• Table of Contents
  • Lecture #8 by Swami Veda Bharati
  • Yoga Is Skillfulness in Actions by Swami Rama
  • Silence After 2013 by Swami Veda Bharati
  • Education Welfare Fund by Sadhana Mishra
  • Hazel Diaries III by Roxanne Currie
  • Sharing a Poem by Riemke de Groot
  • What Is a Master? by Randall Krause
  • Am I A Yogi? by Sudhansu Misra
  • Effect of Yoga on Health by Dr. Shirin Venkat
  • Swami Rama Dhyana Gurukulam New Year by Joanne (Divya)
  • Thank you for… by Shunyaa Tsai
  • Divali 2013 at Rishikesh by Joanne (Divya)
  • Lectures on Superconscious Meditation Summarized
  • 2012 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of our SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

Sharing a Poem

by Riemke de Groot

This message is from a new family member (initiatied during the Dutch Silence Retreat by Stoma)

I'm so happy to be part of this group and planning to come to Rishikesh for first level TTP in March. I'd like to share a poem with the Dutch speaking members of the family.

This poem has been my companion for almost 30 years now, as I first read it during my Theology studies. It was mentioned as a poem for the Advent time. In no time I knew it by heart and recited it for myself on many silent Advent nights. Now that I'm more and more into yoga and meditation, the poem gets ever deeper significance. Sometimes I recite it during Advent time in the yoga classes I teach. It's from one of Netherlands's great poets. Poetry can not be translated without losing its essence, but Google Translator can give the English speaking readers a fairly good impression of the meaning of the poem.

Nacht-stilte

Stil, wees stil: op zilvren voeten
Schrijdt de stilte door den nacht,
Stilte die der goden groeten
Overbrengt naar lage wacht . . .
Wat niet ziel tot ziel kon spreken
Door der dagen ijl gegons,
Spreekt uit overluchtsche streken,
Klaar als ster in licht zoû breken,
Zonder smet van taal of teeken
God in elk van ons.
P.C. Boutens Uit: Vergeten liedjes (1909)

My name is Riemke de Groot, I live in Enschede, Netherlands. After studying Theology, I studied nursing and now I am working part time in a home for demented people. I studied Yoga and Ayurveda and work at home, teaching a few small classes every week and giving Ayurvedic massages and food consultations. www.chaire.nl Connecting with Ahymsin already deepened my own sadhana and that feels like the start of a long road I really enjoy to walk.

Editor's Note:

To read an English translation of this poem, we invite you to read “A famous poem by P.C. Boutens, the Dutch poet, which defies translation” by John Irons at http://johnirons.blogspot.com/2011/09/famous-poem-by-pc-boutens-dutch-poet.html John Irons wrote his doctoral thesis on Boutens’ poetry (1971).