Why do you stand by the window Abandoned to beauty and pride The thorn of the night in your bosom The spear of the age in your side Lost in the rages of fragrance Lost in the rags of remorse Lost in the waves of a sickness That loosens the high silver nerves
[Chorus] Oh chosen love, Oh frozen love Oh tangle of matter and ghost Oh darling of angels, demons and saints And the whole broken-hearted host Gentle this soul
And come forth from the cloud of unknowing And kiss the cheek of the moon The New Jerusalem glowing Why tarry all night in the ruin And leave no word of discomfort And leave no observer to mourn But climb on your tears and be silent Like a rose on its ladder of thorns
[Chorus]
Then lay your rose on the fire The fire give up to the sun The sun give over to splendour In the arms of the high Holy One For the Holy One dreams of a letter Dreams of a letter's death Oh bless the continuous stutter Of the word being made into flesh
[Chorus]
* * *
Mulla Nasrudin, the crazy sage, grumbled daily at lunch that he was getting sick and tired of cheese sandwiches. His coworkers listened to his complaints for days. Finally, they offered him some advice. "Mulla, tell your wife to make you something different. Be persuasive with her." "But I'm not married," replied the Mulla. "Well," they asked, "who makes your lunch?" "I do!" replied the Mulla.
* * *
No god separate from us is judging or punishing us for our choices. Fate is not acting against us. Our actions judge and punish us. If we keep preparing cheese sandwiches, cheese sandwiches are what we get. If we change and prepare peanut butter sandwiches, that is what we get. If we dig a hole and find ourselves in it and do not know how to get out, why blame God? We dug the hole, not God. All this talk of a punishing god does not make any sense whatever.
* * *
Why do we keep drinking the poisons? I refer to the Three Poisons taught in Buddhism. These are rendered in English in different ways. The three are attachment (sensuality, greed, lust), aversion (anger, hate, hostility), and delusion (ignorance, confusion, bewilderment, stupidity). The poisons are toxins.
The Poisons have a related teaching in Christianity. The Seven Deadly Sins are gluttony, greed, sloth, lust, pride, envy, and wrath. Again, these sins are deadly not because God punishes anyone but because the nature of these energies is deadening.
Every choice we make, every act, has a corresponding energy. When we wake up enough spiritually, we become sensitive to life-affirming and life-denying energies arising within us, and we sense them in others and the environment.
Like the Mulla, our actions lead to effects. If we plant a pine tree, a pine tree grows, not an oak or cypress, rose bush, or tomato plant.
We can cultivate the seeds opposite of those bringing us and others suffering. In Buddhism, the opposites of, so antidotes for, the Three Poisons are generosity, lovingkindness, and wisdom. These do not lead to suffering.
* * *
The Mulla's complaints connote his suffering - our suffering. Spirituality entails being honest about our suffering, ceasing to blame others, and discovering and enacting ways to cultivate the wholesome seeds within us.
Lessening our suffering is not only a gift to ourselves, it is a gift to others. Cultivating wholesome seeds brings a more positive, edifying energy to those around us. For example, the world becomes a kinder place when we act kindly. Each act of non-suffering brings life-affirming energy into the world. One small candle can light up a room of darkness.
This gift of life-affirmation is vital. We live amid people drunk on the poisons, deadened by the deadly sins. The media is filled with toxic messages and scenes. Entertainment is awash in death-dealing plots. Even children enjoy games with violence, and this is considered acceptable fun.
Can we change all this? Yes. A little. And a little matters. We change it first by the change that occurs within us. So, let us complain less about the darkness and give our attention to the small but significant difference we can make by choosing to be a light illumining others, regardless of who does or does not see it. Some will notice; nevertheless, it shines.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
