Awaken

p20

BURNING at the center
of mere being
there is a radiant star
blazing in all of its agony
to reveal a secret
that you never knew existed.

You are asleep
haunted by the phantoms
of illusory dream-world;
caught and entangled
in the chaos
of false liberation.

Awaken
to the sound of
shockwaves tearing
across the sky
as the whirling dervish rotates
with the dance of the universe;
pound the drum that stimulates
the mystery of heart and soul;
listen to the rhythm that pulsates
with mystic solar energy
of time immemorial.

You are dizzy
lost in this ecstatic high
ailing from confusion
the dervish says:
you have been drinking poison
all of your life
you have been a victim
of a sadistic science experiment
reprogrammed by greedy corporations
implanted with falsehood
artificiality of living
you are an android
dreaming to be
human.

Unplug yourself
From the lies
From deceit and deception
From the fear and misery
Unplug
From the system.

Come, this way
to the open field
where the blade of sunlight
pierces through darkness;
open your mouth
and drink some of this
become absorbed
in this hyper trance
turn, spin, whirl
up, down, left, right
let go
and become
nameless, faceless
directionless.

Discover your luminary self
conquer dizziness
burn through the shell
of temporal chrysalis;
radiate like celestial fire
emerge and bloom
into flowery madness.

Yes, you know who you are
You are here to set the world ablaze;
open your eyes
with the flame of ignited stars
and see the universe
that was created with One Divine Breath.

Inhale and exhale with that.

~BM~

Saracen

UPON the lonely minaret
She sat and watched as the moon wept in sorrow
Cowardly armies marching on her beautiful fields
Colonizing her land, frightening her people
Brandishing their swords, pounding their shields
Beheading sweetly scented tulips
Ignorant to the ancient history beneath their feet
They are deceived by the mission
The agenda of modern-century Crusaders

Blessed is the poetess
Who lived her joyous years
With the company of romantics and storytellers
Sharing the smiles and easing the fears
Giving peace and displaying wisdom
Like Shabistari’s Rose Garden
Radiating and shining with timeless Beauty
She brings light upon the lonely faces,
And like petals dancing in the wind
Her words gently float and glide
Landing upon even the darkest of places
Where a cold-hearted stranger runs into the street
And becomes maddened with song and dance

But war erupted one night
And mayhem surrounded our innocent friend
She saw the army roam through the land
And soar through the sky
She feared for her Loved ones
Frightened by the thought of never seeing them again
She ran from village to village just to stay alive
But nothing in her power would stop the invasion

She will never forget the day
When she heard the explosion
When olive trees and peaceful cities were blown to pieces
When she held her murdered father in her arms
What does this army know about her story?
What do they know about her family?

They march over the blood stained hills
Obedient to the orders of their leaders
Hunting for labels
They once said “Saracen” and “Barbarian”
They say “Towel-head” and “Terrorist” now
Ya Insaan (O People!) when will you tear down the flags?
So-called Muslims, Jews, and Christians
When will you start believing?
When will you have the courage to journey within
And listen to the Soul that sings: Human Being?
When will you have the courage
To burn down the walls of separation?

Behold, the courage to believe:
She kisses her father’s grave farewell
And marches to the front lines
She says: I am not a knight in shining armor!
They won’t allow me on the battlefield
With my Persian drums and flowers
So I will charge into the crossfire
And bring with me an orchestra
One like that of a mystic song

Enigmatic horns, passion drums, Arabian strings
Gregorian chant, wailing of Souls, ancient tongues
A symphony of Angels, fantasia bells, cinematic splendor
Words like shooting stars and exploding into musical rapture!

And when she stood before a thousand soldiers
She was unarmed and fearless
Snipers cannot fire upon such a display of Love
Bullets cannot kill what cannot be seen
Leaders cannot defeat such devotion to ideas

“Who are you?” they ask
And she responds:

I am Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan
I am Kashmir, Chechnya, and Bosnia
I am Lebanon, Palestine, and Pakistan

Point your rifles at me as long as you want
I don’t care

Because I know, and God knows:
You have no right

You have no right

~ Broken Mystic ~

Heal

Lost in the mystic garden
You listen to the wounded flowers
And mourn with the song of separation
Arcane violins lamenting the conference of sad Souls

Teardrops in the earth, daggers in the sky
The rain is bleeding your name in each drop
Weak blossoms weep for Beloved
Trembling vines kiss moonlight a painful goodbye

A thousand fallen rose petals for heartbreak
Seven hundred for misery
One million for exile
Sorrow immortalized on a Persian tapestry

Watching from the terrace
You see memories scattered like pearls
Across the silent ocean
Sailing quietly to their black abyss

Your fortress burned to the ground
And you walked away from the ruins – why?
Back to your library, you went
In pursuit of words and the wise

A flute player comes knocking the next day
You have been up all night, shattered from the inside
“Go away!” you shout
“I’m Reading!”

“O Seeker!” he says,
“Like a blind fugitive, you were chased back into your prison
If only you understood the words you read
You would have never closed this door again!”

Tribal nomads arrive with their instruments
And play a melody of sorrow and beauty
With poetry like an Urdu Ghazal
And music like the ethereal

The flute player explains
“Joy and Sorrow are mirrors to each other
Beneath Sorrow, treasures of Joy is what you will always find
When you were in ruins, you left these behind:”

A paintbrush and a bowl of colors

It is the only way out – paint on the prison wall
The vision of your heart – walk into it!
Pass through the Portal of Experience
Be drawn to Love’s sacred call

Tear through the cloak of Reason and step into the Unseen
You have the flame of Zarathustra burning with the soul of the world
You have the staff of Moses transforming all illusion into reality
You have the light of Muhammad shining upon all creation

Keep painting, Soul Painter!
Merge the Visible with the Invisible
Defy the odds like Imam Husayn and ‘Ali
Spears and daggers are no obstacle
In the face of this hidden wonder’s unity

Listen:
The wild dance of the santur
Rhythmic tabla, the strike of the sitar
The cinematic overture

Dance in the Eternal King’s courtyard
Escape the man-made rules and laws of control
Dance! You are a planet orbiting His Beauty
Only He can look into the window of your Soul

Creator says:
You have nothing to fear
I am with you
Show Me your wounds
And I will heal them
Tell Me your sorrows
And I will show you that I am near
Tell Me your hardships
And I will show you the blessed path you travel
Tell Me of those endless halls you wander
And I will guide you through
Hand Me your tears
And I will show you the ocean they belong to

Open your hands
And reach into the sky if you want to be lifted
Let your feet bid farewell to the earth
If you want to soar to infinity

Close your eyes
Breathe – arms out, heart open
Receive the wind, the sea, the spirit of all creation
Embrace this Love that cannot be named

Now open your eyes
Here is the Garden, here is the Sun
To the Fields of Fortune you must go
Leap, with all of your Being

Elysium awaits you, Brave one.

~ Broken Mystic~

Soul Sings Malayalam

I am not Malayali, and I do not speak Malayalam
Yet I am singing with the mystics in this tongue
These words, Mind does not understand
But Soul dances to the tune of mystery!

They show us maps, borders, and dividers
Grasp a hold of your sanity, they say!
China does not need the tongue of Senegal
Egyptians do not sing Japanese!
The Pashtun does not read in Hebrew!
Mongolians do not understand Lebanese
What purpose do you have in this song?

Ya insaan (O humankind), with your prejudices
No wonder you do not see the Soul’s gift of colors
Deaf to the music, you dwell in your prison
Walled off from beauty in your ethno-centricism

O Soul, the Mind says you are mad
But all you want is to dance freely in the wind
And tonight, the Song of the Soul is Malayali
And so I sing:

He kuruvaani kiliyae-aeee!
Kuruvaani kiliyae!

Kukkuru kurukuru koovik kurugik kunnimanaththai
Ooyal aadi kooduvagukkik koottu vilikkunnae
Maaran ninnaik koogik kurugik koottu vilikkunnae-aeeee!

~ Broken Mystic~

(Malayalam lyrics from “Jiya Jale” by A.R. Rahman and Gulzar)

Rebirth

I gaze upon the lonely sea
Shadowed by the gloomy clouds
And haunted by forgotten whispers
Through the fog, I set sail into mystery

Love has hovered over me
Waiting for me to submit to its will
Tear through me now, I say
Bring me shipwreck and drown this misery

Let me plummet into the heart of the ocean
Soak the map, slash the sails, crush the mast
Pierce through the wreck with Your Light
Only in Your Sea can the Seeker breathe

Pull me deeper
Until I am nothing
No name, no label, no face
Without want, without fear

Can you hear Bilal on his minaret?
La ilahaaaaa! Il Allaaaaah!
There is no god but God
Listen and be reborn to euphoria

I say:

Emerge – Star Light
Bloom once again – Sky Garden
Launch into Infinity – Wingless Flight
Sing among Angels – Song Bird

Charging out of the hail storm of mystery
Beauty whistles through the sky
A thousand sonnets are sung, a million stars are lit
Listen to your heart – it pounds at the gates of ever-lasting beauty!

Catch the rain of rose petals
Whirl like a fearless cyclone
You are Alpha and Omega
Fire and Water, Flower and Stone

How long will you let the laws govern your life?
Your wings are bleeding and you don’t even know!
The wind blows – turn, look around
Flowers bloom, birds over your head
The music plays – over here!
Unseen Angels by your side – Open your eyes!

O Human, you belong in the Heavens!
Impossibility is all you say
While Beloved is calling your name
A million times, over and over again

I will dance upon a cloud
And then dive into the heart of Beloved
I will spin away from time and space
And lose myself in the portal of grace

I am the Symphony
I am the bow, the string, the trombone
The flute, the santur, the sitar, the tabla
The wailing voice, the Gregorian chant, the mystic ecstasy

I am the bass, the electric guitar
The Buddhist throat singer, the ancient rhythms
The sky, the sea; I am the Earth
The soil, the seed, I am rebirth

I will be murdered a thousand times
Split in half, or in a million pieces
I will rise from the ashes by Merciful Divine
In endless new ways

Like Sohni and Mahiwal, Love is tragedy
Two Lovers drowned at sea
Like Sohni and Mahiwal, Love is forever
Death is the curtain to Eternity

Like Muhammad, step out of darkness
And upon every turn of your head
Only see the Face of Love
Follow it’s Radiance – the way of Transcendence

And in this new song
I am calling out to the Universe in longing:

Rooh mein bharde aagini!
(Fill my Soul with Fire!)
Fill my Life Saga with nothing but Love
Nothing but Love

~ Broken Mystic ~