The Path of Amazement!

Hello

Every day I receive a poem in my email inbox as if by magic, from something called the Poetry Chaikhana (http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/) they are sacred poems from around the world.
 Yesterday the poem which arrived amazed me! It amazed me because its theme is Amazement.....


       The Path of Amazement   


      by Seyyid Seyfullah Nizamoglu (16th Century)

 I cannot say who it is I am
I am amazed, I am amazed!

I cannot call this self 'myself'
          I am amazed, I am amazed!

Who is in my eyes seeing?
Who is in my heart enduring?
Who is inhaling and exhaling?
          I am amazed, I am amazed!

Who is speaking with my tongue?
Who is listening with my ears?
Who is understanding with my mind?
          I am amazed, I am amazed!

Who is stepping with these feet?
Who is tasting with my mouth?
Who is chewing and who swallowing?
          I am amazed, I am amazed!

Who holds these riches in his hand?
Who is the one throwing them away?
Who is buying and who selling?
          I am amazed, I am amazed!

Why is there life coursing below my skin?
Why are my eyes bloodshot from crying?
Why this religion, why this faith?
          I am amazed, I am amazed!

O Seyyid Nizamoglu, hear this:
Everything comes from the One.
Abandon yourself to this mighty beauty
          I am amazed, I am amazed!

English version by Jennifer Ferraro and Latif Bolat

I love this poem because it embodies how I would like to feel about life, I would like to really and truly every day feel amazed to be alive, I would like to feel pure enthusiasm for my precious human life. I would like to abandon myself to the mighty beauty!!

It seems that it is so easy to stop being amazed at the glory of life, so easy to become entrenched in what "is" and how it is rather than looking with new eyes every morning (like Lalla in Go Naked and Dance, an earlier blog post of mine http://klara-darling-swann.blogspot.com/2012/01/hello-today-is-day-four-of-my-blog.html). 

I have noticed that whenever I actively imagine that I have no history and imagine that I am new, something very amazing and interesting happens to me and around me. That something is that the world behaves differently !!! 

The sky is bluer, she sun shines more radiantly, the silver lining on the clouds is more vivid, and the breeze tastes sweet. A heightened sense of the world is not the only thing though; my interactions with other beings are greatly enhanced, people smile more, they feel more open, everyone laughs more and above all people tell me their uplifting stories instead of their woes!

All my interactions are smoother and more pleasant, all the things I need to achieve throughout my day occur with ease and even panache!! My world is changed by my simple act of being new.

I remember hearing a story as a child of somebody who had a series of unpleasant encounters with other people, I don't remember the exact story but I think it was something about being jilted, anyway the woman the story was about experienced rejection and became BITTER. I am very glad to have heard that story as it stayed with me like a warning; the woman lost her joie de vivre, she had a sour taste in her mouth, the world looked dark and she grew old alone, her face was twisted and her interactions were unhappy.

I don't usually enjoy sad stories but this one helped me in the past to be aware of how I interact with the world. I guess the message of this story is not to hold on to the bad things which happen, actually its probably an archetypal story because Miss Haversham of Dickens's "Great Expectations" just sprang to mind, the crazy old lady shut away in her crumbling mansion furious with the world for one bad interaction.......

So have you ever noticed the enthusiasm of puppies? I love seeing people walking their dogs, especially puppies. They bounce along sniffing absolutely everything, tails wagging, smiling eyes and an almost constant ENTHUSIASM FOR LIFE!!!

That is what I'm aiming for, I want to have a puppy like enthusiasm for life and I believe it rests in noticing and being thankful for the beauty of life, recognising the incredible creation which is a human being, of which I am one, and being new.

Be new EACH MOMENT NEW! and BE AMAZED!!!

Today I am amazed at the blueness of the sky

I am amazed at the song of the birds outside my window

I am amazed at the softness of my skin

I am amazed at the richness of my voice and my ability to sing to the hills

I am amazed at my baby's new teeth emerging from her gums

I am amazed at the intricacy of my finger prints

I am amazed at the taste of mangos

I am amazed at the warmth of your smile

I am amazed at the amount of stars in the sky

I am amazed at my opportunities to grow

love Klara.