In the spirit of Bhakti circa 13/14th century

[Narayanidd 1]

My dear vaisnavas,

 

I'd like to share this poem from around the 13th or 14th century. I believe a sikh poet wrote it, however, there is no doubt in my mind that it is full of the spirit of bhakti, which is universal!

What do you think?

 

 

My soul harken unto me!

Love thy Lord as the lotus loves water

Buffeted by waves its affection does not falter.

Creatures that have their being in water,

Taken out of water, die.

 

My soul if thou hast not such love

How wilt thou abtain release?

If the word of Guru is within us

We shall accumulate a store of devotion.

 

My soul harken unto me!

Love thy Lord as a fish loves water.

The more the water, the greater its joy,

Greater the tranquility of its body and mind.

Without water it cannot live ine watch of the day

Only God knows the anguish of its heart.

 

My soul harken unto me!

Love thy Lord as water loves milk.

It takes on the heat, boils and evaporates before milk can suffer.

He alone unites, He alone seperates

He alone bestows true greatness.

 

Without the Guru, love cannot be born

The dross of ego cannot be rinsed away.

He who recognizes the God within

Understands the Word and is happy.

O [Guru]! There is but one gate to the Lord's mansion

And there is no other sanctuary.

 

Your servant,

Narayani d.d.

[Jagat 1]

Sikhism did not exist in the 13-14th centuries. The earliest material in the Guru Granth Sahib comes from the early Sants like Kabir and Ruidas, which would have been written in the late 15th century. North Indian bhakti in the vernacular was really born about this time.

 

The Sants were "nirgun" bhaktas, in that their conception of God is similar to that of the Muslims--personal, but formless. Their mystical hierarchies are closer to those of the Sufis than of Hindus, but they also use a lot of yoga terminology, especially that of the Nath yogis.

[Jagat 1]

Just to add, Nanak was almost exactly contemporaneous to Chaitanya. He came to Puri once and wrote the following poem after seeing arati in the Jagannath temple (ca. 1518):

 

“In the salver of the sky

The Sun and Moon shine like lamps,

The galaxy of stars are scattered like pearls;

The chandan-scented winds waft as Thine incense,

The forests are Thy flowers.

(Thus) is Thy arati (adoration) performed,

O, Thou Destroyer of fear!”

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

the sikhs are basically a merger

between islam and hinduism.

 

It was created as a way to get the muslim overlords

to accept the hindu community, to somehow

get them to convert, and not be so

disagreeable.

 

The religion is basically a form of hinduism,

i call it hinduism lite, while accepting

Bhagavad Gita they reject avatars, varna ashrama

dharma, the caste system and anything that might

seem alien or polytheistic to the muslims.

 

Eckankar in the west is an offshoot, it's

founder was a disciple of a Radha soami guru.

[Narayanidd 1]

sorry about the mistake. I'll have to find my original source and get the proper date and author. I'll follow with another post. Thanks.

 

YS,

Narayani d.d.

[stonehearted 0]

Hafiz was a 14th-century Persian sufi poet who seemed to have been heavily influenced by bhakti tradition. A friend of mine gave me a couple of books about a year and a half ago. We don't have bookshelves yet, and most of my books are in boxes, so they're hard to find. I'll look as soon as I've caught up on grading papers. Some from a book called "The Subject Tonight Is Love" are pretty cool. Here's one:

 

Why all this talk of the Beloved, music and dancing,

And liquid ruby-light we can list in a cup?

Because it is low tide,

A very low tide in this age

And around most hearts.

We are exquisite coral reefs,

Dying when exposed to strange elements.

God is the wine-ocean we crave - we miss

Flowing in and out of our pores.

[stonehearted 0]

Old Sweet Beggar

 

This

Path to God

Made me such an old sweet beggar.

 

I was starving until one night

My love tricked God Himself

To fall into my bowl.

 

Now Hafiz is infinitely rich,

But all I ever want to do

 

Is keep emptying out

My emerald-filled

Pockets

 

Upon

This tear-stained

World.

[stonehearted 0]

I Follow Barefoot

 

I long for You so much

I follow barefoot Your frozen tracks

That are high in the mountains

That I know are years old.

I long for You so much

I have even begun to travel

Where I have never been before.

Hafiz, there is no one in this world

Who is not looking for God.

Everyone is trudging along

With as much dignity, courage

And style

As they possibly

Can.

 

[stonehearted 0]

Beautiful Hands

 

This is the kind of Friend

You are-

 

Without making me realize

 

My soul's anguished history,

 

You slip into my house at night,

 

And while I am sleeping,

 

You silently carry off

 

All my suffering and sordid past

 

In Your beautiful

Hands.

 

[Narayanidd 1]

My dear vaisnava,

 

I do believe you are right. The name seems very familiar to me. I'll check anyway just to be sure.

 

What are the names of his books. I would like to know more about this author. There is much bhakti in his poems. Like I said earlier bhakti is universal.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

YS,

Narayani d.d.