A Beautiful Pain

Maharaj Kaul

Description

This luminous collection of poems focuses on joy, beauty, and the wonder of life, offering a meditation on life’s meaning.

In the varied concatenation of life’s experiences lies its essence–a journey full of joy and pain. Man comes with pristine qualities of truthfulness, simplicity, and the wonder of nature. In his birth lies his religion. It is his passage through the world that is often full of struggle; in response, he looks for a God to help him.

A Beautiful Pain presents a collection of poems ruminating on joy, beauty, and the wonder of life. Meditating on life’s meaning, it explores the range of human emotions, from the pain of first heartbreak to a study of the quintessence of inner luminosity. Poet Maharaj Kaul searches for the truth of life in this collection, which like life itself is multi-faceted and has a few grand themes running through it.

There is a road in front of us smoother than any highway we have seen,

There is music beckoning us more rapturous than we have ever heard,

There is faith in us stronger than a million facts we have known,

There is a light within us more luminous than the thousand exploding suns,

We were born with a spirit thirsting for the infinite.

 —from “Quintessence of Inner Luminosity”

Sujets

• Religión
• God
• Poetry
• Truth
• Joy
• Religion
• Beauty

Informations

• Publié par: iUniverse
• Date de parution: 24 mai 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781475922639
• Langue: English

Extrait

A Beautiful Pain

Maharaj Kaul


A Beautiful Pain
 
 
Copyright © 2012 Maharaj Kaul.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
 
 
ISBN: 978-1-4759-2265-3 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4759-2264-6 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4759-2263-9 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012908349
 
 
 
iUniverse rev. date: 11/21/2022
Contents

Other Books by Maharaj Kaul
A Beautiful Pain
1.A Moment In Time
2.Where Two Rivers Converge
3.The First Heartbreak
4.Not Enough
5.I Walk Alone Toward The Crimson Horizon
6.Quintessence Of Inner Luminosity
7.Dreams Of A Rebirth
8.Last Day In The World
9.Cynthia’s Choice
10.Two Marigolds For Cathy
11.The Marred Glow Of Our Love
12.Crescent Plaza At 4:00 P.M.
13.Endless Weekend
14.Torment Of A Sleepless Night
15.Rendezvous At The Mall
16.In The Trenches Of Love
17.Walking Beyond The Bend Of Time
18.A Silent Dream
19.Impropriety Of My Love
20.Catharsis Of An Evening
21.Let’s Forget We Ever Met
22.Where Light Touches The Land
23.A Deserted Door At The End Of A Lonely Lane
24.You Ask Me Who Is My God?
25.Look At The Mountain
26.The Little Hut Across The River
27.Two Flowers On An Unknown Poet’s Grave
28.Enigma Of Tomorrow
29.Dreams Of A New Spring
30.I Have Nothing
31.Suzanne Does Not Live Here Anymore
32.Two New Flowers Have Blossomed In Our Garden
33.In The Realm Of Sleep
34.Dance At Howard’s Creek
35.Ashes Of A Bonfire
36.Intimations Of Spring
37.A Mile Away From Home
38.Crossing Eternity Bridge
39.When She Was Good
40.Aspects Of Life
41.As Life Passed
42.Death And Rebirth Of K.O.A.
43.A Tryst At Nishat Bagh
44.Aura Of Mystery At Pari Mahal
45.Pensive Moments At Shalimar Bagh
46.Blood And Tears At Fateh Kadal
47.I Don’t Want The World To Forget Me So Soon
48.Who Am I?
49.Kashmir’s Soul Under Pressure
50.Sorrow Of Unrequited Love
Other Books by Maharaj Kaul
 
 
1. Meditation On Time
2. Destruction And Injustice: Tribulations Of Kashmiri Pandits
3. Life With Father
4. Inclinations And Reality: The Search For The Absolute
5. The Light Through The Woods: Dreams Of Survival Of Human Soul In The Age Of Technology
6. Agony Of Dal Lake: Kashmir’s Soul Under Pressure
A Beautiful Pain

Near the end of the journey
I feel like a boy playing at the seashore of time.
Surf high and strong stroking me,
Misty breeze caressing in a mischievous play,
Grayish silver sand clinging softly,
Thin line of horizon beckoning to the unknown.
 
But in the throes of the world my soul squirmed endlessly,
Its ways and logic twisted my grace,
Inner music choked through the sharp sieve of survival,
I could understand a system for all,
But the rules were crude and the justice was flawed.
 
God made a human in his image:
Pregnant with a spark, infinite in potential,
Fair and strong,
But the world molested him deep,
Turning his passage through it into
A beautiful pain.
A Moment In Time

The evening unfolded in resplendent lights and colors:
Beautiful women with charming dresses
Draped the gathering in mirth and grace.
The new Kaul house opened up at the first sighting
Like a ravishing new sculpture by a still-pure new artist:
Spaces melting into each other, blending form with function.
The smell of the new furniture mixed with the aroma of the food waiting to be eaten.
The occasion to celebrate Shiva and Druva’s yagneopavit
Lifted the mood of the party to a delicious lightness.
The superior cup of kheva at the outset further loosened the social inhibitions:
People become less self-conscious and more giving to the moment.
Rajni’s cooking was authentic Kashmiri – several notches higher than the usual.
Her ever-present friendly smile made the place comfortable the moment you entered it.
Rabinder’s calm demeanor and his pious aura made some nervous
But he balanced it by offering the mood elevating drinks in a low-key self-serve way to the surprise of the many.
The after-dinner soiree of the Kashmiri music by its priest, Rakesh Kaul,
Transported people to the old Kashmir that is no more.
It was a smoothly elegant celebration even without the participation of the main celebrants – Shiva and Dhruva.
Departing the house I felt that the new house will provide Kauls with many pearls of happiness.
Where T wo Rivers Converge

Rahul and Anjali were born and lived in two different worlds:
One in San Francisco and the other in Miami.
Though progeny of the same Kashmiri Pandit community
They grew up like plants in two different nurseries.
 
It is not important to know how and where they met
But we know that at some point a spark was produced between them
That has lit up their universes.
 
What is love? We do not know what it is
But we know it is among the most sublime of experiences.
It makes us larger than life, it makes us see things in a different light;
It makes us know the special nature of human life,
It brings us closer to God.
 
There are dreams hanging in the skies,
There is a music lying deep in the recesses of human heart.
We see and hear them often but ignore them
Due to the strident sounds of the world that surround us.
 
It is in the nature of nature to have a man and a woman
Bond to produce love, family, and society,
To give the journey of a man and a woman in the human phase
Substance, order, and meaning.
 
Every time a man falls in love with a woman
A miracle takes place.
Somewhere deep within them an emotion arises seeking each other:
That is elemental, transcendental, and inscrutable.
But beyond that we know that love is an expansion of mind,
Enlargement of heart, and deepening of compassion.
 
Any new marriage between a man and a woman
Is a testimony that God has not yet lost faith in human beings,
That He wants the human race to continue.
We live in the times of crass individualism where some of the
Cherished human values and visions have been trampled at the altar of self.
 
Rahul and Anjali are two birds flying out yonder in the deep open skies,
Following each other without reason, without a goal.
It is a bond beyond worldly logic, beyond morality,
It is a connection forged in heavens for cosmos to absorb.
 
Rahul was a carefree boy never tiring playing with his buddies,
Anjali was a sweet girl forever lost in her toys.
Both grew up to be ambitious and free human beings
But today they are forsaking their personal freedoms
To gain a larger freedom – to touch the shores of eternity.
 
The story of every man is a little tale etched on a stretch of sand,
The life of human beings continues through their progeny,
To be subsumed in the grand journey of humankind.
Man’s life in the world is merely a worldly manifestation
Of its larger journey to circle the halo of God.
 
In a few days the river called Rahul will confluence with a river called Anjali,
In such a fusion that they will remain indistinguishable from each other,
Yet retain their identities.
It is a bond that enlarges their individual luminosities,
Creating a light more splendorous than before.
 
In the marriage of Rahul and Anjali there is something in stake for all of us:
We want our own unfulfilled dreams getting fulfilled through them;
We want to live with their love for each other
And hope for our future with their hopes for their future –
As we see them as a part of ourselves.
The Fir st Heartbreak

Without suffering pain we cannot perfectly appreciate what joy is,
Without a heartbreak we do not know fully what a treasure human heart is,
Without experiencing a defeat we cannot entirely value victory.
 
For one ecstasy of a seduction by a flower we must first be hurt by two thorns,
For one fulfilling love we must first go through a few heartbreaks,
For living with peace with fellow human beings we must first get wounded by them a few times.
 
The stupendous trove of human wisdom often does not work
To bring happiness to human life or even wipe off one tear.
The experience of life transcends its understanding.
When we smell a rose, it is its direct impact on our elements that transports us to its magic.
No matter how we live, we cannot escape life’s direct experience,
The balm of wisdom can be applied only afterward.
 
Our first hear