நீயே ஓன்று [Neeye Onru]

நீயே ஓன்று என்று அறியாமல்  தேச கால விளயாட்டை
நான் நிஜம் என்று கருதி இருந்தே உன் சக்திதான் தேவியே

Translation:

Not realizing that You are the Only One, my taking this Play of Time and Space
as real is only your Power, O Goddess!

Love: Personal and Impersonal

Love, personal, is called eros in Greek and shRngAr in Sanskrit. [The ancient languages have these fine distinctions that English lacks.]
As long as ignorance persists, this personal love limits itself to one person or a chosen few.

As long as the object of this personal love pleases the senses and strokes the ego, it feels happy. But the mind being ever-changing, this happiness does not last.

But when the veil of ignorance is lifted and it becomes clear that everything external is loved only for the sake of the Self, then Love Impersonal dawns.

This Love Impersonal is called agape in Greek and prema in Sanskrit. It is the highest form of love, the true love, and not easily understood by the impure mind. It does not seek anything in return and is blind in the sense of being impartial to perceived beauty of the body or mind, because it Sees everything as the Self.

Virtue, Wisdom and Freedom

It is good to be good rather than bad, for the fruits of goodness are better than those of evil.

It is better to be wise rather than simply good, for wisdom transcends both good and evil.

It is best to be free for freedom transcends both wisdom and ignorance.

To always be able to place one's mind at the feet of the Lord is the greatest bliss, wisdom and peace.

Poem to the Seeker on Guru pUrNimA

O Seeker of the Light, Traveler on the Sacred Path

What gift can one give the seeker of the greatest Treasure?

But this…

Consciousness is all there is, that was, and that will be,

Eternal and unchanging

Known in the depth of ultimate samAdhi as “Am”-ness or Being,

There are no two, but only the One

The Truth is the experience of this Bliss,

For in the absence of another, what sorrow can arise?

Birth is not the beginning of this embodiment,

but it is the birth of thought, which is without beginning,

also known as the mind, or ignorance.

Death is not the dropping of the body, but the destruction of the ego and the mind.
Through yoga bring the mind to rest and be reborn to Eternal Life!

Rumi's 'The Ruby' and Transparency of Mind

Rumi's poem 'The Ruby'

The Ruby

At breakfast tea a beloved asked her lover,

"Who do you love more, yourself or me?"

"From my head to my foot I have become you.

Nothing remains of me but my name.

You have your wish. Only you exist.

I've disappeared like a drop of vinegar

in an ocean of honey."

A stone which has become a ruby

is filled with the qualities of the sun.

No stoniness remains in it.

If it loves itself, it is loving the sun.

And if it loves the sun, it is loving itself.

There is no difference between these two loves.

Before the stone becomes the ruby, it is its own enemy.

Not one but two exist.

The stone is dark and blind to daylight.

If it loves itself, it is unfaithful: it intensely resists the sun.

If it says "I," it is all darkness.

A pharoah claims divinity and is brought down.

Hallaj says the same and is saved.

One I is cursed, another I is blessed.

One an enemy of the light, the other a reflector of it.

In its inmost consciousness, not through any doctrine.

it is one with the light.

Work on your stony qualities

and become resplendent like the ruby.

Practice self-denial and accept difficulty.

Always see infinite life in letting the self die.

Your stoniness will decrease; your ruby nature will grow.

The signs of self-existence will leave your body,

and ecstasy will take you over.

Become all-hearing like an ear and gain a ruby earring.

Dig a well in the earth of this body,

and even before the well is dug,

let God draw the water up.

Be always at work scraping the dirt from the well

To everyone who suffers,

perseverance brings good fortune.

The Prophet has said that each prostration of prayer

is a knock on heaven's door.

When anyone continues to knock,

felicity shows its smiling face.

The light which shines in the eye

is really the light of the heart.

The light which fills the heart

is the light of God, which is pure

and separate from the light of intellect and sense.

Masnavi I, 1126-1127

translated by Kabir Helminski

The notion of transparency of mind is found in the Yoga SUtra YS I.41

क्षीणवृत्तेरभिजातस्येव मणेर्ग्रहीतृग्रहणग्राह्येषु तत्स्थातदञ्जनता समापत्ति:

Arising from the thinning of vRttis or thoughts, like a crystal or jewel (or Ruby!), in the grasper, the act of grasping and the object to be grasped [here grasp can be taken to be know, so knower or mind, the act of knowing and the object of knowledge], That [Consciousness] abides as That making clear the equivalence of these three: this is samApatti. 

Chip Hartranft translates samApatti as 'coalescence'. Note also the coalescence or samApatti implied in Rumi's lines:

"From my head to my foot I have become you.

Nothing remains of me but my name.

You have your wish. Only you exist.

I've disappeared like a drop of vinegar

in an ocean of honey."

A remarkably transparent mind is one of the hallmarks of a mind well on the path. For such a mind, it seems to me that it is not a matter of whether it will reach the Chosen Ideal, but rather it is merely the details of when and where this will happen. When most people are questioned closely about anything related to their notion of self they usually become defensive, whereas one with a disarming transparency of mind and confidence in one's true Self maintains their calm composure with a certain gravitas. People often mistake humility for lack of self-confidence but these are two very radically different things. In today's world humility is so rarely found that people can only think it is lack of confidence, which of course completely misses the mark.

In time the sincere sAdhaka becomes very good at explaining things related to sAdhanA in simpler terms that can be easy to assimilate for a wide variety of beginner minds. This is a gift, and this teaching reinforces sAdhanA. In time the sAdhaka starts to speak in their 'own voice' showing that the mind has assimilated these concepts that are explained to a point where their explanation comes from a personal relation to them, and not a mere memorization of abstract comcepts.

In the beginning the mind is such an interesting combination and variation of authenticity and defensiveness, insight and delusion, faith and despair and doubt. With sAdhanA practice it becomes transparent as a crystal.

They also serve who only stand and wait

My father used to sometimes quote these lines but until today I did not look them up and understand their context. I never knew he had such a good knowledge of Milton either, but there are unfathomed depths to each human being. It expresses a nice sentiment on the virtue of humility.

They also serve who only stand and wait

It is a quotation from the great English poet John Milton (1608-74). After going blind, Milton wrote the poem "On His Blindness". In the sonnet's last line, he reflects that even with his disability he has a place in the world:

When I consider how my light is spent

Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,

And that one Talent which is death to hide

Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

My true account, lest He returning chide,

"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"

I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need

Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best

Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state

Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,

And post o'er land and ocean without rest;

They also serve who only stand and wait.

Meaning: We all have a place in this world and we all perform a function, regardless of our ability or disability (although Talent here refers to the parable from Jesus of the three Talents). The word order of this sentence may make it more difficult to understand. In normal English it would be something like: "They (those people) who only stand and wait, also serve."

इस करम का करूॅ शुक्र कैसे अदा ? Is karam ka shukr karUn kaise adA ?

The song sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan goes:

Is karam ka karoon shukr kaise adaa?
Jo Karam Mujh Pe Mere Nabi Ker Dia

How shall I express my gratitude for this Grace bestowed on me?

That Grace  that my Prophet bestowed on me.

Lyrics:

http://www.pakistanimusic.com/lyricsloader.php?url=http://www.PakistaniMusic.com/lyrics/NusratFatehAliKhan-IsKaramKaKaronShukarKaise.txt

Music video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8BIbGCVElA