Category: The Jewelled Garden

The following verse by the Tamil poet-saint Antal (or Andal) is taken from her poem ‘Koelbird, Call Him to Me’. The koel is the Indian cuckoo, with a clear and Continue Reading →

Abhinavagupta (ca. 950 – 1016 CE) was a philosopher and mystic born into a Brahmin family in Kashmir. He was familiar with all the philosophical and practical aspects of what Continue Reading →

Mata Rupa Bhawani (ca. 1624 – 1721 CE) was born in what is present day Srinagar, and with Lal Ded is one of the great female mystic poets of Kashmir. Continue Reading →

Ikkyu Sojun (1394–1481 CE) was an eccentric, iconoclastic Japanese Zen Buddhist monk. It is generally held that he was the illegitimate son of the Emperor and a low ranking noblewoman Continue Reading →

For more about the Gujarati poet and mystic Akho Bhagat, see this earlier post. Speaker of truth and the sun — these two —Give knowledge and light to all.As with Continue Reading →

Nagarjuna (ca. 150 – 250 CE) was an Indian Buddhist philosopher. Little is known for certain of his life, but he was a strong exponent of the Mahayana expression of Continue Reading →

The Tamil poet-saint Antal (also Andal or Kothai) here evokes the blessings to his devotees of Lord Krishna – who grew up as a cowherd or govind – all without Continue Reading →

For more about the Punjabi Sufi saint Baba Shaikh Farid, see this previous post. Sheikh Farid speaks:dear friend, turn to Allah.This body shall becomedust in the miserable,dark house of the Continue Reading →

Once Jesus was asked a question by someone who wished to advance on the path : “What is the most difficult barrier of all?” Jesus replied, “Clearly, it is God’s Continue Reading →

Syed Ibrahim Khan (1548? – 1628 CE) was born a Muslim, perhaps in Amroha, although some say in Kabul, and adopted Raskhan as his pen name. He came from a Continue Reading →