The mind-horse gallops over the skies,
Momently traverses a million miles.
Consciousness-bridle will hold it in check,
Control the wings of the airs that go up and down.
Shiva is the horse, Keshava the saddle,
And Brahma becomes the stirrup.
The yogi through his yoga will come to know,
Which God will dare to mount this horse.
The unimpaired sound, the void of the sky,
The One with no name nor family nor caste,
Just the Self-aware Sound and the Dot eternal
That God alone will mount this horse.
The mind-horse I reined in and put on course,
Holding him still with the ten air-channels.
The mystic moon melted and downwards flowed.
And the void was absorbed into the void!
Excerpt from "Some Vaakhs of Lal Ded and Their English Translation",
by Neerja Mattoo. To be found in Lal Ded: The Great Kashmiri Saint-Poetess
