Deep Down

Deep Down, deep down, deep down in Patala Lingum.
Well when I was a boy they called me Venkataraman. And I lived with my family in Tiruchuzi. Then one day in a room in a house in Madurai. A sudden terrifying fear of death came over me. Well my body became rigid and I stopped breathing. Still conscious and aware that this I was existing. Apart from this body that lay dead beside me. And this all passed through me in what seemed like an instant. A direct experience of truth in the moment.

I called it deep down, deep down
deep down in patala lingum.

Well it seemed like a command to search for my real father. For the one who calls me from this ever after. So I boarded a train for Tiruvanamalai. And arrived at the temple of a Arunachaleshwar. Sitting down in silence for what seemed like an eternity.

Then some poor young beggar boys full of hope and curiosity. Came each day to play tricks in an attempt to disturb me. So I moved to a place there where I could just sit quietly. To an underground pit that they called patala lingum.

So I went deep down, deep down, deep down in patala lingum.

Well I'm deep down in patala lingum. Where the rats and mosquitoes are eating my body. And the sweet smell of death is forever upon me. Unaware of discomfort and a bodily existence. Just entirely full of this bliss in the moment. I’m just lost and absorbed in the self here all through me. Knowing nothing at all 'cause there’s nothing new to me. I’m just deep down in patala lingum. Deep down.

Deep down, deep down, deep down in patala lingum.

Well I’m deep down in patala lingum. Away from the pundits and the spiritual teachers. And the boys throwing stones but I’m not here to see them. Unaware of the blood that sticks to my loin cloth. Cause I’m totally absorbed in the bowels of this mountain. And there’s nothing to tell and there’s no-one to tell them. About the boy and his journey down to patala lingum.

And I’d rather be here than to be with my family. Well my mother came searching but she didn’t find me. And now I cannot move away from her samadhi. There’s no day, there’s no night 'cause the sun doesn’t shine here. There’s no time, there’s no way to say just how long I’ve been here. And I’ve really no idea or thought in the mind here. Because only this I that exists is existing. And everything else is just illusion persisting. Paying no attention to whatever is found here. Let it all come to rest here down, in patala lingum.

Deep down, deep down, deep down in patala lingum.

Well I’m deep down in Patala Lingum. I was always here and forever I’ll be there. Well its not really down, really up or really anywhere. Just a way to describe that which has no description. Just a word for a song that appears to flow through me. To be written, to be sung, to be listened, to be spoken. By itself, for itself, be it closed or be it open. No beginning, no end, to this infinite wisdom. Let it all disappear here down in patala lingum.

Deep down, deep down, deep down in patala lingum.

© 1998-2009 A.G.Smith