Songs of Lalla

Ingredients:

Lalla lived in Kashmir during the first part of the 1300s. In that period, Kashmir was home to devotees of Shiva and devotees of Vishnu, to Islamic Sufis and to followers of Tantric Buddhism. Lalla's poems reflect all she learned from these, synthesized to become the expression of her own devotion in colloquial Kashmiri, rather than the Sanskrit of contemporary philosophical writing. The variety of her names reflects the wide appeal of her poems: In Hindi, she is Lal Ded (grandmother Lal); in Sanskrit, Lalleshwari (Lalla the yogini); while to Muslims, she is Lal Arifa.

Lalla was apparently from a family of Brahmins near Pampore; her poetry shows her knowledge of Sanskrit and of the Hindu scriptures. Tradition says that she left her husband after some years of an unhappy marriage to become a student of Hindu and Sufi teachers. Then she became an itinerant preacher throughout the Kashmir Valley, singing her vakhs (songs) of Shiva and of the search for truth, through an inner spirituality rather than dogma and ritual.

http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/lalla.html

Directions:

Not for a moment
Trusting it, I drank anyway
The wine of my song.

It gave me courage
To face and tear the darkness down
Cutting it to shreds.
~*~
Oh, poor Mind, in love
With worldly things you know will pass,
Why do you forget?
~*~
I might scatter clouds
Or drain the sea
Or cure the ill
That can’t be cured
But Mind of fool
I cannot change.
~*~
That which is sweet, first is bitter.
That which is bitter, first is sweet.
To each a choice, then it all depends.
On effort and unflagging will
To reach the city of your choice.
~*~
Siva abides in all that is, everywhere;
Then do not discriminate between
a Hindu or a Muslim.
If thou art wise, know thyself;
That is true knowledge of the Lord.
~*~
It covers your shame,
Saves you from cold,
Provides food and drink,
Needs only water and grass.
Who counselled you, O Brahmin,
To slaughter a living sheep
As a sacrifice to a lifeless stone?
~*~
I got one advice
“Transfer the attention within!”
Since then I go nude.
~*~
Straight I came and straight
I shall return not fearing Him
Who knows and loves me.
~*~
Penance breeds conceit
Pandering will get you nowhere
So be moderate.
~*~
Who slays the highway robbers three,
Greed, Lust and Pride,
And yet, in utter humility, serves
his fellow man
He truly seeks out the Lord,
disregarding as worthless ashes
all other things.
~*~
Do good to others,
For that is the real religion.
And rest when tired.
~*~
Patience to endure
The darkest hour never doubting
He will come to you.
~*~

In the last watch of the moonlit night,
remonstrating with my wayward mind,
I soothed my pain with the love of God.
Gently, gently, accosting myself,
"O Lalla, Lalla, Lalla",
I woke my Love, my Lord and Master,
Absorbed in it, my mind was cleansed.

~*~
When my mind was cleansed of impurities,
like a mirror of its dust and dirt,
I recognized the Self in me:
When I saw Him dwelling in me,
I realized that He was the Everything
and I was nothing.
~*~
For a moment I suppressed the bellows of respiration,
Lo and behold! The Lamp lit up brightly and I realized my Self!
The light within me sparkled out;
In the encompassing darkness, I seized at It and gripped It tightly.
~*~
Let go the sacred tantra rites,
Only the mantra sound remains.
And when the mantra sound departs,
Only the citta is left behind.
Then lo! the citta itself is gone,
And there is nothing left behind;
The void merges in the Void
~*~
Gently, gently, I trained my mind
to suspend its processes and thoughts.
Then (in the windless calm), the flame of the Lamp,
shining steady and bright,
Revealed my true nature unto me.
In the dark recesses of my soul
I seized upon Him and held Him fast.
Then I diffused the inner light,
And within, without, all was Light.
~*~
If you've melted your desires
in the river of time, choose
to be a recluse, or choose
a family, the village job.

If you know the pure Lord within you,
you'll be That,
wherever.
~*~
If you’re wise, be foolish.
If you can see, squint.
Though you can hear, sit
Dumb as an old rock.
Whatever anyone says,
Listen and agree.
This is a friendly practice,
And it leads to some truth.
~*~
I put into practice whatever I read, the unread was lost to my consciousness;
I dragged the lion down the forest by his silken mane as if he were a jackal!
I preached what I practiced, That way did knowledge dawn on me.

~*~
Intense cold makes water ice.
Then the hard ice turns to slush
and back to water, so there are three
forms of consciousness: the individual,
the world, and God, which in the sun
of True Awareness melt to one flowing:

Lalla is that.
~*~
Meditate within eternity.
Don't stay in the mind.

Your thoughts are like a child fretting
near its mother's breast, restless
and afraid, who with a little guidance,
can find the path to courage.
~*~
The soul, like the moon,
is now, 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.
~*~
Dance, Lalla, with nothing on
but air. Sing, Lalla,
wearing the sky.
Look at this glowing day!
What clothes could be so beautiful,
or more sacred?
~*~
The way is difficult and very intricate.
Lalla discarded her books that told
about it, and through meditation
saw the truth that never comes
to anyone from reading words.