[These philosophical
musings were
published in the first issue of the International Journal of
Religion, Psychology and Spirituality (1992)]
Here and now within-beyond,
LIFE unfolds itself as REVELATION
within the authenticity of integral
experience
beyond the legitimacy of creative
expression!
Here and now within-beyond
WOMB-AND-TOMB,
LIFE enfolds the explosion of every
moment as RESURRECTION
within human experience beyond
Christian dogmatization!
Here and now within-beyond
BODY-AND-SOUL,
LIFE unfolds itself in history as
ENLIGHTENED INCARNATION
within enfleshment beyond
enslavement of individuation!
Here and now within-beyond
MONISM-AND-DUALISM,
LIFE enfolds itself into eternity as
COMMUNION
within mystical union beyond
philosophical speculation!
Here and now within-beyond
EMPTINESS-AND-FULLNESS
LIFE unfolds itself as LILA or
HARMONY
within the balance of energies
beyond the dance of the universe!
Here and now within-beyond
TRUTH-BEAUTY-AND-WONDER
LIFE enfolds itself as LALI or
RADIANT GLOW
within visions of love beyond cosmic
manifestations!
Here and now within-beyond
GROW-AND-GLOW
LIFE unfolds itself as SANTI or
PEACEFUL FLOW
blissfully vibrating for-and-with
ALL within-beyond this planet!
[These interfaith insights were published as part
of the doctoral dissertation in Philosophy and Religion presented at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA.]
OM1 is GOD, THE FATHER!
breathing in the fullness of eternity
through the four gates
while traveling through all the intermediary spaces.
SIVA as ONENESS
AWAKENING to mystical consciousness
or communion with the CREATOR and CREATION!
VIVA is GOD, THE SON!
experiencing the victorious micro-stillness
of the dance at the center of my life
where intimacy, love and freedom
are at play as enfleshed incarnation.
LILA2 as immersion in HISTORY
BALANCING polarity as complementarity
taking on the fullness of the flesh: INCARNATION!
SANTI3is GOD, THE SPIRIT!
breathing out revelation and communion
as re-creative resurrection throughout the cosmos.
[This poem was written on July 4 and
was published in
The Bohemian, College of Notre
Dame's Literary Magazine. (Notre Dame de Namur University)
Belmont, CA. Spring 1996. Page 22.]
Oh, my playful-painful
celestial mirror
Home to two awesome
rainbows intersecting.
With proud golden pink
lotuses in full blossom
With tiny silvery
crosses scattered in between
Marshy, yet, a
crystal-clear pond of water.
Oh, you tricky,
shadowy-bright, watery mirror
Transparent center, incessant witness
To a radiant, colorful display of fireworks
Shooting delightfully beyond the rainbows' crossing:
The emergence of a new galaxy of fun and freedom.
Fire! Oh, Fire!
What a dangerous galaxy of fun and freedom.
With disciplined approach and ordered living
Burning away memories transient and guilty shame
Restoring losses: innocence, peace, and tranquility;
To awaken, balance, and center delight here-and-now.
Oh, here is the place and now is the time
For being born anew on this planet. A new creation
Transforming the tiny, tranquil, transient, and
transparent
With courageous harmony and visionary action
Beyond reflective
paradigms and reflexive paradoxes:
[This poem
was published in At Water's Edge [Joy Esterby (ed). Owing Mills: Watermark Press, MD. 1995. Page 30.
It "was recognized by the judges
as being among the best 3% of all entries judged" by The National Library of Poetry, 1995.]
[This poem was written on January 12 a month
after the death of Valdemira Reis Fernandes e Coelho [born in Chinchinim,
Goa on 12/21/07; born to heaven in Aquem, Goa on 12/12/94] and was published
in Christus Rex (a publication of Christ Church, an Anglican
Catholic Parish, in San Mateo, CA), March 1995.
Mãe, my Mother on Earth, is My Mother.
There's no better definition. No better gift!
Mãe, like most mothers on Earth, tenderly nurtured my life, Prayerfully
planting the seed of a Christ-like Priestly vocation, To be lived generously from
her womb, away from the home, Unceasingly praying with faith and hope, and
praying with love. No better gift!
Mãe, like every mother on Earth, oft rejoiced in
life, Every time she gave birth to a new born son or daughter, An definitely on
December 21, 1977, her seventieth birthday, When her prayers were answered
and I was ordained a priest. No better gift!
Mãe, like every mother on Earth, oft suffered in life, Painfully in 1931
on leaving her maiden home in Chinchinim, Inconsolably in 1937 on losing her
first daughter, Minduche, with courageous faith and hopeful resignation
on every occasion. No better gift!
Mãe, like every mother, had many prayerful dreams and visions: A
delightful dream for each of her eight children: health and happiness, a vision
of peace and well being for people all over the world, A constant prayer for a
fearless and holy death -December 12, 1994.
[This Lenten reflection for the Parishioners of Christ Church, an
Anglican Catholic Parish, in San Mateo, CA was published in Christus Rex,
March 1996.]
Domine, non sum dignus!
Lord I am
not worthy to receive gifts: Life on Earth as a human destined to
face many transitional shifts, Citizen of a great nation, descendant
of a family with and without rifts; Endowed with many qualities and
rights to offer or deny upward lifts.
Nihil sine tuo numine! Nothing
without Your Grace - A mortal human!
Domine, non sum dignus! Lord I am not worthy to learn the mysteries: God, Creation, Incarnation, Resurrection, and Eternal Salvation; Golden Sun, Silvery Moon, glowing planets, and quasars nascent; Heavenly garden, cleansing gate, burning hell, and limbo forever.
Nihil sine tuo numine! Nothing without Your Grace - A militant conformist.
Domine, non sum dignus! Lord I am
not worthy to question the language, Away from history looking down upon
the mountain, Black and White: Scriptures, Rituals, Canons, Dogma,
Magisterium, and Authority; Infinite shades of grey in meditation
and contemplation unending.
Nihil sine tuo numine! Nothing
without Your Grace - A cloud of confusion.
Domine non sum dignus! Lord I am not worthyto feel the personal
wheel: Black, purple, red, yellow, green, blue, violet, and white centers in my
body: Psycho-somatic and spiritual energies, inner drives, conflicting passions, Memories still, emotions strong, flights and fights, wishes and dreams
unending.
Nihil sine tuo numine! Nothing without Your Grace - A cloud of colors.
Domine non sum dignus! Lord I am
not worthyto experience nothingness. Beyond black, purple, red, yellow,
green, blue, violet, and white, Golden suns, silvery moons, glowing
planets, nascent quasars, Burning stars, and shining galaxies
absence of light - darkness unending. Nihil sine tuo numine! Nothing
without Your Grace - A cloud of unknowing.
Domine non sum dignus! Lord I am not worthy
to see You, Light become flesh Piercing through the cloud of unknowing; integrating loss, hurt, and pain; The silver-lining behind the clouds of confusion, color, and darkness
unending; Calling for outer conversion, inner transformation, and mystic communion.
Nihil sine tuo numine! Nothing without Your Grace - A spark of recognition.
Domine non sum dignus! Lord I am
not worthyto enjoy You, Three-in-One, Father, Spirit, and Son: transcending
limitations, language, and history Beyond loss, hurt, and pain committed
to service of giving and forgiving, Christ’s ministry of redemptive
healing, restoring mysterious bliss unending.
Nihil sine tuo numine! Nothing
without Your Grace - Another christ today.
[This reflection is based on The Joy of Creative Living: Radical Revolution of the Mind
-An Approach Proposed by Jiddu Krishnamurthy (authored by Fr. Scaria
Thuruthiyil, SDB. Roma: Libreria Ateneo Salesiano.1999) and was written on
September 9.]
Today is the first day of the rest of my
life. Now, I know better. This is the day when
I choose to blend the finite with the infinite. In spite of moments
of sadness, distress and frustration, I am happy. I want to experience
the explosion: this is infinite, that is infinite. In spite of all the
difficulties, obstacles and pain, I am grateful I can count many
blessings with my beloved here and now.
Om! Viva! Santi!
Moima! Om!
Today is the only
day that truly matters. Now, I know better. For yesterday is
gone and tomorrow may never be mine. Christ behind and
before me like Beauty behind and before me Are illusions and
delusions, products of my memory and imagination. Incarnation and
resurrection like re-incarnation or annihilation Are products and
processes of faith and enculturation.
Om! Viva! Santi! Moima! Om!
Today is the
implosion of history and mystery. Now, I know better. Billions of years of
existence in the universe and in eternity Present in this
moment of existence with choiceless awareness Neither wanting nor
not wanting, effortless expression in harmony. Listening, seeing,
touching, smelling and tasting every sensation As manifestations of
life and fullness: satyam, sivam,
sundaram.
Om! Viva! Santi! Moima! Om!
Today is living
simply and freely with my beloved. Now, I know better. The heart of the
Priesthood, or service, is rooted in the heart. Beyond the Sacred
Heart of Jesus and the Triadic Heart of Shiva, Metaphors for
manifestations of consciousness in religions, Is the joy of
creative living with humanity in the universe While experiencing
my beloved in and with my heart.
Om! Viva! Santi! Moima! Om!
Today is a
grace-filled gift from my Beloved. Now, I know better. A brand new gift to
be cherished with the heart, delightfully Awakening, balancing
and centering every motion and emotion With choiceless
awareness and effortless action: a new explosion, Grateful, growing as
a tiny, tranquil, transient and transparent drop Graceful, glowing
with my beloved in the Ocean Beloved.
Life, like a tree reaches deeper
and higher, Spreading its roots and branches, Searching for nutrients and space, Enriching the soil and the
environment.
The roots of life in past and history embedded, With genetic imprint and predispositions, With social controls from home and nation, Going back through undiscovered generations.
The branches of life to the future open With each new leaf, a leap into consciousness, Embracing light and darkness, heat and cold, Clemencies of weather and inclemencies, too.
As the roots inward and downward
journey Through terrain and domain hard and
soft, wet and dry, Encountering roots and creatures
friendly and unfriendly, Pave new paths with strength, or
get stunted in the process.
As the branches shoot out for light with freedom, Dancing with the winds against the clear blue skies, With music enchanting provided by the birds and flies, Offer fragrance fresh and a shelter for comfort and rest.
Stunted roots and branches with frustrations blocked, Get past the bugs with vitality and strength renewed, Or stifle an already weary, weak, and struggling tree, With fruitless stress, sickness, and eventual death.
Branches and roots with harmonious
connections, In one season, flowery like a
beautiful maiden, With passage of time, with
delicious fruits laden, Share with one and all nature’s
tasteful bounty.
Then comes winter, windy, wet, cold and dark, Branches shed leaves and appear outwardly stark, Roots integrate or penetrate to newer depths, A journey to the center, silent and slow, right or left.
Life, like a tree goes on and on through many a season, Branches and roots their connected functions performing. Each one of us, like a tree keeps growing and glowing, With rooted connections, spreading out to greater glory.
