A Drama Played As Designed

Ingrained in me these few happy memories
With us when you were around
The rest were cause for many worries
As father and daughter we were bound

I wonder how you are coping there
Since you are no longer in the physical dimension
Everyday when I say my prayer
You are the first one I mention

I shall not rake up the past
Let bygones be bygones
The lesson learnt; let that last
Lest fresh karma spawns

I have known this to be true
The peace which forgiveness begets
Whatever unpleasantness we went through
For that I have no regrets

In the silent darkness of midnight
On my bedroom wall shadows cast
The night games played by trees and the streetlight
In fear my heart beat very fast

I heard a stray dog howl and a yelping pup
Petrified I lay still with no other choice
With all the courage I could muster up
I called out to you in a feeble voice

You came running to the side of my bed
It was only a shadow; to my senses you made clear
With a gentle smile you lovingly stroked my head
I slept peacefully with no more fear

Decades have passed and I have wondered
Where your heart lost its tenderness
If only you had sat and pondered
On fleeting illusion and your own blessedness

With no judgment I do however opine
You did what you thought was right
A drama we played perfect to the design
With your memories I no longer fight

Pepal Tree
May 2009

Aging with Grace

As years go by

I look back and sigh

Not for my hair which has now turned grey

But for what could have been done in a better way

Not for the eyes tipped with crow’s feet

But for those deadlines I didn’t meet

Not for the dry, sun tanned skin

But for those prizes I never did win

Not for slowed down hobbling gait

But for those I preferred not to wait

Not for the fingers frail and bent

But for those moments in vain I spent

Years gone by are never a waste

One life at a time I’m given to taste

If not now there is always the next

A wish, a hope, of being the best

Lifetime upon lifetime given to surmise

To become wise and break all ties.

Pepal Tree
16.05.2011

Roses

A man with a question wandered around

And finally the man with an answer he found

He who had the answer was none other than the Buddha

He walked the earth long ago; The Tathāgata

The man with all the courage he could muster

Stood with folded hands before the Great Master

With all compassion the Enlightened one enquired

For what was needed to be done as required

“What is the difference between your love and mine?

I ask you humbly, Master, please do opine”

The man with all humility the question he poses

The Master replied with an example of two roses

“Your love”, said the Master in all compassion,

“Is still devoid of all dispassion”

The Master went on for the man to understand

“Your love is like a rose you hold in your hand”

“My love”, the Master continued to explain,

“Is intended to give Joy, never pain,

Like a rose in a bush left alone

With no intention to possess or own”

Pepal Tree

23^rdDecember, 2009.

Stillness

Never lose touch with the inner stillness

Lest you get lost in the worlds wilderness

This stillness is who we really are

For caste and creed there is no bar.

What is good and what is bad? What is this duality?

Illusions causing vitality

Stillness is equilibrium

In this Time-Space Continuum.

Listen to the silence all around

To the listeners it is so profound

With this stillness when we do connect

Everything seems so perfect.

Life is neither a comedy nor is it tragic

Be still and allow the Universe to do its quiet magic

Time and place; Never and Nowhere

Stillness is when we are Aware.

We only have to be open and properly see

That everything is as it has to be

Nothing really needs to be changed

In time and space we are not framed.

The culprit is not the mind

It is but a naughty child; Be kind

Befriend it and it will succumb

To your charm; It will open up new vistas with aplomb.

Against this stillness the outside world is perceived

As impulses in the brain the world is received

This stillness is the background of reference

Words are insubstantial to express, to this Stillness, my  reverence.

The created Universe is rushing back to its Source

Every unit of matter taking its own course

Can we compare, differentiate or divide?

When All is One, whom do we deride?

The mind is running nowhere on a treadmill

We have to be aware of this and make it still

Breaking away from eons of conditioning

Beyond thoughts, words or reasoning.

The space around us allows everything to Be

The Universe is not all what the eyes do see

What we see out there is not ultimate reality

Simple yet difficult, self created  complexity.

Thousands of possibilities; Each moment is new

No beginning or end, if only we Knew

Awareness disguised as a person

Realize and break free from our conceptual prison.

Physical matter when it is frozen

As mind and thoughts, when allowed to loosen

The same is however always formless

Who we are as pure Consciousness.

Reverberating through the vast galaxies

Every blade of grass and the seven seas

The only One rooted in this quantum program

“I Am”, “I Am”, “I Am” ,”I Am”

Pepal Tree

April 2009

Alone, Not Lonely

I love being alone, but I’m not lonely

I sit with my Love which is my one and only

When alone, in the spring of Life I am rooted

To ward off attachments I tread in this world, with aloneness I’m booted

Aloneness is to be with oneself comfortable

It only costs me my presence; what could be more affordable?

In my aloneness I’m one with my breathe

The stillness is inexplicable, I could even welcome death

On the other side of nowhere my Beloved will rejoice

To be alone when I consciously make a choice

Seeking perfect companionship for long I have been deluded

Only through my aloneness I seek my perfect Beloved

Pepal Tree

09.07.2009

Death

At the hour of Death

 The parade of Life

Seems so unimportant

What a relief!

Roles played

Emotions experienced

Hopes and aspirations

To strengthen our Belief.

Were it not for this make believe

True effort, True feelings

Would never perhaps

Be invested into Life.

Knowing the purpose

Of manifested Reality

Does it not indeed

Remove all strife?

Calm and peaceful

Warm darkness

All is well

We are really Alive.

Welcome Death

It is what we lived for

Anticipate and enhance Alertness 

When Death does arrive.

Almighty

Almighty

A knower says You reside within my heart
But to look within I fall short
The knower also says You are everywhere
It is with You my existence I share

You created this wonderful world
On this colorful canvas Your love unfurled
I’m grateful that I am a part of it
In body, mind, soul and spirit

Have You created me or I, You?
I have to find out what is true
You are not different from me
For myself that truth I have to see

My questions may sound very absurd
Someday I shall be answered
Churning within are these queries
How do I do away with all my worldly worries?

You, by varied names we call
Is the name important? Claims are tall
Behind all names there is only ONE
Revealed to the seeker when differences are shun

To You are given varied forms
To worship You are set certain norms
With empty rituals and customs, You, no one can fool
To reach You Love is the only tool

How do I address You? I am ignorant
Only You are that which is permanent
You have existed throughout eternity
Whatever the name, Lord, God or Almighty

-Pepal Tree
06.08.2009

Intelligent Onion

 One layer upon another
Many are there altogether
A simple onion never struck me before
That it holds the secret of Life at its core

Equating each layer to all we possess
Vanity as gaudy as a concubines dress
As each layer is one by one stripped
With the sword of intellect, possessions be ripped

The core of the onion seems to be empty
Evident though from here sprouts plenty
Deceptive emptiness, within hidden a shoot
In “Nothingness” Life takes root

“Nothingness” is not empty, creation begins from here
It is not empty at all as it does appear
Timid hearted will not find out how, the Truth is for the bold
Even in the present moment, liberation exists behold

An onion when cut, brings forth tears
Upon Self Realization the effect is the same, say the seers.
Intelligent is the onion, on this we can ponder
In every bit of matter Truth is hidden. What a wonder!

- Pepal Tree

Who Am I

Who Am I

I am not the name my parents gave me 

I am not a university degree 

I am not what I seem to be 

“Who Am I”, “Who Am I” 

 Whatever I posses will one day wither 

Yet I scurry about hither and thither 

I am that which is subtler than ether 

“Who Am I”, “Who Am I” 

 My physical body changes every twenty one days

 My mind tricks me in so many different ways 

Only my soul cries out constantly and says 

“Who Am I”, “Who Am I” 

 I do not have one identity 

Many roles I have played throughout eternity

I ask this always and hold on to my integrity 

“Who Am I”, “Who Am I” 

 There is no one but Me to answer this query 

It will be revealed to me when my ego I bury 

Reverberating until, with my Source I merge and marry 

“Who Am I”, “Who Am I”

Eons have passed, time is high 

My heart is heavy and deeply I sigh 

In the guise of happiness internally I cry

 “Who Am I”, “Who Am I”

- Pepal Tree