The Banyan Tree Poem by Savita Tyagi

Sitting under the Banyan tree I watch the water hitting its raised roots
Restless and agitated as a disturbed mind.
It's effervescence matching my own state of mind.
On the sun baked land the Banyan tree stands alone in silent meditation.
Calm and magnificent, towering against my littleness.

The Banyan tree, the most ancient, the most beautiful
Metaphor, for our wondrous Universe.
The question is still one and same- Who is the Creator?
But answers vary.
‘There is but one God', does't satisfy all.
For many it is neither a truth, nor a reality.

If there is One entity
Clearly it is Unknown;
He, She or It - nothing can be assigned to it.
Far from logic these titles seem to be the creation of an authoritarian mind.
A Male figure for a strong Patriarch
A Female title of a Matriarch origin
Or an It for an Atheist inquirer.

By some mysterious process
The unknown Power or Powers
Descend into Universe,
And the play of life starts!
All beings fight for its survival
By confrontation or by cooperation.

To calm our agitated and restless mind,
For our yearning to seek an answer for unanswered questions,
Our scriptures advise us to have ‘Faith, Devotion and Meditative Knowledge'.
When all answers fail to satisfy you, seek it within yourself with help of these tools.
'In an undisturbed place, in a comfortable posture, clean and pure, neck, head and body in balance and restive position, all the senses in control, meditate and revere your own teacher, residing in your own heart, the Untainted, the Pure, the Clear, and the Grief-less.'

Note: Kathopanishad, Bhagavan Geeta and many other scriptures use 'Ashwatha' or Banyan Tree as Metaphor for the Universe. Those verses are my inspiration for this poem.

The quote is from Kaivalya Upanishad.

Savita Tyagi
8.28.2022

Thank you PoemHunter for choosing this poem as one of the best poem by member poems at # 69.
Oct.13.2022