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

The Mantram and the Firestick

 Fire is not seen until one firestick rubs
Against another, though the fire remains
Hidden in the firestick. So does the Lord
Remain hidden in the body until
He is revealed through the mystic mantram.

Let your body be the lower firestick;
Let the mantram be the upper. Rub them
Against each other in meditation
And realize the Lord.
—The Shvetashvatara Upanishad

Over and over the sages say, “The Lord is one;

the Lord is love; the Lord dwells within our hearts;

there is no separation between us and the Lord.”

And we’re like, “Sure. U-huh. That’s very nice.

And how are we supposed to know the Lord?”

And the sages say, “It’s time to pick a holy name.”

“A what?” we say. “And why?” we say.

We need to call upon the name of the Lord.

We pick a sacred word, a sacred phrase,

from any of the many sacred traditions,

and we repeat that phrase throughout the day,

making our life a meditation.

Wherever we go, we say, “Om,” or “Rama,”

or “Hare Krishna,” or “Lord, Jesus Christ,

son of God, have mercy on us,” or “Om

mane padme hum,” whatever words

we choose, and the words sink

deep into our consciousness,

rubbing the firestick of the body

until there is flame. It becomes

a lifeboat. The more we repeat our mantram

the more it lifts us above our addictions,

our pettiness, our anger, our regrets.

The more we repeat our mantram,

the more we are consumed by the Lord.

It seems hard to believe that something so simple

could make us so aware,

but there you have it, that’s

exactly what happens. We meditate

on the Lord and our consciousness

is transformed. How many ways

are there to awaken? It’s hard to say.

But when you find one, cling to it,

hold it in your heart, let it

work its magic, let it light you up.

The Lord of Love is within you.

The Lord of Love is like the fire

in the firestick. It is always there,

waiting for you to rub it into flame

by repeating the holy name.