What the Soul Desires
By Augusta Theodosia Drane
There Thou wilt show me what my soul desired;
There Thou wilt give at once, O my Life, what Thou gavest me the other day!
(St. John of the Cross. Spiritual Canticle, Stanza xxxviii)
THERE is a rapture that my soul desires,
There is a something that I cannot name;
I know not after what my soul aspires,
Nor guess from whence the restless longing came;
But ever from my childhood have I felt it, 5
In all things beautiful and all things gay,
And ever has its gentle, unseen presence
Fallen, like a shadow-cloud, across my way
It is the melody of all sweet music,
In all fair forms it is the hidden grace; 10
In all I love, a something that escapes me,
Flies my pursuit, and ever veils its face.
I see it in the woodland's summer beauty,
I hear it in the breathing of the air;
I stretch my hands to feel for it, and grasp it, 15
But ah! too well I know, it is not there.
In sunset-hours, when all the earth is golden,
And rosy clouds are hastening to the west,
I catch a waving gleam, and then 'tis vanished,
And the old longing once more fills my breast. 20
It is not pain, although the fire consumes me,
Bound up with memories of my happiest years;
It steals into my deepest joys-O mystery!
It mingles, too, with all my saddest tears.
Once, only once, there rose the heavy curtain, 25
The clouds rolled back, and for too brief a space
I drank in joy as from a living fountain,
And seemed to gaze upon it, face to face:
But of that day and hour who shall venture
With lips untouched by seraph's fire to tell? 30
I saw Thee, O my Life! I heard, I touched Thee,-
Then o'er my soul once more the darkness fell.
The darkness fell, and all the glory vanished;
I strove to call it back, but all in vain:
O rapture! to have seen it for a moment! 35
O anguish! that it never came again!
That lightning-flash of joy that seemed eternal,
Was it indeed but wandering fancy's dream?
Ah, surely no! that day the heavens opened,
And on my soul there fell a golden gleam. 40
O Thou, my Life, give me what then Thou gavest!
No angel vision do I ask to see,
I seek no ecstasy of mystic rapture,
Naught, naught, my Lord, my Life, but only Thee!
That golden gleam hath purged my sight, revealing, 45
In the fair ray reflected from above,
Thyself, beyond all sight, beyond all feeling,
The hidden Beauty, and the hidden Love.
As the hart panteth for the water-brooks,
And seeks the shades whence cooling fountains burst; 50
Even so for Thee, O Lord, my spirit fainteth,
Thyself alone hath power to quench its thirst.
Give me what then Thou gavest, for I seek it
No longer in Thy creatures, as of old,
I strive no more to grasp the empty shadow, 55
The secret of my life is found and told!
One who you think should be hit is none else but you. One who you think should be governed is none else but you. One who you think should be tortured is none else but you. One who you think should be enslaved is none else but you. One who you think should be killed is none else but you. A sage is ingenuous and leads his life after comprehending the parity of the killed and the killer. Therefore, neither does he cause violence to others nor does he make others do so. Jainism. Acarangasutra 5.101-2
A friend is one to whom we may pour out the contents of our hearts, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away. - Arabian Definition of a Friend
Life of Life By Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore WHAT'S that, which, ere I spake, was gone! So joyful and intense a spark That, whilst o'erhead the wonder shone, The day, before but dull, grew dark? I do not know; but this I know, That, had the splendour lived a year, The truth that I some heavenly show Did see, could not be now more clear. This know I too: might mortal breath Express the passion then inspired, Evil would die a natural death, And nothing transient be desired; And error from the soul would pass, And leave the senses pure and strong As sunbeams. But the best, alas, Has neither memory nor tongue!
How boundless the cleared sky of Samadhi! How transparent the perfect moonlight of the Fourfold Wisdom! At this moment what more need we seek? As the Truth eternally reveals itself, This very place is the Lotus Land of Purity, This very body is the Body of the Buddha. - Song of Meditation, Hakuin Ekaku Zenji
Says Nanak, The Master is a tree of contentment and forbearance; Righteousness its flower, enlightenment the fruit. This tree by joy in God keeps ever fresh and green; By practice of meditation is it ripened. With joy in the Lord is it consumed, By such as dispense the supreme charity of selfless action. Adi Granth, Var Majh, M.1, p. 147
"I looked, as it were, over the world, asking: 'What is there of interest here? What is there worth doing?' I found but one interest: the desire that other souls should also realize this that I had realized, for in it lay the one effective key for the solving of their problems. The little tragedies of men left me indifferent. I saw one great Tragedy, the cause of all the rest, the failure of man to realize his own Divinity. I saw but one solution, the Realization of that Divinity." - Franklin Merrell-Wolff, Experience and Philosophy
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, upon the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life for evermore. Psalm 133
You Came To See the Sun Rise O friend, You came to see the Sun rise, But instead you see us, Whirling like a confusion of atoms - Who could be so lucky? Who comes to a lake for water And sees the reflection of the moon? Who, blind like Jacob, Seeks his lost son, And regains the light of his own eyes? Who, parched with thirst, Lowers a bucket into a well And comes up with an ocean of nectar? Who could be so lucky? Who, like Moses, approaches a desert bush And beholds the fire of a hundred dawns? Who, like Jesus, enters a house to avoid capture, And discovers a passage to the other world? Who, like Solomon, cuts open the stomach of a fish And finds a golden ring? Who could be so lucky? An assassin rushes in to kill the Prophet And stumbles upon a fortune. An oyster, opens his mouth for a drop of water, And discovers a shining pearl within himself. A poor man, searches through a heap of garbage And finds a magnificent treasure - Who could be so lucky? O friend, Forget all your stories and fancy words. Let friend and stranger look upon you And see a flood of light! - The door of heaven opening! Let them be so lucky! And what of those Who walk toward Shamsuddin? Their feet grow weary, They fall to the ground in utter exhaustion But then come the wings of His love, Lifting them, upward. Who could be so lucky? ~Rumi 'A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi' Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
Beyond all Shores and Seas
By Jane Barlow
LIES yet a well of wonder
All shores and seas beyond,
Where shines that dimness under,
More deep than in a dream,
Full many a diamond
With elfin gleam,
Glows up the glimmering water
Full many a ruby's fire:
If ever an earth-born daughter
Their wizard light behold,
She may no more desire
Our gems and gold.
Nay, some in sooth, who only
Adream thereon did gaze,
Thenceforth fare wandering lonely,
And seek with sorrow vain
The glory of such rays
To find again.
Oft, oft, high-heavenward turning
The quivering stars have conned,
Or watched the wide west burning
Nor shall their hearts appease,
Whose hope lies hid beyond
All shores and seas.
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