[Poetry Chaikhana] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Ha! A rush of bliss (from Faust)

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Dear friends,

By kind permision of Ivan Ganger, I am posting this poem by the famed German Poet Goethe. Like Schopenhaur, Hegel, and the other German Idealist Philosophers of this period he was familiar with the Gita and the Upanishads. Ivan's notes are worth reading too. This Poem gives us a taste of Ananda experienced by this great soul.

 

A happy week end to all,

Alan --- On Fri, 12/9/08, Poetry Chaikhana <ivan wrote:

Poetry Chaikhana <ivan[Poetry Chaikhana] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Ha! A rush of bliss (from Faust)alanadamsjacobsDate: Friday, 12 September, 2008, 4:43 PM

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Ha! A rush of bliss (from Faust)

By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(1749 - 1832)

English version by Peter Salm

Ha! A rush of blissflows suddenly through all my senses!I feel a glow, a holy joy of lifewhich sets my veins and flesh afire.Was it a god that drew these signswhich soothe my inward ragingand fill my wretched heart with joy,and with mysterious strengthreveal about me Nature’s pulse?Am I a god? The light pervades me so!In these pure ciphers I can seeliving Nature spread out before my soul.At last I understand the sage’s words:“The world of spirits is not closed:your mind is shut, your heart is dead!Pupil, stand up and unafraidbathe your earthly breast in morning light!â€How things are weaving one in one;each lives and works within the other.Heaven’s angels dip and soarand hold their golden pails aloft;with fragrant blessings on their wings,they penetrate the earthly realm from

Heavenand all make all resound in harmony.What pageantry! But alas, a pageant and no more!Where shall I clasp you, infinity of Nature?You breasts, where? You wellspring of all life?Heaven and earth depend on you --toward you my parched soul is straining.You flow, you nourish, yet I crave in vain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

-- from Faust, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe / Translated by Peter Salm

Amazon.com / Photo by Shahram Sharif /

 

 

 

 

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Thought for the Day:

The Mystery is you.The vast, divine Unknown is you.

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Hi Alan -This section of Goethe's Faust is worth deep contemplation. Only a genuine mystic, or someone very familiar with descriptions of mystical union, would know how to write a passage such as this. The bliss experienced through the senses.Being pervaded by light.The quieting of the mind and emotions, the soothing of "inward raging."The heart being filled with an indescribable joy.The "pure ciphers," the awareness of essential emptiness or no-thing-ness, yet utter fulfillment in the experience of the radiant whole.The transcendent awareness of Nature and the interconnectedness of things, "How things are weaving into one, / each lives and works within the other."The full vessel or cup holding a heavenly liquid, the "golden pails."A sublimely delightful fragrance or perfume.The sense that everything is humming or vibrating in a symphonic harmony.

Indeed, "What pageantry!"Yet, to one not securely seated in the transcendent awareness, it can rise and then recede. Not yet possessing complete familiarity with the interior psychic terrain, how do you find your way back to that realm? It can suddenly seem all too ephemeral, intangible. Where is it? What is there to grab hold of?The mystic must not merely stumble into the heavenly realm, but learn its pathways intimately, to return again and again until that bliss is recognized as one's true home.---It's a rainy Friday morning here in Colorado -- sky above, greening land below, they flow into each other, "weaving one in one..."Have a beautiful weekend!Ivan

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