Yes, there will be a Zoom reading and discussion this Saturday, with an open reading. Click on the underlined link below at the appointed time to join.
Poetry Reading and Discussion: Sat. July 5 2:00 PM PDT
To Join by Telephone: (669) 444-9171
Meeting ID: 899 9157 2481
Passcode: 325521
Poetry can be many things, but one of its founding purposes is to convey spiritual perception. Written three thousand years ago by authors unknown and passed through an oral tradition, The Upanishads is one of the great spiritual writings of humanity. It is also verse poetry. Let’s look at some of this text to get a feel for how it conveys meaning and its relevance to us today.
Birthed in the area known today as India by ancient Aryan civilizations, the Upanishads is a collection of texts that are part of the core of Hindu philosophy and religion. They are considered divinely inspired and pre-date any orthodoxy known today. The are generally thought to be older than the Hebrew Bible and are one of the first monotheistic views of life and wisdom. They describe a spiritual reality beneath the things we see and touch in everyday life. They tell us this reality is at the essence of every created thing in the world, including our own real Self. The Self is a word used, in these translations, for that spiritual reality which is both unique to us individually and shared with the creation which surrounds us. Because they describe a conundrum, a paradox, it can be difficult at first blush to see their meaning. However, once gaining a facility for their reading, the material is not difficult. Here is an opening section, often first, known as the Isha Upanishad.
The Isha Upanishad [Eknath Easwaran Translation] All this is full. All that is full. From fullness, fullness comes. When fullness is taken from fullness, Fullness still remains. O M shanti shanti shanti 1. The Lord is enshrined in the hearts of all. The Lord is the supreme Reality. Rejoice in him through renunciation. Covet nothing. All belongs to the Lord. 2. Thus working may you live a hundred years. Thus alone will you work in real freedom. 3. Those who deny the Self are born again Blind to the Self, enveloped in darkness, Utterly devoid of love for the Lord. 4. The Self is one. Ever still, the Self is Swifter than thought, swifter than the senses. Though motionless, he outruns all pursuit. Without the Self, never could life exist. 5. The Self seems to move, but is ever still. He seems far away, but is ever near. He is within all, and he transcends all. 6. Those who see all creatures in themselves And themselves in all creatures know no fear. 7. Those who see all creatures in themselves And themselves in all creatures know no grief. How can the multiplicity of life Delude the one who sees its unity? 8. The Self is everywhere. Bright is the Self, Indivisible, untouched by sin, wise, Immanent and transcendent. He it is Who holds the cosmos together. 9-11. In dark night live those for whom The world without alone is real; in night Darker still, for whom the world within Alone is real. The first leads to a life Of action, the second to a life of meditation. But those who combine action with meditation Cross the sea of death through action And enter into immortality Through the practice of meditation. So have we heard from the wise. 12-14. In dark night live those for whom the Lord Is transcendent only; in darker still, For whom he is immanent only. But those for whom he is transcendent And immanent cross the sea of death With the immanent and enter into Immortality with the transcendent. So have we heard from the wise. 15. The face of truth is hidden by your orb Of gold, O sun. May you remove your orb So that I, who adore the true, may see 16. The glory of truth. O nourishing sun, Solitary traveler, controller, Source of life for all creatures, spread your light And subdue your dazzling splendor So that I may see your blessed Self. Even that very Self am I! 17. May my life merge in the Immortal When my body is reduced to ashes. O mind, meditate on the eternal Brahman. Remember the deeds of the past. Remember, O mind, remember. 18. O god of fire, lead us by the good path To eternal joy. You know all our deeds. Deliver us from evil, we who bow And pray again and again. O M shanti shanti shanti
I needed several readings for the meaning to open. From the very first verse, contradiction conveys meaning. This is technique, a poetic method that reflects spiritual content. The contradiction is that in discovering the Self, the essence of the world is also discovered.
In the Katha Upanishad, a young person has an argument with his father who sends him metaphorically to Death. The young man, Nachiketa, actually goes to Death, named Yama, who becomes his spiritual teacher. What he learns, therefore, are all lessons from Death. Death grants him 3 wishes, or boons. Nachiketa insists on learning how to overcome Death. The numerals are [section] and verse numbers. Yama tells him this:
...17. Those who have thrice performed this sacrifice Realized their unity with father, mother, And teacher, and discharged the three duties Of studying the scriptures, ritual worship And giving alms to those in need, rise above Birth and death.... [2] YAMA [Death, speaks] 1. The joy of the spirit ever abides, But not what seems pleasant to the senses. Both these, differing in their purpose, prompt Us to action. All is well for those who choose The joy of the spirit, but they miss The goal of life who prefer the pleasant. 2. Perennial joy or passing pleasure? This is the choice one is to make always. The wise recognize these two, but not The ignorant. The first welcome what leads To abiding joy, though painful at the time. The latter run, goaded by their senses, After what seems immediate pleasure. 3. Well have you renounced these passing pleasures So dear to the senses, Nachiketa, And turned your back on the way of the world Which makes mankind forget the goal of life. 4. Far apart are wisdom and ignorance. The first leads one to Self-realization; The second makes one more and more Estranged from his real Self. I regard you, Nachiketa, worthy of instruction, For passing pleasures tempt you not at all. 5. Ignorant of their ignorance, yet wise In their own esteem, these deluded men Proud of their vain learning go round and round 6. Like the blind led by the blind. Far beyond Their eyes, hypnotized by the world of sense, Opens the way to immortality. "I am my body; when my body dies, I die." Living in this superstition They fall life after life under my sway. 7. It is but few who hear about the Self. Fewer still dedicate their lives to its Realization. Wonderful is the one Who speaks about the Self; rare are they Who make it the supreme goal of their lives. Blessed are they who, through an illumined Teacher, attain to Self-realization. 8. The truth of the Self cannot come through one Who has not realized that he is the Self. The intellect cannot reveal the Self Beyond its duality of subject And object. They who see themselves in all And all in them help others through spiritual Osmosis to realize the Self themselves. 9. This awakening you have known comes not Through logic and scholarship, but from Close association with a realized teacher. Wise are you, Nachiketa, because you seek The Self eternal. May we have more Seekers like you! NACHIKETA 10. I know that earthly treasures are transient And never can I reach the eternal through them. Hence have I renounced all my desires for earthly treasures To win the eternal through your instruction. YAMA 11. I spread before your eyes, Nachiketa, The fulfillment of all worldly desires: Power to dominate the earth, delights Celestial gained through religious rites, Miraculous powers beyond time and space. These with will and wisdom have you renounced. 12. The wise, realizing through meditation The timeless Self, beyond all perception, Hidden in the cave of the heart, Leave pain and pleasure far behind. 13. Those who know they are neither body nor mind But the immemorial Self, the divine Principle of existence, find the source Of all joy and live in joy abiding. I see the gates of joy are opening For you, Nachiketa. NACHIKETA 14. Teach me of That you see as beyond right And wrong, cause and effect, past and future. YAMA 15. I will give you the Word all the scriptures Glorify, all spiritual disciplines Express, to attain which aspirants lead A life of sense-restraint and self-naughting. 16. It is O M. This symbol of the Godhead Is the highest. Realizing it one finds Complete fulfillment of all one's longings. 17. It is of the greatest support to all seekers. Those in whose hearts O M reverberates Unceasingly are indeed blessed And deeply loved as one who is the Self. 18. The all-knowing Self was never born, Nor will it die. Beyond cause and effect, This Self is eternal and immutable. When the body dies, the Self does not die. 19. If the slayer believes that he can kill Or the slain believes that he can be be killed, Neither knows the truth. The eternal Self Slays not, nor is ever slain. 20. Hidden in the heart of every creature Exists the Self, subtler than the subtlest, Greater than the greatest. They go beyond All sorrow who extinguish their self-will And behold the glory of the Self Through the grace of the Lord of Love. 21. Though one sits in meditation in a Particular place, the Self within Can exercise his influence far away. Though still, he moves everything everywhere. 22. When the wise realize the Self Formless in the midst of forms, changeless In the midst of change, omnipresent And supreme, they go beyond sorrow. 23. The Self cannot be known through study Of the scriptures, nor through the intellect, Nor through hearing learned discourses. The Self can be attained only by those Whom the Self chooses. Verily unto them Does the Self reveal himself. 24. The Self cannot be known by anyone Who desists not from unrighteous ways, Controls not his senses, stills not his mind, And practices not meditation. 25. None else can know the omnipresent Self, Whose glory sweeps away the rituals Of the priest and the prowess of the warrior And puts death itself to death. [3] 1. In the secret cave of the heart, two are seated By life's fountain. The separate ego Drinks of the sweet and bitter stuff, Liking the sweet, disliking the bitter, While the supreme Self drinks sweet and bitter Neither liking this nor disliking that. The ego gropes in darkness, while the Self Lives in light. So declare the illumined sages And the householders who worship The sacred fire in the name of the Lord. 2. May we light the fire of Nachiketa That burns out the ego and enables us To pass from fearful fragmentation To fearless fullness in the changeless whole. 3. Know the Self as lord of the chariot, The body as the chariot itself, The discriminating intellect as charioteer, And the mind as reins. 4. The senses, say the wise, are the horses; Selfish desires are the roads they travel. When the Self is confused with the body, Mind, and senses, they point out, he seems To enjoy pleasure and suffer sorrow. 5. When one lacks discrimination And his mind is undisciplined, the senses Run hither and thither like wild horses. 6. But they obey the rein like trained horses When one has discrimination and has made The mind one-pointed. Those who lack Discrimination, with little control Over their thoughts and far from pure, Reach not the pure state of immortality 8. But wander from death to death; but those Who have discrimination, with a still mind And a pure heart, reach journey's end, Never again to fall into the jaws of death. 9. With a discriminating intellect As charioteer and a trained mind as reins, They attain the supreme goal of life To be united with the Lord of Love. 10. The senses derive from objects of sense-perception, Sense objects from mind, mind from intellect. And intellect from ego; 11. Ego from undifferentiated consciousness, And consciousness from Brahman. Brahman is the first cause and last refuge. 12. Brahman, the hidden Self in everyone Does not shine forth. He is revealed only To those who keep their mind one-pointed On the Lord of Love and thus develop A superconscious manner of knowing. 13. Meditation enables them to go Deeper and deeper into consciousness, From the world of words to the world of thoughts, Then beyond thoughts to wisdom in the Self. 14. Get up! Wake up! Seek the guidance of an Illumined teacher and realize the Self. Sharp like a razor's edge, the sages say, Is the path, difficult to traverse. 15. The supreme Self is beyond name and form, Beyond the senses, inexhaustible, Without beginning, without end, beyond Time, space, and causality, eternal, Immutable. Those who realize the Self Are forever free from the jaws of death. 16. The wise, who gain experiential knowledge Of this timeless tale of Nachiketa, Narrated by Death, attain the glory Of living in spiritual awareness. Those who, full of devotion, recite this Supreme mystery at a spiritual Gathering, are fit for eternal life. They are indeed fit for eternal life. ~
I wanted to excerpt this, but lost meaning in trying it. So this is almost the entire 2nd section of the Katha Upanishad. I find it both urgent and ancient, an exhortation for attention to both spiritual and real elements of living. Today, we need it more than ever. How do you find the spirit in your writing? Can you describe how it touches you specifically? Give us the sensation of it. Look at the techniques of the Upanishad or other spiritual writings that hold value to you. Share them with us, if you can. Contradiction, metaphor, imagery, as in the chariot above. Describe your experience or practice of spirit using your poetic techniques. Write it up and bring it to the reading. Or just bring whatever you’re reading or writing.
Hope to see you at Poetry!
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