Home » Reading & Literature » Modern U.S. Poetry » Poetry and Spirituality

Poetry and Spirituality

© Linda Sue Grimes

Poetry is the language vehicle of spirituality. Because spirituality is of a different plane of being from the physical and mental, only metaphor can attempt to express the essence of spirituality. One of the foremost poet's of the spiritual is the great yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda. And one of his most beloved volumes of poems/prayers is Whispers from Eternity.

The very title draws us to a plane of extraordinary being: we can feel those "whispers" in the very depth of our souls, because they come from a place that is ever-existing. Eternity whispers and we realize that we can hear those whispers anytime, anywhere we are, but especially when we become very still and quiet.

The beautiful, opening dedication of the book states:

Dedicated unto
Christians, Moslems, Buddhists, Hebrews,
Hindus, and all other religionists,
In whom the Cosmic heart is ever throbbing equally.

Renowned soprano, Amelita Galli-Curci, writes in the Foreword, "The prayers in Whispers from Eternity serve to bring God closer to us, by describing the liberating feelings that arise from actual communion with Him." That was Paramahansa Yogananda's main purpose in coming the United States and his main purpose in life, to describe his own enlightenment and union with God, and to teach us how we too can have that experience.

In his Introduction, the great yogi states, "I offer my simple songs at the shrine of humanity, that all share my soul joy." The first poem/song/prayer titled "Salutation to God as the Great Preceptor" follows:

Full of bliss, bestowing joy transcendent, Essence of wisdom, untouched by duality, clear as the taintless sky, the Utterer of Thou art That, the One, eternal, pure immovable, the omnipresent Witness, free from nature's three qualities, beyond the reach of thought-my Divine Preceptor, I bow to Thee!

After the beautiful invocation to God, the great yogi speaking his whispers enlightens us with the following titled "The melody of human brotherhood":

Heavenly Spirit, we are traveling by many right roads to Thine abode of light Guide us onto the highway of Self-knowledge, to which all paths of true religious beliefs eventually lead.

Often using the metaphor of "path" or "highway" to refer to the particular religion, the great yogi lets us know that all religions have the same goal, to unite our souls with God. And though the mistaken idea that one religion is better than another seems to dominate the world's attention, Paramahansa Yogananda makes it clear that all religious roads lead to the same destination.

The copyright of the article Poetry and Spirituality in Modern U.S. Poetry is owned by . Permission to republish Poetry and Spirituality in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.