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“This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body…”

Walt Whitman

I received this quote from an American friend living in Denmark who is a fanatic of Walt Whitman Jr. – Me too.. a fanatic of the message of life.

One of my favourite ways to pass time is book surfing the titles and contents of books wherever I find them. By coincidence I stumbled across a collection of Allan Ginsberg’s poems selected by himself. He instantly made me wonder and laugh – and I was sold to him on the spot!

Reference:
Selected Poems: 1947-1995
Allen Ginsberg, Penguin Classics
ISBN 0141184760

Allen Ginsberg wikipedia.org

FEET IN THE SAND

What is sand?
Mountains and time
The ongoing meeting of
Matter and weather

Now, for the lapse of a moment
I am the king of the mountain
Standing ever so relatively still
On what’s left of forgotten giants

Enjoying the caressing warmth of the sun
Before we are washed to the sea

LAVA

A big bang and a seed was planted
An explosion followed by implosion
The first chapter of my story of creation
Took place in a volcano’s seat
So my source is liquid
Melted, melting stone in motion
Dependent on the burning fire
Not to turn into concrete
I try to keep the air channels open
I fight to keep the wood supply sufficient
I dance to enjoy the abundance
Of lust and trembling heat

YAWN AT DAWN

The sun breaks the horizon
In an overwhelming moment of light
The tiger stretches its’ body out
To wipe off the dull of the night
Prepared for whatever the day will bring
Of pleasures, of patience and fight

So soft a being
And still so tense
Aware and awake in every sense
No stress, no hurry, no worry, no strive
But ready to do
What it takes to survive

BIRD

I carry a precious bird in a cage
And the bird is carrying me
Both safe and protected by the ribs
And capable of being free
The more at home it feels within
The further it’s able to fly away
´Cause happiness makes my little bird sing
Tunes that caress what they meet on their way
And for every soul that is able to listen
The air is humming with songs from the hearts
No need to feel lonely in the midst of creation
Inside your chest
Is where freedom starts

FROM THE THROAT

Hey, hey
Here I am
Here I stand

Drinking of the wholly grail
Singing without fear to fail
From my centre reaching out
Free to cry, to scream and shout
Express anger and sorrow without being violent
Or choose to remain receptive and silent

Let my lips run over with joysparkling laughter
By oration and song praise the world as it is
My hands give wings and support, and everything’s merging
As my love for life is shared in a kiss

DIAMOND-TINGLE

The water’s surface
Clear as a mirror
Quiet and still. Then a drop breaks the spell
Rings in the water. A moment of movement
A tone as crisp as a silverbell
Mist dissolves, curtains are lifted
Clouds drift away and the moon appears
The air is so clean that I find myself listening
To transparent harp sounds and angels’ tears
The way pointed out by a star so bright
A crystal ball beam-glowing in the night
Images come, and images go
Points of views in eternity flow

ZENIT

The energy source that once said ‘be light’
Can never be grasped or defined
All I can do is try to be open
For the golden bliss of the divine

The universe, so vast and endless
Is loaded with power and light
Stars and planets, and the space between them
Float shimmering on through the night

Through a soft spot in a solid skull grace gave me
Access to this abundance of love
When connection is made and the tunnel is open
It floats steadily in from above

Note:
This was a present from a friend – what a nice present!

Le Soleil, le foyer de tendresse et de vie,
Verse l’amour brûlant à la terre ravie,
Et, quand on est couché sur la vallée, on sent
Que la terre est nubile et déborde de sang ;
Que son immense sein, soulevé par une âme,
Est d’amour comme Dieu, de chair comme la femme,
Et qu’il renferme, gros de sève et de rayons,
Le grand fourmillement de tous les embryons !

Et tout croît, et tout monte !

From Arthur Rimbaud “Soleil et Chair”

Sunshine, Happiness

Flicker and Flutter
the Breeze takes Me
Hither and Dither

I rest in the Arms of the Eternal

“To approach perfect practice, there is no way other than to accept yourself.”

Shunryu Suzuki

I CELEBRATE myself;
 
And what I assume you shall assume;
For every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you.
   
I loafe and invite my Soul;
I lean and loafe at my ease, observing a spear of summer grass.
  
Houses and rooms are full of perfumes—the shelves are crowded with perfumes;
I breathe the fragrance myself, and know it and like it;
The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I shall not let it.
  
The atmosphere is not a perfume—it has no taste of the distillation—it is odorless;
It is for my mouth forever—I am in love with it;
I will go to the bank by the wood, and become undisguised and naked;
I am mad for it to be in contact with me.

Walt Whitman wikipedia.org Leaves of Grass Bartleby.com

Nansen said: “Mind is not Buddha. Learning is not the path.”

Mumon’s comment: Nansen was getting old and forgot to be ashamed. He spoke out with bad breath and exposed the scandal of his own home. However, there are a few who appreciate his kindness.

When the sky is clear the sun appears,
When the earth is parched rain will fall.
He opened his heart fully and spoke out,
But it was useless to talk to pigs and fish.

知人者智，
自知者明。
勝人者有力，
自勝者強。
知足者富。
強行者有志。
不失其所者久。
死而不亡者，
壽。

Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightenment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self needs strength.
He who knows he has enough is rich.
Perseverance is a sign of willpower.
He who stays where he is endures.
To die but not to perish is to be eternally present.

Reference: Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching XXXIII ( Trans. Feng & English )

One day Chuang Tzu and a friend were walking by a river. “Look at the fish swimming about,” said Chuang Tzu, “They are really enjoying themselves.”

“You are not a fish,” replied the friend, “So you can’t truly know that they are enjoying themselves.”

“You are not me,” said Chuang Tzu. “So how do you know that I do not know that the fish are enjoying themselves?”