For Love of the Dark One

If you don't know anything about Indian poetry this book can be a start. It's a small format book with amazing illustrations by Mayumi Oda and translation by Andrew Schelling.

My mom gifted me with this amazing, powerful, lovely, devastating, sweet little books of bhakti poems many years ago. I still treasure it. The poetry is amazing, as are the paintings, by Mayumi Oda. It has, at times, been like a little Bible to me. And I consider Mirabai both a teacher and a saint. It was through this book that I came to want to know her story, and through her story that I first heard of mergence with the divine - or rainbow body, as it's called in Tibetan Buddhism. At the end of Mirabai's life, she entered fully into the body of the Beloved, leaving behind nothing but her clothing, bones, and hair. Her love for and devotion to her Lord was beyond reason, and be going beyond reason, became all the reason in the world. Read Mirabai's words, and let them rend you. And let them heal you.

My Name is MiraBai Devi Dasi, January 6, 2001 I have been practicing Bhakti Yoga or the yoga of love and devotion to Sri Krishna for 21 years. My spiritual master gave me the name Mirabai when he initiated me. The word "Devi" refers to the Saint Mirabai and "Dasi" means servant. So that means that I am the servant of Mirabai Devi. The position of servant is a spiritual position that the aspiring Bhakta or lover of the Lord Sri Krsna accepts with all of his or her heart. A devotee of Sri Krsna recites the Maha Mantra: Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare //Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare for prayer and meditation, follows a spiritual lifestyle and performs devotional service to purify their life. It is through these activities that one can express and consolidate one's desire to make spiritual progress. Actions speak louder than words. My understanding of Mirabai Devi's devotion is that she describes through her poems the absolute attraction of the finite soul for the Infinte Soul which is Krsna. Her poems express the desire of the one who loves to be united with the Beloved, Supreme Lover, Sri Krsna. Her descriptions of Krsna as her Beloved, mean exactly that. She is in love with the Supreme Lover who has a beautiful form, personality, activities, in short everything that would make the Supreme Person or Super Soul infinitely fascinating and capable of attracting the finite souls eternally. She desires no other lover, husband or boyfriend! No one else but Krsna can satisfy her desire to love and to be loved! Therefore, Mirabai Devi does not desire to merge with her Supreme Lover! She wishes to maintain her identity and to "be" with Krsna by participating in His activities and by reciprocating His love for her through devotional service. The desire to "become one" is understood to be the desire to have the same desire and will as Krsna. So that the will and the desire of God, Sri Krsna becomes the will and the desire of His sincere and loving devotee. No one who is in love wants to "merge" with their beloved! To the contrary, it is the separate and distinct form, personality and activities that are attractive in the first place! A true Bhakta, a devotee of Krsna would NEVER want to merge with Krsna! Mirabai Devi describes her love, attraction and desire to serve Sri Krsna because He is God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Her spiritual master is her link to Krsna and she respects and honors him but she is not in love with him. She follows his instructions so that she will one day not be forced to take another physical, material birth. In this way she will be able to be with Krsna in Krsnaloka, the spiritual planet where all souls who have been freed from the repeating cycle of birth and death can live because they have been cleansed of all material desires. When you desire and serve only Krsna you can obtain Krsna! Sri Krsna says in the Bhagavag-Gita (9.34) " Engage your mind always in thinking of ME, become My devotee, of

I have been practicing Bhakti Yoga or the yoga of love and devotion to Sri Krishna for 21 years. My spiritual master gave me the name Mirabai when he initiated me. The word "Devi" refers to the Saint Mirabai and "Dasi" means servant. So that means that I am the servant of Mirabai Devi. The position of servant is a spiritual position that the aspiring Bhakta or lover of the Lord Sri Krsna accepts with all of his or her heart. A devotee of Sri Krsna recites the Maha Mantra: Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare //Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare for prayer and meditation, follows a spiritual lifestyle and performs devotional service to purify their life. It is through these activities that one can express and consolidate one's desire to make spiritual progress. Actions speak louder than words. My understanding of Mirabai Devi's devotion is that she describes through her poems the absolute attraction of the finite soul for the Infinte Soul which is Krsna. Her poems express the desire of the one who loves to be united with the Beloved, Supreme Lover, Sri Krsna. Her descriptions of Krsna as her Beloved, mean exactly that. She is in love with the Supreme Lover who has a beautiful form, personality, activities, in short everything that would make the Supreme Person or Super Soul infinitely fascinating and capable of attracting the finite souls eternally. She desires no other lover, husband or boyfriend! No one else but Krsna can satisfy her desire to love and to be loved! Therefore, Mirabai Devi does not desire to merge with her Supreme Lover! She wishes to maintain her idenity and to "be" with Krsna by participating in His activities and by reciprocating His love for her through devotional service. The desire to "become one" is understood to be the desire to have the same desire and will as Krsna. So that the will and the desire of God, Sri Krsna becomes the will and the desire of His sincere and loving devotee. No one who is in love wants to "merge" with their lover! To the contrary, it is the separate and distinct form, personality and activities that are attractive in the first place! A true Bhakta, a devotee of Krsna would NEVER want to merge with Krsna! Mirabai Devi describes her love, attraction and desire to serve Sri Krsna because He is God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Her spiritual master is her link to Krsna and she respects and honors him but she is not in love with him. She follows his instructions so that she will one day not be forced to take another physical, material birth. In this way she will be able to be with Krsna in Krsnaloka, the spiritual planet where all souls who have been freed from the repeating cycle of birth and death can live because they have been cleansed of all material desires. When you desire and serve only Krsna you can obtain Krsna! Sri Krsna says in the Bhagavag-Gita (9.34) " Engage your mind always in thinking of ME, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being complete

Mirabai's poetry has remained alive orally in Hindu, Sikh and Muslim traditions. Her's is a poetry of Krishna - an Indian diety relatively well known in the West if only for his place in the Mahabharata.This translation of Mirabai's poetry from a Prakrit (a vernacular language rather than the formal Sanskrit - i.e. as if in Provencal rather than Latin) uses free verse to put her poems in our contemporary poetry conventions. Andrew Schelling did a superb job - the poetry retains the South Asian religious sensibility while creating poems that stand on their own merit.A taste: "But life on this crazy planet is torment, / day and night torment. / Mad, raked by separation -- / drifting from country to country -- / look at Mira's black hair / it's turned white.If you enjoy Rumi, Hafiz, Kabir,Emre then you will enjoy this book.