~ May 26
It is not ordinary wine I drink, but a special kind:
it is the name of the goddess, Mother Kali.
When I repeat it, over and over and over,
I become so intoxicated people imagine I am drunk!
My teacher’s words are the molasses for this brew,
and my own longing causes fermentation.
Knowledge pours the wine for me from the bottle
formed of the sacred words of goddess prayers.
I drink it, invoking her. Now you drink, too,
and all of life’s most precious fruits are yours.
-Indian poet Ramprasad
Those who have encountered death, who have lived for a time in the embrace of Mother Kali, can be the most eager for life. Sages who meditate upon this dark goddess report a similar ecstasy that comes from truly encountering the mystery toward which we all are moving.
To live with awareness of death is to live in an altered state of consciousness, for our usual mental state is one of denial. We think that by deadening awareness of life’s fragility and brevity, we may live more fully. But quite the opposite is true.The effort to remain unconscious saps us. When we release this rigid denial, we are so flooded with energy that life takes on new savor and new meaning. As the Hindu saints tell us, meditation upon Kali, upon our approaching death, is a certain way to a full and passionate life.
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