[Poetry Chaikhana] Granum Sinapis (Anonymous) - Granum Sinapis

August 29, 2008

Dear friends,

Here is another great poem, by kind permision of Ivan Granger, for contemplation. It was probably written by Meister Eckhart the great German Non-Dual Christian Mystic who has many affinities with our Advaita teaching.

A great week end to all- we have satsang on Saturday in London,

Regards to all

Alan--- On Fri, 29/8/08, Poetry Chaikhana <ivan wrote:

Poetry Chaikhana <ivan[Poetry Chaikhana] Granum Sinapis (Anonymous) - Granum SinapisalanadamsjacobsDate: Friday, 29 August, 2008, 4:01 PM

Here's your Daily Poem from the Poetry Chaikhana --

Granum Sinapis

By Granum Sinapis (Anonymous)(14th Century)

English version by Karen J. Campbell

In the beginninghigh above comprehensionis the word, eternally.O rich treasure,where the beginning eternally bore the beginning!O paternal bosom,out of which, in bliss,the word flowed forth eternally.Yet the womb stillheld fast to the word, truly.Of the two, one flowing forth,ember of love,binding both,known to both,so flows the sweetest spiritin complete symmetry,inseparable.The three are one:do you know, what? No,it alone knows itself completely.The enmeshment of the threeharbors deep terror.No reason has evercomprehended this circle:here is a depth without bottom.Check and mateto time, to shapes, to space!The circle of mysteriesis a source of everything;its point of origin rests, completely immutable, in itself.Leave your doingsand climb,

insight,the mountain of this point!The way leads youinto a wondrous desertwhich extends wideand immeasurably far.The desert knowsneither time nor space.Its nature is unique.Never has a footcrossed the domain of the desert,created reasonhas never attained it.It is, and yet no one knows what.It is here, there,far, near,deep, high,so thatit is neither the one nor the other.Light, clear,completely dark,nameless,unknown,without beginning and also without end,it rests in itself,unveiled, without disguise.Who knows what its dwelling is?Let him come forthand tell us of what shape it is.Become as a child,become deaf, become blind!Your own substancemust become nothingness;drive all substance, all nothingness far from you!Leave space, leave time,eschew also all physical representation.Go without a waythe

narrow foot-path,then you will succeed in finding the desert.O my soul,go out, let God in!Sink, my entire being,into God's nothingness,sink into the bottomless flood!If I flee from you,you come to me,if I lose myself,I find you:O goodness extending over all being.

-- from German Mystical Writings: Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Jacob Boehme, and others, Edited by Karen J. Campbell

Amazon.com / Photo by Hamed Saber /

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Thought for the Day:

To truly know yourselfyou must drop the desireto be understood by others.

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Here's your Daily Music selection --

Balla Tounkara

Kelefaba The Peacemaker

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Hi Alan -The poem "A Grain of Mustard Seed of the Most Beautiful Divinity" or "Granum sinapis de divinitate pucherrima" (usually referred to simply as the "Granum sinapis") probably dates from the early 1300's in Germany. Although its author is unknown, it is thought to have been written by a student of the great German mystic Meister Eckhart. Some suggest that it was Eckhart himself who was the author.--There is so much to explore and meditate upon with this poem, but let's particularly look at the references to the experience of God as a desert.This language almost has a Buddhist feeling to it, a sense of a great spiritual vastness, a living emptiness, "God's nothingness." You could say that the desert is what the Buddhists would call Nirvana. The desert is eternal, "The desert knows / neither time nor space." It is unlike anything else (since all

of creation emerges from its emptiness), "Its nature is unique.Never has a foot / crossed the domain of the desert..." Not only does this line tell us that the desert is not a physical location; it is also revealing the more subtle truth that you -- the little you, the ego you -- cannot enter the desert. The desert cannot be comprehended by the logical mind ("created reason / has never attained it"), it can only be directly experienced.What a haunting riddle:It is, and yet no one knows what.It is here, there,far, near,deep, high,so thatit is neither the one nor the other.You can say that the desert is what it is, beyond the ability of the conceptual mind to define it. It is everywhere and always. It is not limited by the duality of this as opposed to that; it is the living harmony of all things at once.I love the truth of the lines: "it rests in itself, / unveiled, without disguise."

There is no effort in its existence, and for us to perceive it, we too must become truly effortless, natural, stepping free from the constant work of the ego-mind's distractions. To do this we must, "Become as a child, / become deaf, become blind!" We must "Leave space, leave time..." We must be completely open and free from the safe limitations of preconceptions, we must even "Go without a way...Then you will succeed in finding the desert."It is only when we leave behind the little self that we can finally discover the vast Self of God. "O my soul, / go out, let God in!...if I lose myself, / I find you" Then and only then do we find the "goodness extending over all being."Have a beautiful weekend!Ivan

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