Mystic Philosopher (1398-1518)
His poems are filled with allegories of the what used to be a very secretive part of the yogic system.
Favorites:
"Do not go to the garden of flowers! O Friend! go not there; In your body is the garden of flowers. Take your seat on the thousand petals of the lotus, and there gaze on the Infinite Beauty."
(My interpretation:
Do not seek salvation outside of you
(could be reference to the religious concept of the afterlife as the garden of eden,
which is an external location. The poet might be saying do not go looking for freedom
outside, dont do your daily buisness-as-usual operation where our senses are constantly
pouring out into the external world to grasp it)
Save yourself pain, misery, and time...
(could be reference to the idea (buddhist and Sankhya) that something amazing
crystalizes and becomes real once the Universal Self tries to experience itself subjectively,
because now it is subject to the idea/forces of time (because it exists in a space),
to suffering (because we die),
and the misery of knowing this.
Go within in your body is the garden of flowers
(could be a metaphor for the real garden of flowers which is the same imagery used to
describe the energy centers in the body or "Chakras"
In other words internalize, explore, access and activate. Turn your senses around and
in. What is the source ?
"Take a seat" (the exact definition of Asana and the whole idea behind
Raja Yoga which is preparing one for sitting in meditation
to understand who they are)
"Thousand Petal lotus"
(well known description for the Crown Chakra (Sahasrara) Example)
"gaze on the Infinite Beauty"
(whatever happends when one achieves this)
LOOK AT YOU, YOU MADMAN!
SCREAMING YOU ARE THIRSTY
AND ARE DYING IN A DESERT
WHEN ALL AROUND YOU THERE IS NOTHING BUT WATER!!
(caps and exclamations by wiki editor)
Related: Rumi | Tukaram | Abu Said Ibn Abil Khayr | Sacred Texts
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