How long?

How long?

This is a question of 
Self-Inquiry
Time as thought
a mind presses
the question
 impatience laden
enduring waiting
and longing..
With a final sigh
of exhaustion 
 the mind fades
at last
into the Grace
now absorbing
the illusive time...

Psalm 13  (NRSV)

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

    How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I bear pain in my soul,

    and have sorrow in my heart all day long?

   How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!

    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,

4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;

    my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

5 But I trusted in your steadfast love;

    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

6 I will sing to the Lord,

    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

"Sooner or later the question of 'Who am I' will have to be faced. All [practice] that leads to this question is good. For, by itself, nothing else is fully effective since Self-knowledge comes only through Self-Inquiry. Other methods purify the mind and help it to see its own limits. When the mind comes to the end of its resources, and stands baffled before the unanswerable question, then a Higher Power takes charge of the mind and the Self stands revealed as the real, the wonderful." 

— Ramana Maharshi (Non-duality Sage, 1879-1950)