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The song that I came to sing remains
I have spent my days in stringing and in
The time has not come true, the words
The blossom has not opened; only the
I have not seen his face, nor have I
The livelong day has passed in spreading
I live in the hope of meeting with him;
Tagore does not know the face or voice of his desire, but he is aware that he has a purpose, a calling, a song to sing, and prepares himself to give the gift by stringing and unstringing his instrument. But the calling has not blossomed, and it is formless like the wind. He can only hear its gentle footsteps; he can capture only a glimpse of his wish, and that glimpse creates agony of desire. From a formless wish, Tagore seeks a body, a guru. He makes his embodied wish an object of his devotion. As an alternative to 'make it happen', Tagore's devotion might seem passive. Why is he unwilling even to communicate his wish with words and ask the visitor to his home? We should not grab or steal the wish, but we should prepare ourselves to receive the wish. We should invite the wish. It is a mystical wish. It requires faith. He cannot light the lamp himself. But by living his wish and by transforming his home he creates an invitation for the visitor. By deeply integrating his wish into his existence he hopes the guru will accept his invitation. Whereas "make it happen" might bring wonderful freshness and newness that breaks old molds, it can also break sacred objects. Tagore's method brings contemplation and integrates spirituality with desire but in the end he is unable to arrive at his destination. Why does Tagore still invest in his process if he not only remains unfulfilled but also in agony? Perhaps because spiritual enlightment cannot be achieved through any other method, or that the delicate blossom would wither if he tried to take it. Perhaps, although he has direction towards his goal, his reward is the process instead of his destination. And even agony can be a sweet and tender reward because it motivates him towards inner growth. Perhaps 'living in his hope' is his true, deeper wish. When we finally step back from the words, we realize that Tagore has actually sung about being unable to sing. The subtle irony is that he has actually written the poem, "the song" itself. And his song is recognition of infinite and incomprehensible spiritual unity. That to be spiritually beautiful means to have respect for beauty and recognize that it is beyond form and destination, that it is "something which cannot be described." -Joseph (Comments?)
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