Sefer Yetzirah - Stones and Mystery - Der Nister Meditation Circle
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Primary Wonder
by Denise Levertov
by Denise Levertov
Days pass when I forget the mystery.
Problems insoluble and problems offering
their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing
their colored clothes; cap and bells.
And then
once more the quiet mystery
is present to me, the throng's clamor
recedes: the mystery
that there is anything, anything at all,
let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything,
rather than void: and that, O Lord,
Creator, Hallowed One, You still,
hour by hour sustain it.
Problems insoluble and problems offering
their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing
their colored clothes; cap and bells.
And then
once more the quiet mystery
is present to me, the throng's clamor
recedes: the mystery
that there is anything, anything at all,
let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything,
rather than void: and that, O Lord,
Creator, Hallowed One, You still,
hour by hour sustain it.
כאזה צד צרפן
שתי אבנים בונות שני בתים
שלש בונות ששה בתים
ארבע בונות ארבעה ועשרים בתים
חמש בונות מאה ועשרים בתים
שש בונות שבע מאות ועשרים בתים
שבע בונות חמשת אלפים וארבעים בתים
מכאן ואילך צא וחשוב
מה שאין הפה יכול לדבר
ומה שאין האוזן יכולה לשמוע
(4)
In what way did God combine them?
Two stones build two houses;
three build six houses;
four build twenty-four houses;
five build one hundred and twenty houses;
six build seven hundred and twenty houses;
seven build five thousand and forty houses.
From here on out,
go and contemplate
what the mouth cannot speak
and the ear cannot hear.
-translation Rabbi Jill Hammer
Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower
Written by Rainer Maria Rilke, Translated by Joanna Macy
Written by Rainer Maria Rilke, Translated by Joanna Macy
Quiet friend who has come so far,
feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,
what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.
In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.
And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.
feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,
what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.
In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.
And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.
-From Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29
