THE MAN IN RED 1906 - 1993

Wrapped in a deep
Red-Orange Sadhu cloth
He appears serene
Looking out from
The cover of his book.

His face is framed in 
Shoulder length white hair and 
Full beard, hooded eyes 
Narrowed under the harsh sun
Of Tamil Nadu.

This is Bede Griffiths
Late of Oxford
And founder of the Ashram
Saccidananda, a Sanskrit word
Meaning ‘Knowledge, Being and Bliss’.

His consciousness
Remains available to us
As we contemplate his image.
His Holiness shapes
Our Inner Self 

As we reach towards the apotheosis 
Of our Spiritual Imaginations:
Faith in the One;
In that primordial island 
Of Being beyond Space and Time

Eternally presaged by
Such Blessed Avatars
As The Man in Red
In an image still suffused
With his journey into Bliss.