In God Makes the Rivers to Flow; An Anthology of the World’s Sacred Poetry & Prose, Eknath Easwaran includes a selection from Kabir entitled “The Temple of the Lord.”  I’ve written the following poem-like reflections inspired by this selection.

The Secret

As oil is in the oil seed,
And fire is in the flint,
So is the Lord within thee, unrevealed.
Follow thy Master’s simple and true instructions,
Keep vigil strict at midnight and so find Him.
—Kabir

Everyone has a secret.

Everyone has the same unrevealed secret.

Burn the midnight oil.  Let the lamp reveal its flame.

Search in silence.

May the silence within match the silence without.

Bless every cell of your body.  Breathe.

Follow your breath to your heart and rest there.

Say, “Lord, your servant is listening.”

And listen, deeply.

Listen with your eyes.

Listen with your tongue.

Listen with your nose.

Turn your ears inward.

Listen with the tips of your fingers and the tips of your toes.

Put your hand on your heart and listen.

Touch your finger to the space between your eyes and listen.

Listen to the air you breathe.

Listen to the space that surrounds you.

Listen to the planets and the stars within you.

Listen with the crown of your head.

Listen to your blood flowing.

Listen to your cells and all their biochemical exchanges.

Feel the energy that is your body.

Feel the space within your atoms.

Imagine the no-space beyond space, the nothing beyond substance, the nobody beyond yourself.

Imagine timelessness.  Feel the eternal now.

Consider the secret that awaits your knowing.

Feel all the love you have ever felt.

Say, “Thank you.”

Say, “Thank you, Lord.”

Say, “Your servant is listening.  Thank you.  I know that it is done.”

Let your eyes say thank you.

Let your ears say thank you.

Let your nose say thank you.

Let your breath say thank you.

Let your pulse say thank you.

Let the tips of your fingers and the tips of your toes say thank you.

Let the base of your spine say thank you.

Feel all your cells saying thank you.

Feel the energy that is your body saying thank you.

Feel the space within your atoms saying thank you.

Imagine the no-space of space, the nothing of something, the nobody of yourself

all saying thank you.

Imagine that all of now is one infinite yes.

Say, “Yes.”

And wait.  Wait in the space of timelessness.

As the secret unfolds.