Category: The Jewelled Garden

The 15th c. CE mystic and poet Ravidas was a younger contemporary of Kabir, and lived in Varanasi. For more about him, see this earlier post. The word ‘Prabhu’ means Continue Reading →

For more about the Persian Sufi Baba Afzal Kashani, see this earlier post. The Divine Book’s imprintis nothing but you. The mirror of the King’s Beautyis nothing but you. Not Continue Reading →

For more about the 10th c. CE Sufi Abu Saeed Abil-Kheir, who called himself ‘Nobody, son of nobody,’ see this post. Beg for Love.Consider this burning, and those whoburn, as Continue Reading →

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 →