From mud-depths rising,
Through waters ascending,
To light transforming—
This is the Way.
In darkness binding,
Through love transcending,
To wisdom flowing—
This is the Path.
From death emerging,
Through gates ascending,
To heaven returning—
This is our Truth.
~ Mother Mari of Magadha
This poem captures the essence of Mari’s understanding of transformation. In my own work at the fish market, I often think of these verses while watching the morning sun touch the water - how light penetrates the depths gradually, just as wisdom emerges through layers of experience. Mari uses the lotus, a symbol familiar to her Indian roots, but transforms it into something universal.
Notice how she builds each stanza in three movements - from the physical reality (mud, darkness, death) through the process of transformation, to the emergence of spiritual truth. This three-part structure appears throughout her work, like waves that gradually carry us deeper into understanding.
The simplicity of her language masks profound theological insight - how the divine is found not by escaping our earthly nature but by moving through it mindfully. Every morning when I clean fish, my hands remembering ancient skills, I understand better what she meant about wisdom emerging from the most ordinary acts.
*A dragonfly just landed on my manuscript, its wings catching the light like living stained glass. Mari would have seen in that moment a teaching about how beauty emerges naturally when we stop trying to force it. *