Advaita Notebook March Poems

March 2010

Desires

I invented all desires
said God
Do you think I reward you
For not obeying them?

They are this rich and vivid world
And please don't forget that my
Adding just the
Right amount of spice
Takes great skill
And a little luck

Admittedly
There are desires to
And desires not to
But that's just so you can't
Take the easy way out
And hide from the action

I invented all desires
So off you go
And good luck!

Awareness

What is awareness?
Says awareness
How do I find you?

I need to calm down
And create a space
Where I can be aware
Of you
Awareness

Wait don't go
Let me be your witness

Come out from behind yourself
Or at least move out of the way
So I can see the
Real you

When Joy Comes

When joy comes
Let it in
Lap it up

This is your reward
For all that misery
And pain

Oh yes!
Oh yes!
It's definitely worth it
Now
When joy comes

Do Your Best

Do your best
Your absolute best
Said God
And I tried
But something was wrong
He could see I was struggling

If you can't
He said
Drop out like me
Join me over here
And be happy
Forever

The Busker

He was busking in the mall
Today
And I got there early
To see him set up

The rhythm began
I felt every note
So clearly
Above the jack hammers
And traffic

He sat straight
Fingers dancing
Up and down the strings

And people thought they could
Just walk by
But hesitated
And stayed
Till they were
Late back from lunch

Some of us cried quietly
At the beauty
And I bought his CD
To play when he wasn't there
In case he didn't return
Tomorrow

What I did

To make things happen
What I did was
Divide into segments
And give each one an
Automatic driver
So they could go about
Their business

Some of them have become so
Independently successful
That they try and find out
Who they are
They must suspect I exist

They can try and try
And even get onto the secret
But this thing I've done
Works so well they
Fall back into line
Almost immediately

The only hitch so far
Is that I seem to have
Disappeared
Into them
And can't find
Myself

And if you asked me
Who is speaking here
I might as well say
It's you

The True Teaching

Anything that says
You will be free
Or do what I did or
Here's a tip
Is a cruel teaching
Depriving you of this

The true teaching is
Much kinder
And more surprising
It says

Everything is fine

And because of this
You can relax
Even if you don't understand
Why

Who Am I?

Who am I?
Is asked by who?
And when I would know
Who's satisfied?

Wouldn't a new who
Pop up
And ask who they can ask
Who they are?

There must be something
Somewhere
Though
That I am

Mustn't there?

The Garden of Eden

In the Garden of Eden
There's holes in the lawn
And everyone's teeing off

They're all doing their best
And not worrying about
The meaning

If anyone does get a
Hole in one
It's a complete
Surprise!

It Already Has

When I become no one
That no one becomes anyone
And so everyone becomes no one
Which we were

It all happens together
And already has

In a Very Nice Way

It's not so much that
I'm a God you can worship
He said
Or even name

No
It's more like
Once you know I'm around
You can demolish the world
And yourself
All in a very nice way

Yet I Knew

I was happy at times
And sad
And good and bad
And alive and dead
And I didn't know
How it all happened

Yet I knew