Poetry Wednesday - I wonder if I know him - Rabindranath Tagore.

Today I want to present an Indian Poet whose works I have enjoyed since College - Rabindranath Tagore. I didnt have a brain to comprehend him in school though I was introduced to him at school.  I have loved his poem "Where the Mind is without Fear" and use it for inspiration in times of need. 

I Wonder if I Know Him- Rabindranath Tagore

I wonder if I know him
In whose speech is my voice,
In whose movement is my being,
Whose skill is in my lines,
Whose melody is in my songs
In joy and sorrow.
I thought he was chained within me,
Contained by tears and laughter,
Work and play.
I thought he was my very self
Coming to an end with my death.
Why then in a flood of joy do I feel him
In the sight and touch of my beloved?
This 'I' beyond self I found
On the shores of the shining sea.
Therefore I know
This 'I' is not imprisoned within my bounds.
Losing myself, I find him
Beyond the borders of time and space.
Through the Ages
I come to know his Shining Self
In the Iffe of the seeker,
In the voice of the poet.
From the dark clouds pour the rains.
I sit and think:
Bearing so many forms, so many names,
I come down, crossing the threshold
Of countless births and deaths.
The Supreme undivided, complete in himself,
Embracing past and present,
Dwells in Man.
Within Him I shall find myself -
The I that reaches everywhere.

Although I particularly like his Poems from the Gitanjali.  I chose  this one because  I wanted to draw attention to Connectedness I felt while I read this. The connectedness that  most of us have lost sight of,  given the busy world we live in.   I wanted to send out the "stop and smell the roses" feeling to all those who might read this.

Click on this amazing Poet's name to read more about him.  I could never do justice in my praise of him. 

As I read this, I remembered something else that is in the Kena Upanishad- one of the many sacred texts of the Hindus.

The Kena Upanishad has four chapters. The first one answers the question of "what is God?" in some translated versions it is written as a statement "Know that to be God". The answer is as below.

By whom directed does the mind project to its objects?
By whom commanded does the first life breath move?
By whom impelled are these words spoken?
What god is behind the eye and ear?

That which is the hearing of the ear,
the thought of the mind, the voice of the speech,
the life of the breath, and the sight of the eye.
Passing beyond, the wise leaving this world become immortal.

There the eye does not go, nor speech, nor the mind.
We do not know, we do not understand how one can teach this.
Different, indeed, is it from the known,
and also it is above the unknown.
Thus have we heard from the ancients who explained it to us.

That which is not expressed by speech,
but that by which speech is expressed:
know that to be God, not what people here adore.

That which is not thought by the mind,
but that by which the mind thinks:
know that to be God, not what people here adore.

That which is not seen by the eye,
but that by which the eye sees:
know that to be God, not what people here adore.

That which is not heard by the ear,
but that by which the ear hears:
know that to be God, not what people here adore.

That which is not breathed by the breath,
but that by which the breath breathes:
know that to be God, not what people here adore.

Source - Sanderson Beck's Translation of the Kena Upanishad

Hope you enjoyed this.  Have a lovely day, where-ever your path may take you.

This weekly festival is courtesy of Sans Souci.   Click on her name to read poems presented by others.

Peace Always

Rashmi.