One of my favorite spiritual messengers, Rupert Spira, penned a DELICIOUS poem at the top of the year, and he gave me his blessing to share it with you!  Lockdown Nights in Oxford by Rupert Spira, author of Being Myself  "Last night I walked the streets of Oxford with KabirThe night before it was JesusAnd the night before, Rumi visited, uninvited!Every night a different companion but always the same FriendWhy go anywhere when the Beloved always comes to you?I pointed out the smiling houses to Kabir(Have you noticed that houses have a face?)‘It is I who am smiling’, he said.‘I am happy to see you’, I said to Atmananda the next night‘You are happiness itself’, he replied.I stood outside a chapelAnd listened to a choir with Brother Lawrence‘Our love for God is God’s love for us’, he said.And the next night, Meister Eckhart,‘There is a huge silence inside each of usThat beckons us into itself’‘Know nothing’, Socrates said the following night‘Be everything’, added Parmenides.I showed Plotinus the gardensBut he said, ‘I see only one thing’I talked with the BuddhaBut he remained silentI was silent with MosesBut he started to singI uttered the word ‘I’But Balyani held his hand to my mouthI asked Huang Po if he could hear the stream‘There is only the hearing’, he said.I found William Blake naked in the park‘Do you see how, through perception, the infinite gives birth to itself?’he asked‘He’s right’, Ramana said,‘The universe is born every momentThrough the portal I Am’And later, when I suggested we rest,‘I am always at rest’, he smiled‘Thine this universal frame,Thus wondrous fair,Thyself how wondrous then?’Milton asked ecstatically as we looked at the sky‘Everything shines with being’, Wordsworth saidI offered Jesus a drink‘I am the water of life’, he said.I walked in silence with Francis‘My silence is my question’, I said‘My silence is my answer’, he repliedI walked alone one nightWith the world for my FriendThe next night I found Hafiz drunk on a bench‘Come taste this wine!’ he calledShams came to join us‘I am looking for the Friend’, he sighed.‘I love these night-time walks’, I said to Anandamaya Ma‘Love only love’, she saidI listened to barking dogs with Abinavagupta‘Know only knowing’, he said‘I am…’‘Shhh! Don’t add anything to it’,Sri Nisargadatta exclaimed.I danced down the street with MozartI prayed in every step with BachI leaned with Primo Levi against a wallWatching friends and lovers and strangers‘Each of us’, he said ‘bears the imprintOf a friend met along the way;In each the trace of each’Yeats joined us‘There are no strangers here’, he said‘Only friends we haven’t yet met’And Rembrandt agreed‘If you look at anyone for long enough’, he saidThey will eventually become your friend’I watched the sun set with Shelley one night‘The One remains, the many change and pass’, he saidAnd then, as the moon arose,‘Heaven’s light forever shines, Earth’s shadows fly;Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,Stains the white radiance of Eternity,Until Death tramples it to fragments. Die,If thou wouldst be with that which thou dost seek!’And lastSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/goodmornings)