Who is Kareema, the dancing Goddess?
 
Is she but one wondrous woman?
Sublime and earthy, sacred and sacral, magnificent, complete
Such a gorgeous, glorious reflection of Divinity,
Is costumed dancer merely created in Her image?
Or is She that very Goddess, Herself?
Her Holy Oneness, in all Her Aspects,
Quite beyond partial description:

Immaculate, naked, Aware Space,
Pregnant with Possibility,
The Ultimate Subject, sans subject,
First Cause, without cause,
She Is -- You Are -- The Creat'ress, Unborn.
You, Beloved, are Mother of invention,
Muse to all inspired improvisation,
Midwife, and Witness, of all that comes into the world,
Audience and Applause,
Eternal, before opening curtain, after final bow.
You are Vastness so vast, Your Fullness contains even Nothingness,
You are Voidness so void, You're empty of any trace of Emptiness.

Your loving invitation, joy, and appreciation,
Command the Dance into Existence.
It cannot resist, coaxed into Being
By virtue of Your intoxicating, sublime Surrender,
So ethereal, so mysterious behind the veil,
So submissive, Your indomitable Power creates the Cosmos --
The Dance of All Dances, Beingness Itself!

You are That, Beloved
Creator and Creation,
Subject and Object,
Mother, Daughter, Holy Spirit --
That Trinity, appearing tripartate only to mind,
Interpenetrates so completely, so intimately,
There can be, in Truth, but One.
You are That, my undulating Deva.

You know this, of course.
Still it is such a delight to celebrate,
To remind You, just in case, that in Your Freedom,
You may sometimes choose to play Hide and Seek with Your Self.

The sorrowful wail of the reed flute,
Longing to return to its riverbed womb,
Falls silent to the Bliss --
Of Your Own Recognition of indivisible Oneness --
That You, your Heart,
And the 'long and winding road' that leads to That Door,
Are One, Beloved.
You are That!  You are Home.
Indeed, You never left!


© 2004 Mischa Rinder
Contact Mischa  mischa@BeThat.org