If Earth were yours, I might say, “Yes, Sirs, here have your way. Do just as you wish, as its king, As sole owner of its everything. Its course now you alone dictate, Decreeing here each being’s fate”. But this truth you should know, That, in actual fact, this isn’t so, And you’re all, like us, the rest, On Earth as a mere short-term guest, Sent by the One who this world owns, Who hears the cries and pitiful groans Of all those many whom you oppress, While you yourself seek t

When my stay here comes to an end, And no tasks remain for me to attend,  Please make me sink into the Deep And enjoy the bliss of endless sleep, No more then may I again awake, Oh grant this, please, for my sake! Dreamless sleep, with no thought: Is this just too much to be sought? A harmless favour, so I might think, In such deep sleep to forever sink. Hear me, Dear, and heed my plea, Won’t You do this thing for me? Grant me please this one request: In deepest sleep such et

How you fight over a bit of land! Come, now let your minds expand. Think of how big this world is, This humungous universe of His. The whole of it, its every part, From endless end to its start, Belongs to Him, He owns it all. If this one fact you recall It might make you realise That you just aren’t being wise In warring over a mere dot In the vast cosmos, is it not? Friends dear, your folly cease, Come now to your senses please.

Men again march off to war, Now, just as since long before, Thinking others to be their foe. Lord, please make them know That every being is but Yours: Maybe this will stop all wars.   Make them also come to discern That all beings here are, in turn, Forms in which You alone parade, For, in every atom You pervade, And, if that is so, this point is true: That all beings here are only You.   On this firm basis we can proclaim That all beings are one, or the same, And, if this f

What more purpose could there be Of our life on Earth for you and me Than in kindness for us to grow, This is what I’ve come to know: Being kind to whoever we can, And not just to our fellow man, But all beings who come our way, Even to objects that people say Are inanimate and so are lifeless: Treating them, too, with kindness. And ourselves we mustn’t forget, Our own needs let’s not neglect, To ourselves also we must be kind, Caring for our soul, body and mind. Besides all

You men think that you possess This world, its Masters no less, That you are Earth's big boss, And can inflict on it any loss, And all of it is yours to rule, But oh how yourself you fool, For this fact you should know, That from Earth when you go, Your deeds will go along as well, And pave for you your own hell. Now you laugh, then you’ll weep, For your deeds’ fruits you’ll reap. In your pride you refuse to heed That there’s a Lord of all indeed, Who, not you, is the world’s

Do the work that you need, More than that don’t exceed. When you have no work to do Sit in silence a moment or two, Or more than that if you can, And your mind gently scan. Listen to the voice that’s inside (What is called the ‘Inner Guide’). Pay heed to what it might say, And in that state continue to stay, Till when again the time may come For work that you must get done, Then, when this work you complete, The same thing you can again repeat.

Is all of this true or just a lie, That some god up in the sky, In an age that passed long ago (Maybe four thousand years or so), Said to a man in words like this: “To you I give in solemn promise A stretch of land that’s very vast As a gift which forever shall last. This land I’ll grant not just for you, But for all your descendants, too”, And years after this man was dead The god high up in the sky then led The deceased man’s tribal band To attack and conquer that land, In

You think that only humans count And other beings to nothing amount, That all other species that abound And on our Planet Earth are found Have no rights whatsoever at all, While Man ‘Earth’s King’ you call.   You even say in the world as a whole It’s only human beings that have a soul, And on the basis of this foolish claim Other creatures you kill, eat and maim, Claiming the Lord these all did make Simply for your fellow humans’ sake.   Please now know these just aren’t true

Oh how I now eagerly await The arrival of that blessed date, Which for me You’ll surely ensure, As You have for vast billions before.   What’ll You do, and what’ll You say, I wish I’d know, on that coming day! May I exult then and greatly delight When we’ll again meet, ah the sight!

In Your Name they’ve gone to war, Wreaking havoc and spilling gore, Each claims that the land is theirs And they alone are its rightful heirs, But they forget, or just don’t know, That the fact of the matter is truly so That all things’ real owner is You alone, And so, it’s You who that land does own. Maybe if they get this one fact right They'll finally end their ancient fight.

What for me is now the need For those grim books to read That claim to tell about You When this I by myself can do: To listen to You speak to me And to talk with You directly?   Since this I’ve learnt, why need I care To read those books to find You there? When we two can with each other speak, In those tomes for this why should I seek?

Oh what bliss to just sit and see Sundry things I find around me, For this task a few moments to spare, To note and watch with great care The shape of a leaf, the twirl of a fan, A pen-stand made from an empty can, The patterns that adorn my bedspread, Sensations that pass through my head, The hair on my toes, my oversized nails, Spending time observing such details. Ah what a way some moments to use, To myself in this manner to amuse!

Oh what havoc it has caused, For centuries, it hasn't paused, This fight over a piece of land, May they now all understand That not just that land alone (A patch of sand, mud and stone), But all of Creation, that’s so vast, From the first till the very last, Is blessed and holy, all equally so, For this one fact we should know That all of land the One God made, And in all of it He does pervade, Each atom being Him in its guise (So say those who are truly wise), So, the whole

‘What’, you ask, ‘is to be done?’ ‘Nothing’, I say, ‘just watch the fun Of this world’s most strange show, See how things here come and go, How they appear and leave the stage, Doing the same from age to age, For nothing here forever remains, No joy, no sorrow, no worldly pains, They come, stay and then move on, For a while appearing and soon gone. Don’t ask me why this must be so, Ah! This how we crave to know! What if someone were of this to say: “It’s just a show, a mere s

By many names on You we call, You the One who’s behind us all. In Your Name refuge we take, Our shelter Your Name we make. Nothing else can to us provide The comfort we seek deep inside. Upon Your Name we must rely, The sole support that will satisfy.

You’ll do what You like in any case, So, it’s best we accept it with grace, At peace we can be if this we know: That all events You cause to be so.   If what occurs we know is Your decree, From all worrying it may set us free, And then we can say, being firmly sure, That this life’s worth all that we endure.

For a while come, let us be still And watch Him enact His will, Just observing His world go by, Without asking how or why.   It’s all His doing, let's see it as so, Part of a drama, a fleeting show, Whose actors come, then move on, As has been since Creation’s dawn, In the mists of a beginningless past, And will be so till eternity shall last.   All this is part of a very strange play, In which He insists on having His way, This show, with neither start nor end, We poor folks

My way of seeing please reform, So that I’ll see You in every form, Knowing all to be You, The Friend, Oh to me please this insight lend, For, it’s in this alone that I can find The cure for my troubled mind.   Every being and thing that I see, Make it instinctively clear to me, Is You in their form that’s clad. Only if this vision can be had Can my mind’s troubles cease. Grant me this vision, please!

What if it is all just a drama mere, Staged by You down on Earth here, And every place else there is, too, A game being played out by You, And all events, every single act, Are done by none but You, in fact, So we accept it all as just Your will, Won’t our hearts only then be still, And only then can we calmly face All we’re given, praise or disgrace, Or whatever else that’s sent our way, Knowing it's but a part of Your play?