Skip to main content

Maya's Gallery: An Exhibition of Waking

 

Maya's Gallery: An Exhibition of Waking

 

 I open my eyes from sleep,
the so-called waking state begins.
Marvelous manifestation blossoms,
and the so-called universe appears.



From within, I witness 
the world arise,
family and friends come to life.
homes, streets, markets, parks
fill with events, 
emotions, and commotions.

Maya, the artist, 
paints with three colors.
Some live softly in sattva,
some move restlessly in rajas,
some remain deluded in tamas.

I witness the tapestry
and refuse to be trapped in it.
I witness each scene as it arrives,
each moment as it dissolves.

I play the roles and move along,
I remain untouched as the lotus.
As the ego falls away,
the nameless, formless 
Self is evident,
as whole, needing nothing.


I take on many names and forms,
yet all swirls merge into One.
I uphold all as their very base,
immanent, and transcendent.






Self-sufficient,
roots below, branches above,
I cannot be bound or entangled.
I shine as the Self in all.


Stepping back, I see it all
as Maya’s gallery of paintings,
projected by the mind.

I paint my own world.
I am free, now and here.
I stand erect, strong,
witnessing even freedom.
I am That.

Inspiration - Shazia Sikander- Collective Behavior 
Painting Exhibition 
at Cantor Art center, Stanford University 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Just Be ( Summa Iru)

Just Be (Summa Iru)  As I sat in the weekly satsangs on Ramana Maharshi, Bhagavan’s question echoed within me: “When are you coming to Tiruvannamalai?” That question did not remain a question for long. It ripened itself. The long vigil of Maha Shivaratri, chanting the Ramana Tamil parayanam and the 26th chapter of the Ribhu Gita, deepened the saṅkalpa into something steady and irreversible. After a week-long Vedanta camp in Rishikesh, the journey unfolded almost on its own. Flights were booked. A car was arranged from Chennai. For the first time, plans were made not for the world or family, but for the Self. And in that sincerity, something remarkable happened: the universe did not resist. No one in the family objected. It was as if life itself stepped aside. Despite war and unrest disrupting travel across the world, when asked, “Are you still going?” the response arose effortlessly: “If it has to happen, it will.” In the bustle of Rishikesh, the mind wandered through sense objects...

Exit from Abhimanyu Syndrome

Exit from Abhimanyu Syndrome Should I sleep away from the drama of the world, Or awaken to the stillness in which it appears? Should I wake up from the dream of the waking state, where name and form parade as truth? Or accept them as they are? Should I stop attempting to rewrite the script of life? Or engage in the scenes of the play with a playful attitude? Should I stop projecting a personal movie, Or recognize that I am the light that makes all images possible? Should I reject the world as a mere phenomenon? Or release identification with body and mind? Should I rest in the wisdom of internal calmness ? Should I be that mystical Swan  meandering gracefully in the water  abiding in self right now? If not I, Who will see this? If not now, When will this seeing occur? Who am I is the question of Viveka What am I up to is the question of Vairagya When there is nowhere to go, and nothing to attain, I dwell in these questions, not seeking answers, for the questions themselves are...

Discharge Summary - from the ward of Ignorance

Patient Name: Jijñāsu Admission Diagnosis: Samsara (chronic cyclical identification with nāma–rūpa–karma) Hospital Course: Prolonged, recurrent, self-perpetuating Final Status: Free — here and now DISPOSITION: Discharged to Self. FOLLOW-UP: None. PATIENT INSTRUCTIONS: Oh dear patient, Take food as medicine. Hunger, like an illness, arrives, lingers, and leaves. Eat in measure, not too much, not too little, not for delight, not for the tongue’s applause, but for full nourishment. Do not trouble yourself over which antibiotic is prescribed amoxicillin or azithromycin. Leave that to the Doctor who treats you. And leave to nature what arrives on your plate, poha or oatmeal, receive it, and take only what is needed. Oh dear  Jijñāsu  , If there is no sepsis, no cancer, no trembling heart in crisis, you do not seek a hospital bed. In the same way, if there is no desire for lineage, wealth, or fleeting fame, why admit yourself into samsara? Step out of name, out of form, out of t...