Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Secular or Eclectic Yoga / Hindu : Advaita / Non-Dualist Contemporary	About Ivan M. Granger Timeline (1969 - )
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Original Language English	Adi Atman 4: stop pushing
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger	Adi Atman, stop pushing every time you set your foot upon the plain I have lost a home   2004
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

A playful moment of spiritual crankiness, that lethargic reflex to stay in bed asleep.

Adi Atman isn't really a proper name; it translates as the primal Self, the heart of all being. So this poem is the voice of the ego complaining to the Eternal.

Every time the fundamental Self is recognized, every time another glimpse is found within the "plain" of awareness, less room is left for the ego. The ego becomes uneasy, questioning its ultimate security, wondering if it even exists at all. "I have lost a home."

The ego often drives the early stages of spiritual exploration, wanting to add a thing called 'spirituality' to its possessions. But at some point in the process, the ego's home is threatened by the presence of the Eternal, by the "foot" of "Adi Atman." The ego-self shouts back, "stop pushing!"

A dilemma every spiritual seeker must face: Where do you find the courage to proceed when the ego sees its territory diminishing? If we are the ego, going further is death and unthinkable. If we go forward anyway, then we must not be the ego... but then what are we?

The courageous seeker somehow manages to whisper, "Keep pushing anyway..."

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
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