Devotional Poetry

19 Meditations on Spiritual Evolution

1
The Stream of Change

We dwell within the stream o f change,
either a stones or fish.
The stream erodes the stones away,
carrying their grains to the sea.
The fish,
within the currents embrace,
swim to the sea.

2
The Blissful

Where are the blissful?
Sheltered by God's Primal Word.

3
Knowledge of God And Self

Knowledge of God shows
the immortality of
humanity's soul.

Knowledge of self is
the station experience
bequeaths to the soul.

4
Saints

saints walk the earth unswayed
by the toys of matter,
by the passions of the flesh,
they have gained mastery
over both mind and body,
thought and action.

5
The Quest

He sat alone upon a mountain,
         Seeking to know what will be,
He walked alone across empty plains
         Seeking to find eternity.

She walked along life's crowed way ,
         Helping her fellowman,
She labored long the the field of life,
         Feeding the hungry from her hands.

He died alone upon a mountain,
         Still seeking to know what will be,
She died helping her fellowman,
         Who found eternity?

6
Diamonds In The Rough

Millennium after millennium
Pressure compresses
The offspring of matter

Transforming
Atom by atom
The molecules of life

Day after day
Crystalline gems grow
Acquiring

Test by test
And difficulty by difficulty
The attributes of divinity

7
Zones of Transition

Growth occurs
in zones of transition,
where the upwardly mobile
and the downwardly mobile meet.

Confronted
by the prejudices and misunderstandings
occurring when cultures collide
we must either evolve
or perish.

8
Driftwood

I was drift wood on the tides of fear
Cast out of paradise
by attachment to my insistent self.

Flotsam on the current of desire
I drifted between unattainable dreams
and anxiety's fire.

9
Feast of Knowledge:
Reading the Word of Baha'u'llah

Character by character,
I consume
the fruit of the Tree of Life:
words that are sweet
as the golden honey of dawn.

10
Laughter

Laughter is the bells of life
reverberating across my soul
and carrying me to paradise.

11
Knowledge of the After Life

Does the grub know
before it's enwombed in the chrysalis
about the after life?

12
Transformation

How does a larva
feel inside the chrysalis
as cell by cell it is transformed?

13
Memory

Does an imago remember
its maggot life
after birth from the chrysalis?

14
Transformation

The soul
standing naked before the Creator weeps
as it begs forgiveness.

15
Spiritual Tests

I test
the soul's resolve
to be independent
of all things except God.

16
Meditation

I am the process of creation
carried into the future.

17
The Soul Supplicates Forgiveness

Accepting the inevitable,
the soul prostrates itself in the darkness
begging forgiveness;
begging release
from insistent-self's satanic desires.

18
Forgiveness Received

Light penetrates the darkness
creating rainbow of love;
the spectrum of forgiveness.

19
Thistledown

Grow occurs in the silent hours,
when the mind pauses to reflect on the day's events.

My eyes focus on a white cloud,
as it moves across the firmament;
I watch it change--
sections of it are torn from the main mass
by the winds of the upper atmosphere--
I watch it become gossamer
against the blue sky.

That cloud is my illusions
ripped apart by the day's events
leaving behind thistledown
to be dispersed
by the reality of my actions.

Poet's Note: ▼

This was written sometime in 145 B.E. I think it was inspired by a talk on spiritual growth.