The Clear and Simple Way

The poet mystic saint, Mirabai, b. 1504 AD in India, is one of my favorite poets. Hers was the path of Bhakti Yoga (devotion). India allows there are many paths to God, and God comes in many forms, which are all to be honored. Isn't this gentler than telling people that there is only one way (and the one and only way is always, "mine").

I especially love Robert Bly's translation of her work; you can find 52 poems in, Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems (2004) The term Giridhara is just another name for God, but you knew that, right?

Mira Has Finished with Waiting

Mira Has Finished with Waiting

O friends on this path,

My eyes are no longer my eyes.

A sweetness has entered through them,

Has pierced through to my heart.

How long did I stand in the house of this body

And stare at the road?

My Beloved is a steeped herb, he has cured me for life.

Mira belongs to Giridhara, the One Who Lifts All,

And everyone says she is mad.