Gandhi – The Message is Your Life

One more poem for the road, or indeed the long march home. For we are all heading this way.

Gandhi lived his truth as best he could and he was a light. He wasn’t understood by many but when you seek to step our of the norm, when you choose truth, you may appear different or strange from those conforming to what they are taught, for they are listening to others not the small voice within.

Truth has no allegience to popularity or convention, it is a simple awareness that it is what it is. To see without judgement is a great gift and brings clarity and beauty into your world in the blink of an eye. I remember Gandhi’s quote “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. Revenge doesn’t make you feel better or indeed the other see your way, it increases opposition. Only love transforms, it is the real power and it cannot be faked. And yes, one person can change the world, the secret is to change yourself and then the world changes. That is what Gandhi did, he spent his life working on himself. I speak to both women and men in this moment, each can be the change but always follow love. That is where greatness resides. This poem was inspired by his message. What message is yours?

THE MESSAGE IS YOUR LIFE

Gandhi is a name,
His message was his life,
And he would ask you to seek the truth
That sets you free.

Satyagraha was not political,
Satyagraha is not cultural,
For to hold on to truth is impossible,
One can only live their own.

Gandhi suffered for his imperfection,
That is why experiments with truth
were not conducted in a laboratory,
But with complexities of human life,
For he was seeking his highest good,
He was seeking the highest god,
Attempting to gain mastery
over weaknesses we all possess.

Gandhi was a man,
Jesus was a man,
The Buddha was a man,
And his road is challenged by patriarchy,
Conditioning for control,
As culture forms the contextual field,
From which many flowers can grow in adverse conditions.

It is through mistakes that we learn,
It is through conflict that truth reveals the pearl,
It is through stepping across social conventions and boundaries,
That enables one to evaluate reactions to the unconventional,
And that brings with it scrutiny,
It fosters criticism,
For each is challenged by actions,
When it contradicts an unchallenged belief.

Yet rather than condemn,
It is to simply see that a belief is challenged,
Hold it up to the light of your own truth,
Examine from all angles,
Sharp and smooth,
For this is how we see with clarity,
This is the philosophy of charity,
Which allows another to walk their path unjudged yet questioned,
For in truth the juxtaposition contrasts relationship,
To another,
Always it is in the questions not the answers,
That we find ourselves.

I see no man as great,
I see no woman as great,
For each are equal in the rhythm of life,
and greatness is seen in humility,
Their lives are mirrors reflecting what they truly believe,
For each belief is a colour,
Painted on the canvas by a great artist,
And many know not the big picture,
Or for what reason the mosaic is designed,
We only know who we are when we look to see,
And each sees the picture differently,
For each is attracted to a particular aspect,
Are drawn to a colour,
Revealing a plethora of messages to a community of ideas.

For myself my painting is surreal,
For beneath the picture I seek a message,
As I am seeing symbols,
As messengers of my truth,
Dreams, symbols and reflections,
Question if my dream is real,
For I saw Gandhi in a moment of great humility,
I felt the washing of feet,
In a gesture of unbounded service,
For ahimsa is the greatest love,
That is not a political strategy,
Or a tool to fix a broken structure,
It is a gift that sees the beauty, the holy and the beautiful in your eyes,
Behind the disguise in the role of this play.

Love has no beginning or end,
Love values life with gentleness,
It is the shiny diamond sparkling with hope in a new born babies cry,
For how can one harm another,
When I see myself in you,
For we are one family,
And many are asking to come home,
Into the warmth of love and kindness,
For that is the truth of who you are,
And for me,
This was the message of his life.