For A Troubled World

By Haimnauth Ramkirath

A collection of beautiful and stunning poetry to offer solace and assurance to a dark and troubled world. Amidst the daily grind, and the chaos and uncertainty in the world, it is important that we step back for a while and align ourselves with the deeper currents of our being. It is the perennial call for us to reflect, in our own inimitable wa

• Language: English
• Publisher: LitFire Publishing
• Release date: Nov 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781643983431

Haimnauth Ramkirath

Haimnauth Ramkirath grew up in a small rural village in Guyana, South America. He is a vigorous campaigner for social justice and equality, and an avid practitioner of yoga and Ayurvedic teachings. Today, the former teacher is a Controller who resides in Bayonne, New Jersey. This is his third collection of poetry.

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DEDICATION

Dedicated to those who tirelessly work to uplift the poor and the downtrodden, and those who fearlessly resist and oppose all forms of cruelty, oppression, abuse and discrimination, and who maintain the likeness of what morality still remains in this dark and troubled world.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The OM image used in this book is taken from Pixabay, which provides a source of professional photos and images released under Creative Commons CCO into the public domain

PART 1:

The Jewels Within

Reflections on the need for inner peace and harmony and bringing out that deeper calm within into a chaotic and troubled world.

Walk patiently through this troubled world, and you will find great treasure. Even though your house may be small, look within it!

— Jalaluddin al-Rumi

What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within us out into the world, miracles happen.

— Henry David Thoreau

Preface

It is evident, in so many ways, and even those of the most upbeat and optimistic outlook would not deny, that we are living in a dark and troubled world. The widespread and growing violence on children, women, men and beasts, the unbearable suffering of the poor, the venerable, and the weak, the shameless treatment of immigrants, minorities, and refugees, the rapes and sexual molestation of children by priests, the rising tide of racism, discrimination and segregation; these are not congruent with an enlightened and cheerful world. Established norms of decency and morality are been corroded every day, and relationships and trust are unravelling before our very eyes. Big businesses and corporations have unleashed an alarming and unprecedented degree of greed that have nurtured the conditions for a very volatile and capricious world economic situation. And in doing so they have wantonly destroyed and desecrated the environment. These and a litany of other sordid conditions bring into focus our very humanity, our sense of right and wrong, our ability to discriminate between truth and falsehood, and our innate capacity to bring into the world the nobility and goodness within us.

With such palpable decline in our humanity, understanding, compassion, and feelings, we need the light and guidance of the more durable and substantial aspects of life and existence. We need to embrace the truth, goodness, and beauty that are inherent in us. They must substantially color our words and actions, and we must be consciously guided by them. This is exactly what this collection of poems attempts to do.

There is the call for us to rise above the murky waters of our conditioned state, characterized by so much tumult and unrest, and incorporate into our lives the beauty and truth in and around us. The culture of rampant and excessive materialism has created a distorted and fragmented consciousness, and the concomitant rise in apathy, social alienation, and unhappiness. Not to counter this growing tendency is tantamount to losing our humanity.

These poems issue from the depths of my heart and soul. As such, they need no embellishments, in the form of technical and abstruse poetical attributes and devices, which more often tend to distract than to enlighten. They are written in a very natural and simple style, so that they can be read and enjoyed by both children and adults.

We must look within for peace and lasting happiness, but we must also awaken our social conscience, and be our brothers’ keepers in tangible expressions of service and love. This composition is a humble attempt to express this spirit and consciousness.

OM – THE COSMIC HUM

OM…….

Such peace abounds,

In this sound

So sweet, so divine,

In the dance of eternity

It produces the vast creation,

It its myriad splendor and dimensions.

Speech, literature, and learning

And arts and sciences too,

In their many branches

Flowed from this celestial sound,

The prelude to Vedic chants

Prayers and invocations.

OM…….

Is the creative energy manifest

Yet in its purest essence rests

As that divine cosmic unstruck sound

Unlike any vibration or force around,

Beyond speech, thought and intellect

The destroyer of evil and dense darkness,

The purest of sounds, the voice of God

The highest end, the goal to be sought.

OM…….

Is all energy and forms

The gentle waves caressing the shores

The cataclysmic unimaginable energy of a supernova

That will take the sun a billion years to deliver,

Particles sub-atomic to galaxies most awesome

The most gross to the subtlest and divine

Are all in this wonderous sound entwined.

OM…….

Is Pure Consciousness

Absolute Peace,

The vibration of Cosmic Love

The Primordial Sound and Energy,

Past, Present and Future

And what is beyond Time and Space,

The humming sound of God

Permeating all existence,

The breath of our sustenance.

OM…….

Its symbol replete with meaning

So profound and enlightening,

The lower curve is the waking state

Field of actions and desires so endless,

Deep sleep is the upper curve

Where peace reigns supreme,

The outer curve is the state of dream

Deep and mysterious it seems,

Taking us to realms of splendor or horror

Then to wake up to the familiar.

The dot is the state that illuminates

The bliss