I bought a book of raffle tickets

With charity for those in want

And won a trip from Waco Texas

To India's subcontinent

By way of Dallas o'er the North Pole

Without a clue what I might find

I'd heard Calcutta has a Black Hole

Yet found there nothing of the kind

  I came upon a sacred temple

The ancient shrine of Jagannath

Existing since nine thousand BC

Before Atlantis' final bath

I met a swami called The Guru

In his garden we took a walk

He cited scripture from The Vedas

I hushed my mouth and let him talk

  Deep in my soul his ideas set me burning

Ablaze in the light of his mystic revelations

No one departs life without returning

Believe true believers in reincarnation

He asked me if I'd heard of yoga

I shrugged my shoulders as I said

  "I knew this gal once from El Paso

She used to stand upon her head"

"Life's puzzle comes in many pieces"

He said "This science makes it whole

And by its practice you'll discover

The deepest secrets of your soul"

I asked if I could be his student

He did not hedge nor hesitate

But started with the hardest lesson

To teach me how to meditate

"This isn't all that complicated"

He promised me to my surprise

"But then again it's not that easy

To just sit still and close your eyes"

  Deep in my soul his ideas set me burning

Ablaze in the light of his mystic revelations

No one departs life without returning

Believe true believers in reincarnation

We sat down for about an hour

I tried to see the Astral Light

Reflecting back between my eyebrows

But all appeared as dark as night

  "Don't be discouraged by this failure

Success is sure to come in time

Nonsensical as all this may seem

With patience it becomes sublime"

  He lectured long on metaphysics

From before birth to beyond death

Instructed me in pranayama

"To still the senses kill the breath"

I learned to chant to tune the world out

  And not allow my thoughts to roam

Repeating often with devotion

The superconscious sound of OM

  Deep in my soul his ideas set me burning

Ablaze in the light of his mystic revelations

No one departs life without returning

Believe true believers in reincarnation

He posed the notion Hell and Heaven

Begin and end with state of mind

  "Our karma's bounty we must harvest

And bitter fruit yields no sweet wine

  Don't fret that you're not yet perfected

You'll surely get another chance

Your consciousness must wax to cosmic

Before you sit out of this dance"

  He quoted from the Bhagavad-Gita

The song of pure enlightenment

Then sent me homeward on my journey

With sound advice sincerely meant

  "The supreme goal of Kriya Yoga

Is human suff'ring to erase

Prescribe your Self such cultivation

To leave this world a better place"

  Deep in my soul his ideas set me burning

Ablaze in the light of his mystic revelations

No one departs life without returning

Believe true believers in reincarnation

  I'm back home on the plains of Texas

But nothing 'bout me's quite the same

Where once I struggled for survival

There's no wild horse now I can't tame

Although I was a barroom brawler

  A cowboy with bad attitude

My macho ego's now much smaller

Replaced by bliss and gratitude

  I'd never called myself religious

No pilgrim on salvation's path

I gave no thought to consequences

Nor God's almighty righteous wrath

I bless my Hindu monk who taught me

To free my Divine Soul from strife

By giving love to all my neighbors

As Christ and Krishna lived their lives

  Deep in my soul his ideas set me burning

Ablaze in the light of his mystic revelations

No one departs life without returning

Believe true believers in reincarnation

  I left the sagebrush for The Sages

To India by fate was sent

Breathed in the wisdom of the ages

And thereby changed my heart's content

  You may have doubts about my story

But no tall Texas tale I've spun

I testify by all that's holy

Life like an endless river runs

  Deep in my soul his ideas set me burning

Ablaze in the light of his mystic revelations

No one departs life without returning

Believe true believers in reincarnation