When I struggled to express the Ecstasy of Union,
When space, time, and all manifestation vanishes,
And only Formless Pure Being remains;
The vanishing of Lover and Beloved in Divine Embrace,
Shiva* and Shakti**, dissolving in each other's arms,
My Friend told me, quite emphatically,
That she held no such desire,
Longing always to be Krishna's Lover,
To enjoy the Love that only the Lover enjoys,
To be forever His, and He forever hers.
As we spoke in days that followed,
She dug in her feet,
Wanting to hear nothing of Dissolution.
For the vanishing of Lover and Beloved
Seemed to her a loss beyond all measure.
Time passed, we spoke, we meditated together.
And words continued to fail in expressing Union…
Words continued to fail in expressing Ecstasy…
Words continued to fail in expressing…
Words… failed.
It was not through words,
But only at the end of a meditation,
That she turned, slowly,
And after a brief silence, said quietly…
“I understand.”
Nothing is lost,
When Lover and Beloved,
Vanish into and as Pure Being.
For when we return to this Dream,
We Love the Beloved no longer as Lover…
But as Love Itself.
Some feel that understanding will Free them.
That seeing clearly, deeply, profoundly,
With diamond-like articulation,
Will break the shackles of Bondage.
But there are matters in this Great Mystery,
Matters of the Heart, not the mind,
Which cannot come to fruition through words,
Through “descriptions” of “reality”,
Through talking… “about”.
There are matters in this Great Mystery,
That in my experience, come to fruition,
Only through the touch of Grace in one's own Heart,
Or… the Emanation of Grace, through another's;
In either case… Mystical Alchemy.
Yes, yes, I know,
I know, that some of my advaitic friends,
Find me delusional, naive, and misguided
Concerning this “guru” nonsense,
Even if innocently so.
On this matter of “transmission”…
Of the emanation of Grace,
We, as friends,
Must simply
Disagree.
