Adi Atman 9: you you
by Ivan M. GrangerOriginal Language English
Adi Atman,
I am a fool
I place a picture
before me
and say
-- you you
hosanna hari hari bol!
daybreak and I whisper
to the sun
-- you
full moon night
and I cry out
-- you
summer downpour
the thunder crash
shouts for me
-- YOU
drowning
drunk from too much
seawater
I sputter
-- you you you
shambo shankara!
I am a grasping fool
I say -- you --
and you are gone
when I remember to shut up
then you are here
and I am gone
 | -- from Real Thirst: Poetry of the Spiritual Journey, by Ivan M. Granger |
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So something by yours truly today...
Each poem in this cycle is addressed to Adi Atman, to the Divine as the Primal Self.
Everything -- everything! -- reflects the Eternal Self to us, but we cannot grasp It. The act of grasping, trying to hold onto something, requires us to break reality down into separate parts. We're not talking here about grasping something with the hand; we are talking about grasping with the mind, the awareness. But the limited mind can only hold onto separate parts, named things, God as not-self ("you").
I am a grasping fool
I say -- you --
and you are gone
There is a dilemma here: On the one hand, to say "you" is to acknowledge God, the Divine Presence. On the other hand, to say "you" is to push God away, to externalize God, to alienate God. Of course, we don't really alienate God; instead, we alienate ourselves from God.
Name It, try to grasp It... and It is gone. What we seek is the Wholeness that is our very own nature, not some foreign 'person' or 'thing' -- not an external object that the mind can lay hold of. The Living Whole can't be grasped. The only way to claim It is to be claimed by It. The only way to gain It is to lose ourselves within It amidst deep, deep silence.
when I remember to shut up
then you are here
and I am gone
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