'tis the gift to be free
All spiritual disciplines point to an ideal: Liberation; freedom from that which complicates, loosening the grip of the ego that clamors for attention and demands fulfillment of its multifarious cravings and reacts to countless aversions. Moksha, nirvana, samadhi describe the state of liberation from karma, the causality that rules the world of duality. The simple life is oft prescribed to assist in disencumbering a life's worth of habits, desires and fears, and to help unburden a future life of further complications, leaving the ego aside.
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be
The destination or the goal which becomes increasingly clear along the mystic's path is not illumined by the machinations of the mind. It is seen through the mist by the view of the clarifying heart. The movement of the path is downward from the confused ego mind into the heart where true wisdom resides. We come down, as it were, from the head to where we ought to be: alive in and identified with the awakened heart. The Gift is the very life lived according to the pull of the wise heart's intuition.
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
The heart confers infallibly justice and rightness, where the mind cannot. And when we identify as the heart, we find our true home, so that no matter where we find ourselves in the world, abiding in that inner home is the right place to be.
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight
Heaven is not some remote place; it is evident here on Earth in its natural abundance, surrounding the one whose awareness is not informed by the senses alone. Heaven on earth is that rarefied Valley inhabited by those who see no hell but who enjoy the inner radiance and love that make Heaven the delight it becomes.
When true simplicity is gain'd
One who ascribes to a Sufi path is not a Sufi, per se. The Sufi is one who has uncovered the inner reality and has opened the eyes of the heart and, seeing through those eyes, no longer beholds the illusory, the only landscape the ego can see, and yet embraces all. The life then lived is a natural and harmonious life, a simple life.
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd
The ego by definition is self-conscious and unpleasantly so. It feels embarrassed to move, to sing, to speak or to dance in front of others. Those ruled by ego may bow, but this reverence does not sink into complete surrender to that which is worshipped, and the attitude remains inflexible. As the Tao reminds us, it is the supple reed that bends, while the stiff reed breaks. Once we have identified with spirit, we may detach from our fixed notions and move freely, unashamed, when we dance to the call of the heart's music.
To turn, turn will be our delight
Historical evidence has revealed that this song is a dance song and that the inclusion of "turn" is a direction for the dancers. But there is more. Here we have the sense of the Hebrew "thsuva" and the Arabic "tawwab," whose shared meaning includes the sense of turning, always toward the light of the Beloved, offering up our flawed selves in the purifying presence of the One who does not turn or turn away, but who sees, accepts and forgives all. Our joy is enlivened by the love flowing ever toward us and fanned by the flames of the divine light with every turn.
Till by turning, turning we come round right
The path is simply to continue to turn toward our Ideal again and again, or perpetually, until a permanent resonance with it is established as our identity, and therewith, our intention and every action. Thus merged with the One, we become the axis mundi, the intersection between Heaven and Earth. Dervishes who turn do so to set themselves and the universe aright, to cast off the unreal until they become the Real. We are right when we assume our right place relative to or indistinguishable from the Divine that is the true Source; we claim our birthright as a living manifestation of the One. - Shivadam Adam Burke 11/19/2010
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*"Simple Gifts" was written by Elder Joseph Brackett while he was at the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine in 1848. These are the lyrics to his one-verse song:
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.
Several Shaker manuscripts indicate that this is a "Dancing Song" or a "Quick Dance." The references to "turning" in the last two lines have been identified as dance instructions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Gifts
For much more information about this beautiful song, please visit: http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/shakermusic4.htm
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Shivadam Adam Burke is a certified Dance leader, mureed in the Sufi Ruhaniat International, and member of the Board of Directors of Dances of Universal Peace, North America. He also leads kirtan. He is co-founder of the Phoenix Kirtan Sangha and the Phoenix-based kirtan ensemble, Prema Rupa. He is an award-winning composer and recording artist.
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