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Friday, April 20, 2007

Poem for the Soul

The soul, like the moon,
is new, and always new again.

And I have seen the ocean
continuously creating.

Since I scoured my mind
and my body, I too, Lalla,
am new, each moment new.

My teacher told me one thing,
Live in the soul.

When that was so,
I began to go naked,
and dance.

tr. by Coleman Barks

Lal Ded lived in the 14th century in Kashmir. Married at the age of twelve, her husband neglectd her and her mother-in-law treated her harshly; after twelve years she left their house to become a disciple in the Shiva worship tradition and wandered the countryside in a state of undress, singing and dancing her passionate mystical experience. (from Women in Praise of the Sacred, ed by Jane Hirshfield)

The soul, some say, is the feminine essence. I don't assign a gender label to it, even in the Jungian sense of feminine - but it is the soft power, the ageless child within, the well of peace and understanding. Touch a person's soul, and you fall into the infinite wonder.

Have a peaceful wonderful day, let your soul speak to you in metaphor, sunbeams, music.

peace,
musemother

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