“they Have Gone Deaf to the Melody of Oneness.” an Esoteric Analysis of Manatita’s Poem.

I believe that this wonderful adventure we call "life," is the journey of seeking Knowledge. In essence, Knowledge is the conscious understanding of our oneness with God and through this, the conscious understanding of our interconnectedness with all sentient and non-sentient beings.

Yet, I think this is a journey that in fact does not stop only in this life, but every life is valuable in this quest. Every minute of every life!

In my effort to broaden and expand on this knowledge, I seek for every Lantern that could add, even a little more Light, in the darkness of my ignorance. This search has brought many blessings to my life, and one of these was my contact with the poems of my beloved - since then - brother and mentor, Manatita.

What made me pay attention to his work, from the first moment, is the Light that these poems radiate as they glorify Love and describe wonderfully this idea of Oneness.

The term Oneness appeared ‘accidentally’ in my life when I was eighteen, at a time when the faith in the God of Love began to deepen within me. It was the title of a music album by Carlos Santana, who is one of my most beloved musicians.

It finally turned out to be definite proof of this interconnectedness of All, as everything is connected with the strings of Divine Love (this is my String Theory as a Physicist). That's because I found out that Carlos Santana and Manatita have a significant nexus. They had the same teacher. The Great Guru Sri Chinmoy!

The main reason that led me to study this sublime poem of Manatita's and finally to this analysis is that I think it is an excellent "map," of how we can re-discover our connection with God. Naturally this leads to the ultimate discovery of our true Selves. I will try to reveal some inner secrets of this map, and allow you to judge the result.

Let's not delay anymore, let's travel through the poet's Heart, with the melody of Oneness, at the feet of the Divine, while enjoying this sublime masterpiece:

“They cling to You, but as on a greasy maypole,

Their fingers do not grip.

They use the mind’s brilliance;

But have forgotten the ways,

Of the Heart’s radiance.

They have gone deaf to the melody of Oneness.

O Allah, I would rather feel compassion in my Spirit,

Than give great discourses to scholars.

Of what use is talk of heaven,

When my anxieties and fears are endless?

Vanity of vanities...

Let me burn, with a supernal sweetness,

The fire that rages in every pore.

O Allah, they see a dichotomy in Your servant,

And Your Beloved Light of Truth.

What is the 'Spark' that makes them read his work?

Lantern knows that he is a slave to Thy bidding,

A mere puppet on the strands of Love;

A lost lover, searching for his Queen.

He just wants to burn, into a fire of blazing candles,

Lighting up the tarmac of the soul.

Come, O Allah. Within, without, below; above,

There are no blurs, confinements ...boundaries.

I see only You, my Beloved,

Only the dance of Delight;

Your words are a blending symphony in my core.

O my Sweetheart, I’m in the garden of ambrosial Silence;

My Heart is a field of prayer, at Your feet Divine.” -Manatita

The poem has a powerful introduction, describing the root cause of our world's suffering. The way we have been taught to approach God.

“They cling to You, but as on a greasy maypole,

Their fingers do not grip.”

As if God is something outside of us and we have to hang on to Him, but without knowing how. So, no matter how much we try, we always feel that we slip away from Him.

This is happening, because we try to approach Him through the intellect, logic, forgetting that He does not fit as easily as in the purity of the child; in the sacred Heart of a God-lover. How can He fit into our minds, when His Love fills Infinity? We forget that the supreme way to approach Him is through Love; the Light that radiates from our Hearts to all creation.

“They use the mind’s brilliance;

But have forgotten the ways,

Of the Heart’s radiance.”

We ignore Love, and we deal with the typical. We argue about who is right and who is wrong regarding things we do not even understand. So we do not hear His Voice, singing to us the sweet song of Oneness.

“They have gone deaf to the melody of Oneness.”

At this point, the poet reminds us that the first step towards Knowledge is the acceptance of our ignorance. What is the point of trying to explain with impressive expressions what our Soul still ignores? "One thing I know, that I do not know anything", as the great teacher Socrates said.

“O Allah, I would rather feel compassion in my Spirit,

Than give great discourses to scholars.

Of what use is talk of heaven,

When my anxieties and fears are endless?

Vanity of vanities ...”

Only when we let this Divine Flame of Love manifest through every fibre of our being, our very Essence, would our darkness be illumined and we become Lanterns for our brothers.

“Let me burn, with a supernal sweetness,

The fire that rages in every pore.”

This Light will help to erase the illusion of dichotomy, the misconception that the servant is separate from the Lord.

“O Allah, they see a dichotomy in Your servant,

And Your Beloved Light of Truth.”

It will help us to note the real motivation of the Lantern's approach to God. Τhe Lantern knows that the Inner Light which is radiating to the world around, is also in him. Every moment, this Light comes from the Divine Energy that exists within and as such he understands that he is always connected to God.

Therefore, he only needs to call lovingly, like the hungry child, since the strings of Love are inseparably one with God at every moment. This sublime knowledge is the Queen for whom the Lover is searching!

“What is the 'Spark' that makes them read his work?

Lantern knows that he is a slave to Thy bidding,

A mere puppet on the strands of Love;

A lost lover, searching for his Queen.”

What a beautiful description of this quest for Knowledge that will burn the veils or shadows that kept us away from Him!

“He just wants to burn, into a fire of blazing candles,

Lighting up the tarmac of the soul.”

This is the beginning of the consciousness of Oneness, the Knowledge that we live in Him every single moment. This is the inception of the Redemption!

“He just wants to burn, into a fire of blazing candles,

Lighting up the tarmac of the soul.

Come, O Allah. Within, without, below; above,

There are no blurs, confinements ...boundaries.”

This perception purifies the illusion and the boundaries that keep us away from Him disappear. As such our hereditary right to Happiness is restored to our Soul, to our Divine core.

“I see only You, my Beloved,

Only the dance of Delight;

Your words are a blending symphony in my core.”

Then the Fulfillment comes, the accomplishment of Satisfaction. Life becomes meaningful once more and as such a constant prayer to His Majesty, blending our Love in His Love!

“O my Sweetheart, I’m in the garden of ambrosial Silence;

My Heart is a field of prayer, at Your feet Divine.”

This sweet Inner Quiet, the serenity of this wonderful image with which the poet completes his masterpiece, is a picture that has blessed all my prayers, every meditation, from the moment I read this poem. A picture of me, who I am, becoming a ‘field of prayer’ in His world and with the purity of the tears of my regenerated Soul to wash His feet.

Tears of joy, gratitude, love and forgiveness that rinse my Soul from everything that is impeding me from ceaseless and deathless fulfillment in Him. For this image that shapes within me the notion of Oneness, I will always thank my brother Manatita. And all my prayers will be his prayers too, as I will close them by saying:

“O my Sweetheart, I’m in the garden of ambrosial Silence;

My Heart is a field of prayer, at Your feet Divine.”