In ignorance and folly I have wasted all my days,
My soul is base:
Thy gift of life is squandered,
My latest days go fleeting by,
And fear grips hard upon me:
Far have I travelled,
Yet little fruit have I of all my wandering:
I have forgotten Thee,
Forgive me, save me
Show me Thy love,
And set me close by Thee, sure fenced from fear and doubt.
If you stop your fault-finding and covetous wayswill your earnings not suffice?If you sit in prayer and meditationwill it cost a living wage?If you trust the words of realized soulswill your boss forget your pay?Is it a burden to pursue wisdom?Do you fear the price it brings?Tuka says,Fools worry about the little stuff.Don’t they know?…
Who slight their person’s needs ( it is not myth)Whose hearts are broad ; Whose lips with honey flow .
It’s so hard to get you started.Everything I tried went wrong.You’ve used up all my faculties.What I just said vanished in the skyAnd I’ve fallen on the ground again.Says Tuka my mind is stunned:I can’t find a word to say.
Hath taught this tale of many gods:It is a lie:For God is One,One only:And unto Him,The One,My soul shall sing her praise.
In the company of saints,my spirit soared.Now I need nothing.My thoughts are of You.My faith is complete.My devotion is true.Distractions are many.Friends say, ‘Grab this world.’They love worthless thingsand call them their pearls.Now I can seethose people are clowns,since death sets a trapand they just fall down.Here I sitalone at your feet.Give me your patienceto…
Is not the same thingAs the inner poiseThat’s poetry.The truth of poetryIs the truthOf being.It’s an experienceOf truth.No ornamentsSurviveA crucible.Fire revealsOnly moltenGold.Says TukaWe are hereTo reveal.We do not wasteWords.
