A Pocket of Pure Being
and Other Poems
by Kurt Abraham
Quality paperback, 191 pages, 190 lyric poems
ISBN 978-098232555-1 ….. $18.00
Selected Poems from Pocket of Pure Being and Other Poems below:
QUEEN OF HEARTS
If one is favored by the gods,
it behooves one to draw no attention.
Let others wonder long and hard.
When the GAME is nearly over,
it’s time to lay down ALL one’s cards.
If you’ve been dealt the Queen,
it’s more than luck.
Appear a bit displeased by all means,
but take this Beauty to your heart of hearts.
Watch those chasing Kings and Aces.
See thou not the royal flush
of those in the tiresome me-first rush?
Endless patience has the Queen.
And in a strange sort of way
that’s all one needs to know
favored as one might appear to be
losing battles winning wars.
Shredding old ways and worn
She moves quietly in Her Light,
visiting heart-to-heart, lending ear to ear
in middle of sparkling cosmic night.
THE ARHAT IN THE MAKING
People come and go, but let them say that this little child
is an Arhat in the Making.
Playmates, of course, miss the import of it all,
seeing only their own toys and such, running to be first in line.
The teacher holds something in the air.
The children reach like baby birds.
Let them go first, he thinks, not sure how or why.
But what is the teacher doing?
It’s all quite a mystery to the Arhat in the Making—
Even the small child would rather sit with the adults.
All in due time. Play a game, climb a tree, pick an apple.
People come and go, but let them say that this young man
is an Arhat in the Making.
Fellow students, of course, miss the import of it all,
seeing only their own goals and such, their own drive to be first.
The professors hold something in the air.
The students reach like kids for pencils.
What’s the professor doing? What does he know?
It’s a bit of a mystery after all.
He walks out on the ice in the January air,
shakes his head and wonders why there’s no answer in the sky
other than a faint Time to move, time to change, time to go.
People come and go, but let them say that this man
is an Arhat in the Making.
Others, of course, miss the import of it all,
seeing only their own struggle to survive.
No teachers, no professors, just those on the inner side
and books not found in the university stacks.
The Wanderer sees a sign: Do Not Unnecessarily Disturb
hanging somewhere in the clouds.
Learn to work alone in the wilderness, as it were.
One labors and builds with few supplies.
Miles to go before the next veils rise and is it not always so.
Time to plant a tree, write a book, have a child.
THE RECLINING BUDDHA
A Reclining Buddha is not at rest.
Repose of body-brain one might suppose.
But mind?
The Enlightened One is energized.
He scans the waters for a drowning soul.
In a moment’s notice He’s by the side
of one who’s gone beyond his depth.
The Reclining Buddha works through those
reclining like Him in a mindful pose—
entering the ones who sit and know
carrying compassion to struggling souls.
HAND ON THE DOOR OF FATE
Life, Doors, Seekers, and such,
Given oft naught but a gentle rub—
A Jinn lamp and testing note—
Playful twist of some inner joke.
Life flows—no seen final date
And then a slap of the Hand of Fate.
Doorman nods—sign to awake
Before one’s taken out in a crate.
Fate to escape or Fate to make?
Questions left to negotiate.
To play the hand in terms of give
But never in terms of take-take-take.
As if one were judge to adjudicate
“Not guilty” crowd laughs long an’ loud
Not a question of who did what
But more a question of when an’ how.
To reverse the outward wheel of quest
And raise the sword that’s beaten to plow
Break little will on one’s own dear neck
And serve each soul with humble bow.
PIPER OF DRIED UP GULCH
The question that never comes occurs
In the town of people who never know.
Children somehow do survive,
Growing up and growing old,
Where people never know to ask
And never ask enough to know.
It’s all pretty much a toss-up—
Everywhere there’s need to know.
Needs spring up like cockroach armies,
Ants and termites begin to show.
Ill winds blowing raise no questions
where some news comes but is always old.
Come, let one call the Piper.
See the landlocked, bleak, and dull.
Whistle a waft of waving willows
Blowing scents from distant shores.
But who’s to call and lure the Piper?
And who’s to hear lamenting songs?
Should the drawing luck just happen
Pulling words from dying oaks,
Should some old and clownish Mayor
Swagger peacock to the fore,
Grinning childlike crunching numbers
Counting fingers, hands, and toes,
And should the podium pounding Mayor
Ask Who and Whence and How and Wither,
Shivering like an iceberg breaking river,
While dropping hammer to the floor,
Then weep we must for Piper piping
Gloomy tunes through jailhouse doors.
SQUIRREL’S ON A MISSION
Some squirrels gather nuts and hoard their store.
Others bury acorns and forget where they are.
Trees emerge, Squirrel starts to think,
Did I do this, or is natural selection at work?
Squirrel is on a Mission—any child can see.
Is the man in the lab that deaf to the breeze
of the Hand Divine so easily traced
from flower to bee, from stitch to lace?
Such Designs occur not by chance.
Don’t get carried off by army of ants.
Go forth, little squirrel, or hide in the bush
while lab rats look for new bars to push.
THE WILL
Action is in the doing.
Thought is in the thinking.
Warmth is in the loving.
But the Will—the Will—
Is the acorn lying on the ground.
The Seed is in the rearing.
Mother’s tears are in the watering
Father’s love is in the shining.
But the Will—the Will—
Is the sapling hardly to be found.
The Tree is in the standing.
The View is in the blessing.
The Life is in the spreading.
But the Will—the Will—
Is squirrel burying acorns by the pound.
ISIS
A Woman—a disc upon her head—
a sphere, an orb, a steady stare.
Armed to disarm who comes abreast
casting a cool unnerving air.
Unnerving brings nerves to the fore.
Defenses crumble loose for now.
Such thin veneers and protocols—
unmasked without quite knowing how.
Man stammers like one who’s failed a test.
But to Isis the Unknown is known.
What matters is not the eagle’s nest.
It’s the fields that must be sown.
THE THREE HALLS
Hall of Ignorance comes with the tide—
all get washed in, a given, a fall, a slide
into the mothering of life.
Almost sweet this Hall,
a kind of innocent bliss.
Till father drops hammer, shoots arrow, sets goal.
The game of survival is not so sweet,
except at campfire telling tales,
feasting on a good day,
planting a tree,
kissing a sweetheart,
raising a child.
Hall of Learning—new cycle, indeed.
A little sweetness between debates.
Nuggets that grow or disintegrate—
collectibles, crusades, ivory tower, long march,
scholars, tradesmen, kings and such.
Learn, baby, learn what must someday burn,
endless ways and endless means,
sitting round campfire
lighting a match
busy waiting
for something to hatch.
Hall of Wisdom—one for the bookless books.
Old Commentaries and the secret look.
Cliff dwellers, havens, mountain retreats,
the nondescript walk down the street
chasing not what troubles the rest
guarding the mystery and the virgin quest,
sitting round a campfire
sharing a verse
that opens portals
to the universe.
—— The True Resurrection Viewed in the Planetary Sense … by Andrew Nellist ——
We learn from Esoteric Psychology Vol. 1, by Alice Bailey, that the personality Ray of our planetary Logos is the third Ray of selective Adaptability. This brings discrimination through mental activity, which is the cause of our evolutionary growth through widening experience. Human personalities are becoming more integrated, and so can more easily tune in on the planet. However, there is also the second Ray influence of the solar system, which leads response to experience from the tangible to the intangible through shifting values and the pull of the spiritual realities. This soul nature is eventually expressed through the third Ray world of experience.
The Whole works through three aspects, Life-Quality-Appearance, and then through the Seven Rays. The third Ray is linked to matter, which provides humanity with the field of experiment and experience, and which gives place to spiritual identity and radiation. This sensory response to environment gives the basis of astrology. The Seven Rays work with matter to make it expressive of spiritual purpose ( EP1 pp17-60 ). The fact of the soul will eventually be proved through the study of light and radiation, while the light of the mind is a state of matter reflected from the soul. This is why the new psychology will be effective in proving the fact of the soul (EP1 pp101-5 ).
Man is an expression of the animal and the spiritual, with the struggle to liberate the spiritual through the sublimation of the animal. Psychological sensitivity to spiritual Life begins in the animals and develops in humanity into spiritual awareness. Ray energies working through the human kingdom raise the subhuman kingdoms also, and this is the true Resurrection, viewed in a planetary sense ( EP1 pp248-264 ). To Man is given the task of raising matter and expressing the spiritual life through the form side of life ( EP1 p313 ).
We are influenced by personal and soul Rays as well as a range of systemic and other influences, which give a complex picture. The interplay of the second Ray solar system and the third Ray personality of the planet is important, but Earth has a second Ray soul nature ( Esoteric Astrology p619 ) which is gradually developing in expression. Through our efforts, we share in this development.
EASTER by Andrew Nellist
In the unearthly light from Christ crucified,
Portrayed by Tintoretto
In the Scuola Grande di San Rocco,
How spirit and matter meet.
Through history and art the light shines,
Manifested by humanity
In the grand school of life on Earth,
Thus spirit and matter meet.
Fixed on the cross of sacrifice and service,
Workers in the light
Weave their threads through the tapestry
Where spirit and matter meet.
In the midst of fear and emptiness
There is growth and ascension:
The Spirit of Resurrection summons from the tomb
As spirit and matter meet.
In the hope and promise of living light,
Affirmed by the heart
In the stress and striving of worldly suffering,
Let spirit and matter meet.
GLOBAL MEDITATION CELEBRATING FORGIVENESS
The following important and powerful Meditation on Forgiveness was submitted by a long time student of the Ageless Wisdom. Comments are welcomed. Send to uranus7r@gmail.com
It may be useful for some or many participants to use as background music parts or all of the Brandenburg Concerto #3 in G Major (about 10 minutes in length). The key of G is second ray.
Introduction. Forgiveness is a healing energy emphasized on the Day of Forgiveness; however, use of this global meditation is not restricted to that one day but is intended for more frequent use. The problems created by human thoughts, emotions and actions are persistent throughout the day and so interfere with evolutionary energies. The Aquarian Age requires continuing activities which stress harmlessness, forgetfulness and self-forgetfulness. Forgiveness is part of the path to soul consciousness. Our emotions, so dangerous, so negative, so interfering, so damaging can easily be spread through the mind and through etheric/physical bodies. Many of us can identify our self by permitting and promoting all that is undesirable in our relations to others and indirectly to the 3 sub-human kingdoms. This forgiveness meditation will successfully attack all of the negativity created within the planet by substituting that which is positive, creative and healing by means of the Second Ray.
After a pause to absorb the introduction, comes the time to quiet and purify the personality in all of its aspects,
1. The physical body. Sit comfortably in a straight-backed chair; relax the entire body (keeping the spine straight) paying special attention to the muscles of the face, neck and shoulders.
2. The emotional body. The theme here is harmlessness. Remove all feelings, desires and negative energies so that the entire body is in a clear status and therefore harmless.
3. The lower mental body. The theme here is (self) forgetfulness. Control the normally active concrete mind. All thinking and all thoughts are set aside.
Using your imagination and your belief, visualize the entirety of humanity with their personalities as quiet as yours. Their expression (and yours) of reality is as pillars of fire; they are not identifiable as a person with a face or body. Fire represents the essence of life and of evolution. The pillars are “standing” in one continuous line encircling the globe many times. Please be patient in the realization of this gigantic assembly. Implant each pillar with the energy of spiritual love as best you understand the love energy at its highest expression. Hold this vision for 3-5 minutes.
Next visualize each pillar bonded to their 2 adjoining pillars so that the entirety of humanity is now a solid ring of fire with love as its supreme activity and influence. Hold this vision for an additional 3-5 minutes during which you imagine the idea and reality of forgiveness active throughout the bonded line. Love generates forgiveness so that all who give and/or receive forgiveness participate in the global healing process as needed in both group and individual consciousness.
Now see the bonded pillars as “separate energies” but still connected to all of humanity by the blue lines of light representing the ONE. Finally, “release” all of humanity into their individual consciousness but still connected by the blue of love and forgiveness.
Repeat the Great Invocation slowly, then anchored by 3 OMs aloud.