From the Bottomless to Limitlessness

by Nilotpal Sanyal 

From the bottomless to limitlessness
You and I fly together
Inside and outside time
Touching the sky, touching the air
Through ages and eons, We fly together. 

We are together in the shy light of the dawn
In the songs of birds, in flowers, fruits, grass and leaves.
We are together in the lap of moonlit night
Around the stars, in the planets, galaxies and beyond
In all nooks and crannies of the universe. 

We are together where the dreams lie floating
With their smiles of flickering colors
Flowing through the silence fountain
As bright sparkling wonders. 

We are together where varying shades of feelings
Hover upon the clouds of dreams
And call the mind to touch them upon.
We lie together at the heart of every word
Within every story, inside every rhythm
In every swing of tune, in every corner of silence. 

Together We are in the happy days
Amidst drunken joy, in shivering flashes of loveliness.
Together We are in agony, in deep laments
In the emptiness of despair.
Waved by the mind where floats
The canoes of wishes and reluctance
As if in the full-moon sea of dreams
There You and I lie together.
In the land of abyss beneath the oceans
In the den of heaven beyond the sky
Together We lie. 

From ages to ages
You become the poetry, I become the poet;
You take birth splitting my heart
To mingle into My life
Touching My sky, touching My breath
Being My endless wish-bird
To fly towards the depth.
From ages to ages
You become the woman, And I, the man
In some age You want the blissful bond
In some age I want the taste of freedom. 

Ages after ages
Only You and I row the boat of life
Sometimes in wild untamed sea womb
Through thundering gigantic wave billow
Sometimes through serene endless seabed
In utter playfulness of nightly charm. 

At times You come like the bough of joy
In and out of the mind flood with happy breeze
The forest fire of color runs through the heart
Seems at last indeed You have I touched. 

At times You come as shudders of pain
With mute stunned tears piercing the heart
Vanities vanish in that merciless pit
Ego lie crushed, and then You turn. 

Dressed as the mother death at times
You dance in sheer depth of My feelings
The child in Me rejoices in bliss
To death am I born, what fear do I fear! 

Rests where the eternal at the heart of silence
Stopped the waves of time, only wonder awakes
Where Light has crossed the fence of darkness
There lie together You and I for sure. 

---

Nilotpal Sanyal has been inspired by the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda philosophy since his late school days before going to college in Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission College in Kolkata. In USA, he has been associated with Vedanta Society of St. Louis, Vedanta Society of Southern California San Diego Center and Vedanta Society of Berkeley at different times. He can be reached at nilotpal.sanyal@gmail.com.

When Shiva Whispers

by Barefoot Justine

When solitude comes to me as its lonely worst,
A cloud of suffering mists my mornings.

When solitude comes to me as the breath of Shiva,
my vision is awash with shimmering saffron.

When I am she alone battling in my darkest hollows,
With a soured stomach I long for silence.

When all and one purr like twin tigers in my heart,
Silence flows clear as crystal springs.

When I alone am bloodied by demoniac struggles,
I see no path to virtue or release.

When I alone am one with all and one with truth,
I have no desire for the songs of men.

When Shiva seems to me but paint and fragile plaster,
No wisp of peace wafts from stillness.

When Shiva’s whispers warm my ears full of grace,
I melt into him with tearful trembles.

When maya barks its verses to me the virgin Mara,
I cannot hear the wisdom of the shlokas.

But when I wander quietly the lush green forest,
Every tree drops leaves of grace and wisdom.

Jai, jai! Every tree drops leaves of grace and wisdom.
Har Har Mahadev! Har Har Mahadev!

---

Justine Mara Andersen, lifelong artist and dreamer, lives in the swamps of Florida where she shares the world with wild horses, alligators and eagles. Barefoot Justine teaches drawing, and illustrates for a wide variety of clients: DC Comics, Magic the Gathering, University Of Florida projects, Barbarella comics, Lucasfilm periodicals, WOTC’s Dungeons and Dragons books, illustrated historical books, and others. She can be contacted at barefoot.justine@gmail.com.

Five poems

by Br. Shankara

Great Silence

My mind, saying the
sacred syllables guru
gave me, somehow slipped
into a Great Silence and
was stilled. Nothing more to say.

Stop Looking

Stop looking at yourself
like that in the mirror.
Stop looking in
the mirror at all.

Instead, rush to your
heart with both hands
outstretched and cry,
come to me, my Beloved!

What Would You Say?

If I were told, you can have
but one book, the answer
would be “The Gospel,”
of course. But then I
would beg, beg with
tears on bended knee,
to be allowed one more —
“Love Poems from God.”
And if Shankara’s plea
was denied, that would be
heard as a bless-ed sentence:
Live every life required
to write them all again.

What He Died To Tell Us

It is not unusual,
on the dark side of
Creation, to be brutally
murdered for your
teachings and beliefs. 

So Shankara does not
so much marvel at
the manner of Christ’s
death, as live in wonder
at what He died to tell us — 

“I am the light
shining upon all things.
I am the sum of everything,
for everything has come forth
from me and towards me
everything unfolds.
Split a piece of wood,
and there I am.
Pick up a stone, and
you will find me there.”
— Gospel of Thomas Logion 77

What God Cares About

All those things you hear
God cares about so much —
I can guarantee
it isn’t true.
Sure, She measures out
Creation thus and so,
plus and minus and all that,
but that’s just so
you will be entranced
and stay to play.
All She really cares about
is the bright light in your eyes
and to hear you say
in your own way,
my dearest Dear.

---

Br. Shankara has served as Resident Minister of the Vedanta Center of Atlanta (GA) since August of 2010. Previously, he was an active member of the Vedanta Society of Southern California for 37 years. He can be reached at shankara@vedantaatlanta.org.