Bernard Ballard

My name is Bernard Ballard and this is my story. From my earliest memory I have always had a strong desire to know about the deeper things in life. During my youth I spent many years reading and studying the religious concepts from my home religion which is Christianity.

While in college I was introduced to philosophy and with that the eastern religions and spiritual traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. I studied the mystics and anything I could get my hands on to get as broad a view of spiritual ideas and concepts as possible.

In the year 2000, I was introduced to yoga as a direct way to search out truth from a totally different way of knowing. I also began a study of metaphysics which seemed to be in line with what the mystics referred to as awareness or consciousness.

I am fascinated by what science has to say about the nature of reality, beginning with classical Newtonian physics, what Einstein had to say about relativity, and discoveries in quantum physics which speaks of a connectedness of all things.

Quantum physics demonstrates that all things in the physical universe are entangled. That all is one at the most elementary level of existence, a paradox. This is the opposite of what it seems to be in ordinary life experiences.

That is what these poems are about.

What triggered the writing?

As a way to improve my writing skills I began attending writer workshops and retreats that stressed meditating, and then writing immediately with the prompt of an idea, or a story which was shared by the host. The only requirement being that you could not stop and think about what you wished to write. Simply write as fast as possible, not taking time to think about what you wanted to say. A sort of automatic writing began.

I had never read the classics or studied poetry. I can’t really explain how I am able to do this. I simply wake up in the middle of the night hearing a phrase repeating in my head. I keep a pad and paper at my bedside so that I immediately get up and write what I am hearing.

This is how nearly all these poems have come into being. Some seem to be nonsense. I assure you they are not. These poems shake the foundation of our understanding of the fabric of reality.

We truly do not know the nature of this objective reality. Nor do we know the truth of who we really are.