I traveled a long way seeking God
by LallaEnglish version by Swami Muktananda
Original Language Kashmiri
I traveled a long way seeking God,
but when I finally gave up and turned back,
there He was, within me!
O Lalli!
Now why do you wander
like a beggar?
Make some effort,
and He will grant you
a vision of Himself
in the form of bliss
in your heart.
 | -- from Lalleshwari: Spiritual Poems by a Great Siddha Yogini, Translated by Swami Muktananda |
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/ Image by Spanishalex /
For so many mystics it is this way. After intense searching without success, what can be done but give up, or collapse? Yet a special thing happens at that very moment. We drop our expectations, our hopes, our projections about this external thing called "God." For the first time we have truly let go of the story we've been telling ourselves about what God is and how we fit into the picture. It is only then that the scales fall from our eyes.
We stop straining to look, and finally see. And we see the Eternal already here, within.
Finally recognizing the all-engulfing presence of the Divine, the heart feels safe; the heart opens, it blooms, and we are flooded by incandescent bliss!
Even a spiritual mendicant like Lalla can no longer think of herself as a beggar when in possession of such wealth.
