Knowledge and Enlightenment

To attain knowledge
Add things daily
To attain enlightenment wisdom
Remove things every day.

Gathering pieces of coal from mine is knowledge
You need it to keep you warm on cold nights
Or cook meals for your hungry children
It can even be sold to buy things you need
But stumbling on diamond embedded in a coal is enlightenment
You did not look for it nor did anything to deserve it
Other than recognizing it when it came your way
Throwing away your cache of coal to hold it close
Coal becomes inconsequential for
What you have now is much more precious


Diving into deep sea to gather scallop is knowledge
You need to feed your family and pay the rent
But discovering a Lion’s Paw pearl is enlightenment
All you wanted was meat, shucking away shell and viscera
Unprepared to finding a royal purple gem among ravage
Now you care less about the meat going bad
More about keeping your treasure safe
Millions of scallops to be harvested
Only handful of perfect pearls to be found
Choosing to walk away with most precious is wisdom

To attain knowledge
Add things daily
To attain enlightenment wisdom
Remove things every day.

Choices

Locked in this bubble of time
You and I
Are free to choose
What we want to

Turn our backs to our truth
Pretending that we don’t care
More than we need to
Now or ever

Or else

Accept the seed sown in our hearts
Embrace our destiny
Living the moment for what it’s worth
Not worrying about keeping or losing

Tomorrow will be another day
With chores to do and lives to get on with

Vagaries Of Love

 

In the fresh of dawn

When sky is gray and earth dewy

As world wakes up to life

I seek the oblivion of death

But it evades me just like happiness.

 

I close my eyes to shut out beauty

Sweet melody of song playing on radio

Wishing I never had to wake up again

To see the ties that binds me to life…endless misery

 

Love is such a tiresome thing

Gives little but takes away everything

Enslaves as it liberates…

The Chasm

The more I yearn for you
The farther you descend away
Or ascend in stature
...by each pain-wrenched expired breath
Are you god or the devil-
Tempting and unyielding !!!


By Taseer Gujral