ZEN SUTRA

The road to truth runs straight,
the twists and turns,
only prolong the quest.

Every fish breathes the needed air,
in low or high tide,
oblivious of ocean wide.

The wheeling universes
always on the run,
longing for soulful union.

Tired with turning beads
the realized know only one word,
love.

Love’s flame
shall open the secret door,
one step more shall make you free.

Fling these piles of books
in passions’ raging fire
to be the Zen.

Continence
the root restraint
on the path of ascent.

Calm of mind,
a heart that craves not,
makes you free, the living Zen.

Where you get to know who you are,
all your questionings cease,
fixed are you in your Buddha nature.

Futile this search
if it fails to give you equipoise,
the peace of Nirvana.

To obey the inner call,
to pass into life immortal,
death-in-Zen, the way.

No danger to go astray
on the path of Zen,
only caution, no vacillation.

Only intense love makes you see
Life’s hidden mystery,
lets you enter the deathless realm.

Zen will bestow the sight,
the ear to hear the unheard melody,
the joy of living creatively.

Not by ritual purification
but searching within,
the gates of illumination open.

Darkness lets us see
our true essence,
our Buddha nature.

A ceaseless yearning
to be out of the tunnel,
to see the Light.

Prayer is bathing
in pure waters of Zen
to wash the soul clean.

What you lose by excess,
recoup it by restraint,
zest once gone cannot return.

A prayer awakens in you
the hidden melody of existence,
flowers a whole spring within.

What holds the worlds together,
keeps the cosmic balance,
none but love.

Between man and man
the earth and heaven,
only love is.

Love the guide,
love the voyager,
love the destination.

Birth, death, love, time,
points in a unitive scale
to orchestrate life’s harmony.

Each speck in the macrocosm
has an appointed role,
no luminous sun without a black hole.

Life’s lustre lies
in living courageously
from moment to moment.

To the one in love
the whole world wears
the look of a royal feast.

Each one has to step
on one’s dead self,
to rise on to higher planes.

Dig up this fort of lower self
from the very roots,
to dig in the foundation of the higher self.

Smite with Zazen
all chords of your self
to let them emit sweet melodies.

The cross is not
what once shone in Bethelham,
but what shines in every soul.

Where no sense of separateness
there truth shines resplendent,
that's the moment for enlightment.

Light the pyre
to recover the immortal self,
to be filled and fulfilled.

Now and now alone,
descent ends, ascent begins,
the realisation dawns.

Who yearns for the whole
being flooded,
becomes the whole.

Heaven and hell within,
in-between an infinitesmal hair,
now the one, now the other.

Once on the vulture peak
you know the bliss of ordinariness,
your new found majesty.

No quivering restlessness,
no greed,
when dispassion sets in.

The sage enlightner
sets ablaze the fire divine,
burns away the karmic chains.

Close to the creator
in one plunge
touch the roof in one kick.

Renunciation,
of all acquisitiveness,
the way to Zen.

The way to deliverance
within every being,
only if he dives deep.

Your whole being a temple
effulging with loving devotion
the ladder to the ultimate.

The realm,
where forever flows the song,
where the eternal lights a million lamps.

Who tastes truth but once
he savours
its flavoured essence in every sip.

Every order, human or divine,
revolves round love’s nave,
it’s the very logos of life.

Love’s alchemy turns
every base metal into gold,
makes a new man.

The soul’s paradise
only for those who tread
on the razor-edge of life.

Past the flowing stream,
feel the light of bliss,
in all-enveloping darkness.

A million-eyed lotus
in every soul blooms
a thousand miracles in every wink.

Life acquires meaning
passing through love’s crucible
even death becomes divine.

Every moment a star of surprize
the questing soul’s choicest prize
a glow on the face .

The easiest way, the golden mean,
the avoidance of all extremes,
the key to all realisation.

HYMN TO JYOTI

Jyoti - Tamas
incestuous pair
all space envelop:
light and darkness.

Jyoti, the formless first
the self-emanating effulgence
wombs in primal time, the Sun,
the source of light and life.


The Sun's first born, Agni
weaves the texture of life,
the warp and woof of creation,
binds the Earth and Heaven.


White milk of celestial cows
dusky, black or crimson
appear in the morning sun
golden hued, resplendent.



Swan-constellations, blue-backed
silhoutted against the black sky
glitter like gold
lit by a million suns.

On night sky's black carpet
Stars play checkers
bursting crackers
in all-enveloping gloom.


Savitur, Varun, Mitra
pave the way
to luminous dawn
in heart of space.

Black bull stokes
reeling dark clouds
making them burst
into hails of light.

In struggling to liberate Itself
from embrace of Tamas
Jyoti unrolls the scroll of time
and brings the universe to life.



O Jyoti, the all-powerful, all-prevading One
descend down on our earth to annul
darkness of Tamas in our being
tear asunder our veil of illusion.

What Zen Truly IsZen is a walk through the garden....an effortless practice of being here now. It is one of the most ancient practices to attaining enlightenment and reaching a higher level of consciousness. It is the most simple and effortless path to total liberation, that involves no-effort, no-thought, and literally no-mind.

A Zen mind is not a dull, bored mind...it is quite the opposite. It is so vigilantly focused in the NOW its sharper than a sharpest razors edge. It is a mind that is free from worry, and is present only to what experience, thought, and sensation that is happening in the now. It is a mind that is full of awe and wonder for this Universe as it sees the REAL world that is overflowing with simplicity, joy and a profound happiness.

A Zen life finds an inner balance within every situation and person. It is free from desires, yet still enjoys the experience of wanting something. The Zen being is truly the master of his/her existence, liberated from the mind and its perpetual grasping for something.

To the Zen Masters the pure mind is the eternal Buddha - nature. To attain enlightenment, to be aware of one's own Buddha - nature, we need to go beyond his ordinary thoughts. Only by becoming free from our own projections and ideas, we can be aware of the Buddha Reality which is all pervading.

" Confused by thoughts,
we experience duality in life.
Unencumbered by ideas,
the enlightened see the one Reality."
- Hui - Neng
The goal of Zen cannot adequately be described in words. Great Zen Masters often appear to be talking in riddles while guiding their students towards their Buddha nature - A consciouness that is all pervading though yet eluding our grasp.
" It is present everywhere.
There is nothing it does not contain.
However only those who have previously
planted wisdom - seeds will be able
to continuously see it."
- Dogen

Zen sutras are compact and terse in nature. For enlightenment cannot be attained by studying complex scriptures, indeed it comes through inner practise.

" I have not heard of a sinlge Buddha, past or present,
who has been enlightened by sacred prayers
and scriptures."
- Bassui
There is nothing lacking in you!
You are no different than a Buddha.
-Zen Master Tao-Hsin

Only by accepting that the ego is a fabricated
illusion do we walk the Buddha's way. - Dogen

Enlightenment is beyond concepts.
No one has ever attained it. -Ying-an

When everything is seen as One, we return to the Source
and stay where we have always been.. -Seng-t'san

Here it is - right now.
Start thinking about it and you miss it. -Huang-po

If you love the sacred and despise the ordinary,
you are still bobbing in the ocean of delusion - Linji

OM

Om, the first emanation,
Om, the object of all meditation,
Om, the tongue of every revelation,
Om, the truth beyond contemplation.
Om, the mystic flame
pervading the whole creation,
every word and chant,
the resonance that forever haunts.
Om, the celestial eyed,
the all-creating Spirit,
the ear of every psalm
the eye of every vision.
In every swell heave Om,
in every sound hear Om,
in every speck see Om
in every breath breathe Om,
Om, the fire,
Om, the fuel,
Om, the flesh,
Om, the cross.
Om, the wick, Om the oil, Om the light,
Om, the soul of everything bright,
Om, the yearning of the ocean-tide,
Om, the love-longing of the bride.
Om, the night of nihil,
Om, the dawn eternal,
Om, the deathless flame,
Om, the all-redeeming pain.
Om, the golden egg of origin,
Om, the dream of creation,
Om, the dance of dissolution,
Om, the beginning, Om the termination.
Om, the root, Om, the fruit,
Om, the seed and sprout,
Om, the all-creating Light,
Om, the morning star of night.
Om, the lonely tread of the lone,
Om, the pilgrim of the unknown,
Om, the triumphal march of time,
Om, the Song of Song sublime.
Om, the Truth of Truth for ye all to know
beyond suffering, beyond every human woe,
Om, whence come all beings and things,
Om, where do they go borne on the swing.
Om, the formless first,
Om, the causeless cause,
Om, the wordless word
whence have flowed the entire.

I SHALL COME AGAIN

Reverberating the galaxied resonance
of serenading heavens--
countless earths, star systems and suns,
in gloried splendor I forever dwell.
Freed from tearing travails
my soul takes wings
and soars to celestial heights
where silence rings and sings.
None there to disturb my sleep,
enchanting the silence deep,
reflecting on what liberates
I raise a stair to the ultimate.
A whisper from infinite:
"I shall come again
to hew a heaven on earth
dear me! keep aloft your spirit
let it be not put out."
"I am not alone
many others before me
in different tongues have sung
of family of one earth.
My mission,
to sow seeds of this timeless truth
on the earth entire
to awaken the new dawn of spring.

I AM LIGHT

Racing heavens ever attuned,
heart-throb of galactic glens
where lord-borne cattles go grazing,
I am the wombing void.
In my musical scale many a near and distant sun,
in benighted chaos
orchestrate the musical band
on eternity's symphonic scale.
My live orchestra is hidden
in dense forests of stars
in frenzied flight of flaming skies
in giddied motion of whirling galaxies.
I am fire of life in ashen gloom,
the symphonic song of spheres,
the aching mystery of black holes,
the timeless void of creativity.

I AM SELF

Deathless is my spirit
by no fire singed,
no water wetted,
no wind dried,
no weapon slain.
I am Self
all-pervading,
knowing all,
seeing all,
beyond words,
unfathomable, unbounded, forever free.

BUDDHA -CHRIST

All revelations
flow from world's travails,
all crescents and crosses.
Lotussed cross,
the key to life divine,
the arc of grace.
Buddha-Christ,
the heroic bringers of light
from the tyranny of soul-killing might.
Truth on cross hanging,
Yet the felicity of it you will know
through crucifixion and resurrection.

SELF'S LIGHT

When all lights go off
the Self's light is awake,
when utter darkness prevails,
the lamp of self never fails.
Amidst lightning flash
wheel of fire whirling,
in golden letters effulging
the divine commandments.
The rule of right,
the kingdom of truth,
the dawn of peace shall come
when everyone joins the ministry of love.

THE ULTIMATE REVELATION

A lotus grown in muddy lake,
Truth's self forever awake
on whose whisper doors are flung open,
I am the ultimate revelation.
I unfold the creator's perfect plan
inscribed in the heart of every man,
hourly relayed on the film of time
by the scale of spherical chime.
No mystery, no truth beyond my eyes,
no mystic realm, no glen of paradise,
the nodal point of starry systems,
the compass of heavenly revolutions.
I keep a count of every mishap,
deviant orbits, discordant taps,
a lone meteor's fall
chance straying of a star.
My vision encompasses
worlds of humans and gods,
my saga the epic stuff of bards.
of laurels won and kingdoms lost.

THE PERFECT ARCHITECT

I shape the dome of the sky,
the invisible pillared diadems,
fix in space the eternal points of light.
Introduce motion in all what I make:
gases, minerals, elements,
skies and spheres in space.
I design and create every form and thing:
the multitudinous worlds,
the interstellar spaces and cosmic seas.
I set swirling lights in galaxied darkness,
launch lucent ships of many a resonance
in boundless ocean of space-time.
Roar and thunder in tempestuous tides,
cause cataclysmic upheavals in cosmic seas,
inhere in dark void as the HIranyagarbha.

COSMIC RESONANCE

Even if there be one who lives
the bliss of consummation,
transforms everyone into a beacon
in the world's oceanic darkness.
Silence laps all nature,
in supernal splendor,
all crannies it interfuses
with bliss of oneness.
On life's sounding board
all discords
blend into harmony
of cosmic resonance.

COSMIC RESONANCE

Even if there be one who lives
the bliss of consummation,
transforms everyone into a beacon
in the world's oceanic darkness.
Silence laps all nature,
in supernal splendor,
all crannies it interfuses
with bliss of oneness.
On life's sounding board
all discords
blend into harmony
of cosmic resonance.

MYSELF TO MYSELF

MYSELF TO MYSELF
Only One remains
throughout the enoic time
weaving on His desire loom
new creations in succession.
The maker of the plot
himself knows the hidden suspense,
its cloak-dagger intrusions,
the ensnaring stratagems.
He, the puppeteer pulls puppets' string,
knows when to launch which one,
how long to make it strut on the stage,
at what moment to clamp the curtain.
The magic shadow-show has been on
since the beginning of time,
this play of hide and seek,
no chance it will ever cease.
Who is searching whom
when there is no second,
yet such zest in the quest!
myself to my Self!

GAYATRI, MANTRA OF MANTRA

GAYATRI, MANTRA OF MANTRA
Om, what precedes everything under the sun,
what sustains varied orders of creation,
what guides us to Truth's sacred seat.
Om, the origin of all speech,
the first emanation of Brahm
that shall last till the end of time.
Om, enshrines the three powers of the Great Being,
creation, preservation and dissolution,
the beginning, the middle and the end of all that is.
Om, the ultimate power supreme,
manifests in myriad orders sublime
space, time, forms, kinds and colours.
Om, the origin of origin, whence all mantra begin
spanning the three periods of manvantra
and the three powers of the God-Self who alone is.
Om Bhur, Bhuvah, Swaha, the power of the Sun,
the order of Truth permeating the three worlds
as Light of Universal Intelligence in all beings.
Gayatri is all-creating intelligence,
the dawn of Self's illumination
irradiated by the true sun.
Gayatri is Brahma, Gayatri is Vishnu,
Gayatri is Shiva, Gayatri is Surya,
Gayatri is Vedas, Gayatri is deities all.
The five-faced one, seated on the lotus throne,
wears crown on each of her five heads,
Her hallowed hand lifted to bless all beings.
The four heads of the Mother are the four Vedas
the fifth one is the Lord Supreme Himself
Vishnu's loved symbols adorn her ten hands.
Nine gems of purest ray serene adorn her crown
emiting lustre of light divine
guiding the aspirant to Her golden throne.
Gayatri scans the cosmos with her ten eyes
of them the sky and the earth keep a track
of universes on the run in spangled heaven.
Gayatri is Mantra of Mantra, a prayer to Savitur
pervading every speck and sphere
permeating our whole being with pure intelligence.
Constant repetition of Gayatri Chant
Builds a stairway to heaven
Opening the door of liberation.
This all-surpassing Mantra, the essence of all Revelation
revealed to sage Vishwamitra in Gayatri Chhand
twenty four syllable vedic metre with a triplet each of eight syllables,
Gayatri burns away all our karmic remains
to let us see the radiant Self in all beings,
the Truth's realization like a windless flame.
Gayatri is the crown of all mantric chants,
the invocation to Cosmic Intelligence,
the bestower of Bliss, Knowledge and Intuition.
Gayatri is the dawn effulging after midnight,
the soulful chant to the God of Light
unfolds beauty and order in existence.