This is my morning meditation today as I re-member myself to God through time spent in the wee hours alone...reminding myself that my mind needs to hum with the song of God as it's non-stop background, in order to stay open and present amidst the whir and blur of daily living. Without this, it is guaranteed that I will not hear the sweet sound of God's love throughout my days...and so, I come to the feet of my God to once again...re-member:
I come without honor in my forgetfulness, and bow at Your
lotus feet, my Lord.
Make me to keep ever present in my thoughts, You who have
made me - for You alone last with me.
Oh my heart, dwell on the love of the All-Pervading Lord
Who has made me so beautiful from a mere seed.
God, who built me, adorned me, and sheltered me in the fire
of the womb;
God, who brought me my mother’s milk in my childhood,
God, who brought me the bloom of youth and delicious foods
and immense pleasures;
God, by whose Grace my family and friends will care for me
in age,
And feed me in my bed.
This woman, without strength, knows not Thy virtues, O Lord,
Grace me, O Gracious God, that I might be freed.
By Your Grace, I enjoy in peace on this earth,
And revel with my family, friends and husband;
By Your Grace, I drink fresh and cool water,
And breathe the life-giving air and enjoy the precious
warmth of fire.
By Your Grace, I enjoy all joys,
And live with all my treasures.
God has given me hands, feet, ears, eyes, tongue:
Why, oh my heart, have I forgotten God, and live instead
without?
Such is the ignorance of this wild fool, O Lord.
Pull me out of the mire, into You.
God, You who are the Savior of all from beginning to end:
In my forgetfulness, I love You not.
From Your service, I attain all Treasures,
In my ignorance, I remember You not.
You, whose presence is always with me,
In my blindness, I think You afar.
From Your service, I receive honor in Your court,
In my foolishness, I forsake You.
Forgive me, O Infinite Lord of Mercy!
For I fall into error, over and over again.
I give up the Jewel and hug the trite,
I give up the Truth and hug falsehood,
I believe in the permanence of the impermanent,
I get lost in thought about what the future holds,
I struggle for what is left undone,
I forsake that which is to keep me company,
I wash off the walls the sweet-smelling sandalwood,
And like a donkey roll in the dust.
I am a broken one, and live in the blind darkness of this
well,
I beg You to take me out into the Light, O my Lord of Mercy!
I, whose nature is of an animal, the caste of humankind,
I, who go about humbugging to this and that,
I, who wear the coat of the holy, and in my mind, have the
dirt of delusion,
I cannot hide my actions howsoever I try.
From without, I bathe, meditate and gather knowledge,
But within me barks the dog of greed and avarice.
I who have fire within, will have ashes without.
How can I swim across with a halter around my neck?
Only when in my mind dwells God Alone,
Only then will I merge into the peace of equipoise.
By hearing alone, how can this blind one find her path?
But, if she holds another’s hand, she reaches safe.
How shall this deaf one hear the soft talk?
She understands ‘day’ when one utters ‘night’.
How can this mute one recite the Song of the Lord?
Even if I try, my voice fails me.
How can a cripple scale a mountain?
No, I cannot go up there in the heights.
O God, my Lord of Mercy, this humble child prays to You,
Save me by Your Grace.
You who is ever with me, You I forget,
And those who are foreign to me, those I love.
I have been living in a castle of sand,
And playing with delusion and reveling,
And believing in the illusion as True.
And, I remember not death.
Gripped by enmity, lust, anger and attachment,
Falsehood, evil, guile and delusion,
I pass through many lives.
I pray to You O my Lord, save me too by Your Grace!
You are the Master, to You I pray, O Lord!
For, this life and body are Your gifts, Your bounties.
You are my Father and my Mother; I am Your child.
In Your Grace lies my whole joy.
No one knows Your limits O my God,
You, the Maker of my destiny, are the highest of the high.
All of Your creation is strung on Your thread:
And, all that You create is in Your command.
You alone know Your end and state:
So, I, as Your child, forever fall into You.
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This is an excerpt from the Sukhmani Sahib (8-4), which is a "shabd" - a
song for God - that is found in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, the holy
book and Guru of the Sikh faith.
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