Tagore on the vision of upanishads

Rabindranath Tagore & the vision of Upanishads

from http://discovervedanta.wordpress.com/tag/tagore/

Posted on December 10, 2008

I found a few poems of Rabindranath Tagore in my notes. They express very beautifully the vision filled of wonder of the person who is awake to the presence of the Lord in his life, in nature and in himself.

These poems give us precious clues on how to integrate and assimilate the teaching of the Upanishads about Isvara, the Lord, in our lives. It is thus enabling us to be aware of the presence of a Being, to which I, the world and all human beings are fundamentally ‘connected’ to or in which all is ‘united’.

Because in reality, there is only one Being who is, and who is manifest as the multiple forms of the universe, and who is including me as an individual. All these forms are always changing within this all intelligence and power, and are never separated from Him at any time.

To understand this vision completely, what we have heard from the teaching has to percolate in the depth of ourselves, go much beyond a superficial understanding of the concepts of material-intelligent cause or manifest-unmanifest, maya, etc. The presence of Isvara can indeed become a reality, a fact we are alive to. There is no place for imagination here, nor a blind assent to a system of beliefs. But rather a slow personal work, a process of unveiling, a relation with Isvara which grows patiently and leads to a silent inner revolution, with appreciation of the  presence of His grace with us all along.

This particular type of poetry is a real bridge which enables us to see the presence of Isvara in everything and in our life, when it is allied with a proper teaching. More I think about it, more I believe that it is impossible to bypass Isvara if one wants to gain serenity, joy and ultimately freedom.

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment..’

Rabindranath Tagore

Two other poems belonging to the series of poems by Tagore. They express one of the essential themes of the Upanishads : the relation that we have with the world, with others. The first poem gives a striking image of the walls through which I close myself to what is around me. My subjectivity, fears, anxieties, arrogance, are indeed invisible but at the same time tangible walls that I erect between the universe and myself. May this narrow perspective of the world, which is only self-centered, disappear. The more objective I am to the presence of what is, the more clarity, transparency, openness I can enjoy.

How far should I go in this process of gaining objectivity? Should I disappear totally as an individual? Is it possible and even desirable? The poet replies in the second poem: ‘Let only that little be left of me, by which…’

Dungeon

He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon.

I am ever busy building this wall all around;

and as thus wall goes up into the sky day by day,

I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow.

I take pride in this great wall, and I plaster it with dust and sand

at least hole should be left in this name;

and for all the care I take I lose sight of my true being.

Rabindranath Tagore

Little of me

Let only that little be left of me whereby I may name thee my all,

Let only that little be left of my will whereby I may feel thee on everyside,

And come to thee in everything, and offer to thee my love every moment,

Let only that little be left of me whereby I may never hide thee,

Let only that little of my fetters be left whereby I am bound with thy will

And thy purpose is carried out in my life,

and that is the fetter of thy love.

Rabindranath Tagore (Gitanjali)