Category / Spirituality

by Kunal Thakore

SON OF THE WIND

Sing I your virtues in 40 stanzas every day.
Chant with devotion your name ceaselessly.
And seek I today your boundless wisdom and strength;
your thunderbolt to destroy the diabolical demons
that prey on me from the netherworld of my mind.
Your grace, my protective sheath.

O! Son of the Wind, I carry you in my heart with adoration
in the same way as you do the Lord.

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by Kunal Thakore

Mahadeva

You.
Dark of form,
with ash-smeared body,
gnarnled, matted hair,
rudrakhsha and tiger skin.

You.
Who resides in the snow-clad abodes
of Kailasa, the five Kedars,
Mani Mahesh and Shrikhand Mahadev.
In Benares and Ujjain and Nasik.
And in the hearts of a countless.

You.
who are AshtaMurti, Chaumukha, Triambaka,
Sadashiv, Omkara, Rudra, Arunachalam,
Natraja, Pasupati and Ardhanarishvara.
Shankara, Shambhu and AdiYogi.
Bholenath and Kalabhairava.

You.
Who are without beginning and without end.
From whom the holy Ganga emanates.
On whose head rests the crescent.
The father of time.

You.
Who is merged into utter and absolute stillness.
Who exists in the emptiness beyond all that is.
Who is unbounded and all pervasive.
Whom tonight celebrates.
A night of intoxication and rapture.
Of fixity, enlightenment and dissolution.

You.
I humbly dedicate this to you.

by Kunal Thakore

Universal prayer for the world, for 2023

Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu
May All Beings Everywhere Be Happy and Free

Sarvesham Svastir-Bhavatu
Sarvesham Shantir-Bhavatu
Sarvesham Poornam-Bhavatu
Sarvesham Mangalam-Bhavatu
Om Shanti Shanti Shantih
May there be an abundance of well-being in all,
May there be an abundance of peace in all,
May there be an abundance of fulfilment in all,
May there be an abundance of auspiciousness in all,
Peace! Peace! Peace!

Om Asato Ma Sad Gamaya
Tamasoma Jyotir Gamaya
Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya
Lord lead me from the unreal to the real
Lead me from darkness to the light
From the earth to the open skies
Lead me from death to eternal light

by Kunal Thakore

FIRST SECOND SIGHT


I hold you in my gaze

Warm, the cockles of my heart

The beats, a now recognisable constant

Dull noir pulsates to hyper-saturated chromas

In breaths and out

Stream of consciousness triggering synapses

Agitated ‘Nowhere-ness’ to limpid ‘now-here-ness’

A discordant indigo mind turns into a more placid azure

Eyes well up

I blink away a tiny tear 

As the heart drinks deep

I am back

by Kunal Thakore

Photoessay – Soul-itude & Natsukashii

Natsukashii is a Japanese word used when something evokes a fond memory from your past. It’s a word you exclaim as a smile creeps across your face.

Having lost my mojo to write in these troubling times, I’m sharing some photos of my bastion of peace – mystical & majestic – where I choose to commune with myself. Some cherished moments between 2015 and 2021…

Recess, decompress, de-stress from distress…

by Kunal Thakore

FAITH TESTED

IMPATIENCE, EXPECTATION & FAITH

My faith, it’s what protects me

There are times I want to cast that boulder away

But I cannot find the strength to lift it

Cannot dig under

Cannot find my way around

So I simply let it rest

And it stays in place

Rocklike

  • The lead image is of Bhima Shila – the boulder that saved the Shiva temple of Kedarnath in North India from damage when there was a cloudburst and avalanche a few years ago. The portals of the temple open for the summer today.

QUE SERA SERA

Uncertainty tests faith

Insh’allah, Ishwar ki marzi

Bhagwan ki ichha, Thy will be done

What the Universe has in store

What is written in the Book

What’s etched on my palms

Dame Destiny

Kismet & Karma

Tea leaves, runes, Tarot

Omens, oracles and prophesies

Nostradamus and soothsayers

The end of the world

A new beginning

Trust that He will deliver