In this early translation of Mirabai, a 14th century poet and mystic, she speaks of 

the body as being like the ocean that holds sacred gifts that cannot be seen at first 

glance, but once found are like “rare flowers” and “hidden treasures.” She calls 

out to us to open our “inner chamber and light its lamp.” To open our hearts, 

to look with our hearts, and understand that the sacred garden within will be 

revealed. 
When we open our hearts, through the practice of meditation, the Divine is 

revealed. Our heart rises with the breath of meditation and we begin to “see” and 

experience the benefits, the “hidden treasures,” and to hear “the inner music,” the 

mystical Om, that vibrates within us and as all of creation. Mirabai calls out to us, 

“O friend, understand.” She knows. She is speaking from her own experience, her 

own garden within. She recognizes from her own turning toward the Divine, that 

riches await us in the internal garden. 
In Vedic literature, paramahansa, or great swan, refers to those who have attained 

the highest level of spiritual awareness; this makes us think of Paramahansa 

Yogananda and other enlightened ones. Mirabai suggests that our true “joy”—the 

one that sets us free like “the white soul-swans” that glide upon the lake, comes 

from understanding our highest calling. 

Parthenia M. Hicks, M. Div. is the Poet Laureate of Los Gatos, CA and Enlightenment Journal's  

poetry editor. Her most recent publications include Remembering: An Anthology of Poems and Sweet 

Obsession: The Art of Lynn Powers. 

O friend, understand.

   The body is like the ocean, rich with  
        hidden treasures.

                Open your innermost chamber

                       And light its lamp,

                           Within the body are gardens,

                             Rare flowers, peacocks;  
                          the inner music;

                      Within the body a lake of bliss,

               On it, the white soul-swans take their joy.

         —Mirabai

POETRY