Favorite Spiritual Poems

[Sky Dancer]

Yet, I Came
I had no incense to offer you
Yet, I came.

My hands were empty
I had no tidings
My shoes were worn and muddy
I knew not what you would expect of me
I made some wrong decisions
Yet, I came.

I came and walked around your temple
Doing rounds of 108
I lost count halfway in between
I knew not if I should return to the beginning and count again
I knew not what I should say when I was before you
The rain had me damp from the burden of a tumultuous journey.

Searching,
Always seemingly searching
For what I could possibly offer.

Religion was obscure
But, not wanting to miss any opportunity to know you
I surrendered to every holy place and faith I came across.

I came seeking direction
Walked circles around your statues
I knew not what to offer
My hands were empty
The fruit I had not purchased
From the woman selling alms outside your gate.

I entered nonetheless
Hungry and thwarted by a self-imposed loneliness
And, I was unsure if I was to feed you
Or, you were to feed me?
At times, I even felt unsure of how to pray.


I came as a wanderer
Wanting to offer something Yet not knowing what
Finally, I decided
I would simply offer myself

-written by HawaH

 

[Sky Dancer]

Colorless Flag

This god has no religion
No flag
No walls or boundaries to hide behind

This god is transparent
Open as a casket that no longer needs death

This god has transcended right and wrong
And any need for us to pray to it
No subjective blessings
No need for pronouns or gender identity

This god has broken free
Of humans’ need to define that which is faceless
That which is nameless
That which is beyond even religion

This god is relationship
Defined by our kiss and united by forgiveness
Home at last without doors, locks or rings
A partner within

-written by HawaH

 

[Sky Dancer]

Mother-of-us-all prays to free us
from our image of perfection
to which so much suffering clings.

When in the shadowy mind
we imagine ourselves imperfectly,
praying to be freed from gravity
by enlightenment, she refines our prayers.

Putting her arms around us
she bids us rest our head on her shoulder
whispering, Don’t you know
with all your fear and anger
all you are fit for is love.


2007 © by Stephen Levine

 

[Sky Dancer]

"Life is painful, suffering is optional."
— Sylvia Boorstein

 

[Sky Dancer]

For syrenn



My beloved child,


break your heart no longer.

Each time you judge yourself you break your own heart.

You stop feeding on the love which is the wellspring of your vitality.

The time has come, your time

To live to celebrate and to see the goodness that you are…

Let no one, no thing, no idea or ideal obstruct you

If one comes, even in the name of “Truth”, forgive it for its

unknowing

Do not fight

Let go

And breathe – into the goodness that you are.”

Bapuji poem

 

[Sky Dancer]

For Dorothy

AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE CHAPTERS
Portia Nelson

1) I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost...
I am hopeless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

2) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I'm in the same place.
But it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

3) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in...it's a habit
My eyes are open; I know where I am;
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

4) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

5) I walk down another street.

 

[Kalam]

The tree of love its roots hath spread
Deep in my heart, and rears its head;
Rich are its fruits: they joy dispense;
Transport the heart, and ravish sense.
In love's sweet swoon to thee I cleave,
Bless'd source of love...

Francis of Assisi

 

[Sky Dancer]

Desert Rose

I began my journey the day I was born.
My name told my destiny.
Yet, it remained hidden for me to discover.
I traveled a long time to get to this moment.
So many cactuses I stumbled over in the dark.
No star lighted my path-- I was not yet awake.
Naivety guided me into sandstorms that made wounds in my soul.
Ignorance blinded me as the cactus' thorns scratched me.
However, these wounds propelled me forward and kept me on
a certain path.
One day, when I looked ahead, I saw an oasis.
A mirage, I thought, so I slowly walked towards it-- expecting
to be fooled again.
When I reached the mirage, I found a rose.
I touched it and found it was no dream.
Entranced by this rose, I placed it in the vase of my heart.
As it took root, it became a part of me.
My blindness lifted, for I could see the true Light.
Faith rested in my heart.
My desert rose led me to this destiny.
When I stray-- its paper thorns remind me to come back to
the straight path.
Each day it continues growing, it strengthens my heart and
my soul.
I water it with my prayers, my charity, my fasting.
This rose is here to stay--
It guides me to an eternal Garden.
My thoughts, my goals, my actions are preparing my place in
that Garden.
That is where I will rest my roots--
As long as this rose remains in my heart.



Lena Winfrey Seder

 

[Sky Dancer]

Awakening

I sail to you in the ocean of my dreams
To a far away distant place
Of great beauty and tranquility
Where pain and suffering do not exist,
Where we give praise for our joy and happiness,
Where our love intertwines with a love for all things

O beloved keeper of my heart
The companion of my soul
You have reached out and touched the essence of my being
And shown me the way to a higher plane

Your love has awakened me from my years of slumber
A beckoning call to the spiritual world
Where my body is mist in the mountains
This is where my heart belongs
This is where my soul lives...


Amjid Yaseen

 

[Sky Dancer]

Allah

I tried to find Him on the Christian cross, but He
was not there; I went to the Temple of the
Hindus and to the old pagodas, but I could not
find a trace of Him anywhere.

I searched on the mountains and in the valleys
but neither in the heights nor in the depths was I
able to find Him. I went to the Ka'bah in Mecca,
but He was not there either.

I questioned the scholars and philosophers but
He was beyond their understanding.

I then looked into my heart and it was there
where He dwelled that I saw Him; He was
nowhere else to be found.

Rumi

 

[Sky Dancer]

Mystery

It lives in the seed of a tree as it grows,
You can hear it when you listen to the wind as it blows,
It's there in the river as it flows into the sea,
It's the sound and the song of someone becoming free.

And it lives in the laughter of children playing,
And in the blazing sun that gives life to the day,
It moves the planets and the stars in the sky,
It's been the mover of mountains since the beginning of time.

Oh Mystery, you are alive,
I feel you all around.
You are the fire in my heart,
You are the holy sound,
You are all of life, it is to you that I sing,
Grant that I may see you, always in everything,
Grant that I may see you, always in everything.

And it lives in the waves as they crash on the beach,
I've seen it in the Gods that men have tried to reach,
I know it's in the love that we all need so much,
I know it in your smile, my love, when our hearts do touch.

But when I listen deep inside, I feel you most of all,
Like a moon that's glowing white, and I listen to your call,
And I know you will guide me, I know it like the tide,
Rushing through the ocean of my heart, open wide.

Oh mystery, you are alive, I feel you all around,
You are the fire in my heart, you are the holy sound,
You are all of life, it is to you, that I sing,
Grant that I may see you, always in everything,
Oh grant, that I may see you, always in everything.

Paul Winter Consort, Missa Gaia, Earth Mass

 

[Sky Dancer]

Keeping Quiet

Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.

This one time upon the earth,
let's not speak any language,
let's stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.

It would be a delicious moment,
without hurry, without locomotives,
all of us would be together
in a sudden uneasiness.

The fishermen in the cold sea
would do no harm to the whales
and the peasant gathering salt
would look at his torn hands.

Those who prepare green wars,
wars of gas, wars of fire,
victories without survivors,
would put on clean clothing
and would walk alongside their brothers
in the shade, without doing a thing.

What I want shouldn't be confused
with final inactivity:
life alone is what matters,
I want nothing to do with death.

If we weren't unanimous
about keeping our lives so much in motion,

if we could do nothing for once,
perhaps a great silence would
interrupt this sadness,
this never understanding ourselves
and threatening ourselves with death,
perhaps the earth is teaching us
when everything seems to be dead
and then everything is alive.

Now I will count to twelve
and you keep quiet and I'll go

Pablo Neruda

 

[Sky Dancer]

THE SUN NEVER SAYS

Even

After

All this time

The sun never says to the earth,

"You owe

Me."

Look

What happens

With a love like that,

It lights the

Whole

Sky.

Hafiz

 

[Sky Dancer]

Allow

There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightning bolt,
containing a tornado. Dam a
stream and it will create a new
channel. Resist, and the tide
will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry
you to higher ground. The only
safety lies in letting it all in –
the wild and the weak; fear,
fantasies, failures and success.
When loss rips off the doors of
the heart, or sadness veils your
vision with despair, practice
becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes.

Danna Faulds

 

[Sky Dancer]

"Despite illness of body or mind, in spite of blinding despair or habitual belief, who you are is whole.

Let nothing keep you separate from the truth. The soul, illumined from within, longs to be known for what it is.

Undying, untouched by fire or the storms of life, there is a place inside where stillness and abiding peace reside.You can ride the breath to go there.

Despite doubt or hopeless turns of mind, you are not broken. Spirit surrounds, embraces, fills you from the inside out. Release everything that isn't your true nature. What's left, the fullness, light and shadow, claim all that as your birthright."


— Danna Faulds

 

[Sky Dancer]

Enough
by Danna Faulds

It's enough to offer love,
no matter how imperfectly
received or given. It's
enough to try and fail at
a difficult task; enough
to fall and rise, stumble,
fall again, sigh, and start
to walk, however slowly,
in the direction the soul
points. It's enough to
seek peace and find pain,
to gain nothing but a
vision of truth, and take
the long route home.

It's enough to feel
temptation, the dance
of the senses, the hot
pull of desire; enough
to call on God, walk
through fire, sleep and
cry and fear or welcome
dying. It's enough to be
and breathe, to feel the
touch of wind on skin.

It's enough to take the
day as it comes, to watch
the ripples on the lake as
the rock sinks to the
bottom, to see the wild
reflection of the surface
calm into a mirror once
again. It's enough to
hear the voice of fear
and hide- or seek it out
and face the shame or
shadows. It's enough
to set out to tame demons
and watch them multiply
instead. It's enough to
be buffeted by the winds
of change and not blown
over. I and you and all
of us, more than enough.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Awakening Now

Why wait for your awakening?
The moment your eyes are open,
seize the day. Would you hold
back when the Beloved beckons?
Would you deliver your litany
of sins like a child's collection
of sea shells, prized and labeled?
"No, I can't step across the
threshold," you say, eyes
downcast. "I'm not worthy"
I'm afraid, and my motives
aren't pure. I'm not perfect,
and surely I haven't practiced
nearly enough. My meditation
isn't deep, and my prayers are
sometimes insincere. I still chew
my fingernails, and the refrigerator
isn't clean." Do you value your
reasons for staying small more
than the light shining through
the open door? Forgive yourself.

Now is the only time you have
to be whole. Now is the sole
moment that exists to live in
the light of your true Self.
Perfection is not a prerequisite
for anything but pain. Please,
oh please, don't continue to
believe in your disbelief.
This is the day of your awakening.

-from: Go In and In:
Poems From the Heart of Yoga
By Danna Faulds

 

[Sky Dancer]

Teach me what I cannot learn alone.

Let us share what we know, and what

we cannot fathom. Speak to me of

mysteries, and let us never lie

to one another.



May our fierce and tender longing

fuel the fire in our souls. When we

stand side by side, let us dare to focus

our desire on the truth. May we be

reminders, each for the other, that

the path of transformation passes

through the flames.



To take one step is courageous;

to stay on the path day after day,

choosing the unknown, and facing

yet another fear, that is nothing

short of grace.

.

 

[Sky Dancer]

A Meditation on Letting Go

If you let go a little
You will have a little happiness.
If you let go a lot
You will have a lot of happiness.
If you let go completely
You will be free.

Achan Chah

 

[Sky Dancer]

“Let go of the ways you though life would unfold; the holding of plans or dreams or expectations — Let it go. Save your strength to swim with the tide. The choice to fight what is here before you now will only result in struggle, fear, and desperate attempts to flee from the very energy you long for. Let it all go and flow with the grace that washes through your days whether you receive it gently or with all your quills raised to defend against invaders. Take this on faith: the mind may never find the explanations that it seeks, but you will move forward nonetheless. Let it all go and find the place of rest and peace, and certain transformation.”

Danna Faulds