Listen, my friend, this road is the heart opening...by Mirabai

Listen, my friend, this road is the heart opening,
Kissing his feet, resistance broken, tears all night.

If we could reach the Lord through immersion in water,
I would have asked to be born a fish in this life.

If we could reach Him through nothing but berries and wild nuts,
Then surely the saints would have been monkeys
when they came from the womb!

If we could reach him by munching lettuce and dry leaves,
Then the goats would surely go to the Holy One before us!

If the worship of stone statues could bring us all the way,
I would have adored a granite mountain years ago.

Mirabai says:
The heat of midnight tears will bring you to God.

~ Mirabai
From The Winged Energy of Delight,
Translated by Robert Bly
Art by Sanjana Deshpande