great Desire.

    His one great desire, was to see Ganga merge back, into the salty, briny, Bay of Bengal. A seed had been planted in the young boys mind, many years earlier. Tales told around a blazing fire, by his Guru, of past adventures.

     His Guru's Hermitage was nestled in, by the banks of the mighty river. He listened to her rushing by in the Spring, as the snows melted. For the rest of the year she was mostly quiet. 

       He had travelled north with his Master, up to Dev Priyag and the 4 Dhams but quietly to himself, he imagined the cities she travelled through, as She journeyed east. He fantasised about where she loved the most. 

      He saw the river as a great allegorical confirmation of love, it never ends, it's always flowing and it comes from above. 

      When his Master passed away suddenly, he remembered the river and the great message She had taught him. His grief was brief, as he could see that his Master had merged and become everything. 

     His Guru's last request was to be taken back to his Gurus resting place and to be buried there beside him.

     He had spent almost 3 years tending to his Masters Samadhi. Here, he had watched over his Guru's resting place, with great love and devotion.

     He kept a diya lit at all times. Day and night, he had done severe tapas and pennance, in this harsh and remote landscape. For 3 years he had been immersed in a trance of devotion. Now he felt the time was right, to depart and make his way along Ganga, down to where, she merged back into the ocean. Taking with all the blessings from the thousands of souls that worshipped her Divinity. 

       It was a dream he'd spent many nights playing out in his mind, as he waited to fall asleep. 

       He passed through the city of lights and trekked on foot and by boat, right down to the ancient, ruined, sprawl of Calcutta. Here he visited Dhakshineshwar Temple and Ma Kali. Close by, he stopped at a cremation ground. Here, he fell into a blissful, divine, ecstasy,

      He danced and sang ecstatically all through the night and well into the morning. The aunties  from the nearby village. looked after him. They fed him and clothed him and sheltered him. He never felt hunger but they fed him anyway. He never asked for a thing but he indulged their loving hearts, to their loving hearts content. It was here, he spent the best part of two years, lost to the world, in pure, being, awareness and bliss. Sat Chit Anandam.

       Devotee's had started to gather around, this bright, shining light. He would dance and sing and tell stories, most nights or he would sit as silent as a ghost, before the raging fire. He would bless them and guide them and answer their simple questions. 

     When he felt it was time to return home, he never looked back but he carried that place back, with him. But never spoke of that time, to anyone again.

   

The Five Elements.

We have to let go,

of all of our worries

and throw them into the Fire. 

Then we must throw the ashes,

from the cleansing Fire,

Into the laundering Wind,

or into the deep blue Sea. 

Or we could return them to the Earth,

that's beneath our humble feet. 

And then we just have,

to wait and see. 

For we will have created a Space within,

to let the Sunshine in. 

We will have opened the door,

to our hearts,

as we go further and further Within. 

And the rest is up to Him. 

Don't Stop!

Don't ever interrupt,

what I've sent you here to do. 

Once you've realized what it is,

once you've picked up on my clues. 

Don't stop,

don't drop the ball,

don't interrupt the play. 

Keep going,

keep growing

and listen to everything I say.     

Don't analyze each and every moment,

don't overthink every single thing. 

Just trust in every moment

and realize you're a part,

of every living thing. 

Not everything is for your pleasure,

not everything is for your joy. 

There's no time to chase after treasure

and thers no time to live a life of leisure. 

In this one single pregnant breath,

breathe in to this love that you are. 

My form is that very love,

I'm in you,

not the heavens and stars. 

Union

Our thoughts must inspire us, 

along with words,

that lights a fire in us. 

Then our actions fulfill,

this picture, of truth. 

When our thoughts aren't of service, 

then our heart, 

she desserts us 

and our actions aren't discerning,

a thing. 

When our thoughts only help 

and our heart can be felt, 

then our hands only quest is for truth. 

Yesterday has Gone.

Yesterday has gone,

no need to worry and mourn. 

No good from this,

was ever born, 

from worrying  about what has gone.

Gods Grace and Determination.

          Some people keep everything to themselves. Others share what they want you to hear and what they have to spare. 

        Then there a few special souls in this world, who will give you the shirt off there back. All the money in their wallet and all the food from their fridge.

         Those rare and beautiful souls, if you're  fortunate enough to meet, you never let go. You never let them down, you never try and keep them bound.

        You just hold on tight and don't give up the fight. 

       A little, will change, with a little faith and patience but it all could change with Gods grace and our determination.. .

Being God

When we get out of the way 

of being us, 

there's just God,

being God.

A Tree Breathes for Us.

A tree won't grow to its full size, 

if it's planted in the wrong spot. 

Same way, 

we too won't grow to our full potential,

 if we're not in the right space. 

We might not be keeping,

the right company 

or we're hanging on,

to negative thoughts and bad habits. 

We might be hanging on to the past, stuck with our fears 

and doubts and worries. 

All these things will keep us root bound and undernourished.

Exposed to the emotional rip, 

that will drag us out to sea 

and leave us to drown, 

in our own self pitying regrets. 

A trees duty is to shade 

and to nourish the soil around itself. 

To provide a shelter and a home to whomever needs it 

and to purify the air around itself. 

This is its nature 

and it performs its duties selflessly. 

We too must must honor our duties 

and our nature 

and perform them selflessly. 

We come from the 5 elements 

and we must all return to the 5 elements and in between,

we must follow our true nature. 

Our lungs must breathe in the purity and breathe out the purity.

Our eyes must receive light 

and give light. 

Our tongue must taste the nectar 

and share the nectar.

Our ears must hear the blessings 

and hear our blessings.

We must feel grateful 

and share the gratefulness. 

Our nose must smell only the sweetness and expel the rest,

without judgement.

 

This is the way to love,

from love, in love. 

   

First Love

You're my first love in the morning 

and my last love of the night. 

You stole my heart,

without much warning. 

I never put up much of a fight. 

All worries are asleep in your heartbeat. 

All fears melt away at your sight. 

All wants disappear without heartache. 

All aspirations are ready to take flight. 

Within

Eventually this body will need glasses,

 to help it see.  

Same way, we will eventually need a Guru, to help us see. 

Once we start to look within. 

In Us

 The Sun feeds us and warms us 

but if we get too close, 

it will burn us. 

But we can never get too close to God,

for He is in us.

On the Mend.

It's quiet on the home front,

there's not much chatter in this head. 

An emptiness has overtaken me 

and it's descended on me like lead. 

I had the deepest meditation  

and it's stayed with me all day. 

This grateful soul feels so well fed, 

for this journey has put me,

in such good stead.

I feel in step with Mother Nature. 

I don't feel no more that awful dread,

that I'd get sometimes, 

lying alone in bed.

It seems instead,

that I've gone for the thing,

that goes unsaid. 

I've fallen in love with silence

and this heart, 

she's on the mend. 

Liberation

   The habits of procrastination and frustration, will never give us any salvation. 

   Only the path of purification and renunciation, will lead to liberation.

The World Stopped and Love Moved In Chapter V

    There was a feeling of desperation in the seething press of bodies, it was like an English soccer crowd 5 minutes from the full time hooter.

   The air was thick, with the sweet scent of Jasmine and incense, and hung like fog above our heads. 

    The white marble floor was slippery as ice. Being on crutches and one leg, gave you no right of way in India. As we shuffled through the waves of pilgrims, we served as a shield, to protect Sai Saileshwara and his crutches, from the frenzy of over-zealous pilgrims.  

     It was morning and already the heat pressed in around us, as oppressively as the crowd. We were in Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi.  Standing on the western bank of India's holiest river, the Ganges. Varanasi is the oldest surviving city in the world and is the cultural capital of this ancient land. 

     It is in the heart of this grand, old relic of a city, that there stands in its fullest majesty, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. 

      Enshrined within its walls is the Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva, Vishweshwara or Vishwanatha. Millions of People from all around the world travel here for a glimpse of the Jyotirlinga. 

      For a second time on this pilgrimage, Sai Saileshwara and I were separated from the boys.  

      The head priest caught sight of Sai Saileshwara and beckoned us forward. My heart skipped a beat.  We left the swarm behind us and were ushered into the inner sanctum, where laid the Jyotirlinga. We knelt down before the linga and were allowed to physically wash this ancient, sacred stone.

     We were in one of India's most well known and most exalted temples.  A temple that has been visited by so many famous Saints such as - Adi Shankacharya, Guru Nanak, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Tulsidas and so many more. They have all come to kneel, before this sacred lingam. 

       And here we were amongst such auspicios company and immersed in total bliss. I felt like I could be washing Lord Shiva's actual feet. 

       The police behind us, brutally beat off a few adventurous pilgrims, as they tried to reach through and touch the Linga, through an opening in the wall. 

        It was just a few brief seconds but most of our precious moments are. 

       We were the only ones allowed through that day, what a privelge. It was one of those moments, where time stops still and another dimension opens and closes in around you. All my senses were heightened and focusing totally on the Lingam, everything else was as if a mist had descended over me, shrouding everything else from view. 

        It reminded me of a similar moment years before in Dev Prayag, where again the world stopped and love moved in. 

      We were treated like VIP's everywhere we went. Doors were opened and heads were bowed and and the experience was always profound. 

      I'm so grateful to have had those times with my Guru. I'll never understand the mystery of this enigmatic character. I just love him, as simply and as truly as I can. 

       He always looks innocent to the design. Just happy, like a child who loves his mother and knows that she will always take care of her children.

 

The Darkest Hour.

 

It was in the darkest hour,

of the darkest night, 

that I lost myself to doubt.

So much expectation,

for it all to be just right. 

For it all to be just perfect 

and so happy and so bright. 

But from darkness came light,

as I became aware of my plight. 

As I became aware of my fight,

to solve it and put everything right.

I realized I was trying to unravel,

something that cannot be solved.

Life is not a puzzle,

but a mystery that evolves.

We have to let go of all our worries 

and throw them into the fire. 

Then throw the ashes to the wind,

or into the deep blue sea.

Or  bury them in the moist brown earth

and then you wait and-see.

We'll have created a space within,

to let the sun shine in. 

We'll have opened the door to our hearts, 

as we go deeper and deeper within.