You are the flame of dynamism
that keeps bursting constantly,
that has no after or before
spinning waves of light and
distilling itself.
* * *
On Her Way to a Market Place
On her way to a market place
a coffee bean slips out of a grey sack
and falls on the ground.
When you come the same path
A few years later, you will see
an elegant tree full of ripe coffee cherries.
This is a kind of elegance you are, my friend
when you smile without any rehearsals
When you start singing without waiting
for approval outside of you;
when every single human being
you meet becomes the rain
falling on the Sahara desert.
* * *
Wherever I Move
This force is not
something I can stop
even if I want to.
I know this:—
wherever I move
it is towards you, my friend
towards the emptiness between your eyes.
This song will soon find you and
grab you by the shoulder and shake out of you
All that you don’t need.
Then you will start laughing at
how many times you’ve tempted to break into
Your barn to steal your own cow
* * *
Earth and Rain
The earth never attempts
To defend herself from the rain.
She rather opens herself up
And becomes fully soaked.
Now I am here, my friend
Waiting for you to trade
Your sobriety with drunkenness.
Then like the earth and the rain
You and I can vanish into each other
completely.
* * *
Grace Can Find You Anywhere
Something deep from within wants
To speak:—
You’re timeless truth and
you don’t have to flee to the caves
to know this.
Be where you are now
and stay open, receptive
and totally penetrable like the earth,
Grace can find you anywhere.
* * *
Like Any Other Kids
just like any other kids in the village
I was once a good child.
who obeyed rules and authorities.
One day a friend grabbed me by the neck
and threw me off the cliff
and said:—
Your purpose HERE
is not to make anyone happy
nor to inherit the earth.
Your purpose, my friend is to
Taste honey from the beehive
that is not yet opened.
to hear the music that is not yet
sung.
* * *
Whatever You Lose or Gain
Why lament so much, my friend?
Whatever you lose or gain
Is not yours.
They are rather your outward appearances
Tricking the eye.
Do you know how you and I met?
We are listening to the song
Of the same skylark hovering over the blue sky.
The act of listening became the heart
and took us by flight
And there was no more you
or I or the skylark or the blue sky.
This moving away from time and the self
brought us back into the warehouse of this daring
Undertaking called love.
* * *
If You Want Serenity
If you want serenity
be serene yourself first
then spontaneity becomes natural to you.
When you were a child
Your parents might have wanted you to be famous
like Genghis Khan or Alexander the great
who you want to be
It is for you to vote now.
you cannot touch the heart of the constellations
with the mind full of to-do list.
with cottons of false identity in your ears
how can you hear the song of the raindrops
falling on your roof?
* * *
Emptiness
like a great poem,
a child comes forth from elsewhere
and we look at her emptiness
and a pure smile washes our eyes from dust.
what else can the world do now
other than emptying and emptying and emptying
herself from all concepts, ideologies and definitions
until she is totally free and whole again.
* * *
The Space Between My Fingers
When you open your heart
let it be the sun
that you see and not the cloud!
And with this openness
Let the world spin with ecstasy!
Let the world turn around
Like wind turbines drunk with love.
I hold my open hand to your eyes
And you say
Where is your wedding ring with the beloved?
And I say to you:—
My friend, are your eyes still open? Look with clarity!
Look not at my fingers but in the spaces
Between my fingers. Then you will watch
All your doubts falling away.
* * *
Lump of Sugar
This is a lump of sugar
watching herself disappear into the sea.
She trusts the sea and won’t question
what would happen to her.
Then
Her pain melts.
Her worries melt.
Her fear melts.
Then she is free
and she is no longer sugar now.
She is the sea.
She starts dancing
the dance of freedom.
* * *
Life Holds a Bowl to Your Eyes
Life holds a bowl to your eyes
Full of sweet fire
If the bowl is all you can see,
then you need some turning around, some burning, some awakening.
If you can taste the sweet essence inside,
If you can feel the light inside,
Then, my friend,
Flowers want to erupt out of the rock’s body
And touch your feet;
And the prophets rush out of their abodes
To be at your service.
* * *
The Flower and the Sun
Every day
we talk about a worshiper and the worshiped;
a master and a student;
the ocean and the ocean-diver
a flower and the sun . . .
To end this duplicity, my friend,
drop your efforts
and dissolve into love NOW.
* * *
Rising Beyond Time
Rising beyond time means living inside the heart.
From this space we don’t lament for
what has left us or we don’t fear for what is coming. In
this
moment nothing departs or nothing arrives. Nothing
is short or nothing is extra. Nothing is right or nothing
is wrong. All is as it should be.
* * *
Judgment Day
It is not fear of the
Judgment day but
To see things
not as they appear,
but as they are—
Without judging—
That’s why you are here,
my dear friend.
* * *
Someone Sweet Has Kissed Us
Aren’t we so lucky my friend?
Someone sweet has kissed us in our eyes
And there is so much treasure
where we are now
because inside each being
There are poems and
galaxies and rubies
That have not yet been
shared with the world.
* * *
Let It Be from Here
Jasmine does not bloom
By schedules. She blooms
When she feels like it.
Whatever you want to do
Let it be from here, my friend.
Let it be from here.
The love surging from your core
Into your branches and roots
Can erase all the regrets from
your mind.
Whatever you want to do
Let it be from here, my friend
Let it be from here.
* * *
From a Place of No-Thought
Look, my friend,
how beautiful you are this morning!
Look! Only from a place of no-thought
one can shine like this.
only from a place of pure silence
one can shine like this!
* * *
Something Inside
The caves might not have echoed it yet
and words might not have said it yet
but dear one,
something inside of me constantly gravitates to
something inside of you.
What is more sacred,
what is more delicious
than chanting a friend
that has no expiry date!
* * *
If We Really Listen
Everyday
We hear so much.
We hear so much of this and that.
We hear so much, far more than we want to.
But if we listen,
If we really listen,
A miracle happens;
The earth and the sky
Would join body within body within body
for a dance.
* * *
Grace
I looked at the sky.
I saw grace.
I looked down the earth
I saw grace.
I looked around
I saw grace.
I looked inside
I saw grace.
Touched by abundance
I stood speechless.
* * *
The Wine of Closeness
Whether it is your songs
Or your deep silence
I don’t know which one brought me
closer to your bosom.
Whichever it is,
It makes no difference to me
in so far as the wine of this closeness
Keeps intoxicating this heart.
* * *
Does Not Matter
What I feel right now does not matter.
What I hear right now does not matter.
What I think right now does not matter.
Life has soared above all sensory experiences
and danced upon meeting with her own sunshine.
* * *
How to Cry with Joy
Life
Does not impose obligations
or demand on you.
She is here not to make you happy
nor sad.
She is here
to get drunk on her own fragrance.
If you want to grasp her with
Your endless thought,
You will continue to forget
How to cry with joy.
* * *
Together
When you stop counting the steps
you have taken to get HERE.
Then your journey turns into
a sweet basil in your soup.
Together we have come home, my friend,
Together, we have come here
where we can easily melt
into the sea of great understanding.
* * *
The Moon in Love
The moon
Is wildly in love tonight.
How did we know?
She is white like fresh milk
Her lips are moist.
Her eyes are full of indiscernible clarity
and sweetness.
* * *
A Poet’s Responsibility
A poet’s responsibility
is not to finish a poem
nor to worry about the grammar
or structure of a poem.
A poet’s responsibility is to awaken,
to remind you of your beauty.
To be the arrow of light
Pointing to your heart.
A poet’s responsibility
Is to bring you into this moment
and dance.
* * *
Don’t Go to Sleep
When the glass knows
The taste of the wine,
When she bows
to the perfume of the wine,
she would rise beyond glories or fame.
With so much songs and poems
In your chest wanting to be shared,
Wanting to explode,
Please don’t go to sleep.
* * *
Visit
You visit
this world as a pure diamond
and you leave the world exactly as you are.
Your heart knows this for sure.
Between your journey
You might have forgotten who you really are
and start gathering dust around you.
This time you take the appearance of a bronze.
beneath the dust, however,
the sanity called diamond continues to shine.
* * *
I Am Not in Charge
I am not in charge, any more.
Have I ever been?
Night comes and goes on its own.
Spring arrives and says
something delicious to a bare tree
because soon the tree begins to smile.
Growing up means not clinging
To the things that are time-bound,
that are perishable.
I continue to sing and
Let the elegant one
take over and guide me
through the wilderness.
* * *
Remember
Your longing is
a sweet gypsy
wandering around looking for someone
to sing with.
Your wanting is a nomad
roaming in search of grass and water for his animals.
Dear friend:
You may go to far away regions wherever
your dream wants you to go;
but remember to come back to your center, more often;
Remember to come back to the center
Remember to come back to the center
Where the mirror can reflect your true self.
Remember
to come back to the center.
* * *
Meeting with a Friend
Ever since the meeting with a friend
so much growth has happened.
so much opening has happened.
so much deepening has happened
and the heart has become the field
of the blooming lilacs.
Ever since the meeting with a friend
the physical world has sought refuge
inside of me.
The body has sought refuge
inside of me.
* * *
Simplicity
Simplicity
is the path of the heart.