Poem – Keep Your Mind Intend Upon

Keep your mind intent upon 
the path that leads to immortality. 

Should it stray from the path, 

it will fall into evil ways. 

Be firm with it and have no fear; 

For mind is like a suckling baby, 

which tosses restless even in its mother’s lap. 

Poem – Just for a Moment, Flowers Appear

Just for a moment, flowers appear
on the empty, nearly-spring tree.
Just for a second, wind

through the wild thicket thorns.
Self inside self, You are nothing but me.

Self inside self, I am only You.
What we are together

will never die.
The why and how of this?

What does it matter?

Poem – Intense Cold Makes Water Ice

Intense cold makes water ice.
Then the hard ice turns to slush

and back to water, so there are three

forms of consciousness: the individual,

the world, and God, which in the sun

of True Awareness melt to one flowing:
Lalla is that.
In meditation, I entered the love furnace,

burned impurities away, and as the sun

of a new knowing rose, I realized

that the words ‘Lalla’ and ‘God’

point to this peacefulness. 

Poem – III or Well Whatever Befalls

Ill or well, whatever befalls, 
let it come. 

My ears will not hear, 

My eyes will not see. 

When the Voice calls from within 

the inmost mind, 

The lamp of faith burns steady and bright 

even in the wind. 

Poem – If You have Melted Your Desires

If you’ve melted your desires
in the river of time, choose

to be a recluse, or choose

a family, the village job.
If you know the pure Lord within you,

you’ll be That, wherever. 

Poem – I Treaded on the Expanse

I treaded on the expanse 
of the Void within me: 

I lost intellect, cognizance and 

The sensations external: 

A detective of self. 

I became myself; Lo and behold: from which ear 

My (Lalla’s ) lotus blossomed forth?
[Translated by P. N. Razdan (Mahanori)] 

Poem – I Searched for Myself

I searched for my Self
until I grew weary,
but no one, I know now,

reaches the hidden knowledge

by means of effort.
Then, absorbed in “Thou art This,”

I found the place of Wine.
There all the jars are filled,

but no one is left to drink.
[Taken from Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women, Edited by Jane Hirshfield] 

Poem – I Didn’t Bear With

I didn’t bear with 
Love, lust or affection . 

Brushed off wrath and anger, 

With a gust of wind (by pranayam) 

I cut the feet of 

Illusive attachment, temptation, 

As well as the spell of ignorance: 

And thus, I was emancipated. 

Poem – I Came Straight

I came straight, 
And straight I shall return. 

How can the crooked lead me astray? 

Surely, no harm can come to me: 

He knows me from the beginning of time, 

And loves me. 

Poem – Slay the Murderous Demons

Slay the murderous demons, 
Lust, Anger and Greed; 

Or, aiming their arrows at you, they will 

surely shoot you dead. 

Take care, feed them on self-restraint 

and discrimination of the Self; 

Thus starved these demons will become 

powerless and weak. 

Poem – Five Sayings of Lal Ded

I
By a way I came, but I went not by the way.

While I was yet on the midst of the embankment

with its crazy bridges, the day failed for me.

I looked within my poke, and not a cowry came to hand

(or, atI, was there) .

What shall I give for the ferry-fee? 

(Translated by G. Grierson) 
II 
Passionate, with longing in mine eyes,

Searching wide, and seeking nights and days,

Lo’ I beheld the Truthful One, the Wise,

Here in mine own House to fill my gaze.

(Translated by R.C. Temple) 
III 
Holy books will disappear, and then only the mystic formula will remain.

When the mystic formula departed, naught but mind was left.

When the mind disappeared naught was left anywhere,

And a voice became merged within the Void.

(Translated by G. Grierson) 
IV 
You are the heaven and You are the earth,

You are the day and You are the night,

You are all pervading air,

You are the sacred offering of rice and flowers and of water; 

You are Yourself all in all,

What can I offer You? 
V 
With a thin rope of untwisted thread

Tow I ever my boat o’er the sea.

Will God hear the prayers that I have said? 

Will he safely over carry me? 

Water in a cup of unbaked clay,

Whirling and wasting, my dizzy soul

Slowly is filling to melt away.

Oh, how fain would I reach my goal. 

The Joys of Palate & Fine Apparel – Lalleshwari

The joys of palate and fine apparel 

bring man no lasting peace. 

They who give up false hopes and don’t 

put trust in the things of the world, 

Ascend, unafraid of Death’s terrors 

by scriptures told; 

For having lived contented lives, 

they are not debtors of Desire 

The Dirt of Myfilthy Heart – Lalleshwari

The dirt of my filthy heart 

Seemed to be cleansed, 

I found the known, unknown: and 

The dirt of my filthy heart 

Seemed to be cleansed, 

I found the known, unknown: and 

When I saw Him near me, 

I discovered When I saw Him near me, I discovered 

What is Worship ? Who are this Man – Lalleshwari

What is worship? Who are this man

and this woman bringing flowers?

What kinds of flowers should be brought,

and what streamwater poured over the images?

Real worship is done by the mind

(Let that be a man) and by the desire

(Let that be a woman). And let those two

choose what to sacrifice.

There is a liquid that can be released

from under the mask of the face,

a nectar which when it rushes down

gives discipline and strength.

Let that be your sacred pouring,

Let your worship song be silence.
[Taken from Holy Fire: Nine Visionary Poets and the Quest for Enlightenment, Edited by Daniel Halpern] 

Though You are Wise, Be as a Fool – Lalleshwari

Though you are wise, be as a fool; 

Though you can see, be as one blind; 

Though you can hear, be as one deaf; 

Patiently bear with all you meet, 

and politely talk to eveyone. 

This practice surely will lead you 

to the realisation of the Truth. 

The Soul, Like the Moon – Lalleshwari

The soul, like the moon,

is now, and always new again.

And I have seen the ocean

continuously creating.

Since I scoured my mind

and my body, I too, Lalla,

am new, each moment new.
My teacher told me one thing,

live in the soul.
When that was so,

I began to go naked,

and dance.

In The Midst of The Ocean – Lalleshwari

In the midst of the ocean

 With unspun thread. 

I am towing the boat: 

Would that God grant 

My prayer and. 

Ferry me too, across: 

Water in my unbaked earthen plates 

Seeps in and none collects ‘ 

yearn and yearn 

To return Home 

In Your Mother’s Womb You Vowed – Lalleshwari

In your mother’s womb you vowed 

not to be born again.

When will you recall the vow ?

And die, even while alive 

(to all desire, and be released from birth and death): 

Great honor will be yours in this life and greater honor after death. 

A Thousand Times I Asked My Guru – Lalleshwari

A thousand times I asked my guru,

‘The name of the One who is known by No-thing’,

Tired and exhausted was I, asking time and again; 

Out of Nothing emerged Something, bewildering and great! 

A Thousand Times My Guru I Asked – Lalleshwari

A thousand times my Guru I asked: 

‘How shall the Nameless be defined?’ 

I asked and asked but all in vain. 

The Nameless Unknown, it seems to me, 

Is the source of the something that we see. 

A Wooden Bow & Rush Grass for an Arrow – Lalleshwari

A wooden bow and rush grass for an arrow: 

A carpenter unskilled and a palace to build: 

A shop unlocked in a busy bazaar: 

A body uncleansed by waters holy- 

Oh dear! who knows what hath befallen me?