Soulful Sadhak

We should never lose hope, even in the face of the worst possible adversity. The is a remake of Eddy Grant's anti-apartheid classic, sadly, i did not have to change much of the lyrics to make it up to date. History repeating itself. However,  as MLK famously said: 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.'  So l et's continue to speak up, to sing and to hope that the course of Bibi is changed, and that peace and justice will prevail. Free Palestine.     Lyrics Well Bibi he runs a country In Tel Aviv and Jerusalem He makes a few of his people happy oh He don't care about the rest of them  He’s got a system we call Apartheid It keeps a brother in subjection But maybe pressure will make ol’ Bibi see  How everybody could live as one  [CHORUS]  Gimme hope o Bibi,  Hope o Bibi  Gimme hope o Bibi  'Fore the morning come  Gimme hope o Bibi,  Hope o Bibi  Hope before the morning come  His ...

  A song for Palestine [repost from 2024] From the river to the sea Lord, someone hear our plea Sometimes it feels like we will drown The tides keep pulling us down We are awash in a flood of pain That keeps falling down like rain Is there no ship, to sail away Towards the dawn of a new day? From the river to the sea One day we will be free We will walk hand in hand Return to our motherland From the river to the sea Wallah, this land is holy When we’re made whole as one A new day will have begun For this river is made of tears shed over 76 years Flowing into a dead sea Can we stay afloat in this misery? Oh water, wash over these lands And wipe the bloodstains of our hands We’ll sleep peacefully in the lion’s den The olive tree will grow again From the river to the sea We still hold the key To break free from these chains We will rise again From the river to the sea Lord have mercy on me When love will reign There’ll be an end to all our pain From the river to the sea Wallah, liste...

Can my words put anything right? Can they help those who suffer in all their plight? Stop bombs and guns in the middle of a fight? And the powers that be with all of their might? Does it make any difference if i write? Or is my writing just academic? My questions only epistemic? Aesthetic text administered as anesthetic The old blind lady starts to look a bit pathetic She doesn’t stand a chance of stopping a polemic What if justice just was a dream of the past? Made up by poets whose time didn’t last Can blank verses transcend color and caste when the pain is so widespread and vast, like words from the book to uplift the downcast? What good does it do to be but criticizing? Do i add insult to injury with my philosophizing? Can a writer really be this surprising, a deus ex machina to create an uprising? Or is this simply too much fantasizing?   Is lady justice blind? Has 'justice' become an empty word? I keep witnessing the horror on the news, and sometimes i feel completely los...

Please call me by my true names So I can see that my joy and pain are one - Thich Nhat Hanh    For a while i struggled with this thought: How can i practice mindfulness and meditation and find peace and happiness, while there is so much peace and injustice in the world? This poem came out of that contemplation. It is dedicated to my brother in the Dharma and activist friend Tom. When i breathe, let me breathe for Eric Garner and all those suffocating under discrimination and oppression And when i breathe, let me breathe for the officer who only knows how to react to challenge with violence When i walk, let me walk for the child in Gaza who can no longer walk home as he lost both his legs in a bomb explosion And when i walk, let me walk for the soldier who does not know  how to walk in peace but sees enemies everywhere When i eat let me eat for the mother in Darfur going hungry to save the last scraps of food for her starving children And when i eat let me eat for the mult...

Compassion grows as mindfulness slows A warm embrace brings a tear to my face A deep look, the words from the book As together we transform we bring calm into the storm We grow peace by peace to ease the raging seas See the new spring bud coming out after the flood Set free the white dove the answer remains love