In God Makes the Rivers to Flow; An Anthology of the World’s Sacred Poetry & Prose, Eknath Easwaran has included a selection from the Isha Upanishad and entitled it “The Inner Ruler.”  I have written a series of poem-like reflections based on this selection.  This is the tenth one in the series.

Immortal Word

May my life merge in the Immortal
When my body is reduced to ashes!
O mind, meditate on the eternal
Brahman.  Remember the deeds of the past.
Remember, O mind, remember.
—from “The Inner Ruler” in the Isha Upanishad

In the beginning was the Immortal and the Immortal was God and truly had no beginning.

Before creation began was the Word and the Word was the Immortal and the Word was God and the Word was the Self and the Word was the Christ and the Word was Brahman and the Word was Allah and the Word was I Am.

The Word came into being and became material beings.

The Word came into being as Buddha and Jesus and Confucius and Lao Tzu and Muhammad.

The Word was the Great Spirit within all creation.

The Word was the ocean and the Word was the sun.

The Word is the ocean, the sun, and everything that is.

As drops of the ocean, we long to return to the ocean.

As beams of sunlight, we long to return to the sun.

We could do no better than to meditate on the Word and claim the Word as us.

We could do no better than to remember our Origin.

We will return to the ocean.  We will return to the sun.  We will merge with the Immortal.

How great it will be to merge with the Immortal when our bodies are dust or ashes.  How much greater to merge with the Immortal now, to say “I am the Word.”

To be free of fear and judgment.

To forget our failings and remember only the Eternal Now.

To return to the Self before the beginning.

To Be and only Be.