In God Makes the Rivers to Flow; An Anthology of the World’s Sacred Poetry & Prose, Eknath Easwaran includes a selection from the Chandogya Upanishad entitled “This Is the Self.” I’ve written the following poem-like reflections inspired by this selection.
Greater than All the Worlds
Smaller than a grain of rice, smaller than a grain of
barley, smaller than a mustard seed, smaller than a grain
of millet, smaller even than the kernel of a grain of
millet is the Self. This is the Self dwelling in my heart,
greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater than
all the worlds.
—The Chandogoya Upanishad
Softer than a whisper,
louder than thunder,
slower than a snail,
faster than sound,
sweeter than honey,
more bitter than coffee,
wise as an elder,
simple as a worm,
wider than the ocean,
narrower than the tightest cavern,
higher than the sun,
lower than the deepest ocean,
tamer than a dog,
wilder than a tiger,
brighter than the sun,
darker than the dark.
The Self is all this and more.
It occupies the atom.
It transcends the universe.
It is the beginning
and the end.
It exists in time and outside time.
It exists in this universe
and beyond the universe.
It exists in all the dimensions
and every reality.
It is all that exists
accept the shadow
realities we create.
We live in an illusion,
a reality that has been created twice,
once in thought,
once in manifestation.
Our bodies are mostly space
but they appear solid to us.
When we touch another
we touch consciousness.
We eat consciousness.
We drink consciousness.
We play with consciousness.
We love consciousness.
And we think consciousness
is the things of this world.
When consciousness is truly
the dance of the self.
We are the dance dancing.
We are the game being played.
We are the Self made molasses.
We are greater than the earth,
greater than the sky,
greater than all the worlds.
We are smaller than a grain of rice,
of barley, of millet. We are
the mustard seed that sprouts
a great tree.
We are everything the Self is.
And the Self is everything that is.
Knowing the Self is only difficult,
because we cannot comprehend
the grandeur of the Self.
We cannot comprehend
our own magnificence.
