Happiness
Wealth and
Power
Are innate
They cannot be acquired from the world.
They are hidden in three capacities
Within you:
Dedication
Sacrifice and
Service.
Unshackled
How much
Should I break loose
To reclaim my heart
So that I may feel
The emotions trapped
Behind your polite words
And your cultured gestures;
That have mastered
The art of concealment.
Our words no longer convey
The truth of our feelings;
Our faces no longer express
The naivety of our excitements;
Our humanness is disguised
By the fashion of sophisticated ideas,
That awe us into believing
Their claims of truth.
Their artistry may have garnered me an image;
But I have lost the sensation of touch
You and I stand unreal to ourselves.
How can I free myself;
So that I can then free you?
Read Between The Lines
Read between the lines
To know that every story
Is a tale of love or loss or achievement;
And like with everything
That is told or expressed
There is feeling…hope…intention
And a desire to be heard
And understood.
Sustenance for the individual
Depends on validation
And a pronouncement of self
In a world that can be cruel
In its ignorance of that
Which can’t be seen, heard or felt
Even if it occupies the same vastness
In which love and loss
Hope and despair
Everything and nothing
Coexist.
The story you must remember,
Is only that which you can at present-
Understand.
Be Discreet
Be discreet
About your feelings
Not everyone is connected with you.
Be discreet
About your opinions
They may belittle someone’s cherished values.
Be discreet
About sharing your joys
Not everyone has the heart-space to accommodate them.
Be discreet
About your wins
They may make someone feel like a loser.
Be discreet
About your losses.
They may allow someone to exploit your vulnerabilities.
Be discreet
About your power
Its potency is lost on exposure.
Be discreet
About your world…
Because you don’t live in it; it lives within you.
When the Conversation Ends…
It’s not enough somehow
To be in a relationship…
The relationship must also
Become the mirror
Through which
You can come to see
All that remains unresolved
Suppressed and hidden
Within you.
Your doubts, your fears
Your memories, your pain
Need to be met face to face
Only so that
You can leave them behind.
Relationships must be embraced
Only so that you can eventually
Come to be free of the expectations
That orchestrated the relating.
The purpose of relationships
Is to break down
The myths you carry
Within you, about yourself
So that you may come to see
That you were never in need
Even as you searched for validation
To assert your independence
Disowning your own ignorance.
A good relationship
Is founded on love and faith
It’s a journey that will end in absolution;
And a dissolution
Of all that makes you partial.
You must, in and through it
Come to experience
The disappearance of all
That is unreal.
Leave behind the words
Allow the promises to play out
Be grateful for the tall praises
Forget the short, biting remarks
Understand that relationships
Exist on the tides of time
When the conversation ends
Allow yourself
To rest in silence.
Talking Loudly
Might is not a power
You make known
By trampling on thoughts
That disagree with your own.
It’s not an aggressive force
But a capacity…a strength
That allows you to stand self-assured
Even if circumstances are unfavourable
Knowing fully well that
That which stands before you
Is not an adversary
But a friend
Who- if you have faith-
Will help you
Rise above the challenge encountered
With an uplifting grace.
It’s your faith
That is silent, but mighty.
Your impatience is a weakness
Talking loudly.
Acceptance
How does it all eventually reconcile
In a perfect sense-
All that once
Seemed strange and alien;
And out of the frame
Of a set philosophy
And a known language?
Does one grow to understand?
Or does one grow to accept?
It does indeed seem
That acceptance is the essence
Of all understanding…
Of reconciliation…
Of perfecting your sense about something.
#Ten Year Challenge
It’s never too late…
Nor too early
To review your actions
And set them on a course
Of a meaningful life
Meaningfulness…
Is conscious and purposeful living
Where your actions
Are a Systematic Investment Plan
That will yield a freedom
That is whole, independent
Fearless and courageous
Full of faith and confident
Cheerful and kind.
Sustainability
There are things in our lives
That can be counted;
Like money and cars and rewards…
Their separateness allows them to be.
Functions can be measured
We now have devices to measure
Their efficacy and worth.
There exist however,
Dimensions of our being and
Aspects of our selves
That can neither be counted
Nor measured
Like silence and contentment
And peace
These are whole and entire
In themselves
It is these that sustain us
It is their immutability
That makes possible change
And renewability
Their action is a non-action.
Taking respite from
All activity that creates dependencies
On things that can be counted, measured and purposed
Is true sustainability.
It’s a Zero-sum Game
Celebrate gain if you must
But remember that
It’s but a shadow…
An indication
Of a loss coming.
Partiality is man’s hope from cleverness
But existence is always whole
Intelligence will get you what you want
But your wisdom will reveal
That it was never your need.
What an amazing thing to learn from life…
That neither gain nor loss
Can be a measure of your worth
Because they are two sides
Of the same coin.
They don’t add up
They don’t take away…
Their fifty-fifty chances
Are nothing more than
A zero-sum game.
Wit. Wisdom. Wonder... 