torsdag 20. oktober 2011

Note to mind, 21.10.2011

Death is
For certain.
This world,
Our beloved so called
Blue Planet,
The home of our ancestors,
Our family,
Those near and dear ones,
The place of our current existence,
Those places where we go
To recover,
To gather strength,
That place where you first felt loved,
Where we first held hands,
The soothing woods,
The pure lakes,
These places,
The universe,
This world
Has a hundred percent
Kill rate.
No one survives,
No one makes it out alive.

Never forget this.

And please remember,

Do not trust their words.
Do not become depressed.

Science claims lordship
Over true knowledge,
Defining and
Analyzing
With their instruments,
With their brains.
They have the arguments,
Of this there is no doubt.
Their number is great.
Their grip
Around the hearts of
The silent, wayward  people
Is very strong.

Do not trust their words.
Do not become depressed.

Take to heart.
Take to heart
And surrender to saints,
To prophets,
To the holy scriptures,
To the Kingdom
Beyond their grasp,
Beyond our petty sight.
That Kingdom of the pure heart,
The Kingdom
Of unlimited insight.

That Kingdom beyond
Death,
Ruled by a benevolent King,
A King who truly cares
For the destination
Of you
And all your loved ones and even
Strangers in the streets.

Take to heart,
Have faith.



onsdag 19. oktober 2011

My life's comedy, 19.10.2011

”Kama esa, kroda esa.”
These words of Lord Krishna
Resound in my mind.       

I was
Working on my bicycle.
Although it is already
Mid October
I still see
Ample opportunity
For biking around.

Leaf trees are now bare.
Rising in the morning,
Several times
I have found temperatures
Below zero.
But with my
Norwegian conditioning and
Viking heritage,
I find this climate stimulating.
Nature calls,
As a distant echo
In my heart.

However,

Today
I get a taste of
That other side,
That home of Gremlings,
Moldy corner
Of a dark cave,
Where no pure light
Shines.

I am changing tires
And it’s not working.                                                         
I am adjusting the break
And it’s not working.

In the beginning
I am only building up
Some small frustration.
I sigh, and speak to my mind:
“Oh, so you are making some trouble today?
I am not surprised.”
But it evolves,
Taking on other,
More condensed forms.
I speak again, voice deeper,
In anger:
“Why do you thwart my efforts so?
What is the lesson to be learned here?”

No reply.

An so it comes to that,
O’ so infamous point
Of no return.
The breaking point
Of all righteous,
Common sense.

I glare at the bike,
Mind reeling,
All I see is destruction.
Hate!
I hate the bike!
The tools!
My incompetentness!
The pure enjoyment of nature
Evaporates,
And in its place
Arises
Fury!

And so all practical skills
Become handicapped.
No progress is made.
Only speculations
On depressing possibilities,
Out of reach.

Blood boiling,
Crying dry tears of frustration,
I pace the cellar floor,
Seeing only
My lonely, brittle form
In the darkness…

After some time,

Graced by some invisible
Good fortune,
I again speak to my mind,
But it is not my regular voice.
It is as if I speak
From a far corner,
Softly, but
With firmness.
Words looking me in the eyes
With compassion,
Not judgement:
“This path leads to nothingness.
No gain. Why endeavor, why invest
In profitless currency?
Why indulge in insanity?”

As water poured on fire,
My mind hisses,
Curling up
As if to counter attack,
Only to remain
It that springboard position, making comments like:
“Well, so you may say..”, or
“Pff, so you think you are so smart?”

However,
Gradually,
As the seething hiss subsides,
And that enveloping, choking smoke
Thins,
I again look down on my bike,
The scattered tools,
The concrete cellar floor.
I get this feeling of
Arriving home from abroad
Seeing old things anew.


"It is lust only, Arjuna.."
I sow the seeds every day
In the garden of my daily routines.
These sprouts and creepers
Do not grow
Without
Cultivation.
Diligence is required.
Diligence and a surrender
To the understanding
For the need of diligence
In devotional life.
In the service
Of Guru and Krishna.

It is not a cheap thing...


torsdag 6. oktober 2011

The blessing of the spiritual family, 7.11.2011

Today
i recieved the news
Of a dear godbrother
Being awarded
Saffron.
Our Guru Maharaja
Expressed
The deep commitment,
Expectations and
Dedication
Naturally woven into this cloth,
In this way giving
His magnanimous blessings.

In all honesty,
I felt my own spiritual
Shortcomings
Mirrored
In the glory of this
Event.
And
A question arose
From within:
“Is this inspiration
Or envy?”

Indeed.
Where is my heart truly
Situated?
What is the nature
Of my purity?
Is there even
Something worthy of being
Labeled: “Pure”.

Yes and no.

But how
Can this be?

And suddenly it dawns upon me!

Realizing your envious
Tendencies,
You become inspired
To make a change!

By admitting
To the craving
For self agrandazement and
Resultant
Degrading, offensive,
Most horribly misplaced
Denigration
Of the saintly person,
I am
In actuality
Awarded  the insight
Of awakening to the need for
Improvement
Of my character.

I see it so clearly!
It is that
Unmistakable
Nauseating feeling,
Of a sort of
Appreciative  self contempt.

Therefore,
Let it be said:
“I welcome you
 Brother Envy.
You are the friend of
Any introspective
Person.
By your grace,
One can confront
Those dark secrets
Hidden away
Deep down in that well
Of the lower modes of nature.

You have done me a great service today.
To repay this dept,
I see no other option
In my heart,
But to leave you
For the forest
Of penance and
Appreciation.

Please bless me… “

onsdag 5. oktober 2011

A hike in the woods with devotee company

”Today was a day
In pure goodness”,
Jyotisvara prabhu said.

We had nice kirtan.
Erik, a new inspired bhakta,
Plays  his guitar.
He has composed a melody
For Hare Krishna.
It’s really sweet.
I have brought mrdanga and karatalas.
We jam for a while,
The mantra resounding
In the silent presence  of Mother Nature.

We also took prasadam.
The menu for these
Forest expeditions
Is more or less set,
Devotee sampled and approved by experience
From numerous similar hikes:
Potatoes in the fire
With butter, hing, salt and pepper
(Always a winner,
And a boost of moral
In the stealthy cold
Of autumn evening).

For that extra, special touch,
And for the pleasure of the devotees:
A homemade loaf of bread,
Quality Norwegian flower honey,
Cream cheese
And olives.

And of course,
No gathering of devotees is complete
Without Krishna katha.
Erik is curious
And has a benign, humble attitude.
Jyotisvara prabhu systematically
Explains, taking his time;
The tree modes of nature,
Our position as Krishna’s eternal servants,
Inspiring tales from the lives of our previous acharyas,
His personal realizations.

In this way
We pass the whole afternoon
And into the night,
Ending up seated together
Around a cozy fire,
The blackness of the woodland night
Around us.

Tomorrow
A fresh new day awaits.
Japa, then
Breakfast.
Plan is simple forest kitchary
And corn cobs
Baked in the flames.

“In the city
The modes of passion and ignorance awaits”,
I say.
“The modes are always mixed”,
Jyotysvara prabhu counters,
“Even in the mode of goodness.”
“Our only refuge
Is pure goodness.

And that is not a part of this world.”