[Advaita-l] diction of mantras

[mwadhwa at uwm.edu]

Something to ponder over. These are few lines from Saint Kabir: to understand
Advaita or any philosophy such words are always there:

I. jab main bhûlâ, re bhâî

O BROTHER! when I was forgetful, my true Guru showed me the Way.
Then I left off all rites and ceremonies, I bathed no more in the holy water:
Then I learned that it was I alone who was mad, and the whole world beside me
was sane; and I had disturbed these wise people.
>From that time forth I knew no more how to roll in the dust in obeisance:
I do not ring the temple bell:
I do not set the idol on its throne:
I do not worship the image with flowers.
It is not the austerities that mortify the flesh which are pleasing to the Lord,
When you leave off your clothes and kill your senses, you do not please the
Lord:
The man who is kind and who practises righteousness, who remains passive amidst
the affairs of the world, who considers all creatures on earth as his own self,
He attains the Immortal Being, the true God is ever with him.
Kabîr says: "He attains the true Name whose words are pure, and who is free from
pride and conceit."


          I think it is simple as it is, and being simple is what it is all
about. I feel it is better to throw away all the philosophies and scriptures
and be as natural and simple as our true being can be. What else, no mantra, no
tantra, no shadyantra........

Here are few lines from my poetry book inside my mind on which I keep scribbling
something. Here is what is coming at this moment:


Thou hast shown me the direction ever and anon
and thou wouldst lead me to the other shore
why shouldst i worry and fear
when thou hast implanted me
thou wouldst pluck me and keep me at thy feet
I make myself worthy of thy plucking
I shy; for my hands are small and my desires unworthy
I hold on to thy name and thy form and thy formlessness
I hold on to thy love and thy beauty inside and outside
yet I hold not; for what is there thou art not
I threw away all those gymnastics of body and mind
For I know you don't want to see me as a monkey
but as Who I truly am - Simplicity, love, renunciation
Someday when thy imageless image would shine in my heart
I would get to know - thou hast accepted me
My heart's yearning would be over
The wanderer would have reached his home then
and would fall utterly at the feet of his beloved



Pranaam,
Manish Wadhwa