The Gates of God One who is in every changing form Reveals himself as lover, child or friend I sang him once but slowly and with age Have lost the power and the opening That once could fill the vacant halls of space As youth poured out God-given melodies. When the inner work began the voice was stilled And hid itself inside the cavern-heart To await the day when song as offering Might blossom as the flower to the sun And self awake to light illumining The treasure lost or hid from mind's desire. I am on the path, yet distant yet my home, Eternity not time enough to grow Unless is kept alive the flame of faith On consecration's alt

See Not the World that Is Disharmony in this house is deified, Indolence, inertia rule the day, Petty will and egos magnified Hold the ground and turn the seeker away. And symptomatic of life the world abides The lust for power, visible enmity Unable to see the light our darkness hides, No modicum of common courtesy. I have seen sincerity and inner fires In some who seek a truth yet unrevealed To the visionless or blind from life's desire's Or those who keep the sacred chamber sealed, No radiance, no love can penetrate. Absorbed in self and closed to all things new Perpetually confused in mind's estate Inapt to separ

OWLS The owls in the Banyan tree Look down with nodding head And winking eye upon this strange And silent gathering of souls. Surveying our tribe they speak And fly from limb to neighbouring limb. Chattering, the three of them In wonderment at such a crowd Meeting as the sun awakes Over the golden dome and then Lights up the leaves and human hearts. Our concentration done they fly Into their hollows and crevices Sleeping

In That Golden Air Each morn I wake the leaves grow brighter still Unwilling to release their fragile hold And I unable or without the will To redesign this fated life, remould This being divine yet lower than the clod, Half animal who burns with inner fire For roads unseen and avenues untrod To reach beyond the stars for something higher. Where now the soft and silken folds of peace That lined the treasure

Her Grace Instilled The heart resolved, the flame yet higher grows And all begins to slowly coalesce. A body still unconscious, mind's unrest, No sure and firm commitment to the goal, But something seeks, a being nobly strives, A consciousness desirous of its source Acknowledging the power of the Name, Her Grace instilled and all-embracing love, His calm attends and sweet compassion's flow That keeps the vessel on its godward course And joy within no sor

Obeisence I have kneeled before thee holy ones Unseeing with my mortal eyes The Flames of God that light the suns And spin a thousand galaxies Seal not these eyes in final slumber Nor let the shades of death draw down Before my praises grief outnumber And I more conscious of thee have grown.

Fault-Lines I am aware of the fault-lines in my soul, The tremors in the heart's vicinity, Years have passed, I have not gained control Of self and mind – and yet I would be free, Free of the impatience in my bones, The restlessness that hinders lasting peace, Free of the restricting undertones Of primeval habits from which I seek release. Slowly She shall build an edifice To weather the tectonic plates and move The self to become what it essentially is, And indivisible portion of Her love.

To Find My Hidden Soul Lord grant me leave that I may yet explore The untrod avenues, the roads unseen, On spirit-heights thy image to adore And time Ñ to sweep the sanctuary clean, To face the future that I might attain, Hacking away the forest of the past, Accepting present loss for future gain The will to find my hidden soul at last.

Wonder Shall Not Cease The flower's aspiration must be ours Devotion uncomplicated by the mind, Offering desireless and pure Self-giving without need of recompense, Opening to the sun of being's truth, Blossoming in the light of divine love, Growth sustained by total sacrifice. I have felt the aspiration of the trees And looked into the lily's deep recess, Inhaled the fragrance of the jessamine And revelled in the peony's perfume. And as the flower turns towards the light Opened my petalled soul as in prayer. All Nature is a vast experience Of God's largesse and wonder shall not cease.

Step Back From Self 3/27, 2007 Sorrow has clipped your spirit's wings, You can no longer fly, O soul, you came for greater things Let not the sacred vision die. The years have slowed your faltering pace And muffled heaven's call These troubled days have veiled the face Of One who is the One-in-All. Watch patiently, in silence wait Avoid the shifting sand Of doubt that swallows small and great, Step back from self and time's demand For one may yet in you descend Signaling the darkness' end.