Kashmiri mystic Lal Ded's wisdom

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Some gems from Lal Ded, the 14th century Kashmiri mystic:


I saw a sage starving to death
A leaf floating to earth on a winter breeze
I saw a fool beating his cook
And now I am waiting for someone to cut
The love-chord that keeps me tied
To this crazy world.

>>


Love-mad, I, Lalla, started out,
spent days and nights on the trail.
Circling back, I found the teacher
in my own house.
What brilliant luck, I said,
and hugged him.

>>


You won't find the Truth
by crossing your legs
and holding your breath.
Daydreams won't take you
through the gateway of release.
You can stir as much salt
as you like in water
It won't become the sea.

Comments

  1. Anonymous1:20 pm

    Lal Ded' words are wisdom indeed! Reminds me of Kabir.
    'Daydreams won't take you
    through the gateway of release.
    You can stir as much salt
    as you like in water
    It won't become the sea'

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:13 am

    Many people have felt and feel this disappointment - welcome to the global village.

    I was feeling pretty religious
    standing on the bridge in my winter coat
    looking down at the gray water:
    the sharp little waves dusted with snow,
    fish in their tin armor.

    That's what I like about disappointment:
    the way it slows you down,
    when the querulous insistent chatter of desire
    goes dead calm

    and the minor roadside flowers
    pronounce their quiet colors,
    and the red dirt of the hillside glows.

    She played the flute, he played the fiddle
    and the moon came up over the barn.
    Then he didn't get the job, —
    or her father died before she told him
    that one, most important thing—

    and everything got still.

    It was February or October
    It was July
    I remember it so clear
    You don't have to pursue anything ever again
    It's over
    You're free
    You're unemployed

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9:01 am

    "A man whose axe was missing suspected his neighbor's son. The boy
    walked like a thief, talked like a thief, and spoke like a thief. But
    the man found his axe while he was digging in the valley, and the next
    time he saw his neighbor's son, he walked, talked and spoke like any
    other child."

    ~~Traditional German

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous8:06 am

    The fish trap exists because of the fish; once you've gotten
    the fish, you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists
    because of the rabbit; once you've gotten the rabbit, you can
    forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning; once you've
    gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I
    find a man who has forgotten words so I can have a word
    with him?

    Chuang Tzu

    ReplyDelete

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