Five years ago when Ivan Granger was going through a personal crisis, he found the lurking despair gradually transforming into the courage to surrender. “There was an unexpected and profound spiritual opening in my life. I found myself in a state of deep silence and inexpressible joy.” At that time, he had been listening to David Whyte’s talks, and reading the poetry of Ramprasad. “I had never come across poetry like that before, deeply devotional, but filled with exuberance, irony, sometimes playfully petulant, even moments of outrage. This felt like a full relationship with the Divine. Every emotion, every thought was allowed; not just allowed, but fully utilized upon the spiritual path.” He also came across the work of Shaykh Abu Said Abil-Kheir, a Sufi who stunned him with beauty, humour and cutting insight. Ivan too felt the urge to adopt poetry as a form of self-expression. While tracking down English translations of sacred poetry from Hindu, Sufi, Buddhist and Christian traditions, he was amazed to find the same recurring metaphors. He now runs Poetry Chaikhana (www.poetry-chaikhana.com), a website offering sacred poetry from various mystical traditions. The site takes its name from teahouses along the legendary silk route where mystics would gather to sip and sing songs of the divine. “There is a small garden in my front yard, but I have to admit I don’t take very good care of it. I water it occasionally, and only rarely pull weeds. Just yesterday I noticed that all of the flowers were in bloom. Poetry has been like that in my life. It is a spontaneous, beautiful gift in my life, a gift I love to share…” Thanks Ivan.
NOTE: This was published in Life Positive.
