Sushi for the soul

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The is a Holiday gift to and Nonduality

Salon. More verses from Amritanubhav (The Nectar of

Mystical Experience), by Jnaneshvar.

 

 

Jnanadev says:

"I honor the primal pair of Shiva and Shakti

Who, by swallowing up the sweet dish of name and form,

Reveal their underlying unity.

 

Embracing each other, they merge into one,

As darkness merges into light

At the breaking of dawn.

 

All levels of speech

Merge into silence

When their true nature is realized,

Just as the ocean and the Ganges both merge

Into the primal waters

When the universal Deluge comes.

 

---------------------

 

I offer salutations to him

Who comes to the aid of the Self

Which is suffering limitation

In the wilderness of ignorance.

 

When he is absent,

One wears the lovely cloak of appearance;

When he appears,

The cloak of diversity vanishes.

 

When knowledge discovers him within,

He swallows up the knower;

And still he does not become impure.

 

Though I try to bow to him,

He does not remain before me

As an object of my worship.

He does not allow any sense of difference.

 

Although the Guru and disciple appear to be two,

It is the Guru alone who masquerades as both.

 

If a person awakes in a solitary place

When no one else is about,

Then one may be sure he is both

The awakened and the awakener.

 

--------------------------

 

A flower fades

After it gives birth to the fruit;

The fruit is gone

After it gives up its juice;

And the juice is gone

After it gives satisfaction.

 

A hand is often drawn back

After the offering of oblations;

A melody ends after giving enjoyment.

 

A mirror is put aside

After showing to a face its reflection;

And a person goes away

After having awakened one who is asleep.

 

Similarly, these three,

Chit, Sat, and Ananda,

After awaking the seer to his Self,

Disappear into silence.

 

-----------------------------

 

If one strikes one's shadow,

One strikes only the ground.

Nothing is damaged by slapping empty space --

Except one's own arm.

 

One may eagerly seek

To drink the water of a mirage,

Or to embrace the sky,

Or to kiss one's own reflection;

But all these efforts will be in vain.

 

The logic that tries to destroy ignorance

Is in the same category.

 

Since ignorance is non-existent,

There can be no question of destroying it.

And since the Self is self-evident,

What is there to be proved at all?

 

----

 

Nonetheless,

Some say ignorance exists in the pure Self

As fire exists in wood

Before two pieces of it are rubbed together.

 

But the pure Self

Does not even admit the name 'Self!'

How could ignorance expect to find room there?

 

Can a flame be snuffed out

Before it was lit?

Or can we leave the shade of a tree

That has not yet sprouted?

 

Or smear salve on a body

That is not yet born?

Or cleanse a mirror that is not yet constructed?

 

Or skim the cream

>From milk that's still in the udder?

 

So, likewise,

How can there be ignorance in the Self

Where there is not even room

For calling it 'the Self'?

 

-

 

The eastern sea and the western sea

Are different

Only so long as they do not mingle.

But once they have intermingled

There is only water.

 

Every moment, new triads

Of perceiver, perception and perceived,

Are emerging.

Does each one need to be analyzed?

 

Every moment,

A particular quality is swallowed up

And its opposite emerges.

This is the opening and closing

Of the eye of Reality.

 

How amazing it is

That when the eyelids are open,

The Self becomes a perceiver

Who vanishes when the eyelids are closed.

 

The natural state of the Self

Lies between the destruction

Of the perceiver and the perceived

And a new revival of them.

 

It is like the natural state of water

When the wave that has arisen subsides

And a new one has not yet arisen;

 

Or like the state

In which our sleep has ended,

But we are not yet fully awake.

 

It is like the state of the sky

When the day has ended,

But night has not yet come,

 

Or like the state of the prana

When one breath is finished

And a new one is not yet taken in;

 

Or the state of one whose senses

Are all enjoying their objects simultaneously.

 

This is what the ultimate nature of the Self is like;

So, how can there be

Either seeing or non-seeing?

 

----

 

A Shevanti flower bursts forth

With a thousand petals,

Yet it does not become anything

But a Shevanti flower,

 

Similarly, the auspicious drums

Of ever-new experiences

May be sounding,

But in the kingdom of Stillness,

Nothing is heard.

 

All of the senses may rush simultaneously

Toward the multitude of sense objects,

But, just as, in a mirror,

One's vision only meets one's vision,

The rushing senses only meet themselves.

 

The sensible universe is only the vibration of the Self.

 

One who has attained this wisdom

May say whatever he likes;

The silence of his contemplation

Remains undisturbed.

 

His state of actionlessness

Remains unaffected,

Even though he performs countless actions.

 

Whether he walks in the streets

Or remains sitting quietly,

He is always in his own home.

 

He may perform actions,

But he has no goal to attain.

Do not imagine

That if he did nothing,

He would miss the goal.

 

He does not allow room

For either remembering or forgetting;

For this reason,

His behavior is not like that of others.

 

His rule of conduct is his own sweet will.

His meditation is whatever he happens to be doing.

The glory of liberation

Serves as a seat cushion

To one is such a state.

 

God Himself is the devotee;

The goal is the path.

The whole universe is one solitary Being.

 

---------

 

O blissful and mighty Lord!

You have made us the sole sovereign

In the kingdom of perfect Bliss.

 

How wonderful

That You have awakened the wakeful,

Laid to rest those who are sleeping,

And made us to realize

Our own Self!

 

We are Yours entirely,

Out of love,

You include us as your own,

As is befitting Your greatness.

 

You do not receive anything from anyone,

Nor do You give anything of Yourself

To anyone else.

We do not know how You enjoy Your greatness.

 

As the Guru, you are the greatest of the great;

But You are always very light,

Capable of buoying up your disciples,

And thus saving them from drowning in the world.

Only by Your grace can these dual qualities

Of Yours be understood.

 

Would the scriptures have extolled You,

If, by sharing it with Your disciple,

Your unity were disturbed?

 

O noble One!

It is your pleasure

To become our nearest and dearest

By taking away from us

Our sense of difference from You.