Revelation

Sreenivasa Raghavendra Kannan or Seenu as he was called by his loved ones sat down to meditate as usual that evening. With his eyes closed, as he mentally left the world he had known for the past 24 years, he had not the faintest idea of what he was about to experience. As was the usual practice, he started with pranayama and then began to meditate upon the illumined face of his Gurudeva, Swami Vivekananda.

Wandering away from the material plane, his mind was gripped with one overwhelming thought; to unite the individual soul with the Infinite one. Seenu was skeptical if he really wanted to know the truth, whether he truly yearned to be one with God at all times - in an unbroken chain like the flow of oil from an earthen pot to a lamp. But at times he felt these intense pangs in the heart caused by the pain of his apparent separation from God. He felt as though his heart was wrenched like a soaking wet towel which had every drop of vitality drained out of it.

Seenu was born and brought up in an orthodox family and was well versed in the Vedic hymns. He had read the commentaries by Adi Shankaracharya on the Vedas. Shankara's philosophy, the Advaitha or non-dualism greatly appealed to him. He knew in the heart of hearts that finding the One source behind everything will lead to the ultimate goal and thereby put an end to all the miseries in this life and thereafter.

He took a deep breath and at that moment he felt as if the whole of the conscious world was taking a deep breath along with him. He felt all the individual egos merge with his ego in the effort to search for that One Super Ego, the causal force. It was like the various tributaries that join a river as it surges ahead with great gusto towards the mighty ocean and finally becomes one with it! And then flash! dawns this idea upon him that all this world is nothing more than a dream. Different coloured threads weaving the illusory fabric of the Universe with God being its magical Weaver. The whole perception of the world was but a thought arising from the Cosmic mind of the Eternal one.

The Cosmic mind belongs to the ever pure, the ever perfect, the ever blissful Brahman or the One Universal Consciousness.
Brahman is without qualities. The endless cycles of creation and destruction are but part of His lila or divine play. The human birth is considered to be the highest in terms of physiological, mental and spiritual evolution. That makes man capable of realising his identity with the true Self if only a sincere attempt is made to rise above maya - this world.

As Seenu's meditation became deeper, he probed into subtler levels of consciousness where the thought itself got resolved into akasa and prana or matter and force which created these seemingly gigantic universes. Opening his eyes slowly, he felt an uncontrollable joy within. It was the elixir of divine bliss! He wanted to drink more of it but was unable to, try hard as he did to delve again into the very depths he had reached in his meditation. But then he thought, may be it was part of His lila not to give an overdose of bliss which may turn him into some sort of a lunatic if he is unable to handle it. But nonetheless the experience was a revelation to Seenu which replenished his faith in the divine and gave the impetus to march ahead in his struggle for Self discovery and to ultimately realise God.

Enroute Salvation

I seek liberation,
from this world of illusion,
take me to my destination,
without further procrastination.

Foolish vanities brought elation,
until nature forced a variation,
miseries and hardships in succession,
mind, a haven for vexation.

Time was ripe for the decision,
realising everything was but delusion,
chose the path of renunciation,
to fulfill life's ultimate mission.

Parental love became an obligation,
undoubtedly beyond comparison,
but in seeking Him, was the salvation,
who still remained, a distant abstraction.

Not through the mind and body junction,
does the eternal one function,
It is through deep meditation,
cometh this knowledge of discrimination.

With love guiding every thought and action,
unbound faith and perseverance will yield fruition,
in the effort to cross life's ocean,
to enter the realm of spiritual realisation.

"Its a busy world"

What a buzz this world is !
full of anxious faces and stubborn looks.
A demeanour; of the world resting on them,
they are everywhere, but I care a damn !

People are constantly on the move,
not willing to give the body its due.
A moment of inactivity is decay for them,
they are everywhere, creating mayhem !

Pleasure is the mantra of life it seems,
with dewdrop joys and fragile dreams.
Wanting to lay their hands on everything possible,
they are everywhere, but none are sensible !

Life is a rush, a tightrope walk,
be up to it or you'll be stranded back.
Each one waiting to grab the throat of the other,
they are everywhere, be it a friend or a brother !

Seeing all this makes me wonder,
whether life means this or is there something yonder?
Try getting them out of this muddy pool,
they are everywhere, calling you a fool !

An orchestral night

...On one of those nocturnal days when the wings of imagination took flight....














Resting in solitude, as I seek solace,
A myriad of sounds explode in the vicinity,
interweaving one another, causing a cacophony,
Or is it? as I give it a closer hear !

Eavesdropping on a group of men chit chatting,
laughing and talking in a merry mood.
Not far away, is a record being played,
The words of which is music to the dismayed.

The neighbour is playing a diabolical cord,
to the tunes of which I see people dance around,
Accompanying the grinding sound of a kitchen tool
and the tapping sound of a hammer next door.

A chain of vehicles honking and whizzing past,
underlying this discord and in stark contrast,
Is a harmony taking birth in elements of nature,
which I try to listen to, in a state of rapture.

The silent rustling of the leaves on trees
And the clattering of a bird's flapping wings.
The creaking sound of two shearing branches
And the chirping sound of crickets in marshes.

The mystic symphony of the drifting clouds
And the soothing whisper of the southern breeze.
From the crescent moon whistling to the stars
Down to the tiptoeing ants in a rhythmic march.

They all call for a feast of song and dance,
As I silently retire into the orchestral night.