Simplicity (english/spanish)

This "poem" came from somewhere a while ago... I say "poem" bc in reality I dont know anything about poetry in the sense of rules (if there is any) and such and such... yet, somehow i feel its still a poem... Please excuse my translation into english bc it might not be too accurate.

Simplicity (or Poverty -if its not too much of a shocking word)

I see how the multitudes run away to escape from thy presence…

Consumerism has slyly demonized and convert thee in the worst of nightmares. The masses hasten to offer their own lives in sacrifice upon the altar of god Mammon… And all of this for a handful of earthly toys that ignite for seconds petty pleasures.

Tired of such a pathetic scene, I closed my eyes and remembered a time when men gladly enjoyed underneath the austere wing of thy sight…

 Inspired by such vision, I decided to awake to seize my rod and walk upon thy streets of bared feet and empty saddlebags… I embraced thee impetuously confronting with gallantry a world that whines out loud: "Buy me! Buy me!"

Yet, as time went by, a thick bitterness suddenly prostrated in my throath… the courage succumbed, and as a dispossesed rebel, that in the agony of “the letting go” still carries in his back traces of melancholy, I followed the path of my ancient scrolls, till by grace divine I met in them a long maned Nazarite that said to me:

"Worry not thyself, which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" Matthew 6:27

So I followed the divine command… I relaxed, recovered my strenght again and said to the Caesar: "Today, I renounce to be thy slave… take now what is thine!"

Then I covered my soul with the sackcloth of a mendicant and abandoned the common way of the circumspect…   As a child, I allowed Mother Earth to sustain me, and finally I knew what is to hold in the heart, the authentic joy and sarcastic smile of the old Diogenes.

Simplicidad (o Pobreza - si dicha palabra no le es muy chocante)

Triste es ver como hoy el vulgo corre a prisa huyendo de tu presencia…

El consumismo te satanizó solapadamente hasta convertirte en la peor de las pesadillas.

Las masas se apresuran para ofrecer en sacrificio la vida misma sobre el altar del dios Mammón... Y todo por un puñado de juguetes terrenos que inflaman por segundos placeres baladíes.

Cansado ya de la patética escena, cerré los ojos y me acordé de un tiempo en que los hombres se gozaban bajo el ala austera de tu mirada.

Inspirado por aquella visión, decidí entonces despertar para empuñar mi cayado y caminar por tus calles de pies descalzos y alforjas vacías…

Te abracé impetuosamente enfrentándome con valentía a un mundo que gime a gritos: “cómprame!, comprame!”. 

Pero al pasar del tiempo, una amargura espesa se postró de repente en mi garganta… El coraje sucumbió, y cual rebelde desposeído, que en la agonía del soltar aun carga en sus espaldas vestigios de melancolía, seguí  el camino de mis páginas vetustas, hasta que en ellas hallé por gracia a un Nazareno de guedejas largas que me dijo: 

“despreocúpate!quién de vosotros podrá, por mucho que se afane, añadir a su estatura un codo?”

Entonces seguí el mandato divino… me relajé, retomé las fuerzas y dije al Cesar: "Hoy renuncio a ser tu esclavo, toma lo tuyo!"  

Revestí mi alma con sayal de mendigo y abandoné la prosaica senda del circunspecto. Como niño, dejé que la tierra me sustentara,  y supe al fin lo que es sostener en el corazón la felicidad auténtica y la sonrisa sarcástica del viejo Diógenes.

Long live Marchena!

The following is a poem from the Costa Rican poet Julian Marchena (+ 1985).
 It has a lot to do with the topic of this blog, and it is without a doubt one of the most inspiring poems I have read so far... Sorry, theres no english translation.

Vuelo Supremo 

Quiero vivir la vida aventurera
de los errantes pájaros marinos;
no tener, para ir a otra ribera,
la prosaica visión de los caminos.

Poder volar cuando la tarde muera
entre fugaces lampos ambarinos
y oponer a los raudos torbellinos
el ala fuerte y la mirada fiera.

Huir de todo lo que sea humano;
embriagarme de azul...Ser soberano
de dos inmensidades: mar y cielo,
y cuando sienta el corazón cansado
morir sobre un peñón abandonado
con las alas abiertas para el vuelo.

Vrindavan!.... embracing its people, its culture

here some pics from vrindavan...

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109047881755511720389/albums/5916371961915233937

peace!

I lost my heart in Vrindavan...

Because of the nature of my journey, its quite difficult to keep posting things in the blog... sometimes I lose interest in it, specially for practical reasons... Some say that "personal history is a dead weight" and this surely has a lot of truth in it... Hopefully whatever I post here can serve a higher purpose (somehow)... 

Anyways, I might keep posting few things or perhaps nothing else, depending on the circumstances... The following is a combination of some dispersed random silly stuff along with a couple of lines one might call "useful".

I have to confess that sometimes I feel "fed up" with the superstitious and exotic ambiance that is contained within the whole Indian atmosphere... You will find in every corner Barbie-like statues of all the gods & godesses available in the Hindu pantheon (more than 3000!), all sorts of blind beliefs, rites & rituals... vicious monkeys and fake babas infesting the surroundings... "priests" in the temples spewing cheap talks to get some rupees from you... etc

I know I said that I wont comment on these things, but is inevitable... so here I  go again... In most towns there's a very particular combination of pungent fragrances... cow dung, human urine, incense and gasoline! That, plus the sizzling sun that hits right through your bones can be quite a killer combination, even for the most ascetic characters! unless you were born in such a context (i guess)... I have seen the most crude scenes so far in my life... specially in the train stations... people and animals with all kind of diseases and physical impediments... misery to the max... children pooping and peeing right there in the floor... and then rats having a feast with the leftovers! ...

Then you hear the voice: Everything is contained within the realm of the divine! ...so you humble yourself, enjoy again, and put an end to the chatter... Yet, and specially in a place like this, a keen critic-intuitive mind can save your skin more than once.

Then, out of all that you find once a while a pious woman smilingly grinding corn or  manifesting a true act of worship and devotion... people engaged in beautiful ceremonies or happily dancing and chanting in the temples... the most simple towns with their mud hut buildings, water buffaloes and a gang of children playing barefooted... ancient-culturally rich sites... beautiful landscapes... a silent saddhu ready to stare at you with deep embedded eyes...  and the breeze that soothes your body at night while you sleep at the verandah of a temple listening in the background to prayers, bhajan and kirtan... sometimes all night long!

Its funny to see how some people see you (foreigner) as a an alien...  The other day while visiting a temple a young, extremely beautiful woman approached and asked me, with their unique soft voice, sweet smile, anjali mudra and head movement: Sir, what is your good name? ... once I presented myself she said ... Oh very nice, may I take a picture with you? ... I laughed and posed with her... in the meantime, while her friend was taking the picture, an old vasana showed its face suddenly... I could almost hear a voice in my head saying: "Oh my God, you're so beautiful!" ... Fortunately I didn't act out any of my thoughts... and again the voice: "But wait a moment, to say to a woman that shes beautiful is ok!"  ... yes yes, but... i better shut my mouth on this one.

Thank you sir, thank you... she was gone...

and then, while reflecting on a corner the insight took place in my mind:

Once the mind is free from lust or any other impurity one can enjoy Gods lila and recognize the beauty in the forms without getting caught in it...but is a very thin line...

Oh foolish pilgrim!, what lies beyond the facade of beauty that your eyes are gazing upon?

Two things! , and one cannot be even called "a thing"...

In the realms of the unseen there is the all pervading luminous Self, that which cannot be possessed, that which you already ARE!

In the phenomenal plane... a bag of bones, pus, blood, urine, fecal matter, flesh and organs! decorated externally by a mask which the senses judge as beautiful...

Right on! after such a mercy-filled whipping the only thing to be done was... to keep walking!

If there is a place more suitable for living as a  parivrajaka (spiritual wanderer) then India and perhaps the buddhist countries (myanmar, thailand and lanka) would be in the top list, this for various reasons:

Such a life-style here is not only culturally accepted but also socially embraced, specially if they sense a vibe of authenticity in you, therefore to get biksha is quite easy...

Climatically speaking, is very hot, that allows you to wear almost nothing therefore you can travel with the most basic stuff, and there's always a shade of a tree waiting to provide you with its solace and public water faucets all around to refresh yourself whenever its needed... But still, even in Costa Rica where there's no tradition of renunciation I never lack of anything... everything just came without the need of even asking for it! so i guess is just a matter of faith and trust...

It takes a lot of time to move here from one place to another and it can become quite exhausting... Its been almost a month and i just make it to move from one state (uttarakhand) to another (uttar pradesh)... Im doubting the possibilities to cross to ancient Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) for two reasons... seems that the ferry is closed and a plane ticket will cost too much (at least for my budget) and secondly... Time!... yes, in this material plane were always running out of time.

I stopped for a couple of days at Sadhana Kendra Ashram (www.sadhanakendra.org) which is surrounded by the mystic Himalayan foothills situated on the banks of the holy Yamuna River... its gushing is like a lullaby at nights... Here dwells a well known silent sage named Chandra Swami... I was blessed to receive his Darshan and holy communion... Very powerful experience...
In most ashrams they would say that they don't charge anything (bc that is how it was set traditionally for ashrams) but sometimes they will let you know very clear with their funny indian accent: "We dont charge anything here, but know that we spend on you 400 rupees everyday!"  and then if you don't have money but you are a monk they might allow you to stay only for 2 or 3 nights, unless you want to give yourself wholeheartedly to the cause, and that of course changes the whole panorama...

Before I left this ashram one of its beautiful dwellers provided me a couple of fruit bars, almonds and some rupees for my trip... "Know that you're are on a very good path, remember that when you leave everything for God, He becomes automatically responsible for you... therefore you will always have His protection everywhere you go!" ... The words of this brother provoked comforting shivers throughout  my body and immediately brought to my remembrance the words of Jesus in the book of Mathew:

	"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
	Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
	Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
	And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
	and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
	Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
	Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
	For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
	But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
	Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

To live a simple life, and to renounce to its comforts is what is called the lowest kind of Vairagya... Actually you are renouncing to things which are ultimately bound to become trash (if they are not already), therefore what can you aggrandize yourself for? this is always a good recorderis for our fellow saddhu who sometimes feel a bit fluffed for living with almost anything... Renounce to the thought of renunciation itself (ego) This has always been the teaching of those Mahatmas...That is True Vairagya! and for that, a true vairagi will always aim, even if his/her body lives in a palace of gold.


After 12 hrs of trip by bus and train I reached  yesterday in the morning to the city of Mathura where Sri Krishna was born, and then I took a bus to Vrindavan... very picturesque town, fuuuuuuull of sadhus, wanderers, vaishnavis! and of course, cows, donkeys, camels and monkeys! ... Bhakti flows in the air... stands of flower garlands decorate the streets... Maha-mantra has possessed the place to its fullness... Very fascinating... This town is where Lord Krishna use to play his lilas with the gopis as a young boy... On the 28th Ill be celebrating Krishna Janmasthami (b-day) at the beautiful ISCKON temple... this is the most auspicious day for this city... lots of dancing, chanting, worshiping, and prasad!

This state, Uttar Pradesh is where Gautama the Buddha was Born, here he wandered 45 years teaching the Dhamma round and about...

According to what is commonly believed, 4 signs caused the young prince Siddharta to live the homeless life of a spiritual wanderer... First, the sight of an old man, feeble and withered. Second, a sick man surrounded by a pool of vomit and feces. Third, a stiff cold corpse... Then he saw a holy man, one of those who from time immemorial in India abandoned home, social status and "security" to face the meaning of life...

"This is one who searches for the deathless" said the charioteer to Siddharta..."Look how bright and clear are his features" ... From these sights, Gautama got his cue to go forth, from home to homelessness.

Here a beautiful paradox from a thudong bikkhu:

"A true wanderer wanders purposefully in the dharma-faring in order to put an end to wandering (samsara)"

Jay! ... Sri Krshna Sharanam Mamah !!!

Blessings...

blistered feet, blissful mind...

India is a very intense country... huuuuge, colorful, beautiful, awkward, religious, spiritual... you name it!
It is very easy to get caught in that which the senses perceive... Ones level of apperception must be very keen to pierce the veil of forms and dwell in its essence...

Regarding this matter I have found very useful to stop once a while for 2-3 days either in a secluded forest or in an ashram...

There you find the most appropriate conditions to recollect yourself through silence and meditation....
And through that silence, revelation beyond what has been seen takes place...
Insight ripens... alienation sets in...
There also you can rest your weary feet, give the body its proper care and, perhaps, receive the darshana of the Guru or Sadguru.

And then again, being faithful to your call, you gird your loins with might and set yourself in the wings of the wind!
with nothing else in front of you than total uncertainty and the lack of all foothold...

By then, each heart beat should shout out loud; Come what may!

all is well...

A light on Sannyasa...

Taken from: Sanyassa, an inner pilgrimage, by swami bhoomananda tirtha.

What is sannyasa, does it imply necessarily leaving household and putting on the ascetic robe? In taking such a step, no doubt, there is the pious intention of making one’s seeking wholesome and intense. But what verily matters is the constant attention to purify the mind and sharpen the intelligence. The rarity of ascetic renunciation makes it a very valuable and honorable one, but it should not give rise to any feeling of superiority.

The sastras define many different approaches towards sannyas, for example, bahudaka, kuticaka, purna, vidvat, etc, some live by alms, some are wanderers, some hermits… But those who somehow are given to lokasangraha, (mission of social welfare) cannot be like this, their constant and main focus will be on the development of the society and the ashram itself, not only the phenomenal plane but also in the noumenal. These are those who make outreach possible.

Sannyasins live and move with atma-trupti (inner contentment), atmotsaha (inner fervour) and atma-nirbandha (inner compulsion). Though are fully contented inwardly, they nevertheless have a loving concern for the society around. Their societal efforts are solely to ensure the welfare and cohesion of the society and never for their own delight. This often generates some timely inner compulsions, which result in their taking up loka sangraha programmes. Spiritual contentment and irresistible societal concern go together!

Therefore a sannyasin is, in reality not to be judged at all, especially on the basis of external factors, like how he lives, what is his ashram like, etc. A sannyasin who is given to the pursuit of brahmavidya will naturally be immersed in contemplative and introspectional levels of discipline and refinement. External, seemingly rigorous standards do not apply to such a one. To evaluate him/her on the basis of external insignia would be wrong, a disrespect to spirituality itself. Rather than being given to poverty or riches he will be given to the refinement and insight of being unaffected by and equal towards both.

“I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” Philippians 4:12 (st. Paul)

Shankaracarya in his Bhaja Govindam has spoken critically about those who are given only to the external garb and some allied practice and not know where to lay emphasis, they mostly remain rigid and biased, missing the transcendental dimension and the resultant blissfulness.

“The self cannot be realized by carelessness or by improper austeriries” Mundakopanisad 3.2.4

Whatever austere steps the sannyasin feels like adopting in the light of what he had cultivated earlier, he should adopt now. This will also depend upon how he looks at austerity and which level of austerity is helpful to fulfill his purpose. Even the most austere sannyasin may not attain spiritual fulfillment. On the other hand, one who is not outwardly austere may derive fulfillment easily. Therefore, to seek the Truth and attain fulfillment in the pursuit must be the sole aim of sannyasa. If such pursuit will be helped when he has some facilities where he lives, I will say, let those facilities be there. As long as he remains attentive, everything will be alright.

Once his commitment is wholesome, I think, he should be left to himself. Let him stay in a place or wander for a while, let him live with another or with none, if he wants to live on biksha (alms-donations) may it be so!. Actually biksha for a sannyasin is prescribed in our sastras. 

To embrace sannyasa is to live in constant dispossession; therefore the biksha attitude is fundamental as well as wholesome for a sannyasin. When a sannyasin has thus renounced everything, whatever apparently he seems to posess, including “his” Ashram is the outcome of biksha.

“For such a renunciate, the entire world is but a bounteous biksha form his Creator”

                                                              Swami Bhoomananda tirtha

Lord of the senses...

Hrishikesha is a name of Vishnu that means Lord of the senses... surrounded by a landscape of ascetical atmosphere and quietude stands Risihikesh, which, according to history it was place exclusively for saddhus. Some people say that back in the good old days the only thing you could see here was forest and saddhus... There are kutiyas (hermitages) temples and ashrams scattered all over the place... some are abandoned and some are still running either by a true living sage ( few) and others by rascals! ... It is considered a holy city and it is vegetarian by law... If someone would come to this city before it was solemnly to become a saddhu. That is also why it adopted that name, because through intense saddhana people would (if in the right approach) conquer their senses.

"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles"...
Buddha
                                                                                                   

Nevertheles, things changes and in the last 20 years there has been an invasion of tourism and bussines that has made a very bad impact, at least in the spiritual sense... There is a lot of "yoga" schools where mainly westerners come to get their teacher trainning... this is perhaps the biggest bussines in town! plus other commercial stores all around... Anyways, the place is surrounded by gorgeous vegetation and there are still places of cultural-spiritual interest to visit.... and interesting, very interesting characters!

As most of us know, anywhere you go in the world (and this doesnt excludes india) is not the same as it used to be... so, from now on ill try to omit my critics and high-light mostly its beauty...

Right now im staying in an ashram located in the little village of Tapovan... Is a small interreligious monastery, very organized, disciplined and clean... The sadhakas are very friendly and humble. Within the ashram compound I took off the kavi robes and adopted the traditional clothes of a sadhaka-brahmacarya which is a white kurta and longi, this out of respect bc I havent been initiaded into sannyasa officialy by a particular guru or lineage.

Ill be here perhaps 8 more days and then we'll see...

"It is not the outward circumstances that bind a man; by himself is man really bound, by himself is he really free."  bikkhu sumano