Sleep
Though wakefulness my domain
In sleep I remain,
For wakefulness is sleep
One shallow and one deep.
Reflections
Gazing into the waters, I saw myself at the edge of a pond
I gazed at my reflection, it gazed at me, I felt an eternal bond;
I saw my own image, was a mirage, a creature water bound
It saw a mirage craning over it, a creature bound to the ground.
Saint & Philosopher
The bowl that floats on the ocean, can only the waters crown,
The sieve that tastes the waters, in the ocean will drown
The philosopher who describes love and truth is but an empty crown
The Saint who embraces truth and love will gladly drown.
The Beggar & the Tourist
I saw an old man lying by the side of the street starring into oblivion
What a simple existence, purposeless and futile my opinion
He saw a young man busily running around in futile pursuit
Only to fulfill what he was taught, someone's ideal to suite
I see the existence of a beggar, idle and senseless
He sees the life of a slave, brainwashed and defenseless.
Moving
Why is it, when people move to a new place
That ancient dilemma, one more time they have to face?
Simplify and give away with much grace
Or in their new home find more room, more space.
In our life, go to a new emotional stage
We carry our old sadness, guilt, and rage
Simplifies, throws away garbage, the sage
But others will just carry till old age.
The Pearl
There are many fish in the ocean that swim and swirl
But it's the oyster that turns water into Pearl;
Ideas numerous, as many drops as the ocean can hold
But it's the person who can turn ideas into gold.
Life's Theft
Often in life I choose a goal
And proceed to play my role.
If life's goal from me didn't hide
I'd never have agreed to its stride.
If we knew of life's theft
None would have come, stayed, or left.
Our mortal shells, a temporal Show
Eternal souls eternally glow.
Fire and Deluge
Seek the deluge of the mind and the fire of the heart
Whither the green grass, if clouds and the sun depart?
To embrace the grace of the soul, is an art
Whence, but Mother Earth, shall the seed start?
A Thousand & One
A thousand pictures can the learned teacher paint
Paint and sculpt and carve but One, must the Saint.
Mind, Heart & Soul
I find
A mind
In bind
Unkind
& blind.
& heart
That's smart
Can start
To chart
Its part.
Let soul
Cast role
Set goal,
Control
The whole.
Fish Dish
Give a man a fish to make a dish
And you will feed him for a day
But teach a man how to fish
And help keep his hunger away.
Search
Water was in the jug, while we traveled the world in search
Beloved was at home, while we sought in every church
At last returned home, and quenched our desperate thirst
And then calmly saw beloved waiting from the first.
Proverbs from Hell
If Heaven is where people like this dwell
Any day I'll gladly find my way to Hell,
Can't you tell?
Heaven or Hell
One day from Garden of Eden we fell
For sometime on this earth must dwell
Embody piety, righteousness must spell
If heaven with such people needs swell
Any day I choose to go straight to Hell.
Falsehood
Those who are proud, have false pride
Those who are loud, must have lied
Those who are fraud, themselves fried
Those light as cloud, easily glide.
Perfume
Perfume is what fragrantly smells
Not whatever the perfume-seller tells.
No matter how well advertising sells
Everything its own value loudly spells.
Willing To Die
A true hero will ceaselessly try
For his cause he's willing to die;
A true saint too has a heroic will
Yet there's no cause for which he will kill.
Waves
The rolling waves against the hard rocks harshly beat
Upon the sandy shores, prostrate at my feet.
The rolling times, the hard hearts harshly treat
The whole world will the gentle heart kindly greet.
Birds on the Roof
The birds congregated on the roof
While in the sun I sat aloof
One by one they fly and go
I wonder what it is they know
And soon the sun sets down on me
I need to go and let them be.
The Flies
I brushed the flies, turned them away
Like a boomerang, they found their way
I brush and move and quickly pray
Perhaps the Gods their minds will sway.
The Priest
Pre-dawn darkness, a savage beast
Until sunrise lit up the east
Before me it laid out a feast
Enjoy the feast I could do least
I was the flock, nature my priest.
Desire
Woe to the eye sight and the whimsical desire
For what the eye sees, desire will inspire.
I'll make a dagger tempered with glowing white fire
Pierce the seeing eye, release the soul from hire.
Translated from the works of Baba Taher Orian
World-Greatness
Profundity is not because it reaches wide
Though it's clear, and it has nothing to hide,
Profundity is one that reaches so deep
It plants and waits for the process to reap.
World-greatness is not due to world-wide reach
World-greatness results from world-deep preach.
Horse to Water
You may touch a bird, if not by hand, by song
To take a horse to water and make it drink is wrong.
If one can not see, can use another sense
But if one will not see, will only put up defense.
Military Complex
Military cut backs have caused munitions factories to worry,
Of their employees' economic hardship they tell many a story.
It is amusing that of the same owners of these factories
We heard nothing of the human misery caused by their victories.
Training
Traditional training
Energetic draining
Vitality waning;
Creative whole-braining
Inspirations reigning
Divinity gaining.
Lease on Life
We fear death to the extent that we think it an abyss
Why would we run from a thing if it's bliss?
Each life is nothing but a sacred temporal lease
In the end we must vacate, to landlord release.
Rationality
My friend said, "scientific rationality is the only thing that makes sense,
For subjective feeling and personal belief there can be no defense."
I said, "I understand this is your feeling and belief,
I shall not argue, to avoid any unwanted future grief."