Not a God

from Mother Poems and A Crack in Time by Shambhavi Sarasvati at Kindred 108. We're all kindred here.

Titan Realm - detail from the Six Realms of Samsara, artist: Erik Jacobsen

Not being a God
is a problem
only for those
who feel small.

Enjoying yourself
as you are
reflects the divine state.

The face of immodesty
sneers when
others fall short
of some invented ideal.

Convinced you are failing
you sting
with the poison
of outrageous demands.

Do you want to become a God or
bring the Gods down?
Both.

You carry on with your
fantasy, skepticism 
and contempt.
This is the harm
peculiar to our age.

I sit on the ground with the learners—
the apprentices
not the Masters.
We fall readily
on knees
of curiosity, tenderness
and prayer.

Call us by any name.
Doubt our sincerity.
Cut us down to measurable size.
Beat us with the sticks of your
outrage and grief.

Our lineages cross
time and place.
We give to anyone
kind enough
to let us in
anyone at all
until the cycles turn
until more beings kneel
beside us to receive
this infinite 
outpouring
of natural gifts.

from Mother Poems and A Crack in Time by Shambhavi Sarasvati

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