WHY WAS THE MASTER SILENT? "Oh, Master, why were You silent?" I asked of Him one day. And He turned and looked at me With His All-knowing look That understands all our questioning, And in my mind an answer began to form. "Silent?" Asked the Ancient One. "Be silent a moment and hear Me speak. I speak in the squawking of the gullls And the padding of soft shoes on pavement. I speak in the roar of the ocean And in every drop that falls." "Be still and you will hear Me speak, For only in the noise of your own mind Can My Voice ever be lost." "The Universe is alive With the Music of My speaking." "Yet if in this human form I do not talk with my mouth, It is so you will learn To be guard over yours." "For I have come in an age When words spew forth from mouths Like lava from volcanoes, Covering all in their ashen haze." "A word is sacred, yet men Exchange these jewels In the marketplace With looks of boredom, Avarice and contempt." I come to restore the key To this Treasure Chest called Man: I come to bring back The Wholeness that was lost." And if I do not speak with my tongue, Then perhaps I need not: For all words, on every tongue, Are Mine." (1976) |