Noises

What grows
noiselessly,
breaks
noisily.

Now at every turn in life
there is
noise
only.

Tomorrow?

People here are extremely
conscientious.
They do not do
tomorrow’s work
today.

And tomorrow?
tomorrow never
comes.

Thus they do
nothing.

Destination

As I start on my journey
people ask,
how for shall you walk
this time? And where to?

I smile and move on.
How should I tell them
that this time
I walk
towards myself only?

Nest

I have watched the bird
make its nest.
I have watched the bird
gather grain and then
fly away far in the
sky.

I wish the bird would teach me
how to remain
connected to the earth
while in flight, and
how to keep alive
a sense of the sky,
while in the rest।

मुनि क्षमासागर जी

JAIN MUNI KSHAMASAGAR JI

The One With Nothing

What do I have
to give?
except this
that no one may
go without
something.



Soulfulness

Life is endless
if it is like the sky.

Life is a dense shade
if it is like a tree.

If it is like the sun,
than life is light.

Each moment is ecstasy
if life has soulfulness
in it.

Flight

The bird called the river
as it flew above it.
The river smiled
and said, ‘Speak, Bird.’

The bird flew higher.
Flying above the cliff
the bird called.
The cliff said softly,
‘Speak, Bird.’

The bird
flew higher and higher.
Its voice got lost.

The bird has returned now
to say,
‘Fly only as high
as the reach of
your own call.’

Nest

I have watched the bird
make its nest.
I have watched the bird
gather grain and then
fly away far in the
sky.

I wish the bird would teach me
how to remain
connected to the earth
while in flight, and
how to keep alive
a sense of the sky,
while in the rest.

Detached

The bird knows
how to gather twigs
for its nest. It knows
how to raise its
younglings.

When the younglings
grow up
the make their separate
nests.
The bird does not mind.
It accepts its aloneness.

The bird dose not complain
to any body.
The bird forgets all the past
moments of crisis.
It remembers
its own songs only.
It remembers singing;
and flying in the sky.

The bird only remembers
how to be a bird.