The Banyan Tree

Sitting under the Banyan tree I watch the water hitting its raised roots

Restless and agitated as a disturbed mind.

It's effervescence matches my own state of mind.

On the sun baked land the Banyan tree stands alone in silent meditation.

It's calm and magnificent beauty towering against my littleness.

The Banyan tree, the most ancient, the most beautiful metaphor for our Universe.

Upanishad and Bhagavad Geeta have memorable verses for it.

Reading them I get lost in my own thoughts.

The eternal question is still one and same- Who is the Creator?

But answers vary.

‘There is but one God’, does’t satisfy all.

for many it is neither a truth, nor a reality.

If there is One entity 

Clearly it is Unknown;

He, She or It - nothing can be assigned to it.

Far from logic these titles seem to be the creation of an authoritarian mind.

A Male figure for a strong Patriarch,

A Female title of a Matriarch origin,

Or an It for an Atheist inquirer.  

By some mysterious process

The unknown power or powers 

Descend into Universe, 

And the play of life starts! 

All beings fight for its survival

By confrontation or by cooperation. 

To calm our agitated and restless mind,

For our yearnings to seek an answer for unanswered questions,

Our scriptures advise us to have ‘Faith, Devotion and Meditative Knowledge’.

When all answers fail to satisfy, seek it within yourself with the help of these tools.

“ In an undisturbed place, in a comfortable posture, clean and pure, neck, head and body in balance and restive position, all the senses in control, meditate and revere your own teacher residing in your own heart, the Untainted, the Pure, the Clear, and the Grief-less.” 

Note: Quote is from Kevailya Upanishad

Savita Tyagi

8.28.2022