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.

To Sing of Love

In the depths of meditation, sages
Saw within themselves the Lord of Love,
Who dwells in the heart of every creature.
Deep in the hearts of all he dwells, hidden
Behind the gunas of law, energy,
and inertia. He is One. He it is
Who rules over time, space, and causality.
—The Shvetashvatara Upanishad

Lord of Love. Lady of Love. Pure love. Only love.

O to be a sage and meet the Lord in our hearts!

O to look at our hands and say, this is love!

They say the Lord, the Lady, of Love

dwells deep within our hearts.

They say the Lord, the Lady, of Love

is One.

If we could meet the One in our hearts,

we could meet the One as our hands,

we could meet the One as our children,

we could meet the One as our friends.

We could pierce the disguises of law,

energy, and inertia.

We could understand the formless form

on which time, space, and causality

are founded.

We could understand that which

is beyond our understanding,

a love so great, so unconditional,

that there is no right or wrong,

no good or bad,

no one to blame,

only experience, only vibration

at various rates.

There would be the high vibrations

that we would label good in all our ignorance.

There would be the low vibrations

that we would label bad in all our ignorance.

In love, we would look beyond the labels,

and see ourselves.

In love, we would look beyond the labels,

and see the One.

There is love deeper than the love

of a mother for her infant child.

That is the love of the Lord, the Lady, of Love.

And if we could know that love,

we would feel a feeling so pure,

so clean, so light, so joyful,

so expanded, it would be as if

our bodies had been replaced

by the sun, and we could do nothing

but sing God’s praises.