Knight of the Dungeon of the Rib Cage

I am, me,

myself,

my environments,

my projection,

my parallel,

my perpendicular,

and my principle.

That many I am.

And if all that many of me are not understood

not felt, not taken care of,

not loved and not put together,

I,ll just die as unknown mystery,

Unremembered and forgotten.

That is the story of every man or woman,

born in the rib cage,

the dungeon of karma.

In my ecstasy of consciousness,

I see the skies, I see the stars

and I know and I feel

the movement

and the magnetic field

and the infinity

and the light

and the darkness.

But, in that culture of so much happening

I still, I am

very, very, very extremely

very, very lonely

A slave of the dungeon of the rib cage.

I hear music,

I create music,

I know rhythm,

I know voices,

I hear the birds,

I hear even the fishes talking,

I am trying to see and feel

everything in the world I know

and I know the sounds

and the sounds which I can’t hear.

But, I am the slave of the rib cage,

and nearest to me is my heart

and I do not recognize its very sound.

So arrogant and so ignorant

and so much in duality I keep living.

Each day gives me the message

of beauty

of bounty

of prosperity

of flourishness

of blossom

I’m going, and going, and going, and going

on the path of infinity.

Cycle after cycle

prayer after prayer

grace after grace

rosary after rosary

feast after feast

and fast after fast,

I’ve gone through the passage of life

But still, I am the slave of the dungeon of the rib cage.

Many have called me human

Many have called me beast

Many have called me lower being

Some people have called me higher being

Sometime I do experience

the infinity of God

And the light of the heavens shed through me

And sometime I spoke the word of Truth

Which God gave me to be

I was channeled

I was channeled.

And many times I’m just lowest of the low

And the creature and the dungeon

of the dirt of the dirt

of the human caliber and behavior

and I, in that duality, keep on living,

But still, I am the slave of the dungeon of the rib cage.

Now I feel the touch of God

has touched me

and I am free.

In that freedom I feel the ecstasy of Light.

I’m polite

I’m good

I’m God.

Listen to Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan reciting this poem at his lecture on December 6, 1982

Listen to the whole lecture from Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan on December 6, 1982

Here is the “Knight of the Dungeon of the Rib Cage” as it  originally appeared in Beads of Truth, based on a class  lecture delivered by Yogi Bhajan in December 1982.

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This poem appears in the book Game of Love, by Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan

The Game of Love is a very personal experience of the consciousness of the Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan, the man, the teacher and the master, through his complete collection of poems in English.The book is filled with deep insights into how to have successful relationships, both with oneself and others. At its essence, it is a guide to living in the 21st century and beyond.Illustrated with his own drawings, and including an audio CD of The Dungeon of the Ribcage that was conceived and recited live by the Siri Singh Sahib. Available in hard and softcover.

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