Thursday, October 15, 2009

"In this Burning We Are Ever Free"

"In This Burning We Are Ever Free"

“When they burned my lover’s beautiful body
I saw the great fire enfolding him into itself
A piece of me burned there in that flame
A piece of him watched with me through my eyes
Fire cleans everything so thoroughly
When the soft silky ashes ran through my hands
Into the waiting cool waters of the lake
I saw them fertilizing the soil deep below
Plants will grow there and feed the fish
Animals will eat the fish and roam around
Fecal matter will become soil again for the trees
Through great roots the water from deep will rise
And explode outwards in the morning dew
The sky will draw him upward again
My lover will be everywhere for all time
Nourishing nature again and again this body will serve
Moon and stars and suns will know him
Mountains, lakes and rivers flow through him
One day even pieces of that body will become Being again

But now that piece of me that burned with him calls to me
It aches for release and freedom
That piece of him that lives in my heart calls back:
My Love, in this burning we are only witnesses
Rise and let go of everything
We are One beyond this dance of ice and fire
Live
Claim your freedom.
Live”

Ganga Fondan, 2009

This art and poetry is a meditation on yesterday's teleseminar with Tulshi Sen. To find our dreams we go through a great shift of personality and perception in order to see the greatest in ourselves. When he uttered the following words, my thoughts lifted to an indescribable quietness:

"Life is a dance of Consciousness and the mind. It is a romance only when Consciousness leads and the mind follows." - Tulshi Sen

How many times, my heart has shown me such exquisiteness in life. Inside I feel so many changes happening. Sometimes I feel the putrid decaying thoughts of fear hanging on so tightly to maintain their importance in my life. Yet here in this Fall weather I look around and release these anxieties like leaves in a blustery wind. In the artwork I see myself being guided to a new life again. There is cremation of ideas that belonged to my life once. What significance do they still have in where I want to go? Like old clothes that no longer suit my lifestye I let them go and thank them for their service. One of the greatest gifts that has come to me through the practice of the Four Proclamations is the art of listening. This tuning in to Consciousness has shown me how to write songs and draw pictures. It has shown me how to interpret these outpourings as roadmaps to my own evolution.

Unless I do have power over my thought, I can never be free. Unless I can listen to my heart, I have no desire to take this control. Only when glimpses of magnificent feelings peek through my awareness, do I suddenly recognize the priceless value of owning my thoughts and maintaining a vigilence that will not negate the wonder of a beautiful desire aching to make itself known. In yesterday's discussion, my Teacher said that just like a strand of DNA holds the coding for an entire body, so does a single powerful Vision contain the seed to our dream life. The Universe takes care of all the details.

While walking in a brisk wind earlier today, I thought about Narayan. I do not know where he is. I cannot say what he looks like or what he does. I watched his cremation and saw such amazing images passing through my mind. Beyond my unshakable love for him is a Voice that calls to me and coaxes me to look deeper into my own desires and feelings. When I feel the impulse to write a song or make a picture or write a poem, I feel alive and filled with joy. I know that life is showing me the way and opening new horizons for me to experience and feel the wonder of being alive and following my Consciousness with surrender and gratitude.

May your week shower you with brilliant insights to follow your dreams.

Ganga

2 comments:

Young Yoga Masters said...

Beautiful poem. One day we'll all be burned in that fire. If we don't have dreams, what's the point of it all?

I like what you said about aching for release and freedom - rise and let go of everything. There's something in that! It's often when I'm aching for something, when the desire is so strong, then it becomes real. Life is thinking and feeling. That aching is living!

Cyndee Greene said...

Brilliant as always Ganga!
I may come & go, but I hold you close in my heart....