Gateway

Though the old kutir is now gone,

a new one has risen fresh and strong,
perhaps a bit better than before,
different at least, that much is sure.
Treasures of thought has it in store.
Milk-white pearls from beneath the sea
are kept here safely for all to see.
"What sea is that?" you may ask me.
And I reply: "The sea of bhakti."
Bhakti? What's that? Someone may ask.
Explaining bhakti's no easy task.
It's from bhaj, a Sanskrit root,
with too many meanings to moot:
"to share, to resort to, to serve, to possess,
to enjoy, to feel, to adore" and the rest.
The one I like perhaps the best
is the meaning "to choose."
When one chooses another
it's called it love says my Muse.

Life's basic force is to love and loved be,
a de-centering of self leading to intimacy.
Surely you know that alone we are born;
alone do we wander down paths now well worn;
alone do we stay 'til death brings on the end.
Is solitude then our only true friend?
Sadly indeed that may be the case;
but that's no pleasing future to face.
Thus do we search for someone's true love,
a lover who stands some place above
the shifting quick sand
of this impermanent land.
Bhakti, then, stands for our quest
to find that place where we fit the best.

This is not your usual bhakti site.
Here we'll exert our critical might
to separate goofy from right.
History for us is a good friend;
so too are science and text criticism.
With these sources of light will we
try to dispell the night of mendacity.

And for you, if your brain still ticks,
unstunned by the antics of fanatical hicks,
visit Nitai's quaint little store,
buy a book and read it, that's what they 're for.

If serving is what pleases you,
visit to our foundation site, too
We wish to make the world a better place,
not watch it go dark in cold, empty space.
If you wish you can lend us a hand,
together perhaps we'll protect some land.

II

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