MARIAN DZIWISZ

 

 

Tat Twam Asi

 

तत्त्वमसि

‘Ćhandogya Upanishad’

 

Atman is always

identical with Brahman.

 

Therefore, do not seek yourself

in the mirror

or on your smartphone screen,

do not seek yourself

in someone else's words,

for there are only

traces of physical existence.

 

God enclosed in the words

of a priest or politician

is only the essence of words

— a shadow that disappears.

However, if the word is written down,

it becomes an expression

- signs of numbers, letters and images.

An outer garment

that hides the depth.

 

Its inner qualities

can only be known and understood by those

who, reading the words,

looking at the images,

with their senses and their heart,

empathise.

Just as artists and poets do,

looking at the Universe,

but searching within themselves,

for that self in every particle of being.

 

In it, tastes, smells,

As in the fruit of knowledge

- all hidden contents.

That is why ‘Tat Twam Asi’,

the old truth proclaims.

The Son is identical to the Father.

For each of us

comes from our ancestors,

just as Mnemosyne - Memory

- comes from Uranus and Mother Gaia.

Hence, everyone carries God in their heart.

See him, then,

in the face of the man

who waits at the doorstep

hoping you will not leave him,

for God would not delay,

but would open the door of his house

and welcome him as a brother;

he would embrace him, warm him,

feed him, and give him drink.

 

To Be Is To Trust Oneself

 

It is not belief in the truths proclaimed

by priests and politicians

that makes us human,

but self-awareness.

 

To understand this, one must have insight:

into the contents of memory,

as artists and poets do,

because everything is there,

from the beginning of the Universe.

If it had a beginning,

because eternity is a loop;

and in everything

that the Earth has given us;

what we consume with its bread and salt,

and images of people and nature.

So we must have the courage,

like the paradise WOMAN,

to reach for the FRUIT OF KNOWLEDGE,

read it with the senses

that the body contains

and experience it with the heart.

But not to swallow it like

the WOMAN'S HUSBAND,

blaming the discovery of nakedness

on the WOMAN or the SNAKE

that visited the garden,

but to be able to draw conclusions

from the knowledge of good and evil.

Following the voice

of the heart and not desire

- the inflated ‘ego’

And taking responsibility

- for deeds and words.

By succumbing to others,

we will lose our identity.

 

MARIAN DZIWISZ

 

MARIAN DZIWISZ: Doctor of Humanities – philosopher, born on 1 January 1943 in the village of Michałowice near Krakow. In 1966, he obtained a master's degree in Polish philology and in 1980 a doctorate in humanities. He was the editor and secretary of the following editorial teams: social and cultural monthly magazines: ‘ZDANIE’; ‘PISMO LITERACKO-ARTYSTYCZNE’ and ‘FORMUM MYŚLI WOLNEJ’ in Krakow; assistant professor at the ODN Teacher Training Institute in Krakow; Polish language teacher in secondary schools and technical colleges; lecturer in philosophy at Krakow universities, including Postgraduate Studies in Philosophy/Ethics for Teachers at the Krakow Institute for the Development of Education. In 1987-1989, he became interested in religious studies and became co-editor of the anthologies: ‘Buddhism’ (1987); ‘Taoism’ (1988) and editor of the anthology “Judaism” (1989) published as part of the ‘Literary and Artistic Writings’ Library. He is the author of entries on philosophy and religious studies for the Popular Universal Encyclopaedia, published between 1995 and 1998 by the FOGRA Publishing House in Krakow. In 1978, he made his debut as a poet. Later, his poems were published in, among others, ‘Zdania’, “Okolice” and ‘Pismo Literacko-Artystyczne’ until 1990. His poetry collections include: ‘Bieszczadami natchnione’ (Inspired by the Bieszczady Mountains) 1998; Ergo sum (2007), W kręgu Suchorzeckiego kominka (Around Suchorzecki's Fireplace, 2007); Madonna (2011), Imperatyw kategoryczny (Categorical Imperative, 2014), Wierszozbiór (Poetry Collection, 2018); Tak sobie (Just Like That, 2020); 1/2 dialogu (1/2 Dialogue, 2020); ‘Rajska jabłoń’ (The Paradise Apple Tree), Lul.com, 2021; ‘Nasz powinność’ (Our Duty) [Polish-English], 2021; ‘Michałówka moja mała ojczyzna’ (Michałówka, My Little Homeland), Lulu.com, 2022; ‘Tajemnice Rajskiego Ogrodu’ (Secrets of the Garden of Eden), 2022; ‘Sacrum i profanum’ (Sacred and Profane), 2023. Between 2015 and 2017, he published three volumes of short stories, Semper in altum – Zawsze wzwyż (Always Upwards), with LSW. In 2021, he published Wieża Babel (The Tower of Babel) with Lulu.com, a collection of essays inspired by Olga Tokarczuk's Nobel Prize speech. Since 2020, he has been publishing his poems and essays on the Facebook pages of national and international poetry groups. His poems and essays have been featured in numerous international anthologies, magazines and websites. He is the author of numerous translations of poetry into Polish, including: ‘HIMNO MUNDIAL DE LA POESIA’ by Juan Antonio V. Delagadillo; poems written by, among others: Shikdar Mohammed Kibriah; Luci Roberto Ramirez Gonzales; Niloy Rafiq; Mili Das. He is a member of: Egyptian Internationale for Peace and Human Science - Ambassador of Peace and Humanism; International Academy Of Cultres &Lite; UN-IFAL The International Tedaration of Arts and Lietarture in the world; WORLD UNION OF HUMANISTS; Writers Without Borders - Esritores sin Fronteras; World Wide Writers' Web; Qur Poetry Archive; Kuźnica Association. For his literary and popular science publications and for promoting the ideas of humanism and peace in them, he received numerous honorary doctorates.